Closeacademy Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Every year I come here and ask and pretty much every year I end up with Story of the World. Although we did try TOG one year. So for year 4, did you like SOTW or did you find something you liked better? Or what are you using? Thanks.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 (edited) Every year I come here and ask and pretty much every year I end up with Story of the World. Although we did try TOG one year. So for year 4, did you like SOTW or did you find something you liked better? Or what are you using? Thanks.:001_smile: We're using SOTW-4 (via MFW). It's thorough, although very war-oriented (which she admits several times). I would worry a bit about your kids' ages. My ds is doing it in the 2nd half of 7th & the first half of 8th, and I think it's just right for him. Also know that there isn't much American history, or at least no more time seems to be spent on America than, say, Paraguay. I'm so glad that MFW adds all the stuff that's interesting to us as Americans. Edited June 19, 2009 by Julie in MN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfgivas Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 we listened through it when dds where in grades 3 & 5; we're doing more this year. the younger one is just ready to begin to contemplate the horror of it all..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 We used SOTW 1-4. I would not say that #4 was our favorite volume, although we still enjoyed it. Some of the material was more grim. The activities were not as engaging. Personally, I enjoyed learning more about modern history because I am so ignorant. Overall, I was very glad that we did SOTW 1-4. It gave ds a much better history education than I ever had in my entire school career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 The activities were not as engaging. Oh, we are enjoying the activities very much. But again it's with a 7th/8th grader. In fact, some of the stories surrounding the activities are more kid-oriented than the actual text. For example, ds didn't connect with the Crimean War, and I kept having to remind him where it was when I asked him to find it on the map. But he really enjoyed the Florence Nightingale story in the AG, and for a week enjoyed keeping track of his heart rate after 20 jumping jacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 Thanks. We will finish up SOTW 3 at the end of the year. It is mainly for my 4th grader as my younger child will probably not listen in. We have felt that SOTW 3 was heavy on death and war. Any ideas on what we could do with modern history to finish up the school year besides SOTW 4? Thanks.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Thanks. We will finish up SOTW 3 at the end of the year. It is mainly for my 4th grader as my younger child will probably not listen in. We have felt that SOTW 3 was heavy on death and war. Any ideas on what we could do with modern history to finish up the school year besides SOTW 4? Thanks.:001_smile: You might consider covering the topics you are most interested in from 1850-1900, then read the Dorling Kindersley Children's History of the 20th Century. It is set up like the Usborne books. It covers the 20th century year by year, so there is lots of info, even though it is in snippets. You could use it as an overview, then get library books on topics you want to cover in more depth. I believe it's out of print, but your library may have it or you could buy it used. http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-History-20th-Century-Millennium/dp/0789447223/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245504330&sr=8-1 My dc enjoy this book because it has great photos to go along with the text. I like that it doesn't have photos of corpses on the war pages. If you teach modesty for women, you should know that there is a photo of a lady in a string bikini, a photo of Marilyn Monroe with her skirt blowing up, and a shot of the Spice Girls performing. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abreakfromlife Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 We're going to do SOTW 3 and 4 this next year....skipping some sections to fit it all in, but I've never really understood the 'modern history is too violent' thinking......I guess I don't see it that much worse than the Crusades or the Inquisition or pirates or Romans or Indians that scalp, or anything else......and there's a lot of non-violent stuff in there, too. I am going to spend more time on the American and French revolutions and the American West/Oregon Trail and skimp on other things....I don't know. Maybe I'll get through the year and regret it, LOL, but I'm going to do vol 3 and 4 with a 3rd and 1st grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 I've never really understood the 'modern history is too violent' thinking......I guess I don't see it that much worse than the Crusades or the Inquisition or pirates or Romans or Indians that scalp, or anything else...... You are right in that there is much violence throughout the ages. It is the incredible number of people killed that is overwhelming and more unsettling in modern times, imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I've never really understood the 'modern history is too violent' thinking......I guess I don't see it that much worse than the Crusades or the Inquisition or pirates or Romans or Indians that scalp, or anything else......and there's a lot of non-violent stuff in there, too. I for one wasn't saying that there was more war in modern times. I was saying that there was more war in SOTW4! I can see that she is trying to show how the different countries formed and shifted hands and eventually settled into the configuration we see today. Such detail about medieval warfare wouldn't relate to anything these days, so only the major conflicts are covered in those years and more culture and legend and other things make up SOTW. Oh, and SOTW 1-3 weren't geared towards an upper elementary audience, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 If you teach modesty for women, you should know that there is a photo of a lady in a string bikini, a photo of Marilyn Monroe with her skirt blowing up, and a shot of the Spice Girls performing. Well, I think we can all agree that it wouldn't be a complete study of history without the Spice Girls. ;) :tongue_smilie: Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abreakfromlife Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I was saying that there was more war in SOTW4! That's true....as I'm writing out my lesson plans, I'm finding that I'm having to add in a bunch of other stuff that I want to cover that SOTW4 only touches on, if at all............I wasn't really commenting on any specific posts, but even SWB doesn't recommend SOTW 4 for young kids, and I've just always thought that a little strange, since all of history is so violent. *shrug* I guess I'll find out next year, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Well, I think we can all agree that it wouldn't be a complete study of history without the Spice Girls. ;) :tongue_smilie: Cat :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TundraAcademy Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 I've been trying to figure out this too. What I'm going to do is use History Odyssey Level I Modern (it uses STOW 4), Abeka's History of Our United States, and throw in readers/read alouds from WP and SL. I want to include my 2nd grade so I may use American Story and throw in a lot of additional biographies and picture books. Once I started looking, I realized there were a lot of books to use that don't focus on the wars so much. I want to touch on that, but also cover the other interesting things that have happened since the Civil War. We used the free Early American history curriculum from Ourlosbanos.com last year and it was wonderful. I heard that she's coming out with a Later American History study to be ready by this fall. I'm sure it will be great too (and FREE!). She's awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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