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History Genesis – Joshua Seasoned users Help me decide
- This topic has 6 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 10 months ago by
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I have been home schooling my children for 3 years now and am not sure how to classify our family. We have followed the WTM guides for the most part. I have read many many good reviews of SOTW, but I have read some bad ones as well. My problem is that everything sounds great, but then there is the reality of doing all of this “great stuff.‘ I want to experience History in a real way, but I don’t want all of our reading time to be spent in History. Many of the programs I have looked at have huge lists of costly resources. There are soooo many “readers, read alouds, spines. My head is spinning. We want a well rounded history program, but we want time to read Henry Huggins and Charlotte’s Web together! I am enjoying this type of literature with my children like it was the first time I am reading the books. Sometimes it is the first time I have had the opportunity to read these Classical Literature Books. I really want a chronological study for my children but I don’t want everything to be about “Ancient Egypt. I have read a little from the Simply Charlotte Mason Genesis-Joshua Guide and I really appreciate the attitude of opening the door and exploring a little about the “gods and mythology” but not getting engrossed (especially in the grammar stage).
I have considered Veritas Press and Story of the World. I actually found a website “Easy Classical” that meshes the two programs together. Easy Classical suggests books for Early Readers and Read Alouds. It seems really great, but I have been trying to decide whether to do this for a while. I have not committed and I think it’s because deep down in my heart I know that I can’t pull off all the reading material assigned and if I do pull it off someone or something will be sacraficed. Easy Classical narrows downt the suggested reading lists from both VP and SOTW, but it seems like it still might be too much for us. I’m not sure my son (6) is ready to sit still and listen to God King, Mara, Golden Goblet. Can I even read these? How do you get through all of the names?
I have been on the WTM forum and heard people talking about SCM and I was up to all hours of the night looking things over. I like what I see. I was just hoping some seasoned users could tell me why they like SCM History Guides. Please be hones with me and tell me your dislikes too if there are any. There is not enough positive talk on the WTM forum for me to commit yet. My biggest concern would be is there enough history. I have heard talk that the older edition was set up differently and now the Ancient Egypt is sprinkled throughout Module 1. We have spent the whole year reading the “Child’s Story Bible” by Catherine Vos and we are anxious to see how the history of mankind is woven throughout the Bible. Does SCM do a good job of BALANCING both BIBLE and HISTORY OF MANKIND?
Another concern that I have is the reading material. Do you like the “spine type books” she has assigned and the additional readings? I read a small piece of one book (Oxford….Ancient History…) can’t remember the exact title. The only piece of info. posted on amazon was of the Ice Age and Old World stuff. It seemed a little dry for my 2nd and 3rd graders. Not at all what I had in mind for a CM Living Book. Any opinions? Do you have an alternative suggestion to this source? Also, I have read posts with mothers like me who don’t like introducing books to our children where we pick and choose what is true and what is not. I know that they will eventually run into “Old Earth, Evolution.” I’m just not prepared. I just have faith and believe that there is a God who created the earth in the 7 days that He said He did. Oxford is not a book I feel that I can put in the Book Basket. That would be like putting a book about Sex in the book basket. NOT READY.
My final concern would be that I have a 2 day a week schedule for history (Tues. Thurs.) and on Friday, I like to work on notebooking (timeline), hands on activities and map work. Can I swing it? Any suggestions on how to break the material up. Is anyone else doing a 2 day schedule instead of 5? I’d like to hear about how you make the schedule work for you vs. working for the schedule. Well I guess we are kind of doing a three day schedule, but I try to keep our Fridays light because sometimes we take a long weekend and I like to have Fridays be more of a Family Day where we do “alternative school” (cleaning house, baking, art, etc.etc.etc.)
What I really liked about SCM is that the reading material assigned seemed age appropriate (especially in the younger years) I’m uncertain of what I think about the 8 GR+ years. I do like that my two older children would be able to history along with their younger sister when she is old enough to join in.
I’d like to hear from anyone about SCM History guides and what you like and dislike about them. I’m just tying to get as much information about it before I decide.
Thank you,
April Pappas; Home school mother of daughter 8, son 6, daughter 3!
Hi April,
We used the Module 1 SCM History Guide last year. I will be back on the computer tonight and tell you our likes and dislikes. You will surely hear from others by then but wanted to let you know your question is being contemplated.
Best,
Richele
Thanks Richele.
I look forward to hearing from you and others. I am wanting to make a decision and start my summer break. My mind just won’t rest until this decision is put to rest. I’m going to be praying as well. I’m horrible at making decisions. I’m always second guessing and wondering if I’m doing right by my kids. I guess the first right thing I did for them was keep them close to me .
Hi April,
Here we go. You said “I really want a chronological study for my children but I don’t want everything to be about “Ancient Egypt. ”
Charlotte Mason (and SCM) definitely is a different method than this approach. CM wants you to spread a generous feast for your child, not just serve them one thing all the time – even in different forms. In talking about a unit study type approach, CM said something to the effect that by the time the children build the ladder to pick the apple, they’ve long since lost the taste for it.
A quick background on us…these are our family’s goals for history ala CM:
See God’s economy throughout history.
Know something of what has gone before in order to think justly of what is occurring today.
Inculcate a sane and serviceable patriotism.
Understand people’s roles in history.
Learn from history’s accomplishments and mistakes.We started in AO, learned a lot and enjoyed ourselves but we weren’t reaching our goals with AO history. This was a heavy schedule for us (and that was only with one officially registered). Looking back at the end of the year, I realized we hadn’t gotten all the outside time we needed but kept plugging away to get through it all (yes, all my fault). What would I do when schooling two or more?
The SCM handbook allowed us to stay in the 20 minute time frame and learn together as a family. It is Biblical in its approach and whoa, did we LOVE the table showing how God used each of the ten plagues to reveal Himself as the one true God while exposing the falseness of the Egyptian gods. For us, this was so important as, let’s face it, Ancient Egypt is a completely fascinating subject.
We used the first edition of Genesis through Deuteronomy and Ancient Egypt. I was happy to know that it has been redone to weave the Ancient Egypt in with the Bible reading. My sister will be using the new edition with her five children this year and we went over all the book selections together. I have mine lent out to a friend who is considering it right now but if I remember correctly, Croconile and Seeker of Knowledge are no longer listed in the 1-3 grades. We loved these particular books and they were both at our library. Shipwrecked Sailor by the particular author listed wasn’t but can be found in almost any anthology of stories from Ancient Egypt. If you want to add Jewish stories to your library basket, I suggest checking the book list from the PJ Library. You may even be able to sign your children up to receive free Jewish content books for a year. We also watched Ark Discovery Int’l‘s free video of archealogy showing Sodom & Gomorrah, Noah’s Ark, the Red Sea Crossing location, and Mt. Sinai. We watched these some evenings as a family.
Our family absolutely loved Boy of the Pyramids. I think I myself learned more about Ancient Egypt from that one book alone than I knew in my whole life. It’s a really fun mystery.
Whatever you decide, April, you are right to make it a prayed about decision. Though we were happy with our decision to use these and plan on using them for two rotations, it must work for your family. I can say that I loved the format – it was easy to follow, combines all ages, and has God and His will throughout history at the center.
Dislikes, none really. I did suggest to my sister to put the aforementioned books back in because I know her children will love them. I’m sure Sonya took them out because they are probably out of print and she is sensitive to us paying inflated prices. I don’t know about the spines as we didn’t use any. I thought the balance was really good but then again, we used the first edition. I did feel the freedom with this schedule to take anything out I wanted to if I wanted to have more classic literature. It’s completely flexible. I’ll bet we all concur with CM when she says “home is the best growing-ground for children.”
I can’t answer your scheduling questions. I felt comfortable with the SCM schedule in this book as it incorporates geography and the Bible as well and those were additional subjects scheduled in our year with AO. My schedule from this last year is here.
HTH some.
Peace and joy to you!
Richele
Thank you Richele for taking the time to reply. It sounds like you were very happy with the SCM guide and had the freedom to use it to fit the needs of your family instead of trying to fit your family to meet the demands of the schedule (not that SCM is a demanding coarse). I need to ask the Lord to help me with this. I need to feel free the make the schedule work for me and not work for the schedule with whatever guide I choose. That occured to me as I was reading your post and I have also read other posts where parents did not enslave theselves to the suggestions in a guide, but selected guide suggestions to make a memorable experience for their children.
Blessings,
April
I agree w/ Richele as evidenced by another post and though I haven’t used module 1, I did use module 3 last year.
HISTORY – Yes, I whole heartedly think that SCM has more than enough history and I love that it incorporates so much Biblical history. (This is one reason SCM takes 3 years to get through ancients when other programs take 1 year.) Think of it as giving the children mental hooks that their future learning can hang on. There is no need to drown them in it during their first pass.
SPINES – SCM uses only sections of the Oxford First Ancient History to give a taste of what daily life was like during the time period. I used it with module 3 and we enjoyed it. No, it’s not a living book, imo, but it is a good way to get some of those details. This book is used in modules 1-3, I believe, and is valuable for what it contributes, however, there are other books that could meet this need. Growing Up in Ancient Rome is recommended and while not as comprehensive, it is similar. We don’t keep OFAH in our book basket, but pull it out when needed. Substituting books is fine and sometimes necessary if you’re a library user (I’m not.). We dropped A Traveller in Rome b/c it was too much for us (oldest was 8) and grabbed Rome Antics instead and that was a better fit for my kids.
SCHEDULE – I used the schedule as is b/c it included Biblical history, geography & map drill, Ancient Roman history and allowed up to keep our short lessons. I am using Module 4’s schedule as is, too. I don’t think that 2 days would be enough time to cover a week’s worth of material. For example, in module 3, days 1 & 2 were Bible (a chapter a day), day 3 was geography & map drill, days 4 & 5 were Ancient Rome. Keeping the CM principle of short lessons in mind, going from 5 to 2 days would be impossible. Now, if you wanted to take 2 weeks to cove each week, that could work.
LIKES/DISLIKES – I liked everything about the handbook we used and even liked the one book we dropped. I have no dislikes to speak of.
COMPARISONS – I have read WTM, used AO & HIFI, bought TOG twice, read/listened to vol 1 of SOTW, to name a few. In my opinion SCM is the best in regards to implementing CM methods (esp. with multiple kids) in a simple and non-threatening manner. WTM & SOTW are not exactly CM friendly and we didn’t care for SOTW audio anyway. We prefer the Famous Men series recommended by SCM. AO & HIFI have some great book suggestions, though I’d postpone many of them and neither of these combine multiple ages like SCM, which is important to me.
HTH,
Christie
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