Changing Gears in History

A month or so ago, Jacob and I had discussed changing gears in history and focusing on more modern history. Jacob felt I was spending too long covering the ancient civilizations and didn't feel it was as important as modern history for Casia to learn. He thinks it's important to have a general understanding of history, but not necessary to go so far in depth. Casia is a depth person. She likes to sink her teeth into topics she enjoys and really spend time exploring them. And history is one of her favorite subjects. 

Admittedly, I've fallen behind in my schedule of where I wanted to be in the history curriculum. I wanted to cover all the major ancient civilizations through the world this school year. So far, I've gotten as far as the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. I was planning on tackling Mesopotamia next, but abbreviating the material covered. I was still hoping I could get to ancient China and India as well as the ancient civilizations of the Americas, at least in part, by the time the new school year rolled around and we started modern American History, from the Civil War to present.

But two weekends ago, we made a trip to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. I hadn't been there since I was a kid, and Jacob and our children had never been, so it was really exciting. Casia loved the time period clothing, the old buildings, the tour of the Governor's Palace and the old-time feel of the place. When she found out some of the residences are privately owned, she declared that she too, someday, would live in Colonial Williamsburg. She also wanted to work there, and if possible, she'd like to have her next birthday party there as well. Needless to say, she has has started a new obsession.

Casia, hoop trundling in front of the Governor's Palace.

Casia and Garrett in the stockades.

For this reason, I've decided to rework the history curriculum (best part of homeschooling: the ability to change things up as the need or desire arises!) We are skipping the rest of the ancient civilizations for now and focusing on the Americas. Casia spent one week on catching up what happened between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Age of Exploration. I felt she needed to understand the changes in Europe and the Middle East to understand the drive for exploration and the technologies that made it possible. Currently, we are spending a couple of weeks learning about the indigenous people of the Americas and then we will move on to Colonization. 

Casia had some colonial history in 4th grade, but  it was a superficial covering and considering her new interest, I thought she'd enjoy some more depth. I'm still hoping to do modern history next year, but we'll have to do some history over the summer to get there. Living in Virginia, we are centrally located for early American history, so I'm hoping to be able to take a lot of exciting field trips!