Don't Know Much About History...

2008-09-21 002, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

Well, actually, I know quite a little bit! In my head, I sound like Edie McClurg there. Just thought you'd like to know that. ;)

Bunny is a little bored with what she is learning in school. Not that it's too easy, I don't think... just... it's not what floats her boat, so to speak. I get it. Learning to spell and do simple math is not all that exciting. We talk about how these are the building blocks so that someday she will read harder books with much more interesting things in them, and how one must know math to do science (which she likes a lot), how you can't be, say, a world famous Egyptologist on the Discovery Channel (her current plan) if you didn't get the fundamentals down. I also explained that college, yes, it's hard, and it is a lot of work, but here's the treat -- to a great degree, you CHOOSE what you study! But, here;s the catch: gotta learn to spell first. Gotta crawl before you walk, sister.

Anyhoo, I am by no means a homeschooler. For one thing, I lack the training. For another, I lack the patience. However, I do love the classical education of 'yore'. Which, sadly, is lacking for the first few years of elementary school. I don't blame the teachers for teaching to the tests, because they have to meet the standards of learning, but as a result, education is not a 'choose your own adventure story' largely.

So I got the 'first grade' level of what is considered by homeschoolers to be a good text for history and the accompanying workbook.

It's called The Story of the World, and I have Volume I: Ancient Times - From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor. Instead of covering one geographical area at a time, it covers major periods of history chronologically. So, you learn about the world as more of a whole, in theory.

We read the first part of it this weekend, and I think it will really give Bunny that little extra she craves without going overboard. This is the girl who wants me to read The Once and Future King to her -- she likes things with more body, and, I think, to let herself become immersed in the other world of history and literature. So, I can't wait until she is able to read and truly learn what joy it is to sit with her nose in a book, oblivious to the world around. In the meantime, I'll help her augment things. And go over her 'boring' spelling lists, too. Crawl before you walk...