ByGrace3 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I know this may sound ridiculous, but as I go round and round trying to decide between these for my first grader. I think, why not use SOTW as a spine, add the Children's Bibles I have heard can go along with it and then add those great TOG books in the right places as well as the fun SL historical fiction in the right places. Also use the AG as wanted/needed. Then use the SL book list for more read alouds. Is this insane? Has anyone else done it? I know it would be a bit of work to combine it but I think I can do it without the expense of buying the TOG and SL curriculum right now. Please tell me why this would/would not be a good idea. Thanks! :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 (edited) ETA - OK. I reread your post. In my personal, somewhat lacking humility opinion, it would be total overkill for a first grader. My kids will be 4th and 5th grade and as I read through all the lists so many books overlap that I don't think for middle school the combining is unreasonable. For first grade - I'd pick SOTW for history with narrations and 1 fun activity a week. I'd use a globe for mapping. Then I would read aloud and work on the kids improving their reading. Lots. At that age (K, 1st, 2nd grade) I read everything on the SL lists, a bunch of ambleside books, most of the books in Honey for a Child's Heart and a lot from the 1000 Good Books List. There was no need to buy anything - I just printed the lists and hit the library. Then I highlighted them as we read through them all. It was a blast. I owned TOG and we tried it with a 2nd and 1st grader and for us - it was just tooooo much at that age. Enjoy SOTW. Read a lot (though it doesn't all have to be either history related or in your time period). And then when they are in 4th and 5th grade... you get to be a nerd and combine them all! :-) I'm toying with this, too. Hopefully we're both not nuts. Here are my somewhat random thoughts... TOG schedules SOTW in some years. So that's taken care of. There are also book lists for TOG - and some of those are likely the same as SL. If not, you just add those in as either read alouds, assigned reading, etc. So to me, it just seems like TOG is the schedule, SOTW can be a spine and SL is used to round things out. But we both may be nuts! Edited February 16, 2011 by Kayaking Mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 I'm toying with this, too. Hopefully we're both not nuts. Here are my somewhat random thoughts... TOG schedules SOTW in some years. So that's taken care of. There are also book lists for TOG - and some of those are likely the same as SL. If not, you just add those in as either read alouds, assigned reading, etc. So to me, it just seems like TOG is the schedule, SOTW can be a spine and SL is used to round things out. But we both may be nuts! are you planning on buying all of the full curr or just piecing together yourself? I am pretty confident at the first grade level :tongue_smilie: of being able to handle it without the teacher's notes/schedules . . . I think! :001_huh: So I am thinking to just break down SOTW in an excel spreadsheet with A/G and then use the TOG and SL booklists to fill in. What were you thinking??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I am thinking to just break down SOTW in an excel spreadsheet with A/G and then use the TOG and SL booklists to fill in. I would think this would work fine.......you're going to use SOTW as your main spine, and then just fill in with books from the TOG and SL lists. That should work beautifully! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceyobu Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Have you looked at Biblioplan? I am strongly considering using it for a first grader next year. It schedules SOTW along with read alouds (many overlap sonlight books and you could always use sonlight books instead). It's way cheaper than TOG although much less involved. However, with me having a first grader, I think less involved is fine. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 ETA - OK. I reread your post. In my personal, somewhat lacking humility opinion, it would be total overkill for a first grader. My kids will be 4th and 5th grade and as I read through all the lists so many books overlap that I don't think for middle school the combining is unreasonable. For first grade - I'd pick SOTW for history with narrations and 1 fun activity a week. I'd use a globe for mapping. Then I would read aloud and work on the kids improving their reading. Lots. At that age (K, 1st, 2nd grade) I read everything on the SL lists, a bunch of ambleside books, most of the books in Honey for a Child's Heart and a lot from the 1000 Good Books List. There was no need to buy anything - I just printed the lists and hit the library. Then I highlighted them as we read through them all. It was a blast. I owned TOG and we tried it with a 2nd and 1st grader and for us - it was just tooooo much at that age. Enjoy SOTW. Read a lot (though it doesn't all have to be either history related or in your time period). And then when they are in 4th and 5th grade... you get to be a nerd and combine them all! :-) I think my point in combining it would be that it would not be too much. I love the idea of TOG, but do feel like it might be too much for first grade. I like the overall concept of SOTW and think the A/G looks fun but would definitely miss the Biblical integration of TOG and the fun reading of SL. Certainly I don't plan on using every book on all lists, that would be entirely overkill. My goal would be to combine an appropriate amount of great books from both lists, allowing us to engage the fun books of SL while not missing out on the great depth of TOG, while using SOTW as a spine to guide us along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 It's way cheaper than TOG although much less involved. However, with me having a first grader, I think less involved is fine. ;) I don't think she's going to purchase TOG, but just use the TOG booklists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 I don't think she's going to purchase TOG, but just use the TOG booklists. exactly:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 If you are interested in the biblical integration with history - definitely take a look at Mystery of History. I think that, much more so than SOTW, links bible with history. We've enjoyed MOH 2 this year, but I really wish we'd have used it for ancients. Really, after rotation 1 with ancients it's church history not bible history. I think it would be awesome to do MOH1 as a spine, keep a great timeline and then read great books at that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Nicole, I would have done that as well, except I don't like SOTW 1 for 1st graders, but that's my personal preference. I'll be using TOG Year 1 next year (well actually in a few short months!) with my 1st grader, and I've decided since I went ahead and took the plunge, that I'll be self educating myself along the way. I have purchased quite a few of the Rhetoric level books and I look foward to getting a feel for what TOG is like for high school. (And discovering if that's the direction I want to take my kids when they get there!) But I think your idea will work just fine if you like SOTW 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 (edited) If you are interested in the biblical integration with history - definitely take a look at Mystery of History. I own MOH 1, and I feel it's a bit too advanced for a 1st grader. I will revisit using it along with TOG during our next cycle when I'll have 5th and 3rd graders. Edited February 16, 2011 by jewel7123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baybedaul Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Nicole, I would have done that as well, except I don't like SOTW 1 for 1st graders, but that's my personal preference. I'll be using TOG Year 1 next year (well actually in a few short months!) with my 1st grader, and I've decided since I went ahead and took the plunge, that I'll be self educating myself along the way. I have purchased quite a few of the Rhetoric level books and I look foward to getting a feel for what TOG is like for high school. (And discovering if that's the direction I want to take my kids when they get there!) But I think your idea will work just fine if you like SOTW 1. I'm planning to use TOG Year 1 next year for 1st grade for the same reasons. But I thought we might follow along in SOTW as well. Do you mind if I ask why you don't like it for 1st grade? I haven't actually had my hands on a copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 I also had read that MOH was too advanced for first grade. Although I keep hearing great things about it. About SOTW, there are definitely parts of it I am not thrilled with, but do think if I only use it as a guide, I can certainly work around the chapters I don't like using other sources. Still not sure though . . . hence why I cannot make a decision! :lol: I have looked some at Biblioplan, it is so hard to tell something from a sample. I guess at this point I am just thinking I have researched myself into a hole, where I see so many great books/ideas from different sources and feel if at this point I were to buy a history/lit curriculum I would tweak it so much it would barely resemble its original form :001_huh: seems like a waste of money. The hardest part of combining would just be the choosing of books. Which to buy that we will use most and which to add as library finds. I do love books though and know I will want to have most on hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 for those of you planning to use TOG1 and add SOTW can you explain your reasons for it? I keep thinking TOG is so full I would hate to add more to it, would love to hear your thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama27 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I know this may sound ridiculous, but as I go round and round trying to decide between these for my first grader. I think, why not use SOTW as a spine, add the Children's Bibles I have heard can go along with it and then add those great TOG books in the right places as well as the fun SL historical fiction in the right places. Also use the AG as wanted/needed. Then use the SL book list for more read alouds. Is this insane? Has anyone else done it? I know it would be a bit of work to combine it but I think I can do it without the expense of buying the TOG and SL curriculum right now. Please tell me why this would/would not be a good idea. Thanks! :lurk5: Are you planning on using TOG again in the future? If not, I wouldn't bother buying it at all. BUT... if you are then I'd say go for it. I am using SOTW as the spine with TOG, adding SL books because we have them but don't have the books TOG wants us to use. The only thing we miss is the ONE worksheet each week that is based on a specific book but I do not care about that. PLUS I ma adding MFW ECC. When we get to a country we use MFW ECC to learn a little about that country. Obviously, I am not doing everything in TOG. My oldest using TOG is 11, my youngest is 4. I decided to do this because I can't stand the read alouds in MFW ECC. I know they are missionary stories and very important but I can't stand the writing style. We only do history and science 2 days a week but on those 2 days that is ALL we do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I'm planning to use TOG Year 1 next year for 1st grade for the same reasons. But I thought we might follow along in SOTW as well. Do you mind if I ask why you don't like it for 1st grade? I haven't actually had my hands on a copy. It's way too secular for my taste (there's too much focus on gods and goddesses) and it's hard to distinguish between fact and fiction (myths and historical facts are all jumbled up so you don't know which is which). With TOG we will just skip over the parts that I don't want to discuss with my 6 and 4 year olds (gods and goddesses, cyclops, minotaur, gore, etc.) I suppose I could do that with SOTW 1 as well, but I think I'd have to skip quite a bit of the book, lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baybedaul Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 It's way too secular for my taste (there's too much focus on gods and goddesses) and it's hard to distinguish between fact and fiction (myths and historical facts are all jumbled up so you don't know which is which). With TOG we will just skip over the parts that I don't want to discuss with my 6 and 4 year olds (gods and goddesses, cyclops, minotaur, gore, etc.) I suppose I could do that with SOTW 1 as well, but I think I'd have to skip quite a bit of the book, lol! Oh I see, thanks! And to ByGraceof3, I'm not planning to start this until next year but my reason for adding SOTW is because so many people say it's not to missed in the early years. I'm only combining it with TOG because I hope to continue Tapestry into the later years. So I figure I might as well start getting comfortable with it now (and begin my own re-education). But next year is only first grade for us, so I really have no idea how it will all work out... best laid plans and all. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 FYI, I'll revisit SOTW when we get to UG level. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I like the overall concept of SOTW and think the A/G looks fun but would definitely miss the Biblical integration of TOG and the fun reading of SL. Question: How do you plan to get this Biblical integration without actually buying TOG? The book lists you can see for free are going to mostly be secular history books, I believe. To actually see the Biblical integration, I think you would have to have the TOG plans in your hands. For Biblical integration, I ended up going with Biblioplan. It's not perfect. It really doesn't integrate things as much as give you secular history and Biblical history at the same time, but not really integrating the two, if that makes sense. I think TOG would probably do a better job of actually integrating them (and MOH of course clearly integrates them, but reading the samples, that looked above my first grader's head). But for first grade, I thought TOG was overkill for us at this stage. So we're doing Biblioplan and it's working fine. SOTW is great. I just wanted to add the Bible stuff to it. Next year, when we're out of Bible history time, I'll probably just use SOTW + AG. Next time through the history cycle, we might switch to TOG. For now, having all those books as a "must read" was just not going to happen. I have difficulty doing read-alouds at this stage because only one child is interested, and the others want to fight for a spot in my lap. :tongue_smilie:Then youngest gets mad because he wants me to read a baby book, not a chapter book that he doesn't understand yet. We've just finally worked up to reading whole Sandra Boynton books with him. :lol: So next time through the cycle, when my youngest is K age, TOG would probably be much more doable. As far as SOTW for a first grader... I haven't had any issues. When we talk about the gods and goddesses (which so far haven't been stressed that much), I've said "Are these gods/goddesses real?", and he says "Nooooo!" Really, it's been about the same amount of gods/goddesses as are discussed in his Bible classes, where they talk about Baal being worhsiped, etc. And he knows that over and over again, when the Israelites started worshiping the false gods, they were punished. He's so well versed in that that it just hasn't been an issue at all. He fully understands the difference between God and the gods/goddesses talked about in SOTW. We've done I think 8 chapters, and there was only one actual story about gods/goddesses so far. Otherwise, it has just been mention that so-and-so worshipped whatever god/goddess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susesmiles Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I'm planning SOTW Vol 1 along with SL Core 1 for my kids next year in K & 2. My older child just loves history, I'm thinking the SOTW will be a good additional resource to go along with the SL reading. We are doing SL Core K this year and the kids love it and ask for more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 It's way too secular for my taste (there's too much focus on gods and goddesses) and it's hard to distinguish between fact and fiction (myths and historical facts are all jumbled up so you don't know which is which). With TOG we will just skip over the parts that I don't want to discuss with my 6 and 4 year olds (gods and goddesses, cyclops, minotaur, gore, etc.) I suppose I could do that with SOTW 1 as well, but I think I'd have to skip quite a bit of the book, lol! We are using SOTW and TOG and I do not agree that gods and goddesses are jumbled up in SOTW. I think it is quite obvious and the author does not need to harp on things. That is the parent-teacher's job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 We are using SOTW and TOG and I do not agree that gods and goddesses are jumbled up in SOTW. I think it is quite obvious and the author does not need to harp on things. That is the parent-teacher's job. SOTW gets very strong opinions from every side. :001_smile: Some think it's too secular (ME), while others think it's too Christian. The bottom line is find a copy at your local library or buy it used so you can read through it yourself and decide if it's right for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 SOTW gets very strong opinions from every side. :001_smile: Some think it's too secular (ME), while others think it's too Christian. The bottom line is find a copy at your local library or buy it used so you can read through it yourself and decide if it's right for you. I don't belong in either group. For me it is a happy medium :). My library does carry it but I was hooked on SOTW since I came across it around the same time I bought the WTM back in 2008, when we first started homeschooling. I do agree though that it is good to preview it in any way you can, preferably from the library so that you can get a better feel for it. For the book (the AG I bought in PDF format) I bought the hardcover. I felt it was worth the price to add to our home library and I am glad I did :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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