Need Advice on History – SOTW

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  • September 23, 2009 at 8:01 pm
    frankancathy
    Participant

    Hey all.  I’ve switched homeschooling “genres” quite a bit but am now trying to stick pretty closely to Charlotte Mason’s model.  About the last hold out I have is Story of the World history. 

    And I LOVE the ease, the “one book,” their activity pages, etc. 

    The only problem I’m having is that one of my dd’s is NOT a good auditory learner.  I would let her read the book herself but the language is above her head.

    To be fair, we also tried A Child’s History of the World but encountered the same issue. 

    I’ve tried having her act it out, draw pictures, etc. but she is just not retaining the stories from one day to the next. 

    Any thoughts are welcome.

    Oh yes, if it’s a story that interests her, she can narrate it perfectly. 

    Thanks!

    September 24, 2009 at 1:08 am
    CindyS
    Participant

    Have you shortened the passages she is to narrate? I just had an experience with my son today where he kept saying, ‘I can’t’ and so I read one paragraph to him and he narrated that wonderfully. We then went on to the next paragraph, etc. This is different from your circumstance because in his case, I think it was more of ‘I won’t’ rather than ‘I can’t.’ But you may want to experiment a little until the reading is at a level she can retain.

    Blessings,

    Cindy

    September 24, 2009 at 3:19 am
    frankancathy
    Participant

    Cindy:

     

    After pondering it some more, I really think the language is simply too elevated for her.  Short of rewriting every single chapter in VERY condensed versions, I am at a loss.  She can’t even narrate a paragraph because she gets lost in the language. 

    September 24, 2009 at 10:24 am
    CindyS
    Participant

    Then you know what I’d do? I’d shelve it. I would look for some really easy books for her to read/narrate from the library. Of course, I’m guessing, but are you thinking she ‘should’ (using that term loosely!) be able to understand the vocabulary in this book? It may be that she is so heavily detail minded that she needs more of the overall picture before being able to dig deeper into the subject.  Perhaps once she has a basic understanding of a subject she could read something a little heavier later on. Our poor brains cannot always deal with new information plus new vocabulary (at least mine can’t!). Or it may be that she’s just not ready for that level book, and that’s okay. The curriculum guide here might be a good place to start looking for some books that you know will give her the information you want her to have without the distraction of the vocabulary for the time being.

    Blessings,

    Cindy

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