Scm vs Story of the World

The SCM history guides do not necessarily require the purchase of the living books you would read; we have found most of them at the library. Sometimes we have to go through interlibrary loan to acquire them, but it has worked out fine in most cases.  When we can’t get something at the library, we either borrow it from a friend or purchase a good used copy through Amazon, Homeschool Classifieds, VegSource, or local book fairs.

Anyways, last night I was going to explain WHY I prefer SOTW, but my battery died!

So one reason I just mentioned – SOTW is complete. You need nothing more than the book. So cheap! The activity book is optional, though I personally love it.

I like that with SOTW I have options – if I want to add a living book, I can. But if I don’t have time or availability, it’s not a big deal. With SCM the spines are necessary, not optional.

SOTW has far more and better hands on activities, which I like. It’s helps the history come alive.

I dislike the 6 year cycle of SCM – it’s too long and drawn out.

I find the geography dry. I also don’t like the integration. I prefer to do a year of world geography and culture before diving into history. It gives a better foundation (IMO).

At any rate those are my reasons 🙂

We used SotW for three years, when my oldest girl was in 1st – 3rd grades.  My girls really enjoyed the coloring pages while I read and the map work.

What we didn’t like was that we got really confused about all the people mentioned in the spine (the SotW reader).  And it seemed to jump around the world so much that we were even confused about what country we were in.

When it came time for SotW 4, we switched to SCM Modern (module 6 – I’m not sure they call them “modules” anymore) because I was concerned about the reviews SotW got on how they dealt with all the wars and the atrocities going on.

We always used the Activity Book that went with it. It took some getting used to not having the coloring pages and the map work so handy, but we managed.  And we ended up LOVING SCM.  Here’s what we liked about SCM:

-SCM schedules “living” books, books of good and great quality, right into your daily plan.  They also have a spine book, but it’s not used every day, so it doesn’t feel so much like a whirlwind visit.   I always felt like SotW gave me too many book recommendations, and some of the recommendations weren’t what I consider quality books. And I felt rushed through the “visits” to the various events.

-I appreciated the way SCM treated the wars and the atrocities that happened.  The bad was not sugar-coated, but neither was it unduly dwelt upon.  For the ages of my children back then (this would have been for my girls ages 9, 7, 5, and 3) it was fabulous.  The bad stuff was told, but there was always something good that happened in the bad situation that would give a person hope for the future.  So, the SCM curriculum sort of looked for the silver lining and told about the silver lining.

In order to have “coloring pages”, for the girls to listen to while I read, I started buying the Draw Through History books last year and for this year.  They are hard — and I needed to pause reading to help my girls with some of the drawing last year, but this year, they are more able to following the drawing steps and end up with a good product.  My girls are required to draw something out of the book that pertains to the time period we’re studying and I allow them to draw the same thing over and over, if they choose.  And they have gotten really good at drawing some of the pictures this year!

For mapwork, we’re following what’s in the SCM teacher guide – or I just do my own thing, either one works fine for us.

To satisfy my desire for an over-flowing book list, I use the All Through the Ages book — it’s essentially a great big list of great living books. Very few twaddly or stupid books.  (For example, Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile is NOT on the ATtA Ancient time period list like it is on the SotW Ancient time list.)  By using ATtA, I can substitute books for what’s listed in the SCM teacher’s guide or add to my daughter’s independent reading list.

I’m planning to keep on using SCM’s history, just adding books or substituting as I feel I need to.  And I’ll keep on using the Draw Through History books, too.

I should add that I do our history in a 4 year cycle — so for the Ancient time period, I simply combine all of the Ancient SCM book lists and pick and choose which we’ll use.  I parse out how which cultures to cover and how quickly, add books to make it work, and then do it.  It went pretty well for us last year.

So you’re not locked into a 6-year cycle, if you don’t want to be.

I hope this helps!

I went back and reread the OP’s questions, and I wanted to give simple, direct answers to them.  First, let me say welcome, Emily, to the wonderful world of Charlotte Mason methods of teaching.

As I mentioned in my previous post, SOTW is a history spine that covers ancient history through modern times, while the SCM guides are a set of lesson plans designed to give direction for teaching ancient history through modern times.

You could certainly use SOTW while adding in some or all of the living books recommended in the SCM guide.  You could also choose from among the suggested literature in the SOTW activity book.  See which ones your child enjoys.  In either case, you are not bound to use any particular books from either resource.  Use what works best for your family.

Welcome, Emily!  It can be hard to wrap your brain around a CM education in the beginning.  It’s very different from what we’ve been told is education, but so very wonderful.  This forum is a great place to receive guidance so always feel free to ask away.

As for SOTW, I do not prefer it but, as Sue stated, it is a spine, meaning you use it for the skeleton, if you will, to take you through history.  Sometimes the skeleton is enough and you don’t need extra reading.  However if you get to a topic for which you want more meat, add a living book.  For example, when you study Ancient Egypt in SOTW, you might add in Boy of the Pyramids (in fact, I assure you that you should because it’s a wonderful book!)  ?  You don’t have to add in extra for everything but living books will connect you to the people, places and events like no spine ever can.  If you need recommendations for living books, ask us.  We love to talk about them!?

I actually use both and am quite happy with the results! This was our first year of homeschool (1st grade), and we use the Genesis/Ancient Egypt book along with the Volume I of the SOTW.  I will not finish the SOTW book this year and will continue with it next year when we do Ancient Greece and move on to the 2nd for Rome.  My son is 6 and has truly loved history more than any other subject this year!

I found the Ancient Egypt and her Neighbors book to be a little too much for my son.  The chapters are extremely lengthy, and the writing style is a little over his head.  I still use the book for reference and for educating myself. Reading the SOTW book to him never feels like a chore, though! We also use the activity book and enjoy many of those activities.  The additional recommended reading material listed in the activity book is a wonderful resource to me!

I found the layout of the SCM history schedule to not really be meaty enough, even for my young student.  I simply wanted more in-depth history.  So, we do Bible and geography as recommended in the SCM schedule (Bible 3 days a week and Geography 1 day a week), but we do history (SOTW and additional materials I find) almost every day.

I would definitely encourage you to try the SOTW book, especially if you are getting a free copy! It’s not without flaws (I was disappointed that it completely skips over Ramses II and the Hittites), but it is well-written and fun.  Good luck!!