A First Book in American History

[~Summer~]

We are on day two of Bigger. I was really excited to start HOD, but we are now having problems. We read A First Book in American History yesterday and today, and my kids who are normally excellant at remembering stories and narrating couldn't remember nothing. The language in this book seems hard for them to understand. Does anyone have any advice? I am feeling very discouraged .

[Dorla]

Don't be discouraged! The language might seem ancient but they will get used to listening - it took us a while. Plus they don't always have to narrate after listening to the readings in this book!
Dorla

[water2wine]

I answered on HSR but will answer here in case it helps anyone. The language in that book is a little hard at first but the content is great. We found narrating in smaller gaps like even paragraphs to a page at first really helped. It did not take long to get the hang of it and after that they were able to do the entire lesson no problem and I might add that I believe that book sky rocketed our narration skills. So it is definitely worth it. I think if you pull back and start your naration slowly adding more each time you will find it will not take long for them to get the hang of the language in the book.

[LynnH]

We didn't do Bigger since my ds was still in public school, but I downloaded A First Book in American History and read it myself. I think it is an excellent book to prepare dc for listening to the books that are in the older guides. My ds had a terrible time narrating for CHOW at first. He would get so frustrated because he couldn't remember anything. I broke it down into small chunks like water2wine said until he was able to feel some success. The other thing that he figured out on his own to help is he draws small pictures, or one word reminders of the main ideas on a note pad as I read. He then looks back at his pictures to help him remember. He is very visual so this helps. One thing that reading a book like A First Book in American History will do is really improve their vocabulary. It also is a book that grows on you as you keep reading it. I even had trouble with it at first, but then I ended up really liking it.

[Tansy]

I help my older dd along with her comprehension (that is what narration is) I draw a very simple stick figure type picture as I read the story... then after a paragraph or 2 I let her narrate, if she gets stuck she can look a the story picture I have drawn. This triggers remembrance and gives her success. She loves it when I help her with her homework and do the story picture before she has to answer the questions, and she retains more..

[Carrie]

Summer,

I'll paste a past post of mine below that will help you as you work through Bigger Hearts.

This thread explains why we chose the Eggleston books and why we find them to be living:
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=202

On a sidenote, I went to school during the new textbook era when books began to be filled with multiple pictures but included very little history content. I can honestly say I remember nothing from my growing up years about history. We definitely did not do any biographical readings, and I never felt like the people we read about were real people. They just didn't jump off of the page in any memorable way, except for their pictures. By the time I became a public school teacher, the textbooks were even broader in their "coverage", covering everything in a sentence or two but not really looking at anything or anybody in history in depth. History became social studies and with it actual "history" was left behind.

So, when we began homeschooling, and we began coming across history books that were written years ago in a living way (when the writers were much closer to the time period in which the history was happening), we knew this was the way we wanted our children to learn history. In our search for this type of book, we found that many homeschooling companies did not use this type of book but instead used either textbooks, or read through an encyclopedia as a spine, or used historical fiction as a spine, or did a combination of these.

Each of these options has its concerns. Using textbooks was too similar of a route to that which we'd grown up doing, so our family desired to stay away from that route (as we saw little fruit from it within our own experiences). Reading from an encyclopedia like a textbook does little to aid in actual retention or understanding of history, as encyclopedias are filled with snippets of information and many sidebars. To read through an encyclopedia is also using the book in a way other than it was intended to be used, as encyclopedias are meant to be reference books. Using historical fiction as a history spine also presents some problems, as historical fiction gives the impression that all of what is being read is true and leaves the reader wondering what truly is a part of history and what is fiction.

So, at HOD we desire to use accurate living books as our spines as much as possible and then fill-in the background details with historical fiction or with other genres that give a fuller picture of the period. We directly tie the day's activities to the readings to give them even more life.

I'd encourage you to give Eggleston at least 9 weeks of just reading the book as written (without paraphrasing or stopping to explain as you go) before making a judgment about his worth as a writer. CM maintained that kiddos could understand much more than we give them credit for if we only would stop getting in the way of the text. If you search the board for past posts on Eggleston, you'll find many moms who grew to love his style of writing right along with their children. The habit of attention needs to be cultivated in order for kiddos to interact with readings that are more living. They definitely take a more mature listener. In the end this is what makes the reading more memorable.

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

I am reading Jane Austen books now and found the same to be true for me. I started reading them and had a hard time getting into them. It was because they were wonderfully written in an old-time way that I am not used to reading. I stuck with it (Persuasion was the first one I read), and by the middle of it I was hooked. It left me wondering why I've been reading such inferior books for so long! Now I've been through "Pride and Prejudice" and am on to "Sense and Sensibility". Anyway, I share this not to get you to read Austen , but because I had a similar experience with reading Eggleston to my ds. He had a hard time at first. PLEASE give it some time! Your ds will learn to L-O-V-E it over time. A few years back, I posted this about Eggleston, so you can see how my ds' tune changed over time:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=451&p=2929

In Christ,
Julie

[*~Summer~*]

Thank you all so much. You all are really great, and have encouraged me to keep going. I am sure we are going to have a great year with Bigger.