Questioning SOTW

[nitascool]

My ds8 really loved SOTW 1. He loved doing the narrations, he loved doing the projects and he loved doing the Student pages.

 

This year he hated SOTW 2. He complained to no end about narrations, so we had him do the questions, he complained about the questions and seemed to really not get it. My art and project loving ds even complained about the coloring and crafting. I like the info given in SOTW. I want him to "finish" the series. But he has gone from loving it to hating it in like 60 seconds.

 

The thing is that he can tell me everything he's ever read. I mean he can remember things he read four years ago. No just reciting what he read, but he's able to discuss it. So I know that he's getting it even if he isn't giving written output. So for my question...

 

Have any of you ever just had your child read the books and skipped all the AG material, questions and narrations for History?

 

This is what my dh and I are trying to decide for next year, if we did this he would do no writing whatsoever for history. He would read SOTW 3 and the book list for year 3 and 7. I would also have him listen to the CD and we would discuss everything orally.

 

If he sees a project that he wants to do we'll do it, but only if he wants to. Dh does think he should do the Student pages so we have a record that he did something for history next year.

 

We do have a separate writing curriculum for next year if that makes any difference.

[Book Crazy]

My ds, 8, is about to start reading through the books, one chapter a day, 4 days a week. This is not our focus for history this year, but something for him to do so he can an idea of what things have happened in history.

 

My ds really did not like the AG. He is not a crafty type person and not big on the narrations. I have bought the tests, so that after he has read a chapter, he can take the test, and I can see if he is understanding what he has read. The tests are one piece of paper, questions on both sides, per chapter. I may have him take every test or it may just be every other one.

 

I think that he will be fine if he does not do writing for history.

 

Our main focus of this year is mythology. It sounds so much more exciting to a 8 yo boy than history.

[nmoira]

Here's what we do...

 

We're using History Odyssey instead of the SOTW AG. I do the Usborne Encyclopedia entry, SOTW reading, CHOW reading, plus our supplemental narrative texts when appropriate (Our Island Story, Scotland's Story, etc.). The only hands on activity DD tends to do (unless there's something very cool) is map work. I'll use a few picture books from the recommended additional readings, and try to find one or more longer work per lesson: an historical novel, biography, retelling of myths or epics, or a collection of folktales. This works out to about an hour per day, with each lesson lasting about 2 weeks.

 

We don't do any written component, but will during the next history iteration.

[CoffeeBean]

We never used the extra material - just STOW book, library books for fiction and nonfiction, some vidoes They never took a test but we talked about the material. They are middle schoool aged and seem to have reatined more than I did. We did occasional projects which they usually came up with (sometinhg they saw and asked to do) and we kept a timeline.

 

I won't force they to do worksheets for history anymore than I would force tham to do worksheets for math. If they get it, they get and you can move on. Have Fun

 

CoffeeBean

[Jen500]

I can't comment on SOTW specifically because we don't use it. But my dss do tend to remember everything they read. I know my kids would prefer to have disussions with me about interesting things they have read, and then maybe pursue some topic that they want to learn more about.

[SkateLeft]

I used SOTW without the AGs, and my kids retained the material with no problems. (I did use the SOTW 1 AG with my ds last year, but my girls went through all four volumes without using the AGs much at all, other than for occasional supplementary reading.) They did the reading and we talked about it, but didn't need the bells and whistles provided by the AG.

[keptwoman]

I found asking DS to write his narrations was just too hard. So now we read it and he narrates to me while I type it up. I've also dropped using the word "narration" as it had negative connotations for him. I say "so tell me about what we read"

We put his retellings into a scrapbook along with maps, colouring in and photos of things that we do/make etc

[Arch at Home]

We read the text, do the maps and add a timeline entry for each chapter. The timeline and maps serves as an avenue to discuss the chapter but it is definitely not forced. I also have on hand books from the supplemental reading list. My oldest loves the steady flow of new books but is not required to read them.

[riada]

My dd9 is using SOTW and we don't do anything but read the chapters, some extra books on the topics that interest her, and keep a timeline. She prefers it this way and is retaining the information. I think history has to be enjoyed to be retained. If he doesn't like it the way you are currently doing it (narrations and AG) then try something else. I always think to myself how well I remember things I dislike- my answer is not very good. But if you give me something I am thoroughly enjoying then chances are good that I will remember it. Children are no different. So I think just using the book alone is worth a shot! Good luck.

[frogpond1]

and the material is more difficult in 2 than 1. You may find he really likes the third year of history with all the explorers and colonization etc. He may have really clicked with ancients the previous year. I know my kids really did. Don't give up on it, but perhaps do some things to excite him about the coming history. I'm not sure the age of your child, but perhaps you need to pare down the narrations and make them easier. I don't do child-written ones until 3rd grade myself. Even with a gifted child you need to watch expectations in the fine motor arena. Hope you have a lot of fun with SOTW 3. I'm really looking forward to doing it again next year myself.

[Peso]

to them. Over and over and over and over :)

 

The Jim Weiss audios are great. My kids remember tons from it and occasionally will come up with a project or do something on their own (such as reenacting a chapter, or painting/drawing something (my 6 year old drew the Pyramids at Giza today), but I usually have very little to do with it.

 

We love history, it's our favorite subject, and I love how the audios make it happen naturally.

 

Just my 2 cents :)

 

Penny

[Bloy]

Here's what we do...

 

We're using History Odyssey instead of the SOTW AG. I do the Usborne Encyclopedia entry, SOTW reading, CHOW reading, plus our supplemental narrative texts when appropriate (Our Island Story, Scotland's Story, etc.). The only hands on activity DD tends to do (unless there's something very cool) is map work. I'll use a few picture books from the recommended additional readings, and try to find one or more longer work per lesson: an historical novel, biography, retelling of myths or epics, or a collection of folktales. This works out to about an hour per day, with each lesson lasting about 2 weeks.

 

We don't do any written component, but will during the next history iteration.

 

Wow, this is what we do, too! We like History Odyssey, but my son sometimes wants to do the crafty stuff, but usually doesn't. But then my 4 year-old enjoys a lot of the crafts, so he'll do them...

 

But I do have my 7 year-old do the maps, and he enjoys them. He loves to read, and will read all day... So, I just keep lots of the books from the HO bibliography on hand, and we do read SOTW together (with younger brother).

 

If you son remembers what you read, then I would have him do the writing and stuff. Discussion of what is interesting, and here I see the brilliance of Charlotte Mason style narration/ dictation, where you write down what the child tells you but doesn't do the writing him/her self... (which we don't formally do, but will try after we move :) )...

But I wouldn't be strict about it, just make a record of what interested the child--but not ask that they recall specific things.

 

There are so many good picture books, magazines, historical fiction, myths out there to really put meat on the bones of SOTW.

[Nestof3]

My 8 year old son loves the audio books and has listened ahead of us in the text. He will listen to his favorite parts over and over again. When I do read a chapter, he remembers as soon as I start and usually comments on whether it is a good chapter or not.

 

We do the questions and map work, but my son LOVES answering questions. We NEVER do the crafty things, though we do hands-on papercrafts for science. My youngest son loves the paper crafts and doesn't catch on to as much of the SOTW as his older brother.

 

Nathan loves history, though, and also loves listening to Our Island Story. I just try to surround him with great history resources and not worry about the questions. Eventhough we do them because he wants to, I really know he already knows the answers.

 

During Bible time, Nathan will add more information to the historical portion of the story because he retains so much. I don't feel children need to be questioned all the time if they retain information. A subtle way to narrate would be to have your child tell your husband what he learned in history. At least for my son, he would love to talk endlessly about what he's learned. ;)

[gandpsmommy]

My dd responded very similarly to SOTW, vol. 1. She *hated* doing narrations. But she was fine with listening to the cd's. I, too, worried about the lack of evidence that we had actually done something for history. So, I ended up getting another hands-on unit to complete as well. This year, I'm planning on either having her just read the book or reading it with her and then just exploring in more depth topics that she finds especially interesting. I figure we can find books at the library or ideas for projects without following the AG. We did do a few of the projects this year, but on the whole I would say the AG was wasted money for us.

[Testimony]

Yes, I have just used the book. For Volumes 3 and 4, we only read the book, did the maps, and narrated. We did not always do the crafts. I am craft-challenged.

 

Blessings in your homeschool journey.

 

Sincerely,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[dmchr6]

Ds hated writing too, because his fine motor skills didn't match how fast his brain was going. I finally realized that handwriting and writing are two totally separate subjects, and it sometimes take kids (especially boys) MUCH longer to be able to write as fast as they can think of what they're going to say. So I didn't make him write anything for a long time, we just informally discussed it. My dd on the other hand, loved to write and never had a problem with making her history pages (crafty or writing or otherwise.)

 

If your son is getting it and understanding it, there's really no reason to do the more formal stuff, it'll come. We would still practice narrations to help my son organize his thoughts, sometimes I'd write or type it for him, sometimes i wouldn't. The most important thing is you really don't want to kill his love of learning! Ask him what he hates and let him choose what you do. I could see my son was hating writing, so I didn't make him for about 4 years. At age 11, he started loving it and even dictated a whole (short) novel and soon after he could type fast enough to get his words down and now he's a great writer (14 years old.)

 

Even now my son recalls stories from history I read 6 years ago and *I* won't even have a clue what he's talking about! :)