I don't like WTM history breakdown

[TXMary2]

I am re-reading WTM and I love the reading, grammar and writing approach. I like the assignment ideas and books suggested for History, but I don't like the breakdown of time periods. I don't know why, I just don't. Does anyone else feel this way? I am rebelling against the suggested order and breakdown!:tongue_smilie:

[CourtneySue]

What is it that you don't like about it? I have sometimes thought it tried to cover too much in too short of time. I like the fact that Veritas Press spreads their history program over 5 years. It seems like you would be able to get more in depth.

 

I'm still figuring out what I'm going to do as I get started and am on the fence regarding SOTW.

[Rosie_0801]

I'm not sure I understand. Recorded history started and just kept going. No one thinks history really happened in tidy segments. An author can't put what they've designed to be four years of history studies into one book or the book will be too cumbersome to hold! Gotta divvy it up somehow.

 

Rosie

[Woodland_Mom]

You could get all 4 volumes and then for each school year, determine your own start and stopping points in each volume. Would that help you?

[abrightmom]

What is it that you don't like about it? I have sometimes thought it tried to cover too much in too short of time. I like the fact that Veritas Press spreads their history program over 5 years. It seems like you would be able to get more in depth.

 

I'm still figuring out what I'm going to do as I get started and am on the fence regarding SOTW.

 

I think that one of the reasons VP is spread out a little more is their (IMHO necessary and right! :001_smile:) inclusion of Biblical history. They split ancients into two years and fold in all of Old and New Testament Bible history. There is just more there in the study of ancients. SOTW, while touching on many other countries/cultures (not just Western Civ.), does not start with Creation and does not incorporate much Biblical history.

 

If you visit the VP Elementary yahoo group there are some nice charts in the files that show using the VP cards/order of events and where SOTW fits in. This way you could have the Biblical history component AND not miss the non Western Civ. stuff. Just pause in the VP studies and read the relevant SOTW chapters/do the maps/follow up reading. I find these charts to be very helpful!!

[abrightmom]

You could get all 4 volumes and then for each school year, determine your own start and stopping points in each volume. Would that help you?

:iagree: Good counsel!! :001_smile:

[alpidarkomama]

I don't quite understand the OP's question (?). What exactly don't you like about the breakdown/time periods?? Do you mean where the individual chapters break? Where the books break? Or going in chronological order?? :)

 

SOTW has worked great for us. We take long asides into biblical and post-biblical Jewish history in tandem with SOTW, and just keep on going. We don't do a lot of hands-on projects for history since we have a pretty hefty Jewish studies curriculum and can't devote too many hours to history. For the grammar level, we're mostly just reading SOTW out loud + reading our Jewish resources that parallel the same time periods/events + doing map work.

[Grammar Stage Parent]

What does your rebellion consist of? I disagree with some aspects of the coverage, but not the breakdown itself. I could elaborate, but it's hard to respond to "I don't know why, I just don't".

 

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Daughter: 9; Singapore Primary Mathematics 3B; Story of the World Level 2; Writing Strands 3; Spelling Workout Level C; Science experiment books recommended in WTM; WWE3

 

Son: 6: First Language Lessons Level 2; Singapore Primary Mathematics 1B; general handwriting practice and reading practice; SOTW 1; WWE 1; Science experiment books recommended in WTM

[EKS]

If you don't like the suggested time periods, then just break at some other point.

[Jen+4dc]

If you don't like the suggested time periods, then just break at some other point.

:iagree:

 

That's the beauty of being the teacher:). You can even use materials meant to fit the 4 year rotation and just start and stop where you want to like a pp said. Take 3 years or 5 years or whatever you want to take.

 

You own the curriculum, it doesn't own you!

 

Good luck!

[TXMary2]

Sorry, I was unclear. I don't like the breakdown of time periods and how world/american history are covered together in the 3rd and 4th year. I am sure many people like it, I just like the more traditional separation of World and American history. I didn't really have a question....just whining.;)

[truebluexf]

I think we're "fixing" that by doing WP AS1 & 2. ;) I'm saving the official history rotation for later, though we are starting to listen to SOTW in the car...a less formal approach for the grammar stage bc I really want to do American history right now since we will be living where we can experience so much of it hands-on.

[Sweetest]

Sorry, I was unclear. I don't like the breakdown of time periods and how world/american history are covered together in the 3rd and 4th year. I am sure many people like it, I just like the more traditional separation of World and American history. I didn't really have a question....just whining.;)

 

 

This is why I use Sonlight for history, I like the way they organize History. Core 1 and 2 are a broad introduction to World History, then Core 3 and 4 do an in-depth study of American History. Core 5 studies Eastern Culture, the Core 6 and 7 do an in-depth World History Study. Beyond core 7 are the high school level courses - American History, Christian History, Modern World History, and American Gov't.

 

There are so many ways to organize history, it used to bog me down trying to decide which way was best. Finally, I realized as long as I stuck with any one system my kids would be fine, so I picked one I liked and I'm sticking with it ;)

[JMDRAD]

[quote name=

 

There are so many ways to organize history' date=' it used to bog me down trying to decide which way was best. Finally, I realized as long as I stuck with any one system my kids would be fine, so I picked one I liked and I'm sticking with it ;)

 

 

:iagree:I agree! But I'm trying to figure out which one I want to stick with.:001_huh: I like the idea of doing a four year cycle but I also like opening up my Sonlight schedule and having it all laid out for me too. LOL So are you telling me my kid won't be ruined for life if I just stick with Sonlight and not do a four year cycle????:lol: (jk) So many choices!!

[Sweetest]

:iagree:I agree! But I'm trying to figure out which one I want to stick with.:001_huh: I like the idea of doing a four year cycle but I also like opening up my Sonlight schedule and having it all laid out for me too. LOL So are you telling me my kid won't be ruined for life if I just stick with Sonlight and not do a four year cycle????:lol: (jk) So many choices!!

 

I know how you feel. I loved the idea of the 4 year cycle - it is one of the main things that attracted me to homeschooling in the first place! Now that I'm doing Sonlight, I'm loving it and feeling very confident, but it was hard to break away from the idea of the 4 year cycle!

 

The fact that Sonlight has everything all laid out for me is what ultimately sold me. I loved all the extra reading suggestions from the SOTW Activity Guides, but rounding it all up and getting it done was just not working for me.

 

Good luck!

[Night Elf]

So are you telling me my kid won't be ruined for life if I just stick with Sonlight and not do a four year cycle????:lol: (jk) So many choices!!

 

Some people that don't like the 4-year rotation is because they prefer the traditional social studies approach that covers some of nearly every topic taught through middle school. I have used Calvert and K12, so I really don't mind the social studies approach, especially since it is the way I was taught. But for right now, I'm going with SOTW because we're in the mood to study the Medieval Ages. :)

 

One thing that has helped me lately is having 2 children in high school. I have some things I want to do differently with dd12 now that I know what's coming.

[Heidi]

 

One thing that has helped me lately is having 2 children in high school. I have some things I want to do differently with dd12 now that I know what's coming.

 

Like what? :bigear:

[Hedgehogs4]

What does your rebellion consist of?

 

 

rebellion! :lol: that just struck my funny bone!

[Jen+4dc]

I know how you feel. I loved the idea of the 4 year cycle - it is one of the main things that attracted me to homeschooling in the first place! Now that I'm doing Sonlight, I'm loving it and feeling very confident, but it was hard to break away from the idea of the 4 year cycle!

 

The fact that Sonlight has everything all laid out for me is what ultimately sold me. I loved all the extra reading suggestions from the SOTW Activity Guides, but rounding it all up and getting it done was just not working for me.

 

Good luck!

 

I did SL for two years (core 3 & 4) before I felt confident enough to "go it alone." Now I'm using their core 6 IG (bought used) over two years and adding in WTM outlining and notebooking and such at both grammar and logic stages. I love SL for book selections and the organization, but I'm a tweaker by nature and honestly, never thought SL was rigorous enough for us:tongue_smilie:(YMMV). I want my kids doing more than reading & discussing in history and felt like that's all we did with SL.

 

So, we are enjoying spreading core 6 over 2 years then we'll spread core 7 over two years. (Of course, we also use the SOTW AG for questions and projects and maps and such!) If you love SL and the 4 year cycle give it a try! Core 6 & 7 are easy to accomodate logic and grammar and spread over 4 years.

[TXMary2]

The only history we have ever used was Sonlight, Abeka and Winter Promise which used Mystery of History Vol 2.

 

I decided to start with American History with my youngest and his big brother will be doing it at the same time on the high school level. 14yods hasn't done American History since 6th grade so we are doing it again, but for 2 years instead of 1. I am timing it this way because I want American Govt to coincide with the next Presidential election which is the first half of his Jr. year. As a Jr. and Sr. he will do World History for two years and I am spreading the U.S. and World Geography out over the 4 years using all three Trail Guides to Geography.

[EKS]

Sorry, I was unclear. I don't like the breakdown of time periods and how world/american history are covered together in the 3rd and 4th year. I am sure many people like it, I just like the more traditional separation of World and American history. I didn't really have a question....just whining.;)

 

I don't like covering American history in a detailed way in the context of world history. For my SOTW age kid, we'll be doing SOTW 3 and 4 next year and then American the year after. Then for the next rotation, we'll do three years of world using K12's Human Odyssey followed by a year of American in 8th grade.

 

The problem with covering American in a detailed way while doing world history is that it makes the world history become disproportionately heavy on American.

Edited May 22, 2010 by EKS

[cschnee]

It's always taken us 2 years to do each of the SOTW books because we do a lot of projects and extra reading. After we finished SOTW 3 early in the year, we started using Modern History through Canadian Eyes (MHTCE). Because they mesh so well together, we will be doing both SOTW 4 and MHTCE on a rotating basis over 3 years, starting in Sept. There's so much to learn and so many excellent resources. That'll take us to the end of grade 8. In grade 9, I think we will do Mapping the World with Art as a refresher and then in grades 10-12, my dd can chose what she'd like to study in more depth. Just an example of another way to do history!

[Night Elf]

Like what? :bigear:

 

1. Note-taking is a skill. It's learning how to pull main ideas and supporting details from both texts and lectures. I never thought to teach that skill and ds13 is now struggling with it. I'm having my dd12 outline so she can learn how to do that.

 

2. Writing is also a learned skill. Sometimes I pushed my children to write assignments and sometimes I told them writing wasn't important. What I should have done was a slow and steady approach like SWB's writing plan. My son would find his courses easier if he wasn't so bogged down in the fear of writing.

 

3. When I said I had to think about where my children were heading, I meant that the subjects themselves aren't as important as how my children learn to approach academics. With proper training in writing and thinking logically, they would have the tools to be successful in any course. Whether I use the chronological course of study to History or the traditional Social Studies approach doesn't matter. The way I teach my children to learn is what is important.

 

So I dropped the 6th grade social studies program my dd12 was doing in favor of studying one topic for a while. The social studies course had different topics for every lesson. She wasn't really understanding how one thing was connected to another. The focus was really the writing assignments. She did travel brochures, a play, a website, cartoons, and postcards. She did the same types of things in school. It's what we're used to. But my high schoolers aren't doing that in their courses. Instead, the important thing is the end result of outlining and narrative writing.

 

I'm just hoping by making the few changes I have, that my dd12 will have a smooth transition into her future high school work.

 

I don't even know if this makes sense. When I wrote my previous post, I was not thinking in terms of writing an explanation. My brain isn't that organized. :tongue_smilie: I just know that overall, my ds13 doesn't seem to be as prepared for his high school courses as I think he should be. So I figure I have nothing to lose in trying things SWB's way. (Sorry for the thread hijack! This was totally off topic.)

[texasmama]

This is why I use Sonlight for history, I like the way they organize History. Core 1 and 2 are a broad introduction to World History, then Core 3 and 4 do an in-depth study of American History. Core 5 studies Eastern Culture, the Core 6 and 7 do an in-depth World History Study. Beyond core 7 are the high school level courses - American History, Christian History, Modern World History, and American Gov't.

 

There are so many ways to organize history, it used to bog me down trying to decide which way was best. Finally, I realized as long as I stuck with any one system my kids would be fine, so I picked one I liked and I'm sticking with it ;)

 

:iagree:This is what we like about SL, but I agree that you can organize it any way that works for you and your kids. Because the cycles repeat, they will get what they need over the span of their education.