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Joined: Apr 2010
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A while back, I bought, oh, I dunno... ~ 50 books at a huge book sale. One of them was a $.50 2nd grade text. A couple of weeks ago, dd3 saw it and asked me to start reading it to her. Ok. So now, it's two weeks later, we're 2/3rds of the way through a 200+ page book and I'm thinking, this is a little ridiculous. (Btw, she can read a bit, but not at this level or this amount; I'm doing the reading -- as much as she wants or occassionally less.)
So, my question is where do we go from here? We're in a similar situation with science, but I figure, okay, we'll tackle gardening, astronomy, rocks, engineering, etc... Lots of nice rabbit holes to explore. I'm not quite sure what to do with social studies/geography/history, though. I don't think she'd sit through the History of the World type stuff -- she's understandably very visual. If this second-grade book was 70 pages long instead of 200, she wouldn't sit through it if it had the same content. And yes, we go to the library and pick up stuff of interest (George Washington is her current favorite), but I'm starting to feel schizophrenic doing that. And I don't know if *I* could sit through one of those "spine" type curriculums that lists a hundred resources you have to track down, half of which would turn out to be inappropriate for her anyway.
So... can anyone suggest some visually appealing, fairly long book/series that will keep her happily simmering? One thing I've thought about is reading about the states that she has some personal connection to, but that will last a week or two at best. Would History Pockets be appropriate/useful? What else?
PS -- My motivation for doing this is a) because she clearly digs history and social studies, b) she's insatiable, and c) to attempt some sort of well-roundedness. We do a ton of fiction reading, science and art; a bit of math; and a smigeon of music and Spanish. And, of course, she plays, does physical stuff (right now, it's swimming), helps around the house, has quiet time, watches tv, etc. (I'm sure many of you know the feeling: my kid is hot-housing me.)
Last edited by Clay; 06/10/10 02:27 PM.
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Joined: Apr 2010
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Responding to myself (because I'm obsessive like that) -- maybe a Magic Tree House based thing? If you subtract the ones that aren't about history and the ones we've already read, that leaves ~ a dozen. That could last a couple of months, if done properly. It would have to wait until the fall, probably (ALL the MTH books are checked out the library right now). But somehow this isn't a satisfying solution... maybe because the books provide random coverage, thus don't help with my feeling of disjointedness? And maybe because MTH isn't all that great? But, it would probably please dd. I'll keep it in my back pocket...
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Joined: Sep 2009
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We have a book called "The American Story" which is a collection of 100 true tales from American history that are in chronological order and have illustrations to accompany each story (I'd probably place this as a late-elementary to middle school level book). I'm sure you could find it at Amazon or at most bookstores. Playing off the MTH idea, what about the MTH Research Guides. They are related to the regular books but are non-fiction and go more in depth. Another idea would maybe be the "If You Lived . . . " books. They have books on everything from the signing of the constitution, Colonial times, the Sioux Indians, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and traveling west in a covered wagon. There are also the American Girl series, which are fiction but have a non-fiction section in the back of each book. I'm not sure if these are the types of books you're looking for, though.
She thought she could, so she did.
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Oh, I know you said that you tend to have an easier time finding science stuff, but there is a great series of books called "Let's Read-and-Find-Out Science" that is great. The books in the series listed as Stage 1 are intended to explain simple science concepts for preschoolers and kindergarteners while the Stage 2 books are intended to explore more challenging concepts for children in the primary grades. They all have great pictures, engaging writing, and an experiment at the end. HTH!
She thought she could, so she did.
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Joined: Oct 2008
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Hi, Clay!
I can't really help you with American history, but a book the lads liked which sounds perhaps a bit like what you are wanting was Geraldine McCaughrean's "Britannia" (British history, obviously)--something like 100 short stories about memorable incidents (Alfred and the cakes, Canute and the waves, Grace Darling, etc.)--about 300 pages in total, if I'm remembering properly. Lots of pictures, a real "story" approach to history, chronologically arranged--might be kind of fun for her? (Chico happily listened to this at 4, so likely would be fine for 3, as well.) I think I just got it from Amazon or Chapters--it wasn't hard to find.
Another thing that was popular here was a series called "Learn to Cook the x way" (x being Korean, Vietnamese, Swedish, Spanish, whatever). We had these from the library, they were all around 65 pages, and included a little history and cultural background for each country, and then maybe 20 or so recipes (reasonably easy ones) characteristic of each country's cuisine. That was quite fun!
There's a series somewhat analogous to the MTH books called the Canadian Flyer (the kids go back in time on a magic sled); I don't know if those would be readily available in a Georgia library, though! None of my kids (nor I) can get very excited about either of those series, though (we've never made it all the way through even one of them), so I can't tell you much!
You could look at travel guides in the library--the DK ones are profusely illustrated (picking hotels and restaurants for hypothetical trips to Krakow and Budapest is the most recent bee in Chico's bonnet, for some reason). Maybe along with a children's atlas?
peace
minnie
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mnmom23 -- Thanks for your suggestions! "The American Story" sounds like it might be above dd's comprehension right now. Will revisit... Will definitely check out the American Girl series. I hadn't even thought of it (figured it was above her level), but just previewed it on Amazon, and it seems on target. I just happened to get "If you Lived in Colonial Times" from the library today, so we'll see how it goes. I hadn't thought about using them in a systematic way until you mentioned it, but I love, love, love the comparative history approach. It seems like the perfect "rabbit hole" for delving into some of the meaning of history, and how things change (and stay the same). We have read several "Let's Read-and-Find-Out Science" when they coincide with whatever is the theme of the moment. Minnie, Thanks, too, for your ideas. I just put "Britannia" on my Amazon wishlist (which I basically use as my shopping list).  I had been thinking we should do some non-American history anyway, and Britain seems like the perfect place to start because dd is very intregued by it. (Thus far in our meanderings, she has picked out that the British were our enemies during the Revolutionary War, our Allies during WWII, and our current friends, plus you have royalty, which I think she'll get a big kick out of). And, I'll learn a lot too, I'm sure, which is always a huge plus. I just checked (love internet-based catalogs), and our library doesn't have "Learn to Cook the X Way", BUT they do have a "Food from X" series, so we'll definitely check that out. Again, seems like the perfect rabbit hole for starting to think about cultural diversity. Don't have Canadian Flyer at the library, and, uh, won't be ordering it based on your glowing recommendation, but I'll keep my eye out in case I bump into one at a used book sale. The formatting of DK books currently displeases dd (too busy?) -- but I'm definitely remembering that for when she's older. The travel guide idea sounds like a great little research project. (Hmm... which brings back memories from my 9th grade history class. We had to create a travel guide for the Middle Ages (to this day I can't hear/see the words "flying buttresses" without having flashbacks), a diary for the Crusades, and an explorer's log from an extraterrestrial's perspective (I wrote some of it in code in case the "wrong" folks got their hands on sensetive material). I loved that teacher... !) Anyway, thanks a ton, both of you. I feel much better now. Hopefully, this will give others some ideas, too. And, finally, sorry to overexplain/respond to every suggestion; helps my thought process.
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I had another thought, Clay--there's Linda Bailey's Good Times Travel Agency series--now these are rather fun! http://www.lindabaileybooks.com/goodtimes.htmlmm And, goodness, don't apologize for explaining things, at least not to me! I'm the original Gabby Gertie!
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My oldest D (who is now a political science/public policy major in college) latched on to National Geographic at that age. She loved it when we read it to her. I remember she became particularly enamored of an article and map about Jerusalem -- spent a fair amount of time at the age of 5 trying to devics a way to split the city up and bring peace to the Middle East She also LOVED the globe we gave her for Christmas that same year. And she really liked the Felix books by Annette Langen about the rabbit who travels around and sends home letters. She also liked the Eyewitness books (in the "nonfiction" section of Barnes & Noble...). And a series that I think was called the Royal Diaries when she was a bit older (say, 3rd/4th grade?).
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Ack! I'm so bummed. The Good Times Travel Agency and the Felix books sound/look perfect, but my library doesn't carry them and they are out of my budget. (The way dd burns through books, I am loathe to buy anything that isn't used or darn cheap...)
I am seriously in want of some sort of brainy kid version of Netflix right now. Thinking beyond these specific books now, does anyone have any experience with an online book swap program? I wonder if Davidson or some other group would be willing to start a lending library?
Int -- DD has had a plastic globe for as long as I can remember. We keep it in the living room, where we read, so we can pull it out when the need arises (which is, of course, daily!) She also has a big ol' map of the US, and loves looking at our road atlas. I'll try the National Geo... hadn't thought of that.
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