Would it be possible to cover SOTW 1 and 2 in one year w/6th grader?

[iammommy]

Do you feel this would be too much? I don't want to feel rushed, and do want to do extra reading and hands-on projects with my ds. He's not particularly fond of history, so I don't want him to feel like we're blasting through it. He is looking forward to the hands-on stuff. He's an average student. I'm not really looking for beefing it up, rather just making it enjoyable. He's only done American History up to this point.

 

Nan

[Carol in Cal.]

Sonlight does cover SOTW1 and 2 in the same year--Sonlight 6. I think that it's usually considered a 6th or 7th grade curriculum. But I have to admit that I wonder, why the rush? SOTW1 covers some of the most fascinating material in history--pre-history through the Fall of Rome. I think that it deserves its own year. Now, SOTW2 is much less focussed. Although longer, I don't find it as crucial or as engaging as SOTW1. Maybe you could rush it--quite a bit, I'll bet--maybe even finish it in 4 months or so. But I disagree with Sonlight on this. Unless you school year round, I don't see a good case for covering both in one year.

[Testimony]

My older son read SOTW 2 and 3, Our Island Story and Trial and Triumph. Your son can definitely do it. SOTW 1 is suppose to be geared for first grade and 2 is for second grade. I don't see why not!

 

Blessings,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[crimsonkelley]

I agree that SOTW 1 has so much information! I'm not sure how Sonlight combines the two, unless they are spending a large block of time every day covering the topics. If your son isn't very excited about history, he might really enjoy SOTW 1.

 

Of course, I guess you could hit the high points in 1 and 2. You might leave out some of the information on India and China and cover Egypt, Greece and Rome. (However, there are so many wonderful living history books for this time period - I, personally, would find it hard to condense it.)

 

I would love to hear from those who have used Sonlight and actually done this.

 

Best of luck!

[m0mmaBuck]

Do you feel this would be too much? I don't want to feel rushed, and do want to do extra reading and hands-on projects with my ds. He's not particularly fond of history, so I don't want him to feel like we're blasting through it. He is looking forward to the hands-on stuff. He's an average student. I'm not really looking for beefing it up, rather just making it enjoyable. He's only done American History up to this point.

 

Nan

 

We started SOTW1 in January and will be done in June. We read at least one book suggestion per chapter as well as the review questions, narrations, and maps. DS did the coloring pages while I read. We picked projects that looked fun (i.e. Lego pyramid, Assyrian seige tower, carving soap). Some weeks we did two chapters (for example, we the Qin Dynasty and Confucious in the same week). It didn't feel rushed and he totally enjoyed it.

[Susie in CA]

Sonlight does cover SOTW1 and 2 in the same year--Sonlight 6. I think that it's usually considered a 6th or 7th grade curriculum. But I have to admit that I wonder, why the rush? SOTW1 covers some of the most fascinating material in history--pre-history through the Fall of Rome. I think that it deserves its own year. Now, SOTW2 is much less focussed. Although longer, I don't find it as crucial or as engaging as SOTW1. Maybe you could rush it--quite a bit, I'll bet--maybe even finish it in 4 months or so. But I disagree with Sonlight on this. Unless you school year round, I don't see a good case for covering both in one year.

 

Actually, I do think Sonlight has this right on the money. The reason why you can do it so much faster and still enjoy it is because SOTW is not really a middle school level series. We did SOTW in the grammar stage, and we took a loooong time going through it. It was fun! We did tons of projects and extra reading. Now we are doing it again and it just doesn't take us the same amount of time. We can absorb so much more information and still enjoy it. You know, we still do tons of projects, too.

In short, I think it is an age thing for the most part. However, the poster said her son has only done American History before, and that is something she'll want to consider.

 

Susie

[Stacie in UT]

We used Sonlight to guide us through SOTW 3 & 4 in one year and it was pretty good. I'm sure the guide for using SOTW 1 & 2 in one year would be similar. My kids actually took about 1 1/2 years to get through it all. They liked the literature Sonlight scheduled to go along with SOTW so much that they have asked me to order Sonlight again for this coming year. Good luck in your decision.

 

Stacie in UT

[AngieW in Texas]

It's very possible to do SOTW1-2 in one year with a 6th grader. Take a look at SL Core 6 for book ideas.

[iammommy]

I think we're just going to start out with SOTW 1, enjoy everything as we go, and see where we end up. There really is no reason to rush. I will take a look at Sonlight and see how they do it, though. My ds is VERY excited about SOTW 1. I just thought because he's on the older side for doing SOTW 1 we might be able to cover both volumes. I appreciate your posts!

 

Nan:001_smile: