~Amanda~ Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 I'm trying to decide between the two, and I just am not sure which I should go with. Its for my K4 DD so we most likely won't be utilizing everything it has to offer, but I do want something with state study as well as american history, since once she reaches first I will be doing the 4 year cycle and she won't likely get any other american history in. have you used either one? both? what did you like? dislike? what would you change about it? anything to help me decide... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PachiSusan Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Interested as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleEJ Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 I just bought Elemental History to use with my 5.5 year old DS. Like you I wanted to do some American History and states before starting the history cycles. We haven't started yet, waiting on the books from Amazon. But I have gone through it pretty well and I think it will be a good fit. Just the right amount of work for a K'er. I am exited to get started. Let me know if you have questions and I can try to answer them :-). Melissa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksr5377 Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 I'm using Elemental History with DDs 6 & 4. DD4 was not ready to start Ancients and I would like to keep them combined for history. I was looking for something that would give us a little US history background. We always read the narrative in EH while they color a picture. We usually read at least one more picture book to go along with the topic. The books she recommends are good, although I haven't been able to find all of them at the library. I also like that she recommends a posible early reader book as well. We're also reading the optional read-alouds, but we're not on schedule. Most of the activities have been a hit, the ones they haven't liked were mainly because they were too simple for my kids. They wanted a big projects/craft to do. I have been happy with all them. I wish the State Flag stickers were included, but they weren't that hard t find. DD6 does at least one narration page each week and sometimes does the optional copywork, DD4 sometimes draws a picture. I like how easy it is to make it as difficult/easy as you want. The only book I'm not thrilled with is Smart About the Fifty States. On one hand, I like how simple it is. On the other hand, it's almost TOO simple. DD6 usually ends up asking questions I can't answer about the states and we end up online. I'm looking for something more detailed, but we're on week 18 so I don't know if I'll ever change it or not. Also, I appreciated the materials list on the last page. I just copied it to put in my planner so I know what we'll need every week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Amanda~ Posted February 10, 2013 Author Share Posted February 10, 2013 I'm feeling like EH is where I'm leaning toward, just because they seem to appreciate the 4-year cycle. I'm just wondering how well the state study is, and if there is a decent amount of geography involved. If not, I suppose I could supplement, but I'm trying to ind something that has everything I want, I've learned from experience that if I try to piece things together, nothing will get done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 I'm leaning toward Elemental History next year for a 4 and 6 year old. Question for those that have used it: so are the read-alouds scheduled in the teacher's guide, and do they tie in to the other work during the week? (...or are they completely separate and therefore easily substituted or left off.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom2011 Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 n/m Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksr5377 Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 I'm leaning toward Elemental History next year for a 4 and 6 year old. Question for those that have used it: so are the read-alouds scheduled in the teacher's guide, and do they tie in to the other work during the week? (...or are they completely separate and therefore easily substituted or left off.) The read-alouds are scheduled but completely not necessary. If you wanted you could just read the narrative from the teacher's guide and be done. I have a friends who is using it this way, she doesn't add the read-alouds or picture books etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticadea Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 the Smart about 50 states isn't getting great reviews, so I was planning to try out the united states of america: a state by state guide to use with this next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 The read-alouds are scheduled but completely not necessary. If you wanted you could just read the narrative from the teacher's guide and be done. I have a friends who is using it this way, she doesn't add the read-alouds or picture books etc. Thanks for the info! (I plan on using read-alouds, but it's nice to know I won't ruin the whole program if we get behind or skip one. :p :p) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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