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We have been reading about the early explorers in History Stories For Children. I was wondering if this part of history is learned again in a later guide. DD does listen, but there are so many different people and places learned about, I know dd won't remember many. I was just curious.

I am multi tasking too much this morning, so my answer is short!! The answer to your question is "yes"! In Bigger Hearts American history is covered beginning with Colombus. These are the titles of the first three units in Bigger. ...."Columbus Discovers America", "The Search for a New Route to Asia", "Explorers and Andventurers"....and then on with John Smith, Pocohontas and the settlers. In fact, Preparing is the first guide that is not focused on American history!

Hope this helps!

Thanks, Liz.
I thought it probably was covered again. DD picks up certain things in our reading, but I know she will not remember what all these people did. Today we read about Pizarro and how greedy he was for the gold the king of Peru offered him to set him free, but he had the king killed anyway. That story really caught dd's attention, because she shows a lot of empathy toward people, even if it is in a story. But, the location of this story means nothing to her. She doesn't really understand the importance of the geography included in the stories of the explorers. Maybe a little bit of the significance of America, but not much about the other parts of the world. She just gets lost trying to show her places on the globe. But, that will come later. I need to back up and do some of the hands-on activities with dd that go along with these stories. I know that will help a little more.

Hi Pam!! Yes, yes, I would definitely do the hands-on activities that go along with the stories (at least, if you're meaning the ones in the guide)... we LOVE all that Carrie has laid out for the plans, & the hands-on activities- whether it be art, Science, dramatic play, or a thinking skills game- really make the stories "come to life"!
I wouldn't worry too much about whether your daughter is remembering every person & place where they lived/worked... my girls are in the same boat, & I know that as they get older they will dive in even more with the next guides! It is truly amazing to me how much they DO remember though... when talking about how their Grandpa is a Christian, one looked at me and said, "Polycarp was a Christian!!" And then she went on to explain what we had read about Polycarp a few days prior!
I think LHFHG is such a wonderful foundation for learning to come! How exciting!
Blessings,
Jessica

Many times we become concerned that children might not be retaining everything in a story, but then later they show that they really did get a lot from it. As Carrie has explained in other threads, children in these younger guides are forming pegs on which to hang other information later. So your daughter might not seem as though she's getting everything, or perhaps some of it seems like it's going over her head, but be comforted that she's learning from a great program (and a great teacher, ), and she'll be introduced again to these concepts in a much more in-depth way later!

As for the hands-on activities, I completely agree with Mom4Him about doing all of those. She'll probably love doing them with you, and take away some great learning in the process. We just bought LHFHG for our fourth child for next fall, and it looks SOOOO fun and SOOOO good! We can't wait!

Blessings!

Mom4Him and momtofive,
Thanks for the reply. I know the hands-on activities will be good. I just seem to run out of time in the day and then start a new day in the unit the following. I always do everything on that page, except that box, to start the day. Then I concentrate on getting the other page done and sometimes just do not have time to get that box done, unless it is a science day. Most of the time I keep up with the hands-on, but when we missed doing the Indian setting, it just seemed to snowball, and now we have at least 3 we need to go back and do. So, instead of beginning a new unit tomorrow, I am going to go back to those boxes and do them. I know we are missing a lot by not doing them. I just get the mindset that the academic stuff should be done first. I know dd is learning, but the whole point of HOD is to have fun doing it. DD thrives on hand-on and here I am depriving her of that very thing. So, if I have to, I will slow down and make sure we don't miss out on these things, even if we don't get LHFHG done until July! Thanks for the reminder. HOD has been so good for dd and myself! There will be no shortcuts!!

Such good questions, and such good answers! I think you have a good day of learning ahead of you as you finish out those activities. You are right, the hands-on activities are FUN, but they are also an important part of the learning. They often take a concept from the reading and expand upon it. When we "do" something rather than just "hear" about it, we remember things so much better. Think about reading a recipe, and think about making it, and then of course eating it! Which will you remember most? Of course this is just a light-hearted example, but learning is not so far off from that. I think if instead of thinking about the hands-on things as just being the fun, you begin thinking about them as an integral part of the academics, then they will get done every day. Also, at this young age, dc will not retain everything well, as they are honing those memory skills right along with other important habits like listening attentively, reading carefully for meaning, working diligently, following directions well, etc. They have MUCH to learn at these young ages, and the history cycles back around again... and again... and again... so, just by doing a day in its completion and then moving on consistently through the guide, you'll be teaching many, many important habits that in turn will free up more time for dc to retain what they have learned better and better with more accuracy and more details every year. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks, Julie. Your explanations always help to keep things in the right perspective.