? Re: Teaching curriculum to younger sibs they've already had a lot of exposure to

[KJB]

I am trying to get organized for the fall and I have a question for all of you who have older children and younger ones following in their siblings footsteps.

 

My two eldest children have done all four volumes of SOTW. They love the stories, of course, and we listen to the cds all the time. My third child is a rising first grader. He has listened to SOTW and dozens of other history related read alouds and books on tape. He is a read aloud junkie and listens to many stories as well as SOTW on his ipod constantly.

 

I had always planned to just repeat what I've done with my older two with my next set of kids who are the son I mentioned and his younger sister who is 4. Now, I'm not so sure it makes sense to do SOTW again since ds has already heard the books read aloud and knows by heart so many of the stories.

 

I could jump ship and do something else but I was really looking forward to a re-do since I'm lazy:tongue_smilie:. I kind of hoped schooling my younger two would be a no-brainer repeat. :D

 

I know in the big picture either a switch or redoing SOTW doesn't matter that much. It's first grade, after all. Now that I have middle schoolers I get that, but I'd still like ds's first grade to be as fun for him as my older two when we were using SOTW fresh and new.

 

Any thoughts? :lurk5:

[Karenciavo]

My first thought is does a rising first grader really remember in any great detail what he heard 4 years ago? My second thought is even if he does, SOTW is meant to be complemented by various other books and projects including the activity guide that can make it fresh for him.

[KJB]

Thanks for your reply.

 

No, of course he doesn't remember from fours years ago. I barely remember from that long ago!

 

My problem is that he listens to SOTW almost daily *now*. He has all four volumes on his ipod and he listens to it while he plays, before he goes to sleep, in the car, etc.

 

He also listens to many of the books we've read aloud to complement our history because we have a large audio book collection. Of course, there are always more books to read.

 

My thought is maybe we should do a different program that starts with the ancients, but *I* loved the SOTW activity guide so much and I have all the projects planned out from when I did them with my older two that I hate to change.

 

The narration would be new since it would be his own. The projects would be fresh since he hasn't done them. The only problem would be he's really already familiar with the books. I wonder if I should use a different spine to give him a fresh look.

 

I'm just thinking about this. I can see benefits of repetition since my whole family has benefited from listening again and again.

[Karenciavo]

My problem is that he listens to SOTW almost daily *now*. He has all four volumes on his ipod and he listens to it while he plays, before he goes to sleep, in the car, etc.

Oh, gotcha.

 

He also listens to many of the books we've read aloud to complement our history because we have a large audio book collection. Of course, there are always more books to read.

 

My thought is maybe we should do a different program that starts with the ancients, but *I* loved the SOTW activity guide so much and I have all the projects planned out from when I did them with my older two that I hate to change.

 

The narration would be new since it would be his own. The projects would be fresh since he hasn't done them. The only problem would be he's really already familiar with the books. I wonder if I should use a different spine to give him a fresh look.

 

I'm just thinking about this. I can see benefits of repetition since my whole family has benefited from listening again and again.

 

I think since you love SOTW so much and have projects planned out, etc. you should still stick with it. If he listens to the audio books over and over he must like it too.

 

Do you need a secular spine or no?

[KJB]

Thanks again for helping me think this through.

 

We're Catholic, fwiw, but we don't home school for religious reasons. I am happy to use a spine from any faith as long as it's engaging, historically accurate, and doesn't bash Catholics too much. :lol:

 

I have A Child's History of the World (Calvert) and A Little History of the World but I don't think either will be as fun as SOTW activity guide.

 

Any suggestions?

[Karenciavo]

Thanks again for helping me think this through.

 

We're Catholic, fwiw, but we don't home school for religious reasons. I am happy to use a spine from any faith as long as it's engaging, historically accurate, and doesn't bash Catholics too much. :lol:

 

I have A Child's History of the World (Calvert) and A Little History of the World but I don't think either will be as fun as SOTW activity guide.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Do Catholics get bashed? :D <j/k> Couldn't you use CHOW and the SOTW AG? Have you ever seen Paula's Resources for the SOTW site?

[KJB]

Thanks for the link!

 

I've seen Paula's site before, but I always forget to look there!

 

Paula's integration of SOTW and CHOW might be perfect.

 

 

Thanks again!!

Edited July 8, 2009 by KJB

[Mom0012]

Well, if he spends that much time listening to history on his own, what about something totally different, like a year of geography? My son, like yours, started listening to SOTW very young and really enjoyed it tremendously. We did Galloping the Globe at one point and he totally got into that as well.

 

Lisa

Edited July 8, 2009 by LisaTheresa

[Mallory]

I agree about not worring about history.

 

Do geography or local/state history or extra music or art. If anything I would just go through good historical book lists.

[SilverMoon]

I'm in the same boat this fall. There isn't an ipod in my story though. *snicker* :)

 

My plan was to pull up some of the fun activities that little ds wasn't a part of on the first round, and some of the more difficult ones that I can assign an older sib to do with him. One of his older siblings will be going through SOTW with him, so he'll be able to tag along on more than he could do by himself. I intend to assign my oldest (big ds) to teach little ds a few lessons from SOTW through the year too. He'll get more than just my perspective that way. (And if I target areas big ds is weak on he'll learn it better himself. If I had a nickle for everything SOTW taught me that I didn't learn in school...)

[Terabith]

Actually, I think the fact that he's so familiar with it is a big plus. He's very familiar with the stories, so that should make his first forays into narration easier. And the activities will be a big draw. I would try to bring in some supplementary books that he hasn't read yet. I would look into the Core Knowledge lesson plans for the pertinent topics, and maybe read relevant chapters from Child's History of the World.