rachelkelly3 Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 Hi again, I found History Odyssey while investigating science curriculums. It looks interesting. Is SOTW with the AG complete enough for 3 and 2 graders? Or would History Odyssey be beneficial for a more complete program? I'm just curious. :) History is our high point in our homeschool, so the more fun we can have with it, the better :) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meet me in paris Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 Honestly, SOTW with the AG is more fun than HO. The only thing I like better about HO is the book list... it's a bit more "realistic" for us. For example, it lists books like Magic Tree House and Geronimo Stilton that go along with the theme for the week. I know they are not the best lit out there, but my dd will read them and learn something from them. SOTW doesn't list those early chapter book series titles. HO has the readings scheduled (SOTW or CHOW, plus Usborne Encyclopedia) one or two vocabulary words to look up in the dictionary, and a notebooking activity. It comes with maps, so there's usually a mapping activity. For some units, History Pockets are used for the hands-on stuff. My daughter hates History Pockets, so that was a bust for us from the get-go. I think the activities in SOTW AG are much better than H.Pockets, and SOTW will give you recipes as well (which we like). I only started History Odyssey because we started the year using SL Core 1, which uses CHOW as a spine. I really like CHOW, but don't love H.O. (at least at level 1) so I think we'll be fully switching back over to SOTW in January. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 For grammar stage, I prefer SOTW with AG to what I've seen of History Odyssey level 1. I'm using HO2 Middle Ages for my older son (and overall I'm very happy with it), but after looking closely at HO1 for my younger dd, I didn't feel it had much to offer beyond the SOTW and AG. I even far prefer the book suggestions in the AG to those in HO1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 Haven't used anything but SOTW, but I've found that when I try to supplement it, we simply run out of time. History is the high point of our day here, as well, so I know what you mean--wanting to be sure that you feed that love of history. However, there's just not enough time to do everything. When I add more to SOTW, we just feel rushed and scrambling to get it all done. A friend gave me some free stuff that would match the hx we're doing, but it's just too much. For SOTW we always do the review questions, narratives, mapwork, and coloring pages. Then, in addition to that we always (always) do at least (at the very least) one (but usually two or more) of the activities in the AG. This week we're doing three of the activities (making yarn wigs, made royal blue cloaks with fleur de lis (sp?) painted on them, and today we'll make the cloisonne pins out of sculpy clay.) And I usually check out a few books from the library to read along with SOTW. Really that's all we have time for. And, I also do American history as well, but that's another story. We just love history around here, so it's a joy to study world hx and Am hx at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 SOTW is fine by itself. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelmorris Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 We use HO and both my 1st and 2nd grader LOVE it. My 4 yo and 3 yo also enjoy sitting with us and listening in on the books/activities. I love the way they do things and all the book lists ect. I've never tried SOTW with the AG alone though so I can't compare the 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 If you like SOTW and have the AG, I think that is the better route as both programs are so similar and the AG has more projects. Even with history as your focus I can't imagine it being worth it to try and do both. And the SOTW chapters are not in sequence in HO so that would be confusing to schedule as well. In History Odyssey I believe SOTW is meant to be used as more of a supplement and without the AG. We use History Odyssey, because I really don't care for SOTW or history projects. We don't use the SOTW text at all. So we have CHOW and Usborne as spines, map pages, notebooking pages, coloring and reading suggestions and definitions to work on. We don't do the History Pockets at all either. It is just the right amount of history for us, as history is not the center or highlight of our school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 I can't compare SOTW and HO for grammar stage. We loved SOTW for grammar stage and tolerated HO for 2 years of logic stage. You may read both my reviews in this thread. In 8th grade, I still regularly return to SOTW to refresh ds's memory on what he's learned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verity Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 I started out our school year using History Odyssey level 1 and level 2 Ancients for my 2nd and 5th graders. At this point I am not using the HO for my younger at all, I prefer doing SotW and AG with him. For my older he listens along with SotW and then uses his HO 2 for outlining, map work, etc....I like the additions for my older child but I think SotW really handles it well for the primary grades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeegal Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 For grammar stage, I prefer SOTW with AG to what I've seen of History Odyssey level 1. I'm using HO2 Middle Ages for my older son (and overall I'm very happy with it), but after looking closely at HO1 for my younger dd, I didn't feel it had much to offer beyond the SOTW and AG. I even far prefer the book suggestions in the AG to those in HO1. :iagree: I love HO for my 5th, 6th, and 7th graders, but it was more thanI wanted with my 1st grader. We're simply using SOTW w/ AG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 I can't compare SOTW and HO for grammar stage. We loved SOTW for grammar stage and tolerated HO for 2 years of logic stage. You may read both my reviews in this thread. In 8th grade, I still regularly return to SOTW to refresh ds's memory on what he's learned. I agree on all counts. You don't need to supplement SOTW for grammar stage, there is a lot to do in the AG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Hi again, I found History Odyssey while investigating science curriculums. It looks interesting. Is SOTW with the AG complete enough for 3 and 2 graders? Or would History Odyssey be beneficial for a more complete program? I'm just curious. History Odyssey is no more complete than the SOTW AG as far as I can tell. It does include CHOW and Ancient Egyptians and their Neighbors, both of which are good additions, but it does not fully schedule supplemental reading and relies on a library list similar to what you find in TWTM or the SOTW AG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 I really like level 2 of HO, but felt that the SOTW AG was much better than level 1 of HO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemykids Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 History Odyssey is no more complete than the SOTW AG as far as I can tell. It does include CHOW and Ancient Egyptians and their Neighbors, both of which are good additions, but it does not fully schedule supplemental reading and relies on a library list similar to what you find in TWTM or the SOTW AG. Yes, I agree. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s.z.ichigo Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 I would not recommend HO to ANYONE. I'm using it for grade 3 and can't wait to be done with it. It isn't chronological at all, and is really nothing more than a schedule. You can easily follow SOTW and use the History Pockets if you want to. The AG's maps are much better, as well. HO is just a mess. It's confusing jump back and forth in time. The French Revolution, for instance, is covered way before the American Revolution. It's just horrible. Definitely use SOTW + AG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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