SOTW 1 was written for first graders. SOTW 2 for second... and so on. I thought you were already doing SOTW! For us, I prefer to wait on all of those details. Emily is reading the books as I buy them for the curriculum. This works well for us also because of her high reading level and her preference to read it for herself as opposed to being read to. I intend to make a less detailed curriculum based off of Little History of the World (which in some chapters is more suitable for an older audience). Little History of the World sticks with the same culture for a longer period of time.