SOTW issue...does anyone have similar problem or solution to my dilemma?

[sadiegirl]

I was reading on a previous post comments about SOTW...she was asking if it was really that good. I think it is but I have a concern. You see I have used the first two books and we are now on book 3. My problem is this...my kids have a hard time remembering all the details on exams. I wish they would come out with a worksheet for them to do as a review(sorry I am not the type to do that on my own...). Does anyone do them on their own?

Maybe I am doing something wrong in my teaching. This is how we do our work on a chapter:

1. I read the chapter aloud.

2. We do the mapwork and coloring pages and any of the activities they show interest in doing.

3. They read the chapter on their own.

4. We go over the review questions.

5. They take the test.

So, what can be the problem? They usually miss 3-4 out of the questions but as those of you who use these tests know...there are only about 20 or so questions and missing 3-4 can drop your percentage from an A to a B or even a C.

We all enjoy the reading and honestly they do remember things from past chapters that I forget(if they see something on TV or hear a particular name etc) so I know they are learning but what gives that they can't ace the tests? I want to stay with SOTW as I like the way it reads and it is not dry(we tried All American History and ALL of us hated it...it was like pulling teeth to get them to do it) My concern is maybe it is all me and how I am teaching history? please inspire me and let me know what I can do to improve our history experience. thanks

[Laura Corin]

How old are your children? I think of SOTW, if used for the grammar stage, as a gentle introduction. I don't test the kids and am happy if they end up with a feel for the general shape of the history they have read.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[Trivium Academy]

Are you doing narrations? Do you discuss the material at all or is it just reading from the book? Another question, have you taught them how to identify the main ideas of a reading?

 

If you don't want to have discussions or do narrations, I would at least give them the review questions before reading the chapter so that they can identify what type of questions they will have to answer later. I know that some that use the audio version allow their children to listen to the CD more than one time but this is the first time I've seen that someone reads and then has their children read.

 

If you want to continue the double reading, how about having them answer the review questions on paper when they read by themselves? That is if you wish to continue in this way.

 

I want to ask you why you're approaching it in the manner you are but I don't want to make you feel defensive. :) Do you need help with narrations?

[pixelroper]

same question- how old are they?

 

our routine- day one: read chapter, do map (one more read, then a listen or two for a couple of days if there is time), day two: activity, & use the 'test' open book. Doing the test 'open book' has allowed us to work on pulling info out of a text. DD is eight and I consider her in the grammar stage. Testing her would probably suck the fun out right now. I'm going to put off testing for history for a few more years.

[AngieW in Texas]

My kids use the tests as review worksheets. I think they're extremely detailed to be used as tests and I would feel the need to make up study guides for each chapter if I was using them that way.

 

They're great as review worksheets, even with older kids.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I don't use the tests at all. We read a section together, then go over the review questions. Sometimes, we do narration, but not every time. Just if it was interesting to the kids (they don't remember anything if they weren't engaged, and I got tired of trying to pull taffy through a straw with narrations). We do the map work, and we did the coloring pages (if they wanted to). We'd read the books from the library (found through the activity guide), and maybe do a project (more in earlier years). We're in book 4 now, and don't do many projects. They like the outlining in book 4.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to add that the tests aren't of paramount importance. They weren't even available the first few years that SOTW was produced. They're not part of the "classical" way of doing things. Narration is more important, from a classical perspective. The tests were added later because people requested them.

 

If I were you, I'd skip the tests. Do discussion and/or narration. That will give you a feel for whether they understand or not. I consider first cycle history an "exposure" to history. I want them to enjoy learning about people and places and times, and get a feel for their own place in the grand scheme of things. I don't worry that they remember many details.

[WTMindy]

The tests are just the information that someone else thought was the most important facts, but not necessarily representative of what you *have* to come away with. If you want your kids to do well on the tests, then you should make sure that you read the tests and go over the info you think they need to know from the tests. I personally didn't like using the tests, but I would use them as a review. I think the purpose for a test is for teachers to make sure students retain the info, but you don't need a test to know that-you can just talk with your kids about it.

 

There have been several conversations lately about retaining history and I firmly believe that the goal of the first rotation is to give kids a love of history and to give them some hooks for the next time around.

[pixelroper]

Anyway, I just wanted to add that the tests aren't of paramount importance. They weren't even available the first few years that SOTW was produced. They're not part of the "classical" way of doing things. Narration is more important, from a classical perspective. The tests were added later because people requested them.

 

 

This was my understanding as well- discussion is always better and more fun... ditto on skipping tests and as for narration- if they aren't writing easily, write for them

[Katrina]

I use the tests, and my kids like doing them, but we don't use them as tests. My kids are a littel older, so they read the chapter and fill out the test. If you want, you could call it an open book test. They're allowed to look back through the reading. I think it help my kids pay a little more attention to detail. I don't know if it's necessary, but it works for us.:tongue_smilie:

[Kate in Arabia]

I don't use the tests; my kids are 6 and 10, we orally go over the review questions and watch related videos, read related books, etc. etc. My older writes narrations. I don't really worry a lot about retention at this point, but they seem to be picking up most of the major points (from comments they make to me and the games they devise to play).

 

With our Islamic history course my ds (10) doesn't do narrations, I make crossword puzzles based on the chapter. He *loves* crossword puzzles, and I have been surprised at how much he is able to do on his own without having to look at the text. Maybe you could do something like this, if your kids enjoy that kind of thing? I downloaded a free program for making your own puzzles, and honestly it takes all of about 10 minutes now for me to put one together. If you already have the test papers, you could use that as your base...

 

Just another idea..

 

Kate

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I think that one way we differ in our study of SOTW is that we read supplementary materials for each chapter. We add Kingfisher, a DK Eywitness Book, biography, historical fiction, or even watch a History Channel show. There is a difference between learning history and passing a reading comprehension test on a piece of nonfiction. I think that children at this age (mine are 9 and 8) need to hear the "story" and facts of history more than once in order to retain the information and apply it later. I also believe that some children respond to hearing those facts and events repeated in different ways. Either through different books, visually (ie all the photos in a DK book or through a video) or perhaps even from something like the SOTW audio books. As far as activities go, I second Jessica from Trivium Academy on using narration, you could also try using timelines to peg dates and places or art projects that illustrate the text if that is the direction your children lean. Personally I don't always make narration a formal event, we frequently have discussions over dinner, walking to the park, wheeling through the grocery store about what we have been reading in history. A narration of some aspect of what we have read usually follows and often one of the kids will be editing, correcting or adding to what the other remembers.

 

I hope that some of this will be helpful!

[Soph the vet]

I've used SOTW 1,2, and3 and plan on using 4 next year. I don't test in the grammar stage. They will get it the next time around.

[sadiegirl]

The boys are in 5th and 6th grades(11 and 12). I ask them questions orally and they can narrate events well back to me...maybe not the specific names(pronounciation of those names kill them) and dates exactly but they can relate what is going on.

I am very appreciative to all of you for posting and do not take offense to any questions. It gives me food for thought as to how to approach history in a more gentler way. They love history but fear the tests and so I think that perhaps I am as one mom said, "sucking the fun out of history." I like the approach of using the tests as a worksheet as well. We do not get books always from the library and so I think I will try to plan ahead and use books like that more as well. So, it sounds like my kids are going to have smiles this morning when I say "ok, boys, let's do history!" Thanks for ALL advice.

[Rhondabee]

that I was having to "teach to the test" in order for the tests to be of any use. :ohmy:

 

I much prefer narration, and am constantly surprised at what my dc deem "important" and the details they remember that aren't on the tests (and wouldn't be on mine). That is one of the things I like about classical education - it isn't a list of facts to be regurgitated, but a smorgasboard of interesting tidbits to taste and explore!

 

Enjoying SOTW-3 w/4th and 7th graders~

Rhonda

[Plaid Dad]

To be honest, I don't think most 1st or 2nd graders are going to remember the details even a few weeks after a reading, at least not without some prodding. This is only a first run through world history. If they get a very broad outline, I think that's plenty.

[Harriet Vane]

I was reading on a previous post comments about SOTW...she was asking if it was really that good. I think it is but I have a concern. You see I have used the first two books and we are now on book 3. My problem is this...my kids have a hard time remembering all the details on exams. I wish they would come out with a worksheet for them to do as a review(sorry I am not the type to do that on my own...). Does anyone do them on their own?

Maybe I am doing something wrong in my teaching. This is how we do our work on a chapter:

1. I read the chapter aloud.

2. We do the mapwork and coloring pages and any of the activities they show interest in doing.

3. They read the chapter on their own.

4. We go over the review questions.

5. They take the test.

So, what can be the problem? They usually miss 3-4 out of the questions but as those of you who use these tests know...there are only about 20 or so questions and missing 3-4 can drop your percentage from an A to a B or even a C.

We all enjoy the reading and honestly they do remember things from past chapters that I forget(if they see something on TV or hear a particular name etc) so I know they are learning but what gives that they can't ace the tests? I want to stay with SOTW as I like the way it reads and it is not dry(we tried All American History and ALL of us hated it...it was like pulling teeth to get them to do it) My concern is maybe it is all me and how I am teaching history? please inspire me and let me know what I can do to improve our history experience. thanks

 

I do not think the tests are too hard. I did, however, have to work with my dd a wee bit to help her learn how to study for them. It is an important skill to learn, IMHO.

 

As part of her studying, I specifically remind her that the tests usually ask specific names and specific details. With that reminder in mind she re-reads the chapter, then I ask her the review questions. She studies the chapter for about fifteen minutes. In her case, she is a quick reader and had to train herself to read slow enough to get those details.

 

At times I have encouraged her to make a simple list of specific things from the chapter (names of people or places or whatever). I might then ask her what each one is. Again, the study time for this, start to finish, is 15-20 minutes.

 

I would encourage you to think of these tests as a vehicle to teach your child these skills (noticing details, retaining key facts). It will come in handy for the rest of their life when doing business with others, evaluating contracts, etc.

[Beth in Central TX]

Same here. We used SOTW Vol I-IV in the grammar stage, but I didn't use the tests because I didn't expect mastery at that age. We discussed the narration questions after each chapter and did the mapwork. Basically, I used that cycle as an introduction to history. I expect more mastery of the material now that we are in the logic stage.