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4 Ways All American History Is Amazing With Different Learning Styles

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using All American History books with different ages

Part 3 in our series on the amazing All American History Volume II!

As a homeschooler, I have come to appreciate the often elusive words, "Hey! Mom can we do _____ next?" (insert subject). When I do hear that melodious question, I know that piece of curriculum or resource is a keeper! Can you guess what new history curriculum we are using fits this bill?

As a mom, I have discovered that all 5 of my boys have different learning styles. For some odd reason (I mean, geez!, I did work in the mental health field!), this observation went undetected for a while in our homeschool. When I did acknowledge their learning styles differences, I panicked a bit. How could I address each boys' approach to learning? What could I do to facilitate the best learning environment for my boys-and include all their learning styles.

Disclaimer:  This is a sponsored, affiliate post. I did receive product and compensation. All opinions are 100% my own. Thanks, as always, for reading and for supporting our homeschool!

I tried, like many homeschoolers before me, to a) find a resource that works best for each boy (that can add up!) and b) find as many ways possible to adapt one curriculum for use with our whole family. We have found a few curricula that fit important criteria:  affordable and adaptable to different ages and learning styles.

We had yet to find a history curriculum what was effective for all 5 boys. One was too advanced-and very difficult to adjust to younger kids  Another was too simple-and required too much work to bring to my older boys' levels.

Just when I was about ready to throw in the towel and search for history resources for each boy, I learned about All American History-and my excitement grew!

When I read the description about All American History over at Bright Ideas Press, I was intrigued to see "Multi-sensory approaches to learning". Finding one history resource to use with all my school-age boys with different learning styles-priceless!

Before I get to the reasons why I find All American History a great fit for our large family with different learning styles, I think it is important to discuss just what I mean when I refer to learning styles. I have found many different descriptions of and types-do a Google or Pinterest search and I think you will agree.

Based on my training and experience in the mental health field, as well as observing kids that I have babysat, coached, and was camp counselor to, I read and selected these two learning style resources that correspond with my findings. If you have other resources or terms that you have found, please share! I would love to learn more about this fascinating area of human development and educational approaches!

I talked about learning styles in Day 2:  Homeschool Morning Gathering. One source broke down learning styles into 4 commonly known types:  visual, aural, kinesthetic, and read/write. The other source described Howard Gardner's theory of 8 different learning styles:

  • visual-spatial
  • musical
  • bodily-kinesthetic
  • interpersonal
  • intrapersonal
  • verbal-linguistic
  • naturalistic
  • logical-mathematical

Make sure to hop over to that post to learn more!

In our homeschool, we have these learning styles:  visual-spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. (At least, I think Xman, our todder, is musical!)  There are definitely other learning styles mixed in there but these are the ones that stand out!

Finding curriculum that addresses all of these learning styles can be a challenge. I often find myself needing to modify or add-on to make sure each boy is able to best retain the information according to their preferred learning style.

Of course, a benefit of adapting curriculum (or finding a precious gem that covers it all!) is that the child(ren) are exposed to a variety of learning style approaches. From my experiences, I believe that this type of exposure to various educational methods helps cultivate an even better grasp of the presented information-and encourages the child to process the material in different fashions.

All American History learning styles
Professsor (intrapersonal learner) enjoying a group project!

I am going to speak the truth here...when I read about All American History's approach to history, I gave a squeal of joy! Captain, my oldest, was sitting next to me reading about soccer updates and looked at me with that special brand of teenage concern.

Professor, our 10 year old history buff, became equally excited as me when he read the description. "Mom! We have got to get this!"

When we got our box of All American History goodies, Professor dug right in (see the cute pictures here!). After a few weeks of use, I am happy to share the following:

4 Ways All American History Is Amazing With Different Learning Styles

  1.  Student Text, Student Activity Book, and Teacher's Guide/Answer Key = Visual-Spatial + Intrapersonal learner's delight! These pictures in these books are in black and white-and we prefer! It makes the pictures seem even more historical-plus less distracting! Professor absolutely adores the Student Text! He has already read through it once-and is starting again!

    All American History learning styles
    Professor, our intrapersonal learner, curled up with one of his favorite books!


     

  2. Read-Alouds and Suggested Songs for Time Period = Musical learner's music to their ears! Typically, Captain, Professor, or Mommy read aloud from the Student Text. It gives us opportunity to pause to discuss or explain. Also, suggested songs have been  great for our music man (Xman)!

    all american history learning styles
    Professor and Xman listening to "Dixie"


     

  3. Family and Group Project Ideas = Interpersonal Learner's educational party! Smiley, our little social learner, loves working on projects with his brothers! It has been a joy to see his face light up when we plan and work on the suggested Group Project Ideas (more on this coming in future post!)

    all american history learning styles
    Captain, Bear, Professor, & Smiley (our interersonal learner) reading All American History

  4. Review Games and Project Ideas= Kinesthetic learner's hands-on happiness! Captain is most definitely a kinesthetic learner! If he can touch it and manipulate it, he's got the concept! To help him with one of the review games, I adapted a game that I used with Smiley and Bear for learning sight words-paper basketball. You can find out more about that game here. Captain wrote the last names of U.S. Presidents (up to and including Lincoln) on slips of paper. He would then need to find and name the order and last name of the President. If he got it right, Captain wadded the paper into a ball and tried to make a shot!

    all american history learning styles
    Captain creating paper basketball slips to practice U.S. President memorization

    all american history learning styles
    Captain playing paper basketall to memorize U.S. Presidents order


     

As you can probably tell, we are thoroughly enjoying our history learning adventures with All American History Vol. II.  To learn more about the awesome history curriculum (and all the other fantastic titles they offer!), hop on over to Bright Ideas Press.

Follow Bright Press Ideas for updates on great deals and products:

site:  www.brightpressideas.com

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I look forward to sharing more of the many ways we are loving our homeschool experience with All American History!

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below!

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