THE CENTER FOR HOME EDUCATION

M.S. History through visual and auditory arts: an excellent class for visual and auditory learners. No textbooks are required.

Starting with The Great Depression, we will explore key historical moments through watching movies, clips of movies, youtube videos, tv shows, and clips of tv shows. Excerpts of quality homeschool history books will be read out loud to the students. The material will be geared toward 12 and 13-year-old students from 1929 through 2010.

Visual arts enable students to understand concepts without the barriers that hinder learning. Just like books, movies allow students insight into the lives of different characters, how their perspective differs and how they handle a particular situation. Viewing clips about historical events increases recall as long as the clips match up with historical readings. TV shows and movie clips, rather than full-length movies, will be the norm for this class.

1. bring history to life by focusing on depth. ...

2. inspire and bring characters to life. ...

3. encourage discussion. ...

4. easier to relate to. ...

This class is designed with the average 7th and 8th graders in mind. Students should be able to read and write at a minimum of 7th grade.

Class time will consist of viewing TV shows, clips of TV shows, short videos, short power-points, games, and creative projects, including cutting and gluing, puzzles, coloring, labeling diagrams, completing handouts, and teamwork.

Students will be required to participate and listen to the teacher reading from The Story of the World, Mystery of History, "Fun Facts," and snippets of history, including interesting news reports and current events. This class will not be a lecture and note-taking-driven class. Instead, class discussions and "re-telling" will be a central element.

Your teacher for this class has zero-tolerance for cell phones, disrespect, and turned-down mouths. She has homeschooled for a couple of decades and is well versed in the teaching of History. As a result, your child will have fun AND learn!

Home time will consist of reading, writing, researching (web/youtube/books), and creating "show and tell" type things (art, music, writing, cooking, creating). Students will be instructed on how to spend the other 4 days of the week studying for their history class. Books will be sent home with the student from time to time. None of the other 4 days should take the student longer than 2 hours per week to complete. Parents are reminded that they may add to any class taught at the Center. By the end of the school year, the students will have been introduced to various study skills and habits that will serve them well in High School and beyond.

Guest speakers will be utilized when appropriate. Students will, on occasion, be released from this class anywhere from one minute to 10 minutes early and should be mature enough to be self-disciplined. Feedback will be provided to parents during each semester, but the final "grade" for this class will be the privilege and responsibility of the true "home school," the parents.

Titles to be considered for viewing: (plus additional movie clips)

1930's - The Thin Man TV series

1940's - Blondie TV series

1950's - Father Knows Best; Happy Days; Leave it to Beaver; The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

1960's - Gidget; That Girl; The Doris Day show

1970's - The Brady Bunch; The Partridge Family; Mrs. America

1980's - Growing Pains; Full House

1990's - Fresh Off the Boat; Family Ties; Home Improvement

*The personal lives & decisions of actors will not be the topic of discussion.

Fall Semester

The 30s-60s -

Roles of men, women, children, and family life.

Key events of the day will be covered, including the most impactful historical events of the time, not limited to wars, science, inventions, and human rights.

Spring Semester

The 70s-2010

Grades: 6-8

Day: Wednesday

Time: 12:30-1:30

Teacher: Mrs. Marlain Jones

Cost: $13/week for 32 weeks plus a one-time materials fee of $65