Guest Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 I am trying to decide between using Tapestry of Grace year 1, or Story of the World Ancients for history. This is for my 1st and 3rd grader. I have done both in the past, so I am familiar with them. I am not as familiar with SOTW as TOG. I do not want to do both, because Tapestry sometimes schedules four or five chapters of SOTW to read. If we use SOTW, I know at the end of the cycle we will switch to TOG. So, I am not sure if I should just start TOG now instead. I really like the way God is tied into everything in TOG, and I like that I can read upper level books and the teachers notes. I guess I am just concerned that some weeks seem really heavy, and other weeks seem really light in the lower levels. I never found the planning in TOG to be a problem for me. With SOTW, I like the activity/coloring sheets that the kids can do. I am more interested in which one would be more interesting and fun for the children. Which program do you think I should go with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyNellen Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 I personally prefer SOTW at those ages, although I know you will receive different opinions. It is simple, engaging, all-inclusive, cheap, and my children and I have wonderful memories of all those years (I went through the 4 year cycle twice as my children aged). My kids loved the coloring pages and maps, learned how to narrate well, practiced their outlining skills in Vol. 4, and appreciated the projects we chose to do (chicken mummies, re-enacting a Celt war complete w/ blue body paint). I loved the "open and go-ness". TOG is great once you reach the D level and can utilize the discussion questions, or if you have multiple children and wish to keep them together, but SOTW does a brilliant job of making history engaging and planting seeds for later years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 My vote is SOTW, with the AG, hands down. For first and third, I just don't think it can be beat. The AG has suggested historical fiction and nonfiction books, encyclopedia readings you can access if you want more info, comprehension questions, sample narrations, activities, coloring pages, etc. If you want to tie more bible into it, you can go to paula's archives dot com and see the Vos or Ergemeir (spelling?) bibles in SOTW order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Thank you both. I think I will go with SOTW for now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upstatemamma Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamato3 all-boy boys Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Summer, I started with TOG year 1 with my 1st grader and had a 3.4 year old and newborn. We switched after 1 unit to SOTW and the activity guide and had a BLAST. We used SOTW for 2 1/2 years (then my son wanted to ONLY study US history, so I followed his lead and we did) and loved each and every minute of it. It gave my oldest son a love of history. My vote is SOTW ...... you can switch to TOG in the middle school years, which is what we did, and haven't looked back. Blessings, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I love TOG but I would recommend SOTW for the first cycle. If you have to ask, that answers the question IMO. To use TOG with only youngers you really need to have compelling reasons. I have told an IRL friend to start with SOTW. She is going to use TOG despite my advice. I think she will love it.:D She is going in with eyes wide open. I cannot recommend that someone else do that unless they already want to. Then I can gush about how great it can be and why I use it with my young kids. But I think for the vast majority SOTW for the first cycle is the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer2911mom Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Summer, I started with TOG year 1 with my 1st grader and had a 3.4 year old and newborn. We switched after 1 unit to SOTW and the activity guide and had a BLAST. We used SOTW for 2 1/2 years (then my son wanted to ONLY study US history, so I followed his lead and we did) and loved each and every minute of it. It gave my oldest son a love of history. My vote is SOTW ...... you can switch to TOG in the middle school years, which is what we did, and haven't looked back. Blessings, Alane, would you mind commenting on why you left TOG Year 1 after the first unit? I'll have a first grader next year and am interested in hearing this if you don't mind sharing. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I agree (mostly) with the pevious posts. For younger children I like the mapping and activities better in the SOTW AG. However, I prefer TOG Year 1 to Story of the World 1 because there is so much more Bible included and there are quite a few things I don't care for in SOTW 1 (the reader, not AG). I modify TOG 1 Bible by using The Children's Story Bible by Vos for younger kids. I think ideally I would like the combo of using the SOTW AG for mapping and activities because of its simplicity and layout, but reading and book assignments from TOG. Sorry, I know you don't like the idea of combining. Shannon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I prefer TOG Year 1 to Story of the World 1 because there is so much more Bible included and there are quite a few things I don't care for in SOTW 1 (the reader, not AG). :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agst1967 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 This isn't *exactly* what you asked...but this year with my 1st/3rd grader we used SOTW as the spine of the program from Bringing Up Learners. It is a FREE program from lunablog dot net. It is laid out wonderfully, using primarily SOTW but other resources as well. You can do as much as you want...or as little. It is all planned (LOVE that)! We do use the maps and coloring pages from SOTW AG (which was not required, but I purchased anyway) I do plan to switch to TOG when the kids are older and I feel we can really use it more in depth! Alicia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnllj7 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I absolutely love TOG, however, reading all their info, and trying to use it with my Elementary Student, it was way to costly. I believe as the writer says, it is geared towards highschool students, but has the other sections for UG/LG. But for what they learn at this age, the SOTW will allow for activity and map pages, more on their level, and you can always add in the other books from the library that would enhance the history. for highschool i would definately prefer TOG, it has great parent planning, the socratic questioning. God bless on your choices. nancyt.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamato3 all-boy boys Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Alane, would you mind commenting on why you left TOG Year 1 after the first unit? I'll have a first grader next year and am interested in hearing this if you don't mind sharing. Thanks! Several Reasons combined: 1. I was using the Classic version (the only version they had) and was struggling trying to figure out what to do. It was less user friendly back then (IMHO) 2. Marcia says that in the early elementary years, TOG should be the "desert" of the homeschool -- focus on the fundamentals. Well, I wasn't good (at the time) about understanding that. My son was a fantastic reader, and I just wanted to get on with educating him in the good stuff (I has a history major in college!). 3. Along those lines, I had a hard time not doing everything, then hating myself if we didn't read one of the history books. 4. My son's favorite part of history was reading SOTW. He wasn't nearly so keen about the TOG books I had purchased. He also liked the SOTW mapwork more than the TOG mapwork. This was the biggest reason for dropping TOG. 5. I had a 3 year old and had just had a baby in October (we started school in mid-August that year). I was a mess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer2911mom Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Thanks for sharing, Alane! I think I would have a hard time not doing everything myself! I appreciate the reasons you listed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamato3 all-boy boys Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 One other thing: As nice and neat as it is for us as adults to mesh all the history and Bible....in the long run in the early years, I firmly believe it doesn't matter. Pick a story Bible (we had an Egermeiers that we used) and read it through regularly. My son and I enjoyed that cuddle time so much! There were many times I pre-read the Old Testament sections in SOTW and decided to not read those to him, because it didn't mesh with how I wanted to teach my children the Bible. We discussed fiction, myth, tall tales and truth -- he's never had a hard time understanding the reality of the Bible and the history and Truth that is in it, and he enjoyed the fables, myths and tall tales of other cultures as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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