Monday Q&A | History Curriculum, Silverware, and Children's Chores
Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you'd like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!
What are you using for history curriculum this year? I've looked over the website and saw how you did your state study but I'm curious about how you plan your year and if you do your own planning, where do you find your book lists?
-K.
Well, this year I plan to do a world geography study with the kids. We'll tackle it sort of like we did with the state study...we'll take it continent by continent, and we'll read books, cook foods that are popular in each country (at least, we'll try!), and for each country we study, we'll make a page for our geography notebooks with notes and drawings.
I plan to use mostly library books and DVDs (I'll also browse Netflix to see what's available for each country), and I also have a geography card game to play with the kids. We'll probably use some online resources like Wikipedia as well.
When we're done with our study, I'll do my best to write a wrap-up post to let you know what worked and what didn't.
My kids tend to enjoy this type of study more than a textbook/workbook combo, and I think it helps them to interact with and remember the material better too.
Weird question: When Americans say silverware, is it normal stainless steel cutlery, or is it actual silverware? (we just say cutlery and the silverware is silver, just for posh occasions, LOL)
-Laura
Yep, we're just referring to regular old stainless steel utensils. I suppose the more proper American term to use is "flatware".
I definitely don't use real silverware on a daily basis...that's way too much work for me! I just grew up referring to it as silverware, so that's the term that rolls off my tongue.
It is funny how different our terms can be, isn't it? Long ago, I used to think that British people all had lovely, manicured gardens in their backyards, and I was quite surprised when I learned that garden is just another word for backyard.
Perhaps you've already done a post about this but I would love to know how you do your chore assignments with your kiddos. I have a 7, 4, & 2 year old (and a 3 month old but he doesn't count) and am always struggling with how to assign chores. I think it's an important part of being part of a family as well as learning how to care for a household and also creates a sense of accomplishment. I'm just not sure how to implement.
-Cary
I think it's great that you're interested in teaching your children how to contribute to the household. Good for you!
Since your children are all quite young, I'd keep things very simple, especially at first. I don't know what your children are currently responsible for, but we've always started with easy jobs like hanging up pjs and throwing dirty clothes into the hamper.
I find that printed chore lists are the best for young children. For non-readers, you could draw pictures of the chores you want your children to do and for readers, you can print out a little list on the computer.
We use three main chore lists.
1. My children each have a printed list on their bedroom walls with chores that they need to do before breakfast (make their beds, hang up pjs, throw dirty clothes into the hamper, straighten up the bedroom).
2. On the fridge, we have a list of mealtime chores with the appropriate person's initial beside the chore.
3. Each child (except for Joshua...see below) has a printed list of things they need to do before they can go out and play after school (put away schoolbooks neatly, practice the piano and so on, plus they have a small cleaning chore as well).
Joshua is more computer-savvy than the girls are, so an online chore chart works great for him. We use My Job Chart, but there are several other similar programs out there.
Your kids are a bit younger than mine, so they probably don't need three different chore lists. You could start with something small, like a short list of before-breakfast chores, and as your kids grow accustomed to this, you could then add a mealtime chore for each kid.
Just remember to keep your job quality expectations low at first, since there's a serious learning curve when kids start chores. In the beginning, it would actually be faster for you to do all the chores (and they'd be done better!), but if you hang in there, your kids will eventually get the hang of it and will be able to manage on their own.
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Readers, as always, feel free to add your responses to mine!
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Joshua's 365 post: Swirled
I had never heard of silverware before, needless to say we don't own any! I lived in the US for a year as a child, and I remember the other kids being confused when I talked about thongs (flip-flops), bathers (swimsuits), icy poles (popsicles), jumpers (sweaters) and capsicums (peppers). We use garden and yard interchangeably as well 🙂
Economies, "jumpers" is the one that always throws me. My mind pictures a sleeveless dress worn over a shirt. But then, of course, neither one is really well-described by the word "jumper".
Yeah I have no idea why they are called jumpers, I guess they do make you sweat, hence sweaters. My mum calls them windcheaters, which kind of makes sense, because you cheat the wind while wearing them 🙂
AND...when we have picnics, we use plastic "silverware"...so funny!
BTW~ Kristen, I think I asked you this before but never saw an answer...do you ever use a Crock-Pot?? Last night I made White Chicken Chili and it WAS Delish and healthy AND FRUGAL!! I always make enought for 2 nights meals plus lunch for my hubby.
I'm not sure I've ever seen a crockpot recipe on here. I'd be interested in hearing how she uses one, what kind of recipes, or.. alternatively... why not. It may just simply be one more appliance. What we can do with crockpots (leaving it unattended while out of the house), she can do with a stove (granted, if she can find time away from her busy schedule to take a peek on it every so often!).
Maybe a more general post...of what appliances live chez FG (I've seen the mixer and a griddle...). 🙂
I'm not a big crock-pot person! Like you said, I don't leave my house to work, so the plug and go aspect isn't that appealing to me. Plus, a lot of crock-pot recipes don't really appeal to me. I do use mine to make BBQ beef for sandwiches, though.
Friend, just a heads up on Wikipedia. My kids are not allowed to use it as a reference source, and as a college student, we are forbidden to use Wikipedia for research. It's not considered to be 100% accurate, given that many contributors to Wikipedia are not content experts. 🙂
As a librarian/faculty I would not consider Wikipedia a reliable source. The one thing it is good for is to find reliable sources. The external links and the references in particular.
A good places to find images and information on a global scale is the World Digital Library. http://www.wdl.org/en/
IMHO the best use of Wikipedia is to use the footnotes to find the reliable reserach. Ideally just as a starting point.
For this subject, I highly recommend the CIA's World Factbook. Their authors are experts.
http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
I agree! I love to use Wikipedia (talking from an English and journalism major standpoint). It's often a great place to start for ideas, and the footnotes have great places to find sources. If I can't verify something on my own, then it's not worth the risk of using. But all great students verify everything they write down anyway! 😉
I only have one child but I was considering a chore chart for her. She is only 3 though and my husband thinks it is too young to start something like that. If I do one, it would only have a few things on it like feed the dog, put away toys and help set the table.....
But is 3 too young for chores? or at least a chart?
Hi Jessica,
We had this nice little Velcro chart that we used for our kids when they were toddlers and preschoolers. It had pictures of things like their bed (make the bed), a toothbrush (brush your teeth), the kitchen table (set the table), and other things like that.When a job was completed for the day a Velcro backed star was placed on the chore picture. 3 years old is not too early to begin. It gives little ones a sense of achievement.
Thank you so much, Kristen, for sharing your geography study with me :)! We're going to study the USA this year but we might "follow your lead" next year so I hope you post more on your studies as the year goes on. You might want to check out: http://www.homeschoolcreations.com/Geography.html for her wonderful links to websites, printables and other cool stuff she has posted. It goes with Galloping the Globe but you don't "need" it. My kids loved this study and had so much fun a few years ago when we did it :)! We might have to do it again next year.
Thank you again!
K.
I totally agree with Kristen regarding chores for children. They need to do chores for themselves (put clothes in hamper & make bed) but they also need to do chores for the whole family (they need to learn that they are part of a team.) My son started out at age 2 by being in charge of recycling (and received the recycling money that California pays for cans and bottles.) At 11, he cooks breakfast Mon-Fri while I get ready for work, cleans all the bathrooms on Saturdays, helps clear the table after dinner and feeds/waters the tortoise every day. FYI, he still recycles the bottles so he can get the $2 per bag recycling money....and he also practices the piano 5-6 days a week.
The website Sporkle has a ton of geography quizzes. Easy to let the kids quiz themselves on states, countries, capitals, etc; probably for middle school and higher, as they need to be able to type correctly and quickly. My 17-year-old loves it.
Good to know! Joshua and Lisey can both type well, so they might be able to do those quizzes.
We really enjoy GeoPuzzles. They're geography jigsaw puzzles, and (by and large) there is one piece for each country. There is a puzzle for each continent. We just do them for fun, but I think they'd be a great addition to a world geography study.
Ooh, those sound fun. Zoe especially loves puzzles.
Kristen if you don't already have it, check out "Geography Songs" http://www.amazon.com/Geography-Songs/dp/B002CB3KPM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347305725&sr=8-1&keywords=geography+songs,
Also my kids love "Wild China" : http://www.amazon.com/Wild-China/dp/B0016I0AH8.
love your chore ideas! i just have one 12 month old at the moment but i know myself and i will be much happier if i start this now so its ready when he is able to start helping. i love your site and you give me hope that homeschooling could work for us. i hated public school and private seemed an even worse idea so maybe this could work. keep up the good work lady!