How do you use and schedule SOTW?

[Cake and Pi]

Just looking for some ideas!  I'm considering changing things up for next year.  

 

[ScoutTN]

We have done it several ways.
Old way:
2 or 3 days a week. I read; kids answer questions and narrate. Maps, sometimes coloring. Loads of library books. 3-5 projects per year. Very planned out. Always finished in the school year. 2-3 RAs a year from history

Now:
Dd uses Human Odyssey as her spine, so we listen to SOTW in the car, often in big chunks . I work with Ds on some narrations and 2-3 projects per year. He does one history narration most weeks. We read and discuss lots of library books. Map work is occasional, though we often look up relevant places on a map or globe. Still do history RAs. We do history year round and don't worry about fitting it neatly into a school year. I don't plan out SOTW except to reserve library books and keep the audiobook in my van. I am comfortable with a looser approach rhis second time through, with Ds as my main student and Dd doing a parallel study using other books.

 

Failed way:

We tried the block/loop schedule at the beginning of this year and it just didn't work for us. My kids would rather keep up with everything every week. 

Edited April 26, 2016 by ScoutTN

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

This year, I wanted to focus more on American History. I use it as our spine, and then I schedule mini unit studies around some key periods/events where we delve I to topics more. I am also tying in state history. I may skip some chapters to streamline our focus.

[rutheart]

Monday: I read aloud a chapter of SOTW, then my 11yo reads corresponding pages from history encyclopedias.

Tuesday: 11yo does a chapter outline and maybe reads a library book; I read aloud a library book to 6yo

Wednesday: 11yo reads a current events article online and then discusses it over mealtime, she may also do mapwork or read a library book; I read aloud a library book to my 6yo

Thursday: 11yo may do an activity from the activity guide and/or read a library book; 6yo may also do an activity or I read aloud another library book

Friday: same as Thursday

 

Some weeks my 6yo may be done with history by Wednesday, depending on what I could find at her level at the library, and if there were any activities in the activity guide at her level. Some weeks we may watch a movie related to a particular place/time. Sometimes the library books are more geography/mythology than historical, depending on what's available. A lot of times I'll just flag sections of books for my 11yo to read, rather than require to read an entire volume (i.e. in a book about communism, she reads the one chapter about Stalin). When we get to big events, we slow down and spend a second week reading library books and watching movies.

 

It all sounds dry and boring when I write it out, but the kids aren't bored. They enjoy history way more than I ever did in school.

 

Ruth

[jens2sons]

Using the Sonlight readers to go along with the SOW books works great.  I don't have to think about what books to search for at the library.  I just look at their list and purchase off of Amazon as I need them.  The books that are listed in the SOW AG stress me out because most of them aren't carried at my library and when I've looked for them on Amazon, I'm not that impressed with many of them because they are short reads (hence the library list).  

 

We do SOW 3 days a week and the other two days are science days.  SOW the first three, then science the last two days.  I use the AG for the coloring sheets (the older kids can use the same sheet as a simple art project) and the maps.  I really don't do the projects listed, but on occasion I do.   

[jens2sons]

Using the Sonlight readers to go along with the SOW books works great.  I don't have to think about what books to search for at the library.  I just look at their list and purchase off of Amazon as I need them.  The books that are listed in the SOW AG stress me out because most of them aren't carried at my library and when I've looked for them on Amazon, I'm not that impressed with many of them because they are short reads (hence the library list).  

 

We do SOW 3 days a week and the other two days are science days.  SOW the first three, then science the last two days.  I use the AG for the coloring sheets (the older kids can use the same sheet as a simple art project) and the maps.  I really don't do the projects listed, but on occasion I do.   

[desertflower]

For us, it depends on the kid and what age.

 

So, for when my son was 6 we did Vol. 1.  He is an auditory learner.  I had him color pages from the AG while I read to him.  Sometimes we would listen to the audio version while my youngest took a nap.  He did narrations for a few of those chapters.  I also checked out some library books to go along with it, but I never got them on time so we read books behind where we were in the book.  I was fine with that.  I have done a project or two.  I didn't have a set schedule since we school year round.

 

This year will be different since he is 7.  We have started the same way coloring and stuff, but I think it's going to end differently by fall because my middle child will be in 1st grade. 

 

History is not high on my priority list for this child.  Although I have half a mind to just read the volume 2 to him by fall.  This way I can do Volume 1 with him and my middle child when school "starts" in the fall 

[Miss Tick]

We "do" history MWF starting in late July or so before everything else starts up. Read a section, answer questions, narrate. If it is the last section of the chapter we do the map work also. After every third chapter we do lapbook parts and maybe assemble. After every 5th chapter we add five or so cards to the timeline. Both of those activities do a great job spring discussion and review. By starting a few weeks ahead, we finish in May with the rest of our school-year academics. None of mine mind starting "early" because they enjoy the listening and discussion.

[Vida Winter]

I simply use it as a read-aloud and don't try to match it up with anything we are studying at the time. We study a general "time period" such as medieval during the year and by the end of the year many topics are revisited several times through books and projects. Sometimes they match up, sometimes not. It all works out in the end.

[HelenNotOfTroy]

I have done it two ways. We used to do history once a week, read the whole chapter, narrate one or more sections, do map work and maybe color and projects. Now, we read one section a day and he narrates or answers questions. We do the map work when we finish a chapter. We have always added in extra books, but he reads them almost all to himself now. We have added in extra American history this year and will add in state history with book 4 next year.

[2_girls_mommy]

This year, I wanted to focus more on American History. I use it as our spine, and then I schedule mini unit studies around some key periods/events where we delve I to topics more. I am also tying in state history. I may skip some chapters to streamline our focus.

This is exactly what we've done this year for American and State History for middle school. I scheduled the year into indepth studies of particular aspects of AM. history. SOTW came in handy for filling in what was going on around the world and for a quick catch up between major things we were going in depth on.  But for our major subjects we covered, it was just one of a number of read alouds on each topic. I found library books that go in depth on each thing we were studying, and used them as our spines.  I did state history alongside.

[Tita Gidge]

With my older kids I did two days a week - reading/listening and narrations on Day 1 followed by mapwork and activities on Day 2 (independently).

 

My current SOTW child can't go that long between history sessions, she has a need to read the book as few sittings as possible.  We're finishing SOTW3 and for every book so far we've done "SOTW Camp" at the beginning of the school year. She reads the entire book to herself over a few days.

 

And then we spend one day a week on history for the rest of the year. Instead of narrating, she does copy work (which I take from the narration examples).  We do the questions orally, and she usually remembers 80% of the answers without hesitation.  Any that she misses, I have her look up in the book, write out in a complete sentence, and hand back to me.  And then she does map work. On her own time she does the coloring pages and many of the activities - usually on weekends.

[HomeAgain]

I started out this year making task cards, one per week covering 1-2 chapters and all the necessary items.

 

LOL At my kid's age, that's not going to work.  I got a semester in of planning before I scrapped that idea and decided to skim (skipping some of the smaller chapters), reordering, and making planning blocks to put each of their pieces in their own subject/day.  That way I'm not overplanning, but filling in where necessary for the rest of the subjects.

[73349]

For 1st and 2nd, we've read about a chapter a week, with supplemental library books, and added to our timeline. We have rarely done activities to match, and never coloring.

In 3rd and 4th, I'll add in more supplements that go with the time period but might not get much (or any) mention in SOTW, as we'll do more US history, plus painters, composers and scientists.

[boscopup]

When using it by itself in the early grades, we read one section each day, 3 days per week. When we got to the end of a chapter, we did the mapwork. I sometimes got extra books, sometimes not. Kids read those on their own.

[HomeAgain]

I wanted to add, for my young one, we are changing the order of the usual schedule people do.   It'll look like this in a 4 day week:

Day 1: for each new topic always starts with an activity.  I will be telling the story during the activity, providing a memory card for copywork after. Science worked in when possible

Day 2: child retells the story, does mapwork, does art lesson from Artistic Pursuits or SOTW.

Day 3: additional reading by the child, science, music/art (one of the two). 

Day 4: add to timeline, presents memory card of the week, reviews memory card from last week/last month, finishes with a second history activity.

 

I found the SOTW lapbooks again and I'm thinking instead of doing a traditional timeline I'm going to get a blank book.  Timelines can be written across the top of each page and things that remind us of that period in history can be placed below (pictures of his work, pieces he's done, copywork memory pieces written in..