SOTW Vol 1. Literature Suggestions

[thegeyser]

My son and I just finished reading chapter 7 in SOTW. Although we are only a little way into the curriculum, I am starting to feel as if some of the suggested reading selections from the activity guide have almost nothing to do with the material from SOTW. For example, we just read about the Code of Hammurabi, but our selected reading was The Tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (by Eric. A. Kimmel). The story took place in Iraq, but other than that, I don't know why SWB picked that book. Could someone please enlighten me. Is there something I am missing? Do the reading selections continue to be as arbitrary as this, or is this just an aberration? I would appreciate some insight from those who have used this curriculum for their grammar-aged kids before. Thank you in advance.

 

Julie

[Chris in VA]

Welll...Iraq is where Babylon is/was. Hammurabi was Babylonian, wasn't he? So it's a folk tale of the place.

[mindygz]

I think for the literature suggestions, it is just to give an idea of the culture of the area. My kids always enjoyed the stories that weren't directly tied in with the reading. We found them enriching and enjoyable.

[Lovedtodeath]

Actually, the SOTW AG was not written by SWB alone. There were many contributors. The reason that they chose a story that was not from that time period is because it is very hard to find Ancient Babylonian stories/books. Did you read Lugalbanda?

 

Yes, I did find some of the lit selections not to my liking... I didn't want a book about a modern country when studying ancient history, for example. I could see how that would add to the cultural understanding and might be something one might want if you don't plan to do a course on world cultures and geography. Some other books were a bit advanced/uninteresting to my 6/7 year old. So I wrote my own. :)

 

I have heard that some prefer the History Odyssey list. Ancient Explorations also has a booklist and a free e-book with stories for almost every week. That may give you some more options. You may also be interested to know that some prefer the SOTW 2 AG over the first one.

Edited August 23, 2010 by Lovedtodeath

[thegeyser]

Thanks for the insight and book lists. Although Ali Baba was extremely violent (the whole cut in quarters and decapitation bits), my son didn't seem to mind one bit.

[nansk]

.... Although Ali Baba was extremely violent (the whole cut in quarters and decapitation bits), my son didn't seem to mind one bit.

 

Yes. My 5yo dd too didn't mind hearing that story last year. otoh, she refused to continue our read-alouds of Charlotte's Web and A Little Princess, once she came to know that a good character was going to die in both these books. Sorry for the hijack :tongue_smilie: