If you use SOTW as your history spine...

[Ginevra]

how do you personally carry it out? Do you just do "the next thing" and it takes however long it takes? Do you try to schedule it out ahead of time, so you can finish the book in one school year?

 

This planning part really depresses me. There is a lot to cover; it doesn't divide out evenly if you were doing a chapter a week. Besides, there are subjects where I know we're going to camp out for a few weeks (The Civil War and Westward Expansion, The Great Depression, World Wars.) Plus I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll get the whole great overview plan worked out and little glitches will mess it up. I want to use library books for my depth, but I fear they will not be available when we get to the necessary week. Or any of the other many obstacles that always come into play.

 

I have SOTW4 and The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History. But now that I'm writing out a plan that uses those both, I'm becoming discouraged. If I felt that I could afford (in many senses of the word) to buy a complete literature program, like Winter Promise, I would probably be doing it now out of desperation.

[Haiku]

I roughly plan out what we are going to do, but I don't assign specified times to things. For example, I don't have "Week 1 we do this, week 2 we do this," etc. I just plan out what types of supplementary activities/books we are going to do for certain things. For some chapters that don't seem very interesting, all we're going to do is read the chapter and move on. For other things, like castles and knights (in SOTW 2) that I know my kids will really dig, I have several days/weeks of things planned. My interest is in getting my kids to enjoy history, so I am not necessarily worried about "getting it all in." We can skip stuff if we need to.

 

As for your concerns about the library, I reserve things well ahead of time, and I have a teacher card, so I can keep things for six weeks with one renewal, as long as no one else is waiting. Last year, there was only one time that I wanted a book and couldn't get it. I was easily able to substitute for something else.

 

Do you have the SOTW activity guide? I don't have it or use it, but it might help alleviate your fears.

 

Tara

[Suzannah]

Well, I usually go at it from a couple of different directions for the reason you stated. I do figure out how many chapters we need to do per week to finish by the end of the year, just so I have a frame of reference. I also figure out the main things, such as the Civil War, that we will definitely want to spend extra time on. When we did Civil War a few years ago for instance I set aside a whole month so that we could take advantage of local Civil War sites and have time to do all the reading I really wanted to do. For the most part though, we spend one week (a Monday and a Wednesday session) on most topics.

 

A typical history week looks like this:

Monday-read chapter, discuss questions and do mapwork together, narration for DD, timeline and an outline, paragraph or other type activity for DS (I made forms for primary sources and great men for him to fill out when relevant.)

Wednesday-supplemental reading in library books, DS also reads Kingfisher.

 

In 4th and 5th grade I expected more from DS in the category of "history" but this year we did Omnibus. I thought of them as complimentary so didn't require as much writing specifically for history.

 

One week for each chapter and 4 weeks on the Civil War would definitely take more than one school year. But there are several chapters which, for one reason or another are shorter or just don't have much supplementary material available, or that we don't deem quite as necessary as others. Those we cover in one session, always discussing and doing the mapwork, but perhaps not reading anything extra or doing a narration.

 

I hope that's helpful. I have kids talking to me and snuggling with my as I type so this may not be coherent. :)

 

Blessings!

 

Oh yes, I was assuming you have the activity guide. It's not strictly necessary, but it has maps, discussion questions, sample narrations, supplemental reading recommendations, Kingfisher and Usborne readings to match the chapter, coloring pages and other activities. We rarely do the extra activities, but I do look them over and do them from time to time when it's convenient. Four years ago my kiddos got a kick out of traveling the Silk Road. DS has a serious dislike of coloring, but DD loves it so she does it, he doesn't.

Edited June 21, 2009 by Suzannah

[Lovedtodeath]

Before I started writing my own little venture, our plan was to do the activities with library books first and then read SOTW at the end of the semester. That way we don't have to line everything up and if we miss something we will still get it from SOTW.

 

Now, for my dd, she is still not reading SOTW until after we do everything else, it is more of a review. After all, the other things are what peak her interest. I see no reason to change what works.

[Haiku]

That's an interesting idea, Carmen!

 

Tara

[Julie in MN]

how do you personally carry it out? Do you just do "the next thing" and it takes however long it takes? Do you try to schedule it out ahead of time, so you can finish the book in one school year?

 

This planning part really depresses me. There is a lot to cover; it doesn't divide out evenly if you were doing a chapter a week. Besides, there are subjects where I know we're going to camp out for a few weeks (The Civil War and Westward Expansion, The Great Depression, World Wars.) Plus I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll get the whole great overview plan worked out and little glitches will mess it up. I want to use library books for my depth, but I fear they will not be available when we get to the necessary week. Or any of the other many obstacles that always come into play.

 

I have SOTW4 and The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History. But now that I'm writing out a plan that uses those both, I'm becoming discouraged. If I felt that I could afford (in many senses of the word) to buy a complete literature program, like Winter Promise, I would probably be doing it now out of desperation.

 

We're using SOTW4 with MFW. I do so appreciate having it scheduled out for me. As you mentioned, it's a balancing act between progressing forward vs. stopping to spend more time -- especially on American History.

 

Just another option for ya.

[Lovedtodeath]

We're using SOTW4 with MFW. I do so appreciate having it scheduled out for me. As you mentioned, it's a balancing act between progressing forward vs. stopping to spend more time -- especially on American History.

 

Just another option for ya.

Does MFW schedule SOTW 4? Or are you doing it along with MFW?

[Julie in MN]

Does MFW schedule SOTW 4? Or are you doing it along with MFW?

 

Yes, MFW uses the entire SOTW4 and its Activity Guide in their "1850 to Modern Times" year. They also provide a timeline notebook for all those SOTW4 timeline pieces. On average, they cover 3 SOTW topics per week.

 

But then they add in American History items using the Children's Encyclopedia of American History & several other things. They schedule read-alouds when there are important topics such as slavery & the Civil War.

 

They also take a couple weeks off of SOTW4 for learning where all 50 states are on a blank map, and a couple of weeks for learning the capitals.

[Lovedtodeath]

Yes, MFW uses the entire SOTW4 and its Activity Guide in their "1850 to Modern Times" year. They also provide a timeline notebook for all those SOTW4 timeline pieces. On average, they cover 3 SOTW topics per week.

 

But then they add in American History items using the Children's Encyclopedia of American History & several other things. They schedule read-alouds when there are important topics such as slavery & the Civil War.

 

They also take a couple weeks off of SOTW4 for learning where all 50 states are on a blank map, and a couple of weeks for learning the capitals.

Wow! That sounds great!

[Julie in MN]

Wow! That sounds great!

 

It's a very full year! We started in February & got just past the 1900 mark when we quit for the summer, with Teddy Roosevelt, the stock market, & such things. My head is spinning a bit, but I sure know a lot more about how the configuration of the world today worked itself out.

[Evergreen Academy]

I love the idea of MFW. However, for the past two years we've used Biblioplan, which also incorporates SOTW, a choice of history encyclopedias (including the one you own) and other resources for a core history study, as well as scheduling readers and read-alouds. The fact that it's all laid out has been a God-send (I struggle with organization), and it's very affordable - the guide itself is reasonable, and you can buy the spines and borrow the other materials, buy a few key books or whatever works for you. You might want to check out out the site, there are samples:

http://www.biblioplan.net/

FYI, even with it scheduled out (history readings 3 times a week), we sometimes stretched a week to last longer, or doubled up on readings on a light week. Because it wasn't tied into our other studies, we had a bit of freedom to do that. We bought the books I really wanted to be sure we had, and borrowed the rest through interlibrary loan.

Blessings,

Aimee

mom to 6 great kids ages 6-18, schooling grades 1, 3, 3 and 6

[Impish]

Just to chime in and say I LOVE the activity pages with SOTW. I bought them together, didn't even occur to me not too, lol! (Shows how experienced *I* am at buying premade curric!) So much to do in the activity pages! My only regret is not taking advantage of the ability to photocopy for each child in the family. I'll be buying another set and doing so for sure!

[Julie in MN]

Just to chime in and say I LOVE the activity pages with SOTW. I bought them together, didn't even occur to me not too, lol! (Shows how experienced *I* am at buying premade curric!) So much to do in the activity pages! My only regret is not taking advantage of the ability to photocopy for each child in the family. I'll be buying another set and doing so for sure!

 

In SOTW4, in particular, the Activity Guide really adds to the program. I always give the example of the Crimean War, which my ds couldn't get into, but the Activity Guide had a whole separate section on Florence Nightingale with activities which drew him in.

[mcconnellboys]

Well, I can't tell you how to schedule or stick to a schedule, because that's just different for every mom and every family. But I can tell you that I over-list on my books for every particular time period and that I request my books 1-2 weeks before I'll need them (they're allowed out here for 3 weeks, then you can re-check twice, for a total of 9 weeks if no one else is requesting them). My library allows re-checks by email or phone, so that's generally how I handle those. By doing this, I'm never in need of books because some of them will always be available at the time when I need them.

[Ginevra]

Wow, you guys are great with the suggestions! Julie, now you've got me wanting MFW! Strangely enough, just today I was thinking about wouldn't it be nice for my kids to do a study on hymns. (Our church is contemporary and they don't hear hymns often and so that is why I was thinking about it.) And even *that* is right there in MFW schedule! I am concerned about spending money on it; even the schedule by itself is $90.00.

 

What is in the Student Pages? Are they redundant with the SOTW AG? I have a 4th and 7th grader, so I need two sets. I already have a set of SOTW AG pages in a binder; a friend gave them to me. I was planning to buy another set, so each child has their own. (I don't want to fiddle with copying the AG and I need to give it back unharmed to the lender, so I can't take it apart.)

 

I'm trying to determine if I could just get the MFW Instructor's Guide, the thing about the Hymns, maybe avoid the Student Pages if they aren't crucial. Use library books for the additional items. I don't care about any of the Science resources. I already have Science planned and my 7th grader is doing Apologia.

[Stacy in NJ]

We do one chapter per week and school for 42 weeks per year, but, somehow, we still end up a bit behind schedule. I've purchased the audio books and when we get too far behind, we just listen to two or three chapters in the car without doing any map work, outlining, or writing. Some of the chapters just seem less relevant, so moving through them quickly is fine with me.

 

HTH, Stacy

[Julie in MN]

Wow, you guys are great with the suggestions! Julie, now you've got me wanting MFW! Strangely enough, just today I was thinking about wouldn't it be nice for my kids to do a study on hymns. (Our church is contemporary and they don't hear hymns often and so that is why I was thinking about it.) And even *that* is right there in MFW schedule! I am concerned about spending money on it; even the schedule by itself is $90.00.

 

What is in the Student Pages? Are they redundant with the SOTW AG? I have a 4th and 7th grader, so I need two sets. I already have a set of SOTW AG pages in a binder; a friend gave them to me. I was planning to buy another set, so each child has their own. (I don't want to fiddle with copying the AG and I need to give it back unharmed to the lender, so I can't take it apart.)

 

I'm trying to determine if I could just get the MFW Instructor's Guide, the thing about the Hymns, maybe avoid the Student Pages if they aren't crucial. Use library books for the additional items. I don't care about any of the Science resources. I already have Science planned and my 7th grader is doing Apologia.

 

If you have all the SOTW pages that you need, then the only thing you'd probably want from the student pages would be the 50 state game cards. I'd give MFW a call & tell them you already have the SOTW pages. There are other things in the set, too, but I personally think you could make do without them (notebooking pages, words to patriotic songs, memory verses, etc). You could of course make your own 50 state game cards, but you'd want to make the state capital cards about half the size, etc., not sure where copycatting borders with copyrights in something like that, so I'd ask them directly.

 

As far as the manual being $90:

- it includes your history schedule & notes

- science schedule & notes

- music "

- art "

- Bible "

- parts of Language arts are also scheduled in (copywork/dictation, read-alouds, handwriting review, etc)

- complete week on one grid, which is priceless for me

- and the resale value is very high, it seems, from the swaps I've seen

 

Julie

[Laura W.]

We use Biblioplan, too. Having that schedule was a huge help to me. Yes, we tweak it some, but the core of it remains unchanged.

 

One thing I like is that Biblioplan fleshes out some areas that SOTW doesn't cover in depth (and that includes American history). All the different books they include are great. But what it translates into schedule-wise is that some weeks you'll cover more than one chapter of SOTW, and other weeks you'll not use it at all. It makes for a richer overview of history, but it is a fuller year.

 

Blessings,

 

Laura

[eternalknot]

Before I started writing my own little venture, our plan was to do the activities with library books first and then read SOTW at the end of the semester. That way we don't have to line everything up and if we miss something we will still get it from SOTW.

 

Now, for my dd, she is still not reading SOTW until after we do everything else, it is more of a review. After all, the other things are what peak her interest. I see no reason to change what works.

 

 

We do the opposite :D we read SOTW as an introduction to the era, sort of an overview of what's to come. My student reads it independently, going through a few chapters each night before bed until it's done. Usually takes a week or two. Once we've gotten this general idea of the time period, we break it down into bite-sized pieces that we spend a more significant amount of time investigating over the remainder of the year.

 

This is our personality, though. He and I both need to see the bigger picture before we can fully concentrate on the details. We could never read this book one chapter at a time over the duration of a school term.

[NancyNellen]

I set up a spreadsheet ahead of time with the chapter/story, associated encyclopedia pages, whether there is a map or coloring page, appropriate books that my library has or that sit on my shelf, and any crafts/activities I want to do (and the materials needed to do them.) Then as I am going along and planning week to week, I combine stories that can be appropriately combined and slow down in the areas we want to spend more time. Being able to see the big picture of what we have left to do helps me to plan and schedule accordingly.

 

I hope that makes sense. :-)

[teamturner]

I set up a spreadsheet ahead of time with the chapter/story, associated encyclopedia pages, whether there is a map or coloring page, appropriate books that my library has or that sit on my shelf, and any crafts/activities I want to do (and the materials needed to do them.) Then as I am going along and planning week to week, I combine stories that can be appropriately combined and slow down in the areas we want to spend more time. Being able to see the big picture of what we have left to do helps me to plan and schedule accordingly.

 

I hope that makes sense. :-)

 

I like this idea! I'm using SOTW 3 minus the American History chapters for next year. We just had a great history year doing Winter Promise American Story 1. I also have Biblioplan 1600-1850 which has some good book suggestions. Putting everything I'd like to do on a spreadsheet will really save me time when I go to implement our history. Thanks for this idea! :D

[Lovedtodeath]

 

I like this idea! I'm using SOTW 3 minus the American History chapters for next year.

I didn't think of doing that! What a good idea.

[KathyBC]

The first time through we just read 1-2 chapters a week, added in any available library books or interesting-looking Activity Guide stuff, and moved on. And we never got done in a year. (sigh)

 

This time through we are reading it using the Sonlight schedule and we finished SOTW 1 well before our school year ended, hurray! (And this involved some scheduled time off to read Augustus Caesar's World.) Don't be discouraged, a schedule can really be a help; just keep in mind that it works for you, not the other way around.

[orangearrow]

This year, for the first time, I am planning it out. We're midway through SOTW 3 and we've been there for a year. It's so easy for us to get caught up on one section and forget to move forward.

 

So, this year, we are going to cover SOTW 3 and 4, even if we have to skip over some things. My oldest is going to cover the same timeframe, but she's starting 6th grade and will be doing the outlining/summarizations with the Kingfisher History as her spine (which she was supposed to start doing last year, in 5th, but I didn't re-read the Well Trained Mind, because I'd thought that started in 6th grade! 'doh!!!).

 

After this, my 2nd daughter will be on par to begin the ancients in 5th grade. DS is in 1st grade this year, and will be starting ancients this year - again, I am sectioning it off and we will complete the entire thing in one year. No more dawdling (well, planned dawdling is okay... :lol:)

[TC5]

I set up a spreadsheet ahead of time with the chapter/story, associated encyclopedia pages, whether there is a map or coloring page, appropriate books that my library has or that sit on my shelf, and any crafts/activities I want to do (and the materials needed to do them.) Then as I am going along and planning week to week, I combine stories that can be appropriately combined and slow down in the areas we want to spend more time. Being able to see the big picture of what we have left to do helps me to plan and schedule accordingly.

 

That is a great idea! I have been collecting book titles in notebooks and pasting them in documents and getting more and more disorganized as I go. I'm going to start a spreadsheet right now.

 

Is there anywhere on this board where people post/share spreadsheets like this or other files to help get other people started in the right direction? Once I get all the info typed in for SOTW 2, which we're heading into, it'd be a shame not to save someone else the trouble.

 

Thanks for all the great ideas in the this thread! This is our first year with SOTW (loved MOH1 last year, btw), so I need all the help I can get. :001_smile: