MOH or SOTW ... or combine them?

[MusicMouseTN]

I'm trying to plan out my kids' curriculum plan over the next few years (yes, I know they'll probably change ... but indulge me anyway! :) ). I had always planned on following TWTM suggestion of SOTW, but have been told by good friends (who I respect their methods) that MOH is an excellent history program. Do they correlate in regards to cycle? Scope? Intensity? History is NOT my strong suit, so I'm looking forward to learning along with my kids. Also, what age would you suggest starting these programs? I will be finishing up preK and starting K soon - is that too young? Or should I wait until 1st? Thanks so much for your advice ... this board is invaluable to me! And my family!

[AngelBee]

I started out with SOTW. I really enjoyed her style of writing. Children were on board, but not loving it. My only concern was that I wanted more when it came to Bible History. However, I DID NOT want a program that focused only on American history which seems to be an issue with some Christian curriculums.

 

Then I bought Mystery of History 1 used on here. I am in LOVE! We have been using it together with SOTW. It is EXACTLY what I am looking for!

 

I do not think that K would necessarily be too young, but I like have 1st be the beginning of the rotation. I have decided though (like yesterday) that since we homeschool year round, we are going to do the rotation in 3 years instead of 4. I am also doing a mini rotation for my Preschoolers/Kinders :) They always want to do "school", so I am going to write a curriculum for them. They usually are listening to the readings anyway. just SUPER light and fun. Kind of a way to get them pumped about school and history.

 

If you have specific questions comparing the two, I would love to help you further :) Hope that helps a bit.

[monalisa]

I think for your kids ages you should go with SOTW. I am using it now with a 1st grader (vol. 1) & love it. I plan to use MOH for the second cycle when my dd is older. I have looked at it -- its not written for little kids, but older elementary. I have friends using it now who say this also. I have heard that it is great, and one of my friends is reading it for fun. But SOTW is written for younger kids -- its story like. I think I might wait until 1st grade, but have heard people using it younger. The activity guide probably would not be worth using with a K'er.

 

I didn't HS for K, but if I had I would not have done history. I don't think it is time well spent at that age (I think that goes along w/ WTM), when the very brief school time needs to be spent on phonics, lots of reading, basic math, and learning to write letters. If you are dying to start on history, however, you could just use SOTW 1 as a read aloud.

 

You might be aware, however, that SOTW doesn't include the amount of Christian history that MOH does. It does include some, but MOH is written from the Christian perspective, from what I understand.

[AngelBee]

My 3 and 5 year old have listened in on 3 chaps of MOH so far. They seemed to do fine with it. (I believe that my dd 3yr is advanced for her age at this point though.)

 

I think if you discuss after and ask a lot of questions, it could work. :) Just keep it light and fun.

[coralloyd]

I plan on using this to combine the two: http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/sotwmoh.htm

[MusicMouseTN]

Thanks so much for all of your help. I still have so much to learn! :)