What age for Hakim's Story of Science

[kokotg]

I'm trying to plan out history for next year. Tentatively, I'm thinking of doing SOTW 1 for everyone together and giving my oldest son (he'll be 9) supplemental work/reading. He's more a fan of science than history, so I'm considering using Joy Hakim's Story of Science (the parts that correspond with SOTW 1) for his extra reading (and then maybe having him do extra research/writing on the topics that interest him from it).

 

With what ages have people used this successfully? He's a very strong reader, but has probably a pretty average background in science, and I don't want to frustrate him with concepts that are over his head.

[patchfire]

We need to just have a North Metro Curriculum & Resource Party. :)

 

I'm going to have DD read through them next year, too, and I've sort of viewed them as "a bit below her level, but worth reading," so I suspect Ari'd be just fine with them. They're in my cart for my next amazon order, though, so lmk if you want to look at them in just a few weeks. :)

[Guest]

This is a tough one. As far as reading level your son could quite probably manage. But the ideas in some of the passages are pretty hard to grasp -- and I'm talking about myself here. I tried reading the first book with my daughter when she was twelve and it was tough going.

 

There's no denying that a strong interest could make a younger child take to these books and really enjoy them. You could get the first volume from your library and read a chapter or two just as fun reading to see whether or not they work at his level. Like "History of US," the books could work over a span of years and it would depend on whether your son is ready for them.

[kokotg]

We need to just have a North Metro Curriculum & Resource Party. :)

 

I'm going to have DD read through them next year, too, and I've sort of viewed them as "a bit below her level, but worth reading," so I suspect Ari'd be just fine with them. They're in my cart for my next amazon order, though, so lmk if you want to look at them in just a few weeks. :)

 

Curriculum night--fun!! Yes, thanks--I'd love to take a look at it when you get it.

 

This is a tough one. As far as reading level your son could quite probably manage. But the ideas in some of the passages are pretty hard to grasp -- and I'm talking about myself here. I tried reading the first book with my daughter when she was twelve and it was tough going.

 

 

 

Thanks--that's kind of what I was thinking might be the case. My goal for the past couple of years has pretty much been just to get him to stop hating history (and I've had some success), so I don't want to suddenly throw something at him that's TOO challenging. On the other hand, I think it's definitely time to start expecting something more out of him for history. Our library is....not the best, so I doubt they'll have the books, but I'll definitely take a look and see.

[lmrich]

Hey I would love to join for a night of curriculum talk. I am very interested in the answer to your question!

[smrtmama]

We'll just have to get that set up. Do people have preferable days or times for a get together (I say, as the default voice of Patchfire)?

[StephanieZ]

I'd say SoS is probably ideal for ages 10-14 (depending on interest as well as skill set) but can be stretched a bit younger if highly motivated and/or advanced. Older teens and adults can certainly learn a lot as well. . . and it would be easy supplemental reading for them. There's plenty of novel info for most anyone.

 

My 10 & 13 yos have been getting a lot out of SoS-Aristotle this year. They can/could read it independently, but I think my 10 yo would get cranky if I assigned it as independent reading all the time (he does a lot of other reading already) and I am not sure he'd get as much out of it indpendently, although he has done just fine with the shorter sections I have assigned as independent reading (mainly just when I didn't have time to read it aloud), so I guess that might work just fine if he weren't already loaded with assigned reading from other sources. We generally read it aloud together. My 13yo could/would read it independently easily and rapidly. It really seems ideal for that age to me.

 

Sooo, I'd think your motivated 9 yo could likely do just fine. If it seems touch and go, you might want to read it aloud. If it is too much for him and you don't have time to read it aloud, you can just wait a couple years.

[abbeyej]

We need to just have a North Metro Curriculum & Resource Party. :)

 

Meet a wee bit further south, and some of us with curriculum-related-compulsive-shopping-disorders could join you and show off our books... ;)

[HRAAB]

My 12 yr. old dd is using SOS this year. The reading level is not at all difficult, but the content seems on target for her. She is thoroughly enjoying these books plus there is a lot of information in them. She's keeping a notebook, also.