History & Geography text suggestions?

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  • January 30, 2008 at 5:54 pm
    hsmom22
    Participant

    Hi,

    I have 7- and 5-year-old boys, and I am looking for history and geography text suggestions. We have been using Story of the World on CD, but I’m not sure I like it anymore (but I do like the activity guide), and I’m thinking of switching to something else. Any recommendations?

    TIA,

    Michelle

    January 30, 2008 at 6:55 pm
    hvfth99
    Member

    Hi, Michelle. I just started using A Child’s Geography last week. I love it! They do not have a print version available yet, but you can get it as an e-book. They also offer the first 3 chapters as a free download, which is how I started it. The website is http://www.achildsgeography.com

    As for history, I am still searching for something. I was thinking of starting A Child’s History of the World, which is what this website recommends, but I haven’t been able to get my hands on it to look it over first.

    Good luck in your search!

    Faith 🙂

    January 30, 2008 at 8:11 pm
    Sonya Shafer
    Moderator

    What time period are you in now, Michelle?

    January 31, 2008 at 1:32 am
    cherylramirez
    Participant

    For history I’d like to suggest Truthquest Hisotry.com. It is a Charlotte Mason type history program and it is Christian-based and relies totally on living books. It’s extremely easy to use and I will never to history any other way.

    January 31, 2008 at 4:12 am
    hsmom22
    Participant

    Thanks for the suggestions; I’ll definitely check them out. Sonya, in answer to your query, we are doing Ancient History right now. If you have any recommendations for living books for that time period, I’d really appreciate hearing them.

    Thanks,

    Michelle

    January 31, 2008 at 9:51 pm
    CindyS
    Participant

    Michelle,

    I’d suggest you take a look at the curriculum guide on this site. Your children are still quite little and so I don’t think you will need much to get them through many books. An activity book from the library and a couple of read alouds plus perhaps some independent reading for your older one will probably be all you get through for younger students. My highschool daughter is currently going through the Truthquest Ancient history and it is really good for her. I like it for the older ones because the author (another Michelle, I think!) gives a very thorough commentary.

    Blessings,

    Cindy

    January 31, 2008 at 9:51 pm
    CindyS
    Participant

    Michelle,

    I’d suggest you take a look at the curriculum guide on this site. Your children are still quite little and so I don’t think you will need much to get them through many books. An activity book from the library and a couple of read alouds plus perhaps some independent reading for your older one will probably be all you get through for younger students. My highschool daughter is currently going through the Truthquest Ancient history and it is really good for her. I like it for the older ones because the author (another Michelle, I think!) gives a very thorough commentary.

    Blessings,

    Cindy

    January 31, 2008 at 9:53 pm
    CindyS
    Participant

    OOPS! Now how’d I do that? Sorry.

    Cindy

    January 31, 2008 at 11:09 pm
    Sonya Shafer
    Moderator

    You could also browse the CM Bookfinder‘s history entries for grades 1 and 2.

    February 1, 2008 at 8:15 pm
    genevieve
    Member

    Would you mind sharing what you don’t like about Story of the World? We are considering buying it, I think my kids would love the activity guide. But I wonder if the reading will eventually become dull, as we are used to reading books from many different authors.

    Is it worth the investment?

    February 1, 2008 at 10:04 pm
    hvfth99
    Member

    I would like to thank cherylramirez for the wonderful suggestion of Truthquest History. I checked it out the other day, and it looks to exactly what I’m looking for in a history program! I am putting it on my wish list! Thanks so much!

    Faith 🙂

    February 1, 2008 at 10:23 pm
    hsmom22
    Participant

    I’m sorry I gave that impression, Genevieve. It’s not that I don’t like it, per se, it’s just I’m not sure I like it in the CD format, I should have said. The material in SOTW is good, although I have found it to be a tad graphic at times for my 7 and 5 year old. I thought the lessons on CD would give my little guys some variety, but I have found this format to be a little inconvenient for us, especially if someone asks a question or I need to clarify something in the middle of the lesson (which I frequently do). Because of this, there is a lot of jumping up and down to stop the machine or rewind, and then the overall lesson doesn’t seem to flow as smoothly as I’d like. The activity guide is great, though! My kids have really enjoyed doing the projects, and it does make a huge difference to link the lesson with a related activity. If you’re not sure about getting SOTW, check to see if your library (or one in your library’s network) has it before you buy it. Sometimes they do (mine did), and then you can check it out firsthand. Good luck!

    Michelle

    February 1, 2008 at 11:11 pm
    genevieve
    Member

    Thanks, Michelle, for clarifying! I found a good deal on half.com for the first book. If we like it, we’ll order the activity guide as well. Do you think it is worth it to buy the extra sheets?

    February 2, 2008 at 1:26 am
    hsmom22
    Participant

    I really think the activity guide is a good investment, Genevieve. Initially, I thought it was just going to be hands-on projects and additional suggested reading (which in and of itself would have been great), but it is SO much more. It includes review questions, narration exercises, additonal history reading, corresponding literature suggestions, and map work, to name a few. Personally, I don’t think you need to purchase extra sheets. There are ‘Student Pages’ at the end of the activity guide, mostly coloring pages and map work, and this section takes up more than half of the book. Also, I could be wrong, but I think I read somewhere that the extra sheets are just duplicates of what is already in the guide as the ‘Student Pages’. I wouldn’t want you to waste your money, so I’d just check on that to be sure. I think if you have the book and the activity guide, you’ll be all set.

    HTH,

    Michelle

    February 8, 2008 at 2:27 pm
    BarbaraArenburg
    Member

    Hi,Just discovered the forum site and thought I would add my two cents. We are doing Story of the World with our 9 year old and twin 6 year olds. Our nine year old is obviously getting much more out of it, but they all do love the program and there is always excitement on Tues and Thurs when they realize it is history day. I think what makes the program is doing all the extra reads from living books. We have 3 novels as a read aloud (along with many other books from the library)for the year that they are all consumed with at the end of the lesson. What has made it for me was a friend who recommended buying “All Through the Ages: History through Literature Guide” by Christine Miller. I can’t say enough about that resource. It is divided up into time periods and also divided into ages/grades for you, and even further divided into biographies, culture, historical fiction, you name it! We love having that to help us pick really good living books to go along with our Story of the World. The activity book for Story of the World is also a big hit where the kids get to do some hands on stuff.

    Barbara

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