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Story of the World – Experience, Advice?
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Okay, so I have a dilemma…a bit of a clash between philosophy and experience. We’ve been doing our own history using All Through the Ages to choose our books. I had a sample on my Kindle of The Story of the World and began to read out of it for the couple of chapters I had gotten free…and my kids have retained more from just a couple of chapters in that book than all of the living books that we have been reading this year in history combined. I mean the remembering and talking about it later amongst themselves type of remembering! I am thinking of jumping into the Story of the World with both feet now (even though a SCM Module was in my mind for next school year) because they are getting so much out of it! Is The Story of the World able to be done for family history reading while adding in a living book here or there for my oldest to read on her own? I took a peek at a friend’s SOTW Activity book and I think my youngers would really gain alot from using it. Is this a clash of CM philosophy in your opinion… it a good idea?
We did our own thing for ancients the first rotation, as I felt my children were too young for some of the SCM resources like Herein is Love and Letters from Egypt. So we used a variety of books, including parts of SOTW1. We did not read the whole book, but read the sections that applied to the country of our study, mainly Egypt, China, Greece and Rome. We also used the Usborne Time Traveler and other living books on the topic. I don’t have and have not seen or used the SOTW activity guide; so no opinion there. I have also heard some families that supplement their history studies with the SOTW audio. The books are not expensive, only about $12. My dc enjoyed the stories in it.
I actually like SOTW and we have read all of them an enjoyed them. I was not homeschooling in the early years, but we got those books because the girls like history and we found them really enjoyable. I have Susan Wise Bauer’s history books for grown ups as well and they too are wonderful. If you like them, and the children do, then I would use them. I am a believer in using what works for us, and not be a slave to any one curriculum.
Hi Heather,
I use SOTW and love it. But all families differ in their opinions. I have completed vol.1 Ancients and we are using vol.2 Middle Ages at the moment. I use SOTW as the spine and supplement a lot with other books, picture books, fables, myths etc. The Activity Guides are a real blessing, as they cut out a lot of the work for you. They offer a list of related literature for each chapter and lots of fun activities. I just pick and choose what I feel appropriate for my family. As for the narrations, the chapters are just the right length and my 6 yr old can narrate from them easily. You can also use it for a wide range of ages, just beefing up with extra literature for the older kids. If you have any further questions, let me know I would be happy to answer them. SOTW definitely works for us, but I know that it is not for everyone.
I think that you have to do what works for you and, most importantly, your dc. As much as I love CM I’m certain there are subjects that we are not covering from a purely CM philosophy. Not because I don’t want to, necessarily, but just because I want to cover something in a different way, and I mean no offense to her philosophy, as it has helped me sooo much. What I am trying to adhere to in all of our subjects is the short lessons, attentiveness, narration of some kind, living books, penmanship, among other ideas as they apply. I have found that I can use something that is not necessarily CM (in the way she, Miss Mason, would have described/taught it), but I can use her “ideas” of what to “expect” from my dc or from myself when approaching/planning said program. Does that make sense??
We, too, have some SOTW products and I can’t say that I can remember as much from the audio version (Vol. 4, Jim Weiss narrator), but my oldest enjoys them. They’re too factual for me, but I know some who just love them. Also, we don’t have all the components, which might make a difference for me on how I view the program. I was the one many moons ago that was gaga over MOH. I just couldn’t make that work (CMing it, or not), maybe I could now, but I don’t know.
BTW, we are going to use something coming up soon that I don’t think Miss Mason would’ve thought was aligned with her philosophy. But now that I have a better handle on the way I want to approach it, I plan to keep her ideas, my dc’s personalities, and reality as my guide (and I have been praying a bunch!) no matter what the guide says.
HTH
I combine SOW with my SCM Module 2 ( the Greece study ). The length of chapters in SOW are just right for my kids and I find them to be fun and good ” living ” material for narrations.
I have the activity book but I honestly don’t have the time for much crafts. But the appendix has nice color worksheets and supplements that I use on a regular basis. Also, the extra literature suggestions are a great reference.
I, too, have All Through the Ages. Its my go- to source for extra reading material needed.
I didn’t even know there was an activity book, I’ll have to look that up. I am planning to do Mystery of History together w/SOW next year.
SOTW1 completely skips over the period of the judges, the kings of Israel, and the prophets. It covers Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and Jesus. It also begins with nomads instead of creation, so we are just adding in what is missing using SCM’s guides and our own timeline.
So this year we started with SOTW, went back and added creation and Noah, did SOTW up to Moses and then began using SCM Joshua-Malachi & Ancient Greece. I am using parts of SOTW about Greece for additional reading, but not as our core curriculum. Just fyi. 😉
Our co-op recommended SOW as a possible spine, so I bought volume 1, the accompanying vol. 1 activity book, and the vol. 1 audio recording. I find that we haven’t used volume 1 itself as a spine, leaning instead on a variety of living books. I also find that we don’t use the workbook much, using narration on our own and activities at co-op instead.
In spite of it not being much of a part of our “formal” curriculum, SOW audio is a CONSTANT presence in our house, however. Our boys (7 and 9) have really fallen in love with the audio recordings. They listened to vol. 1 of the recordings so much last fall that we bought them vol. 2-4 for Christmas…by far their favorite Christmas present.
They pick and choose among all four volumes for listening during their free time…not necessarily chronologically, although they tend to stick in a particular volume once they start. I get the feeling that they are absorbing history by being surrounded by it.
By the way, they also love the Weiss storytelling CDs…perhaps not the most CM because of the condensed storytelling, but, I believe, helpful in the long run in whetting their appetites for the books and helping them to understand potentially complex plots (Shakespeare, etc.).
Don’t know if this furthers the discussion, but just thought I’d mention how SOW fits in at our house.
Hey Heather….we tried STOW and our dd loved the audio, but I found holes in the text as it’s not necessarily in chronological order. As Amanda mentioned, it’s not Biblical and doesn’t line up with the Bible. We since have moved to MOH and really prefer that. Actually my kiddos really like it. I only schedule it 3 days a week and they usually ask about it on the off days. 😉 STOW does have some nice coloring pages and maps in the activity book if your kids like those types of things. It also gives booklists to supplement with. MOH does this as well. Best wishes in your decision, Melissa
Thanks for all of this advice ladies! I did try Mystery of History at the beginning of this year, but it moved so fast I couldn’t even remember what the lesson was about! I guess I was excited with the retention the kids had with SOTW, but since I’m not a history expert, I want to be able to trust whatever spine I choose. I guess it boils down to the fact that I’m scared to go with Module 2 next year, even though I do trust SCM wholeheartedly, for fear that I find that I am in yet another program that does not work for us. I love the freedom that using All Through The Ages gives me, but I need a schedule to follow because I get bogged down for too long in one time period.
I guess that’s another topic altogether!
Thanks Again!
We have been using SOTW for 2yrs now. We are currently near the end of vol 3. We are using it through Sonlight. We like it the readings are a good length. Because we are using it with Sonlight there are lots of living books to go with it. We have not used the activity books although they look fabulous, I think they look to young for my 14yr old DD.
It is kind of hard to comment without knowing the ages of your dc. But I will say that we loved SOTW and the Activity Books for each volume. We read The Golden Children’s Bible along with it so we got most of the Bible stories/Bible History in an enjoyable way. I hadn’t used the SCM modules back when we used this but they would probably help with lining up the Bible & History together. You can choose any resource and use it in a CM way so I wouldn’t be afraid of it in that regard. Narration and dictation are built into the Activity Books anyway so I would consider them CM resources. If they love it I would definitely go for it. You can still add in resources from All Through the Ages.
You have all helped me yet again! I think I need to get the guide for the SCM module and just use it alongside SOTW to make sure I’m not leaving anything important. I found a good deal on a new/used activity book that I can pick up from a friend on Friday, so it looks like we’re going for it!
I honestly don’t know what a mess I’d be without this forum! Thank you all again!!
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