How do you teach State History so it’s not boring? And do successful homeschoolers ever completely flop teaching something?

Hi Lee, I would like to know if you can give any information on teaching Washington State History without making it boring. I have a book and an old version of switched on school house that isn’t up to date, because it for 2000-01 school year. I want to make the study interesting not boring.

~Homeschool Mom

Hi there,

I completely failed at teaching State History. Really. I never made it into something that wasn’t boring.

Did you know that State history is NOT a requirement for homeschoolers in Washington State? You don’t have to cover that at all…. boy, I wish I would have known that!

If you want to cover Washington State history anyway, you can do as little as just a research report or a mapping project. As far as Switched on Schoolhouse goes, I don’t think it matters what year it was created, because you’re looking more at the history and geography of the state, rather than current events.

But all in all, I’m completely NO HELP here, except to say you don’t have to teach it I’m pretty sure my readers will have some ideas though.

EVERYONE: Can you please help us struggling homeschoolers with some interesting ways to teach State History?

Isn’t it wonderful that I’m willing to admit my failures, though? LOL!

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Unlike math and computer science, there are world view issues that come into play with science. Try to find a science program that works for your own beliefs. We used Apologia, and LOVED it, and I believe it was fabulous preparation for my sons. One of my boys went into engineering in college and was well prepared by Apologia. My other son was able to pass a CLEP exam in Biology after using Apologia, so I also know he was well prepared in science. Apologia has an optional, all-computer textbook available, so that might be just the “fit” that your child needs. Here is a link:

It doesn’t read the text to the student, but it is all computer based.

Rainbow Science is experiment based, rather than computer or reading focused. It just has general science and chemistry, though. If your daughter does better at visual learning, The Teaching Company has a high school chemistry course on video.

Although expensive right now, those programs usually go on sale once a year, and you can sometimes get it at the library or get good deals online.

It doesn’t matter what I recommend, though. The philosophy is that you choose some options, then have your daughter choose the final curriculum when that’s possible. That helps to fit the curriculum to you AND to her!

Spread the great news about homeschooling high school! Please add The HomeScholar button to your blog or website. Get the code from the column on the right. Thanks!

We never paid full price for a Teaching Company course, they were just MUCH too expensive for our budget. We used audio tapes primarily, and on sale they were $15-$35. You can also also find them at the library, though, so look their first. Some libraries don’t list them under “teaching company” or “great courses” but instead list them under the course name “calculus made clear.” It makes it harder to find that way. You can also find Teaching Company courses at used book sales and on Ebay.One year I planned to supplement a textbook with a Teaching Company course, but I didn’t buy the course in time for it to be one sale. I was able to find a similar history course that WAS on sale, though, and I thought it was wonderful.

My favorite course is “how to listen to and understand great music.” The teacher has such a wonderful vocabulary, it was just great for the kids to hear their vocabulary words in context. We had the boys take notes from the lecture, so they would become accustomed to note-taking in college lectures.

Blessings,
Lee
www.TheHomeScholar.com
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I have been asked whether The Teaching Company tapes could be used for younger students. In a nutshell, if a student is INTERESTED, then they may not be too young. The Teaching Company does have some high school level courses, but I never tried them. I’m sure those would be appropriate for many younger people (junior high level). In general, if a student is interested, I recommend feeding their interests.I don’t recommend The Teaching Company religion courses. The CS Lewis is a wonderful series, however. Some of the arts classes do have nudes. I’m sure the Psych class does Freud, which would probably be too much for younger students. The way that we chose was to buy it for ourselves, and then listen to it first. For the first course you do, I always recommend “How to Listen to and Understand Music” because it’s fascinating and very non-threatening.

The courses are not a full curriculum, so you can’t say that one of them is one credit, or whatever. You can count the hours you spend, and add up the hours until you have enough for a full credit. We used them as a supplement that way.

Blessings,
Lee
www.TheHomeScholar.com
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