Are you smarter than...

[peggyfromwastate]

My DD kate (11) knows virtually nothing about history. Her whole ES ed was about the State Asssessment test and so it was reading, writing, and a little bit of mathematics, but nothing else. Now she's in MS and is expected to know some things about history, geography, etc. Do you have any good recommendations about quick overview-type books that are kid friendly? I've looked on Amazon before (for myself b/c I think I'm at about a 5th grade history level). I thought some of you all might have some favorites though- esp the homeschoolers out there.

Thanks in advance!

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: Are you smarter than...

Not a homeschooler, so I default to the true experts. However, I used to teach English and history at the high school level (many moons ago), so I know where you're coming from in terms of having a child being completely denied a well-rounded education in an attempt to "teach for the test."

Try Amazon.com's Children Books section. Search for "Whatever Every Should Know About History." There is a homework-helper series that may be of some benefit!

[peggyfromwastate]

Re: Are you smarter than...

Thanks! We have read all the Amer Girl books. She seems to lack the ability to "put it into context" though- we've been to all sorts of historical places and what not living where we live, but...

I like history, and so I think I'll at least look into the Amazon books to boost my own history IQ!

[Rapunzel]

Re: Are you smarter than...

The Kingfisher Encyclopedia of World History is a good overview of, well, world history. It has great pictures for those who are a bit more visual and breaks history into large "chunks" (such as a section on the classical age, a section on the early middle ages, etc). It's all in one book and easy to read - but not boring at all.

Here's a link to it on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Kingfisher-Histor ... 047&sr=1-1

[peggyfromwastate]

Re: Are you smarter than...

Thank you TR!