When to start SOTW?

[Momling]

My 6 yr old kindergartner is just not the kind of girl who can sit still. For instance, it wasn't until this past year that I could actually take her to a (children's) movie. Before then, I would have to take her out of the cinema because she just couldn't handle the two hours it takes to watch a movie. She's a fantastic little athlete and can climb the highest tree, but she rarely enjoys me reading to her and seems to be unable to pay attention to longer picture books or chapter books... it's just not what she's interested in.

 

She's kind of young in a lot of ways... she still enjoys board books and preschool characters like Elmo or Dora. She is learning to read (ETC), has a good grasp of geography (from geo-puzzles) and is turning into quite a little mathematician (MM), but getting her to listen to anything vaguely academic is kind of ridiculous...

 

I had been hoping that I might begin reading SOTW 1 to her starting in first grade... perhaps with heavy use of the activity guide... I was hoping that she'd have some developmental leap and be able to, if not appreciate, at least tolerate listening to some history in narrative form. But we're just a few months away from first grade and it doesn't look promising.

 

Do I wait until I see that my daughter is developmentally at a place where she can understand something a little more sophisticated? Maybe focusing in first grade on fables and myths and other short stories with lots of pictures? But then... what if she's still in second or third grade and still isn't able to listen to history?

 

Or do I plow onwards and just kind of pretend she understands, when I know she has no clue? I can get her, as a bedtime story, to listen quietly... but she really is kind of out there in her understanding and interest.

 

Thoughts?

[Skadi]

What has been your experience with audiobooks with her? I know you said she doesn't have the patience to have you read aloud to her, but for some children, the cadence of a professional narrator can really draw them into the story. SOTW is available on audiobook.

 

I know one family that had a little girl just like yours, and their solution was to teach her to knit. She likes to knit, it keeps her hands really busy so she feels like she's not just "slumping down in her seat" as she puts it, and she can also retain what she's listening to on audiobook while she does it (her parents have cautioned me that it's better for her to listen to an audiobook with headphones so that it blocks out outside interferance, and it's best to quiz her a little to make sure that she's not tuning out).

[AHASRADA]

I think you have a pretty good plan. Wait until the fall, and see how she does. You could work on reading to her over the summer, helping her to develop the habit of sitting still, listening to a story and narrating back to you what happened, in order to prepare her. Nothing schoolish, just for fun, and only for short periods of time (15 min?).

 

I definitely would not start reading SOTW to her if she isn't going to understand, grasp or retain anything. IMHO, you (and she) will really regret it later, since she will have "missed' all the fun of ancient Egyptians and such. "Plowing ahead" if she isn't ready or interested will only frustrate both of you, waste your time, and chip away at her love of learning.

 

In the meantime, you might want to work on introducing her to the concept of history. A timeline or something similar works well for this. Ancient times is difficult for kids to comprehend, it was so long ago. You might relate it to your own family tree, learning a bit about how life was different when you were a kid (no computers, no VCRs, no video games, no "children's TV" channels, no cell phones!), then to when grandpa & grandma were kids, then their parents, and their parents. Once she has a grasp of that, you can work backwards in generational chunks on paper to show her how long ago ancient times were (be prepared to use the whole wall, LOL!) Once she gets a feel for what history is, she might be more amenable to learning about it.

 

Once you do begin SOTW, break it up into small chunks. Each chapter is divided into 2 or 3 sections. Only do one section a day. If it helps her to focus and sit still, have her color the accompanying picture and/or look at the photos in a history encyclopedia or correlated library book while you read. Make good use of the literature suggestions and activities in the activity book. I began SOTW with ds in grade 2 and dd in grade 3. We would always use related library books as bedtime stories, and they loved that. If she is into activities (crafts, etc.), the deal could be that she can do the activity if she pays attention and does her best to narrate what she understood.

 

I used to have (and sold) the entire SOTW vol 1-4 on CD. I thought we could listen to them in the car and save my voice. However, I realized that when I read it aloud, I pause periodically to check for understanding, summarize and explain concepts and unfamiliar vocabulary, and the kids interject their own questions and comments. This is much more difficult to do with the CD (especially while driving!), and they didn't end up benefitting much from it. So, back to tiring mom's voice!

 

In a nutshell, if you think she might be capable of comprehending SOTW in the fall, and it is only a question of sitting still, work on establishing that habit with baby steps over the summer. If you think she needs a bit more time to mature and become familiar with what history "is" before she can learn from SOTW, do that.

 

Just my $0.02. HTH,

[Chris in VA]

Are you starting in Sept?

A LOT can change in 4 months.

Remember, SOTW 1 has short sections--just read one section each session, and choose the shorter, picture-book type options for extra reading. You may be surprised how much she enjoys it! Go for exposure, not retention, necessarily. And give her something to do while she listens, even if it's sitting on a large yoga ball and bouncing. Each section will only take 10 minutes or so, at the most, and you do want to start developing her attention span.

[sagira]

Are you starting in Sept?

A LOT can change in 4 months.

Remember, SOTW 1 has short sections--just read one section each session, and choose the shorter, picture-book type options for extra reading. You may be surprised how much she enjoys it! Go for exposure, not retention, necessarily. And give her something to do while she listens, even if it's sitting on a large yoga ball and bouncing. Each section will only take 10 minutes or so, at the most, and you do want to start developing her attention span.

 

This is what I do now with my ds (6). Depending on the subject matter, I have ds listen to one section at a time. Once in a while we listen to two sections at a time. On Monday we listened to both the Aryan Empires of India and the Caste System. I'm pleased to say that History is ds' self-proclaimed favorite subject, and he's retaining more and more each day. The coloring pages help, as do the few extra books we read and the projects we choose.

[lovinmomma]

What about listening to the audio of SOTW, but focusing on the more tactile activity guide and the encyclopedia? The ency may peak her interest more and be shorter? Then, the activities would give her something to remember. Just an idea...

[Momling]

Thank you for your suggestions!

 

I hope to start in September, but we'll see how it goes. She is so unlike me (and unlike her older sister) that it's a challenge for me to figure out how to approach a topic like history that, for me, is so pleasurable and for her is not.