SOTW w/ 1st graders...how much do they comprehend?

[Pretty in Pink]

I've started reading SOTW aloud to my (just turned) 6 year old. I'm reading one section (3-4 pages) at a time. I swear, every time I pull the book out his eyes glaze over. He will sit still but is completely uninterested in what I am reading. I tried the audio CDs last year and they were a bust. Any tips for capturing his interest? I'd like him to be able to narrate at least a sentence or two back to me at the end of the lesson.:bigear:

[Mommamia]

:lurk5:

 

 

I had the same problem. My only thought was that I would wait and read it later. Maybe start the cyle in 4th grade?

[Garga]

Hmmm. My boy loved it. It could be just a difference in kids. There are things that other kids love that my boy hates.

 

However, we also did all the coloring pages, all the map work, and about 3 of the activities each week. Are you doing those things as well? Doing those things really brought it alive. Oh, and I would read each section a day, and then re-read them at the end of the week--to let it really stick in his mind.

 

Are you interesting to listen to when you read? I was reading a book to the kids at Precision Tune the other day and the guy who worked there was listening rapt. He complimented me and said that he could listen to me read all day. When I read to the kids, I pretend that I'm an actor doing a reading to get a part. I try to make it as real and vibrant as possible. You're doing that, right?

 

If you're doing those things and he still glazes over, then you need a different hx curric.

[Amy in KS]

I think SOTW is better suited to wait until 2nd grade. I didn't and wish I had. My daughter would have gotten far more out of it now.

[Ohio12]

Just to clarify, are you only reading one section of a chapter? A whole chapter would be too much, but I don't think that is what you are saying. My 5-6 yo loved it last year. We did the maps, but not all the activites. Can he narrate it back or answer questions about it? If he can, I would give it some time. Maybe history isn't going to be his thing, but the curriculum is so good. It did take us 15 months to do SOTW 1 though!

[Guest janainaz]

It's an age/maturity thing. My ds9 started with it in 1st grade and did great. My ds4.5 has a different personality, not so sure how it will go with him. We are not quite there yet, but I can already see glimpses of what the future holds!

 

I have not done many of the activities from the SOTW activity book. My older son is an auditory learner and is not interested in the projects. I'm thinking that with my younger son, I will be doing MANY hands on activities that are related to history to make it fun and grasp his attention.

 

I would not worry about it. Give it more time and work on the three R's!

[Jennefer@SSA]

I agree that it is totally a kid-by-kid thing. My oldest loved, loved, loved SOTW1 in first grade. The whole mummy, ancient Egypt thing captivated him right away. Greek and Roman mythology just wowed him to no end! :001_smile: What brought it most to life for us were (1) the coloring pages; I colored them with him since his motor skills were delayed. We would talk about all we read while we were coloring! (2) Even more than the color pages were the supplemental books that went along with it. SOTW is a spine but kinda dry all alone. We would check out all the books recommended by the AG and members of this board and have a blast with those! (3) The mapwork (4) the extra activities - only did a few but the ones we did were a huge hit!

[SilverMoon]

My oldest absolutely loved it in first grade. My second didn't retain bubkis from it in first grade but she had fun doing it. I found doing the fun activities, extra books, and such on the side made all the difference at that age. Just plain reading from the book without anywhere else to apply the stories doesn't work too well at that age, in my experience. It's easy to add in stuff like DK books with gorgeous pictures, make a mummy games, coloring pictures of pharoahs, etc. Let him wallow in all things ancients to help the stories start coming alive for him. That still doesn't guaruntee he'll remember too much by the next go round, but he'll remember Egypt being fun if nothing else.

[SABE]

1.5 weeks into the school year, we're having the same issues here. My kids are liking all the pictures in the Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of the Ancient World, and I'm going to start trying to focus on that first with each new topic to grab the kids' attention so the reading in SOTW will make more sense to them (rather than reading SOTW first, then looking at the encyclopedia). If that doesn't work, I think I'm going to shelve SOTW, do a year of world geography, and try again next year.

[buddhabelly]

I don't really remember because we started from the beginning of the earth rather than the beginning of civilization like SOTW does. But as I recall, it takes a couple of chapters to get to the fun stuff. At least wait until you get to the Egyptian mummy stuff before you drop it. And check your library for the Good Times Travel Agency books. And Magic Treehouse books, if your religious faith allows for that series. There seems to be one for almost every major era, like Egyptian, Greek (Olympics), Vikings, Knights, etc. etc.

 

I hope you have fun! Even if your child's eyes glaze over, you will learn a lot! :lol:

[Lovedtodeath]

 

1.5 weeks into the school year, we're having the same issues here. My kids are liking all the pictures in the Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of the Ancient World, and I'm going to start trying to focus on that first with each new topic to grab the kids' attention so the reading in SOTW will make more sense to them (rather than reading SOTW first, then looking at the encyclopedia). If that doesn't work, I think I'm going to shelve SOTW, do a year of world geography, and try again next year.

:iagree:DD gets way more from pictures and reading things herself than she does from any read aloud, SOTW or other. Maybe you have a visual learner.

[Asma_08]

It was slow going for us, I did it over two years. I didn't expect much comprehension, I just wanted to expose him to history. I used quizzes which helped a little with retention. But my son really loved anything military related so he really started enjoying the second half of the book. I figure we will go through it again in middle school and it will easier for him to remember more details since he has had previous exposure.

[Pretty in Pink]

We are actually in SOTW 3 since my oldest is in that time period and I want to keep them all together. I have the AG and my ds6 loves the coloring pages, maps and activities. He really enjoys map work so I often print out the corresponding map from Map Aids and he does that as well. I think he would like it more if it were colorful and had more pictures. Maybe I will get out Kingfisher or order an Internet-Linked Encyclopedia to start the week with and then do SOTW later in the week.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

[silvermine]

Depends on the kid. :) Just like some read when they're 3 and some when they are much older (or write, or whatever), hearing about non-fiction is different for different people. Maybe she isn't interested in it yet? I imagine if I read to my son about princess tea parties, he would also glaze over (but my daughter *loves* it). But before we even started reading SOTW, he already acted out brave warriors and armies and such, and he loves hearing stories about them. :)

[Satori]

I just asked this similar question about my soon-to-be 5 year old. I think it depends on the child, mine seems to love history and retains it pretty well, so I think I'll start sometime this year, but very slowly...

[DarlaS]

My dd at age six... not so much. Her younger brother though loves anything non-fiction. Even at age four, he would listen to the SOTW cd's.

 

I'm not using SOTW with him this year (almost six now) and he's listening in on his older sister's Core 3 read-alouds. He's absorbing quite a lot, so I do believe he'd love it. I may just try a section or two and see what he thinks.

[abreakfromlife]

you know, I don't know that they retained much detailed knowledge. They were so-so about my reading it. I got the cd's for vol 2 and that was way better..........but we did a lot of projects and they really liked all the Ancients. We did that 2 years ago, but this past christmas we got them the Noggin Ancients game, and it's been a nice review until we get through it again; and they'll check books out of the library about the gods/goddesses, pharoahs, etc.............even though they didn't remember many details, I know when we start over next year, they're going to say 'ancient Egypt - yay', and then I hope they will be old enough to start remembering details.

 

The first cycle through I'm not that worried about remembering details outside of the things that we actually spend time memorizing.

[Lovedtodeath]

I just wanted to note that my DD loves non-fiction and encyclopedias, including those on history... but she despises almost any read aloud. It isn't necessarily about a love of non-fiction.

[Alice]

We've only been doing it for 2 weeks but I would agree with a lot of what's said just from that and from experience with other things. Ds seems to like SOTW ok but really likes the activities and maps and other read alouds. I think some of it is what type of learner the child is so adding in the extras helps get those other styles of learning.

 

Also, I was wondering how much he was hearing but last night as he was falling asleep he said "Mommy Can I ask you a question?" I said sure and he asked "What did the Red Crown look like for the Egypt guy?" We had read that part two or three days previously. Not saying that's he's got a huge understanding but I do think there is often more brewing in the head than appears on the outisde.

[tdeveson]

My son went catatonic with SOTW-1 in first grade. We struggled a few weeks with it and I put it away. We pulled it out in second grade and suddenly it was his favorite subject. :confused: What I did was find interesting story books to read to him about Egypt, Rome, and Greece. We drew pictures and did some of the projects, maps and cloring pages from the Activity Book. That worked.

 

Sometimes a kid is simply not ready for a subject. I'd say, wait until you get to the mummies and the good stuff. If your little guy is still not interested, drop it and try again next year.

[MamaofTwo]

I give my girls the coloring page to work on while I read. They tend to listen well while they work and they love it when I get to the part of the story that goes with what they are coloring.

 

If I think they are not getting it I'll ask questions along the way to keep them focused and thinking about the material. And I always try to dramatize where I can. :rolleyes: I can't do it in front of anyone else except my kids. They love it.