Story of the World vs. Mystery of History

[mrsmicah]

Hi there,

 

I am a newish homeschooler, well we've done this for two years now, but I still feel like I am walking around in cirlcles! Anyway we have four girls ages 7, 5.5, 4, 2.5 and then a boy 10 months old. Needless to say it gets crazy around here!

 

I am very interested in using Adventures in My Father's World, but then I also think I like Story of the World (which I see that MFW does do later) and Mystery of History. I really like that MOH outlines everything by showing God's hand in history. But then I found out that it is not a complete set yet! Which isn't so bad for the first 3 years, but aren't there 2 more volumes to go? Someone said that it would take the author 3-4 years per volume to finish! So what would we do once we are done with 1-3?

 

So because of that I have looked at SOTW. I hated history when I was in school, but I am really excited about a "story" and I think it would make it much more grabbing (for my short attetion span as well as the kids!).

 

So I just wondered what you all thought.

 

Also would it be just as easy and a whole lot cheaper to do SOTW or MOH and Apologia's elelmentary sciences with my girls rather than MFW?

 

Just wondering!

 

Thanks!

 

Shannon Mallory

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Well, SOTW and MOH are very different in their approach. MOH is a Biblical History of the World and SOTW world is not. It depends what your focus will be in their education. You can certainly tie in Biblical History with SOTW, but MOH was written for that. I had a couple of friends with both and I "looked" at them first. If you can do that, it would make it much clearer for you.

[JudoMom]

We did SOTW for our first cycle, and have just started Mystery of History for our 2nd cycle, supplementing with SOTW.

 

I think SOTW is a much more engaging text. We're listening to it on CD (1 chapter a week), and I plan on doing some of the map work and color pages.

 

However, MOH does have the Biblical history woven in. One of my great complaints from my childhood is that I always thought of the Biblical people living on a different continent, away from the people I heard about in "real" history in school. So we're doing MOH 4 days a week. I'm not sure I like the writing style much, but I like the information so we're going with it.

 

Last I heard there will only be 4 volumes, and it would be out in time for me to use it (although I'm not sure we'll stick with MOH that long, since I mostly want the Biblical history woven in. But I won't bore you with those ramblings :lol:).

[christielee7278]

We are using both. MOH 1 is our spine and we are listening to SOTW 1 cds.

 

Right off I noticed something I really dislike with SOTW. I had to keep stopping the cd to explain things to my 5 yr old. The myths and stories are confusing him because he can't decide if they are real or not. The story of the Nile and the pharaoh coming back to life threw him for a loop even with me explaining! I'm seriously considering just letting my oldest (11 yr old) listen to the cds and just using MOH with my youngers. Although I like the flow of the cd and the stories myself, it definitely it won't be something they listen to by themselves.

[siloam]

Hi there,

 

I am a newish homeschooler, well we've done this for two years now, but I still feel like I am walking around in cirlcles! Anyway we have four girls ages 7, 5.5, 4, 2.5 and then a boy 10 months old. Needless to say it gets crazy around here!

 

I am very interested in using Adventures in My Father's World, but then I also think I like Story of the World (which I see that MFW does do later) and Mystery of History. I really like that MOH outlines everything by showing God's hand in history. But then I found out that it is not a complete set yet! Which isn't so bad for the first 3 years, but aren't there 2 more volumes to go? Someone said that it would take the author 3-4 years per volume to finish! So what would we do once we are done with 1-3?

 

So because of that I have looked at SOTW. I hated history when I was in school, but I am really excited about a "story" and I think it would make it much more grabbing (for my short attetion span as well as the kids!).

 

So I just wondered what you all thought.

 

Also would it be just as easy and a whole lot cheaper to do SOTW or MOH and Apologia's elelmentary sciences with my girls rather than MFW?

 

Just wondering!

 

Thanks!

 

Shannon Mallory

 

Shannon,

 

The 4th an LAST volume is due out around 2012, maybe 2013. It will be the biggest of the 4 volumes, so it is going to take a bit longer. Linda is in the process of writing it. It will take 1-2 years after it is written to go through the publishing process.

 

Originally there were 5 volumes planned, but there a series of events the Publisher figured out most MOH users still planned to do a separate US history program, and most preferred a 4 year world history program, so it was decided to make MOH 4 volumes and just do more of an overview the US history.

 

Here is one of my reviews of the two programs. I actually did MOH the text and SOTW in CD form (which worked really well). I didn't try to coordinate them either, we just listened to SOTW in the car when running errands, and read MOH at school time. My oldest two enjoyed the CD's so much they ended up listing to them two more times though up in their room that year.

 

To be honest with the ages you have I would lean towards advising you to use MOH for year 1 then switching to SOTW for year 2-4. Then you can come back and do MOH, the whole series. (Or MFW-I would think someone using MFW would have figured out how to substitute MOH by now.) Why? Because your kids are young and there is a definite jump in volume, content and detail between MOH 1 and MOH 2. I am concerned that only your oldest could follow MOH 2. I used MOH with a 1st grader (my oldest) and I was able to do MOH 2 in 2nd grade, but she is a serious history buff. I know my other two girls wouldn't have been able to do MOH 2 in 2nd grade.

 

BTW in the interest of full disclosure I am listed on Linda's website (the http://www.TheMysteryofHistory.com one) as a contact for more information. It isn't a paid position, and I have refused free curriculium. I help so that she has more time to write, and because neither Linda or the publisher expect me to sell MOH. They expect me to answer the questions the same way I would here, even if that advice is that SOTW would better meet your needs.

 

Heather

 

[Donna A.]

Right off I noticed something I really dislike with SOTW. I had to keep stopping the cd to explain things to my 5 yr old. The myths and stories are confusing him because he can't decide if they are real or not. The story of the Nile and the pharaoh coming back to life threw him for a loop even with me explaining! I'm seriously considering just letting my oldest (11 yr old) listen to the cds and just using MOH with my youngers. Although I like the flow of the cd and the stories myself, it definitely it won't be something they listen to by themselves.

 

This is why we don't like SOTW 1. I've bought and sold it twice. *IF* I was going to use that volume, I'd use it alongside something more biblical like MOH. Although I also figure there's a reason that MFW didn't include volume 1 in their series, but did include volumes 2-4. ;) But since I don't personally believe there is such a thing as a "neutral" education, there are just too many stories told in such a way in volume 1 that leaves you wondering. If you aren't strong in your faith and biblical discernment of the things from that time period, it's not a good idea. (JMO -- not to start controversy, but to explain why WE aren't using it.)

 

We did MFW Adventures three (well, almost four) years ago and really enjoyed it. It's a fun, one-year overview of the key places, people and events that a kid of that age should know. In Bible you learn about the names and characteristics of Jesus, and the simple science experiment are a fun introduction to the basic concepts of science, focusing on topics that go along with the names of Jesus (i.e., the Bread of Life, so you work with yeast, learn about the meaning of Communion, etc.) And then art and music tie in with the history and Bible themes, too.

 

Would it be cheaper to do MOH/SOTW? I don't know, because you'd still have to buy materials for all your mapwork, timeline, activities, etc. And you'd still have to buy something for science and Bible, art and so on. MFW is very complete. They've also chosen inexpensive options for math and LA if you choose to use their recommendations (though you don't have to).

 

MFW Rome to Reformation, Expl-1850 and 1850-Modern (which include volumes 2-4) are geared toward older students with youngers simply enjoying the fun stuff at the grammar stage level. Yes, those three years do include SOTW, which Susan wrote geared toward younger students (with the possible exception of volume 4). But MFW uses other spines for the older kids along the way, not just SOTW. Because MFW is intended for multi-age family use, they have to include a number of different level books in those older programs. Thus, Adventures is the one you'd want for your children's ages. It's a fun year. :)