Anyone else *not* like SOTW?

[Mom2J112903]

And we are only on Chapter 3 :o

 

J has no intrest in any of the activites and *hates* the map work. He didn't even get excited about the chicken mummy project-we are starting it Thursday :D

 

*I* don't like how it jumps from one time period to another-I want a more timelined history. We went with SOTW because it received rave reviews but now we are realizing it is just not something *we* like.

 

I know it is short into the book, but J has *no* intrest in it. I will be looking for a new history curricula for next year.

 

Anyone else not like SOTW? If so, what did you change to?

[Oakblossoms]

I didn't like it when my children were younger. We drew out Ancients forever. They just could never stay interested in it. But, my now 8th grader and 5th grader love them. They love learning from them this past year. I've found they are the perfect spine for the logic stage.

 

My third son just wasn't interested in them either. So, we are doing Oak Meadow this year. Last year I just covered the occasional important topic from SOTW 3 (the older boys were doing it) and we read books like Little House on the Prairie series and followed rabbit trails for a more Social Studies feel.

[Crimson Wife]

My oldest declared the main SOTW text "boring" but loved the KHE. No accounting for tastes, huh? So for ancients and medieval we used KHE as our "spine" and then filled in with library books & documentaries. We also did "unit studies" by civilization rather than jumping back & forth.

 

She did like the AG activities and didn't seem to mind the mapwork too much.

 

If he doesn't like the activities, I really don't think you'd be losing that much by skipping them.

[~Kirsten~]

Personally, if both of you dislike it, dump it right now! Don't drag yourselves through a year of it and set up a situation where he dislikes history for some time as a result. Particularly since it's not that expensive to begin with, move on!

 

If you decide to keep it anyway, I'd completely ditch the map work for sure. It is a hit here, which actually surprised me, but I don't consider it a typical 6-year-old's thing, nor do I think it's super meaningful at this age. So I would drop as much of the "drudgery" parts as you can, if and only if you stay with it.

 

Also, I know someone has reorganized SotW to do it by civilizations. Do a search or two here, or maybe someone else knows where that link is. But if that streamlines it for you, that might help.

 

Finally, (and I say this even as I still stand by my "ditch it" advice), it really improves as you dig into Egypt. I didn't like the first couple of chapters much, though my daughter didn't complain. Once we hit Egypt, it got interesting for us all in a hurry. Also, I've found that for supplemental reading, we only really do the stories and narratives. We had a ton of books about mummies, and those were popular, but in general, our reading is fictional, which really enhances the "story" flavor of SotW.

 

Just my 2 cents. Hope you find something that works better for you both! :001_smile:

[*Jessica*]

Personally, if both of you dislike it, dump it right now! Don't drag yourselves through a year of it and set up a situation where he dislikes history for some time as a result.

I agree!

[ravengal]

I didn't care for it. We used Gombrich's "Little History of the World"

[StephanieZ]

I haven't noticed SOTW jumping time periods at all, so I am not sure what that's about. Maybe your impression will change over a few more chapters?

 

That said, I think what made SOTW work well for my young children was reading lots of the additional books listed in the AG. The story books, picture books, folk tales, myths, etc. . . SOTW was the "spine" that tied it all together, but the story books and activities were the meat of the SOTW years for us.

 

SOTW worked great for us when we lived in the land of an awesome library system . . . I would order dozens of books at a time. . . 6 or 8 from every chapter. . . We'd skip any we didn't like and enjoy those we did. . . It was harder when I moved to the land of the stinky library system. . . I would spend a couple hundred dollars each year buying stashes of books that sounded good on Amazon, but it was more stressful, more expensive, and less fun than the years in good library land. (Still miss good library land of NoVA!)

 

HTH

[elfinbaby]

I've always had mixed feelings about SOTW; however, after considering options, my poor time management skills, and my inability to stick w/things, I decided it was worth keeping. It's not our spine but I'm glad to have it on our shelves and the audio is a worthy addition to our family.

 

I try too hard, attempt to do too much, make things too complicated and end up feeling overwhelmed and disappointed. SOTW is easy. It's a great guide. I love that SWB writes in TWTM to make history into stories - stories that children will remember. SOTW breaks it down in that way for us so my kids (and me) can just get over it. Sure I could get this book, that book, research this and that but I have to be honest with myself. I don't have that kind of time.

 

We're going to listen to those cds if nothing else! They are learning. It creates a wonderful foundation that I can build on with something else if I choose. DS is doing WP this year but he's listening to those vol. 2 cds now!

 

All in all, I think SWB did a great job bringing it all together. It's thorough and accessible. Still, I know what you are saying. We've been going back and forth for years. I just recently kicked myself in the tail and said, "Stop it!" :) I have to do that sometimes;)

[Mom2J112903]

Oh DH would *flip* if I told him we were chainging our history curricula. We have already changed Math curricula and added in Shurley English.

 

I would be afraid to sell the SOTW and AG since J has already colored a few pages.

 

Hopefully it will pick up, but I think we will not use the coloring pages and map work any longer.

[Jenny in GA]

We just started it today, so I don't know yet!

 

But I had a thread a few months ago called "Anyone NOT like Story of the World?" when I was trying to decide. It was at least a couple pages long. If you can find it, maybe that will help.

 

Jenny

[mrs.m]

Oh DH would *flip* if I told him we were chainging our history curricula. We have already changed Math curricula and added in Shurley English.

 

I would be afraid to sell the SOTW and AG since J has already colored a few pages.

 

Hopefully it will pick up, but I think we will not use the coloring pages and map work any longer.

 

6 is young! Maybe shelf it for awhile and just check out some books from the library instead? Try it again in January?

 

My 5yo is interested and then not. It really depends on if there is a coloring page. My 8yo really likes it. But my 10yo is VERY enthusiatic about it. (we started in Jan. so we are over 1/2 way through.)

[Hockey Mom]

If ditching it isn't an option, maybe you could pretend to be really excited over it? I have been really excited about starting it for a couple of months now, and it's been infectious. My boys can't wait to learn the geography, do the activities and look at the books. Trust me, history does NOT excite me that much, but I've found if I "pretend" enough, I can get the boys on board too.

[Mom2J112903]

DH and I *love* History-DH loves all parts of History but yes, our hearts are in American History.

 

DH is excited about the mummy chicken, J, not so much. We are going out of town in a little over 2wks. Should we ditch the project until we come back? We will be gone for 5 days, leaving the cat inside. The cat has a keen sense for any type of chicken. He has stolen FROZEN chicken off the counter before!

[FairProspects]

That said, I think what made SOTW work well for my young children was reading lots of the additional books listed in the AG. The story books, picture books, folk tales, myths, etc. . . SOTW was the "spine" that tied it all together, but the story books and activities were the meat of the SOTW years for us.

 

Yup, this, exactly this. We are only a couple of weeks into it, but the kids are SO excited about history. Ds #1 took all the archeology books to bed with him, drew dog skeletons during nap time, and woke up everyday last week asking if it was Dinosaur Day (Dirty Dig project). I'm already fielding comments about when we get to do Mummies. I think the extra stories and projects are really key for the younger set.

[Irishmommy]

Personally, I LOVE SOTW and my older son would listen to the audio (Barbara Allen Jordan) in his spare time if I let him (we save it for "school"), but I realized a couple of weeks ago that it was not going to work for dd this year. She is in K and I was planning on her just tagging along with big brother in his studies of SOTW 2, but I decided that she might enjoy something a little more her level of comprehension. So, at the last minute we went with Sonlight Core K. I think she'll enjoy it so much more when we cycle back around with it. Right now she is enjoying all the K books and that is great. I'd say just see what you can check out from the library or maybe The Usborne Book of Living Long Ago or something of the like. My dd is really enjoying that title, as well as the children's encyclopedia.

Goodluck, it's no fun trying to find what works for everyone in the school - mommy and students!

[5LittleMonkeys]

I have heard a lot of people here say that their 6 yr.olds couldn't get into it until they were older. It was hit or miss with my dd6 last year. The only thing that kept her interested were the art\craft activities but she could have missed the stories and been happy.

 

Maybe shelf it and do a year of Am. History with him since that is where your passion lies. You wouldn't necessarily have to order a curriculum; just pull together books from the library, websites and activities to make a fun but light year. Maybe your enthusiasm would get him excited and then next year try the SOTW again.

[Sahamamama]

I have tried repeatedly to like it. I don't, and perhaps never will. We use other PHP products, such as FLL, OPG, and WWE. It's nothing personal.

[EKS]

My son didn't like it at first either. Then he tolerated it. When we got to the end of volume 1 he cried when Rome fell he was so into it. He really enjoyed SOTW2 all year this past year and was upset when I told him we would be using SOTW 3 but not 4.

 

I'd stick with it (not necessarily the activities, but the reading) as long as *you* think it's worthwhile. He may warm up to it in time. At that age, we supplemented with lots of colorful picture books, which my son loved (much more than SOTW at first).

[Mom2J112903]

I don't like FLL or WWE, but did really like SOTW when I first started looking at curricula.

 

J *despises* artsy-type stuff but I was hopeful that with the AG I could get him to *some* of the coloring pages and activities with me.

[Disney Dreaming]

Do you have the Activity Guide. Dd didn't like SOTW last year, I dropped it after about 6 chapters. However, she did like the books that were listed in the AG that we checked out at the library. Good luck, I have been curriculum hopping for the last year trying to find the "perfect fit". I am now settling on something that at least keeps her interest.

[kalanamak]

And we are only on Chapter 3 :o

 

J has no intrest in any of the activites and *hates* the map work. He didn't even get excited about the chicken mummy project-we are starting it Thursday :D

 

 

I found my son learned the most by just listening to the tapes over and over while he played.

 

As a complete left field that no one else ever mentioned, have a look at The Cartoon History of the Universe. It goes more in depth than the title lets on.

[Wee Pip]

Ya know, history just did not work for us until my kids could read it themselves. They were just bored, bored, bored with whatever we picked. I'm a big history buff (esp ancients), but teaching it was a whole 'nuther story. Now, at age 9 & 7, I can hand them SOTW and they read it. Another thing - getting through ONE WHOLE CHAPTER in a day was TERRIBLE (insert gnashing of teeth). But somehow, doing 1/2 a chapter every day is just right for us. We don't do map work, we don't do activities, we don't do anything else. But for now, this is working.

I will add, though - having been thru the trial-and-error phase of curriculum shopping, if you really and truly hate something, it doesn't do you any good to continue. I feel the same way about Saxon Math or Rod & Staff - good programs, yes. But if I had to use it everyday, the kids would end up on the yellow schoolbus within 2 weeks:lol:

[Irishmommy]

I wanted to add that at 6 there would be NO WAY my older ds would have wanted to do ANYTHING but listen to the story on cd. He is an auditory learner and DESPISES any type of coloring, so the map work is the extent of the "projects" that we do with SOTW with him. He is behind on fine motor skills, so the artsy type things are REALLY challenging for him. So, I just have him listen to the text and I read him (or he reads on his own) the Usborne Encyclopedia that correlates. At six though, I would have let him listen to the cds, and then I would have read him the chapters of the UILE ONLY if he was interested. I would not add anything else to it, unless he expressed interest.

This is the first year he has had ANY interest in doing any artsy things. We are studying Pompei and he has just made a volcano to explode. I had to stir the plaster for him and help him put on the first coat of paint. We are going to put little diaramma people in there and I am sure I'll have to cut them out for him, but he's excited about it, so I am encouraging him to do as much of it as he can. Oh, and BTW, he's 9.

[StephanieZ]

I don't like FLL or WWE, but did really like SOTW when I first started looking at curricula.

 

J *despises* artsy-type stuff but I was hopeful that with the AG I could get him to *some* of the coloring pages and activities with me.

 

Aha, well, maybe SonLight would be a better fit? No artsy stuff in there, but lots of nice books and couch snuggling opportunities.

 

If we hadn't done the mapping and some of the AG activities, our SOTW years would have seemed bleak. Then again, the extra books were very nice. But, if it's all about the books alone, then I prefer SL b/c they help pick some of the best books as opposed to the "laundry list" approach of the SOTW AGs. . .

 

FWIW, you can definitely resell the AG with a couple used pages, just disclose what they are and knock an extra couple dollars off the price.

[In2why]

You can count me in the did not like column. I wanted to love it. I actually loved it for me. But for my kiddo. Nope. We still have it and we will probably come back to it at some point in the future; maybe. I love the idea of studying history in ordder but I think I will wait for the logic stage. It was just too much work and preparation, and not enough retention.

Right now we are studying American History and we getting in depth with it so it should take us 2 years then we will see what we do for 4th grade.

[HollyDay]

I did not like SOTW vol 1 at all. Really, really, did not like it one bit. But, we enjoyed SOTW vol 2 quite a bit! I added quite a few readers and MOH vol 2. But, that year and a half of history was really nice. We are now doing SOTW vol 4 and so far, we are liking it quite a bit. I am adding more American history and outside readers. But, so far, we are liking it fine. I've yet to find any history text from any company we are 100% thrilled about. But, other than SOTW vol 1, I've been able to tweak the other volumes of SOTW and make it successful.

[Lovedtodeath]

We used picture books and the Usborne Encyclopedia with Ancient Explorations. I love SOTW but DD wasn't ready for a narrative spine. She was interested in about half of the projects... I did them anyway.

 

We are doing Heart of Dakota and Winterpromise for a couple of years and then will start SOTW in 5th grade.

[Haiku]

I used the schedule from Bringing Up Learners, called Mosiac, to reorganize the SOTW chapters so that we read all the chapters about each civilization together instead of in strict chronological order. My kids loved getting to spend several weeks (or more!) on each civilization.

 

Tara

[Wheres Toto]

I used the schedule from Bringing Up Learners, called Mosiac, to reorganize the SOTW chapters so that we read all the chapters about each civilization together instead of in strict chronological order. My kids loved getting to spend several weeks (or more!) on each civilization.

 

Tara

 

This is what I'm planning to do. I'm using the version that also has Prehistory/Evolution included.