Anyone use both FIAR and SOTW, or is that crazy?

[Rivka]

My 5yo is absolutely CRAZY about history.

 

We are using Five in a Row as our main curriculum, and just adding in math and lots of reading practice. I think FIAR has plenty of great history opportunities, but my child doesn't think it's enough. She wants more.

 

I've been supplying her with history read-alouds and readers and taking her on history field trips (most recently to Mount Vernon and to a Revolutionary War re-enactment). She has a couple of historical costumes (medieval and colonial) which get a ton of wear. She's watched every episode of Liberty's Kids, twice. This weekend she built an American fort with blocks and legos and had the British attack it with artillery.

 

I don't want to give up FIAR, which is working really well for us. I love the art lessons, and the way she's picking up and using literary terms, and the cultural exploration. I figured we'd use FIAR through second grade and then start systematic study of history in grade 3. But Alex really, really wants more history NOW.

 

Do you think it would be too much to keep FIAR but add in SOTW? From my blog reading, it seems as though SOTW is a pretty big commitment in terms of time, projects, activities, extra books, etc - more or less equivalent to FIAR. Would it be cheating her to just use SOTW as a read-aloud, without all the extras, so that we'd still have plenty of time for FIAR?

 

Or, alternatively, is there a good option for an American history program for a bright, history-crazy 5yo? We use secular resources only.

[prairie rose]

We have used FIAR and SOTW together. It worked out very well for us. We listened to the audiobook version as a read aloud and discussed things when it seemed appropriate and did a project every now and then. My kids learned a lot just from the informal presentation. Now those same kids are all logic stage or almost logic stage. We are doing HO level two and listening to SOTW again just for fun. I did try for a while to use SOTW as written; review questions, full narrations of every chapter, coordinating readers and other read alouds, projects....oh my how it burned us out! But FIAR with its geography and culture and SOTW as a read aloud only worked perfectly for us. ;)

[Irishmommy]

When I used FIAR (1st - 3rd), I just let my son listen to the SOTW Cds. He's not the artsy-craftsy type, so it filled up his need for more history. We LOVED FIAR! I think it is great for those early years. Now in 4th we are using SOTW 2 as our main spine, but my son has already listened to all of the SOTW2 cds, but he still likes reading and doing the other activities even though he's already heard the "story" of it.

[Rivka]

Thank you for your input! It's nice to hear that you and your kids find SOTW valuable even when it isn't done "to the hilt."

[Irishmommy]

Yeah, truth be told, my ds would probably rather just listen to it than do all the extras because he is an auditory learner (I make him do it because he is of the age when he should do those written activities). He never liked doing much of the extras with FIAR either. We mainly just stuck to the ideas in the manual, except when cooking was involved (nothing too advanced). I think you'll love FIAR.