SOTW 4 will it get better?

[Alison in KY]

I started SOTW 4 a week ago with ds, 10, and after two chapters he is really complaining. He says he just doesn't like it and when I ask him the review questions he's really barely giving me any answers. When I looked at the last section that he had read I can see how confusing it was for him (well, it's at least confusing for this old mom) because there are so many diff. countries, cities, people that are being discussed.

 

So, he says he wants to go back to doing history they way we used to, which had been using HOD's Beyond and doing a lot of reading aloud, which is not an option at this time. Do I stick with it, even though we're both frustrated at the review question time? Should I skip the review questions and just have him tell me about something that he has just read? It just seems like a lot of facts and different names are being thrown out in a short couple of pages...which makes me wonder if my child would do better with a different style of book.

 

Today I'm thinking about just having him read through A Child's Story of America and then find some historical biographies to finish out our year. Is there a better, yet cheaper alternative? I've also thought about buying a regular social studies course, like Ace Paces, or something similiar.

 

Who would've thought he wouldn't like reading SOTW 4:001_huh:.

 

Alison in KY

[Guest aquiverfull]

Well I don't own SOTW yet, so I can't say. However, what about buying the audios for him to listen to? It might not be a cheaper alternative, but he might enjoy that a lot more. Sorry I don't have any other advice, hopefully someone else will chime in.

[Alison in KY]

Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately I don't like Jim Weiss reading these.

[Blueridge]

The reading is pretty meaty, and the discussion questions stumped my 8th grader when we read it together! Lots of specific facts to recall...:tongue_smilie: So, you might consider reading the book aloud to him and just talking about it instead of using the discussion questions. I found it fairly advanced material for younger ages.

[Garga]

I don't have SOTW4, but we do have SOTW2 and the first 2 chapters were a review of SOTW1. Could it be that SOTW4's first couple of chapters are a review of a lot of info? To get the child up to speed?

 

Read ahead thru chapter 3 and 4 and see if it starts to slow down.

[Heather in WI]

It will get better! My boys (4th and 2nd) had a difficult time at first, too, adjusting to the increased difficulty of SOTW IV. But, we are now in week 19 of our school year and on chapter 27, and I can honestly say that both of them can answer most questions from the A.G. for each chapter.

 

I read the chapter aloud for both boys as they sit next to me on the couch, or we take turns reading alternating paragraphs.

 

Then, we head to the school room. I ask them the review questions, we complete the outline (or write from the outline depending on the week), and do the map work.

 

 

HTH!

[Another Lynn]

I think vol 4 is different from the others. You might persevere for awhile (as you said, discussing w/out review questions). If it doesn't improve, just pull out the chapters that are specifically American and add biographies/library books to that. Keep doing narrations on that and you'll be in good shape.

[Rhondabee]

Should I skip the review questions and just have him tell me about something that he has just read?

 

Alison in KY

 

Yes!

 

I would also break up the stories - which are sometimes two or three "stories" in one.

 

I would choose just *one* of the stories-within-the-story to really discuss, and ask him what he thought was the most important thing. Or, who or what was the "main idea" of the story. Try to have him give an opinion and list reasons that support his opinion. Or, list the smaller steps that made up the larger event. (You should probably mention what caused the event, and the result as well.) If you'll take some sparse notes during this discussion (on a white board or even just a paper), then he can use those notes to write a really good paragraph.

 

Of course, that is what I would recommend no matter *what* book you were using - LOL! Certainly, you don't *have* to use SOTW-4. I know my then-8th grader enjoyed it, while my then-5th grader endured it.

[Jilly]

We are using Vol. 4, and I think it can be overwhelming. I would stick with it for a while, maybe eliminate the questions, and add in readings from a world history encyclopedia. I just read my son the chapters on WW1, and it was a little confusing to him until I pulled out our encyclopedia and read him the info on WW1. It helped him understand his SOTW readings better.