❤ thanks for this! I love that you pointed out that you would not write a history paper just based on one text, but instead you would use many different resources! Same for learning history. I hadn’t thought of it like that before, and it’s so true! 😊

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

@keepinghomesteady

3 ай бұрын

@@lifeinthetrenches definitely! Also, I’m sure you already know, but I just saw that there is also a 16 part PBS documentary series based on Joy Hakim’s books…so I will definitely be adding that to the history toolkit too! It’s called Freedom: The History of Us, if anyone else is interested. 🙃

Your voice is so relaxing! You could do ASMR! Im an eclectic and loose homeschool mom too. 😊 We are Christian but we also want our children to be critical thinkers, and understand that their faith is a personal walk w God... not a religion. So we've made the choice to not shy away from things like evolution or an old world creation thought..the bible is FULL of metaphor and shouldnt always be taken literal. I majored in science in college and I want them to see that science and faith CAN be reconciled. We also discuss the very real and hard truths of human nature ( greed, jealousy etc) and history vs glossing over them so Im always pulling together different resources too. We're using Beautiful Feet for the first time next year and are really looking forward to it! ❤

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

Thank you! That's the second time someone commented on my voice today 🥰 I love how you are teaching your kids to be critical thinkers and open-minded. The media portrays Christians as the opposite, but I find that to be far from the truth (at least here in California). I am not Christian or religious in any sense, but the majority of my friends and family are, and they embrace both their faith and science. Plus, I know a lot of secular homeschoolers who have faith but choose not to use religious curricula with their kids. Discussions are the best part of homeschooling, in my opinion. They help us synthesize the information we learn and make connections to the world around us. I hope you enjoy BFB!

Stumbled on an interview with Joy Hakim and had not realized what a thoughtful trailblazer she was, and is, especially as a woman writing history in the 90s. For sure, as a fellow history major, an essential part of studying history is exploring how history is written, and not written. Thank you!

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

She truly is, and still is! I just read an article a couple months ago about how she's fighting for better textbooks for kids.

@StephanieMT

3 ай бұрын

And she wrote a new book

New subscriber here. One of your videos started playing after another one I was watching. You are a breath of fresh air for me as a fellow secular-ish homeschooler from South Carolina. Looking forward to your next video. For now, I’m off to watch a few more of your previous videos. 👋🏼 ❤🎉

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

Awesome! Thank you and welcome!! I'm so glad to have you join my little corner of the world.

Dude! Totally dig your perspective. Glad I found you here :)

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

Welcome aboard!

Love this video! I already watched this video a few times. I love how calming and reassuring this video is. I am in my first year homeschooling. Feels like I spent a couple of months thinking of hey maybe next year I am going to go for a more budget friendly history curriculum and supplement with lots of age appropriate books. But my kinder is happy with what we have and asks if it is just okay to stick with our choice and skip the scary readings, and yeah, I am like sure, we do not need to follow it to a t. I love your relaxed homeschool approach! And I love how you encourage more critical thinking and less stick to the script. And thank you for the good find on history curriculum focusing on Asian American history. I have been trying to find something like that.

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

Thank you for being here!! 💝 The first few years of homeschooling is filled with trial-and-error, self-doubt, and LOTS of curriculum switching. So kudos to you for listening to your little one - sometimes they know better than we do! And it's hard to find Asian American history books & curriculum (that are actually written by Asians), but there is a new book coming out soon that I preordered - Made in Asian America. Hopefully it's good!

Great video! I love using tons of resources.... You need to make a video about your skincare routine! You have beautiful skin!

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

Thank you! I'm a bit of a resource junkie, and you're the third person who asked me about my skin today! Maybe I should do a video 😆

Great video!! And thank you for sharing so many great resources!! I so agree with your take!! Curriculum is great for keeping me organized, but it’s nice to pause and follow interests or add in lots of videos/books/etc!! And of course lots of discussions!! We’re using Build Your Library Level 5, which is early American history, but I LOVE adding in lots of resources!! You might enjoy checking out BYL- she actually uses a bunch of the books you’re using!! It might be a good resource for you!l too!

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

Thank you! I've heard a lot of good things about BYL. I definitely plan on checking out her curriculum soon.

Thank you for making this video. I needed to hear this.

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Thank you for your encouragement! Thankful I found your channel :)

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

I'm so glad you're here! 💝

Love this video. We enjoy Joy Hakims books and I know people bash them but they are a fun and easy read for my kids and then I just supplement. I truly don't believe there is one perfect history curriculum out there. All of them are skewed.

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

I totally agree! We love listening to her audiobooks

Yes! Curriculum is a tool! A perfect curriculum is as prevalent as real 🦄. I know people want the curriculum to think for them, but we want our kids to think for themselves, and teaching them to do that through curricula is so good for education! Critical thinking is SO important! ❤

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

Absolutely!!

Love all the resources! Any ideas for elementary Ancient history? I'd love yo piece together vs buying the year long curriculum.

@lifeinthetrenches

2 ай бұрын

I would probably look at all the book lists that they publish on curriculum websites like History Quest (Pandia Press), Beautiful Feet Books, etc. I would also utilize Teachers Pay Teachers for unit studies or lessons on topics that your kids show interest in. It's much more economical than buying a whole curriculum. I believe there's a website called Ancient History for Kids that was useful. We also loved reading the Rick Riordan book series when we studied different ancient civilizations. For resources, I would use DK Smithsonian or Eyewitness books and the Where Is? series. I hope that sorta helps! Thanks for watching!

@jenniferrobinson3957

2 ай бұрын

Thanks for these ideas! It does help. I think History Quest is going to be too wordy for my 9 year old. We'll use a bunch of books from BYL. I think I find it more satisfying piecing things instead of buying the "all in one package". Thanks again!

Thank you! ❤

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

You are so welcome!

We love watching Horrible Histories! I didnt know it’s a book series as well

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

We still haven't watched the tv series!

Great video! I’m also looking forward to The Critical Thinker workbook! How do you use the books (aside from reading them?) I love all these books and have several others, but wondering what kind of projects/work you have the kids do along with them?

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

Thank you! So for the books, I've been teaching my 12-year-old son how to take Cornell Notes and write discussion questions to prepare him for high school and beyond (I used to be an AVID Coordinator and Teacher before I had kids www.avid.org/) The projects that we do really depends on the topic we're learning, what inspires my son and/or me, and if we really need to do a project to show understanding. We just wrapped up a 7 month (we go at our own pace!) unit on Indigenous People of the Americas and did not do a project. We've had discussions, visited tribal museums and historic sites (both in-person and virtual), read books, grew and cooked indigenous foods, and watched videos. I felt like that was good enough for now. When he's in high school and if he decides to go to college, he will go more in depth with the topic then.

@RobMombie

3 ай бұрын

@@lifeinthetrenches Thank you so much for your reply and explanation! That all sounds so great! We’ve been so stuck with history feeling like we need to do a curriculum but nothing really working. We love books and going to museums, but here in Florida we have to show something in their portfolio. I’m more nervous for my 11 year old since she’ll be in middle school homeschool this next school year while I also homeschool my younger two (3rd grade & 1st.) I always feel inspired and motivated after watching your videos so thank you for making them!

Thanks for sharing this from a history teacher’s perspective. I agree that there is no one-size-fits-all curriculum, and history reading can be dry and boring for kids unless supplemented with fun videos and activities. As humans, we learn from experiences and history. However, I still believe that a thoroughly planned-out history book serving as the spine is very important; I just don’t know where to find one. History isn’t my forte, and when we discuss it here and there, we tend to lose the connection with the overarching historical narrative. For instance, the other day we discussed the Spanish flu and ended up exploring how women were framed as witches during that time, diverging from the main historical context. Do you have any suggestions for a book or a resource link?

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

I agree, a spine to help guide your path in studying history is important, especially if it's not your passion. I know I need all the help I can get when teaching math. For U.S. History, we're using The History of US as our spine, with all the other books shared in the video as supplements. And we often get lost in tangents (which is why we spent 7 months studying Indigenous American cultures), but as soon as we pop out of our little rabbit hole, we get back on track by referring to our spine. Some good US History spines include The History of US, History Quest, History of the World, Smithsonian's Children's Encyclopedia of American History and American History: A Visual Encyclopedia. I'm sure there is more out there, but that's all I can think of from the top of my head.

We discuss history a lot especially as our curriculum is based!!! I have no issues with Humor with history inbrünstig right context as I want my kids to respect our 1st ppl!!! We’ve onli used beautiful feet science history and I love the faith part!!! We love honest history!!! We love to debate in our homeschool!!! We love horrible histories and I readout as a kid when it came out!!! I feel like they are appropriate as I feel the humour is needed and tasteful and the history is on point!!! I didn’t kno that there was a show till I caught my daughter watching it and it was awesome!!!

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

I still haven't watched the show! I know my boys will love it.

100% times a million

@lifeinthetrenches

3 ай бұрын

🙌🏼