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SOTW 4 - okay for 7 yo?


Bay Lake Mom
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I am consideringusing SOTW volume 4 for my girls. They are 9 and 7 yo. The 7 yo is closer to a 5/6 yo in maturity. I've heard some people caution about the content of vol. 4. I'm not sure exactly what they were referring to. I know this group will have a lot of feedback! Is vol. 4 more mature in content? What specifically should I be concerned with? I would get the activity book to use with it.

 

We would like to study Modern history (or American history) this year. Last year we studied from Leif Ericsson up to The writing of the Constitution via living books from our library. I would love a curriculum that would pick up around there and move forward. I'm having trouble finding something so I figured SOTW 4 might also be a good fit.

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Volume 4 does change, overall, from the first three volumes.  Even the student workbook is more advanced.

 

That said, and I know others will disagree with me on this, I don't see the need to shield our children from the realities of history.  ALL history is full of wars and battles and humans behaving awfully.  SOTW1, 2 and 3 have content that could be difficult as well.  

 

My son was 7 when we did SOTW4 and he did fine.  As a group, we sat and discussed what they'd read in the text.  Did a timeline together, and a map.  I added in books from the library that corresponded with the chapter.  

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None of mine would've been able to listen and focus to volume 4 at age 7.  The sections are really long and the content is more complicated.  It's written to an older audience.  But, two of mine could not sit still for more than 30 seconds at that age.

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My kids were the same age ranges as yours the first time we did SOTW, so when we hit 4, the older was 9 the younger 7. We had no problem. Yes, the AG is more grown up. It is transitioning the student more into the logic stage work. So the younger did coloring books. I use Dover ones when I can. She drew pictures in her notebook. She continued giving me oral narrations. We did projects that both could do- made posters and such. I picked up tons of library storybooks on topics and biographies and mostly read those to the little one, though she sat through all of the SOTW4 readings too. The older started a timeline for the first time that year using the timeline cards in the back. The older did written narrations for her notebook. They both did map work from the AG. 

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It really depends on the kid and family. I would read it to my almost 7yo. I would not expect him to "get" the depth of all of it or remember all the important details, but at 7 it's far more about exposure to history than understanding political motives.

My almost 7yo has grown up with teenagers in the house and is more fluent in Doctor Who and Harry Potter than the latest kiddie sensations. Your mileage may vary.

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I wouldn't at 8 and 10. My kids are thinkers and questioners and I am really not ready to explain that people they know were alive during the events of the second world war. I am going to let them believe humankind has imoroved for a bit longer. We are camping out in the 18th century a bit longer first.

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It really depends on the kid and family. I would read it to my almost 7yo. I would not expect him to "get" the depth of all of it or remember all the important details, but at 7 it's far more about exposure to history than understanding political motives.

 

My almost 7yo has grown up with teenagers in the house and is more fluent in Doctor Who and Harry Potter than the latest kiddie sensations. Your mileage may vary.

This is so my 3 yr old. I get kind of sad because she has no interest in Dora or any of the preschooly type shows and things. She wants to watch the big kid stuff with her sisters! 

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I think the SOTW 4 Activity Guide transition from narrations to outlining is a critical skill that lays an important  foundation for writing, so I would say a kid should get SOTW 4 when they're developmentally ready to do the outlining that goes with it.  It's a really smooth, gentle transition without dumbing down content.  If you don't have another option in mind that specifically covers that skill very well, then save SOTW4 until your child is older and ready to learn that specific skill.

Also keep in mind that as you mentally and emotionally mature, you get more out of the same reading.  That's why you can read books like The Chronicles of Narnia several different times throughout your childhood and adult life and get something new out of it each time.  So seriously weigh whether or not you want to spend rich, meaty content, like SWB put in SOTW4 on a child who is emotionally 7 years old.  If your 7 year old is narrating most of the points covered in the Activity Guide questions on their own, then yes, they're probably ready.  If they're narrating back a few of the main points in order and not the more complex ideas at the level the questions cover, then no, your child isn't actually ready for the content.

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I would wait. I don't think it's inappropriate per se - it's handled very gently and some kids are interested in the heavy stuff from a young age. On the other hand, it's a lot of one dark thing after the other - the Civil War, colonialism, the scramble for Africa, trench warfare in WWI, the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, WWII, the Holocaust, the atomic bomb, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Middle East crisis... Obviously that's not everything (though, oy, that would be plenty) and some topics are much more neutral or just less heavy, but it's a lot of difficult topics.

 

I would do SOTW 3 and just focus on the parts you haven't done yet. Or I would get something more US focused and do US history for a year and let it get you from the birth of the US past the Civil War and through some less bleak content - focusing on the US in modern history still takes you through the Civil War, but it allows you to sidestep a lot of the darker aspects of colonialism, only do a glancing look at WWI, steer past the Holocaust and the rise of genocide for another time, and also to look at some of the lighter bits of US history and to focus on more American heroes to come out of crises and bad times - Harriet Tubman, Lincoln, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B Anthony, Booker T Washington, MLK, etc. etc. Plus, there's a ton of US historical fiction that's *perfect* for those ages.

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