TWTM- Revised Edition Changes

[aelgraham]

Hi all,

 

I just (finally) bought and am reading the revised edition of WTM. We're in the logic stage (year 2 of history) and the first thing I notice is that they've changed the outlining expectations. Rather than having the student outline from their history spine, the student lists important facts from the reading selection. The student does related history reading throughout the week and writes narrative summaries. Then, at the end of the week, the student chooses a single page from the readings from the week to outline.

 

This is quite different than the old version of the WTM where the outlining is 1-3 pages, a couple of times a week, and definitely includes the history spine or chosen encyclopedia.

 

I'm obviously not the first person to notice this big change, and I'm just wondering what the reason for it may be, and whether other parents have made these changes. They seem like good suggestions-- I like the 'list of facts' approach, as this is what most people do in learning note-taking skills.

 

Thanks!

Amy

[Capt_Uhura]

I don't know Amy but it could be b/c many find it difficult to outline Kingfisher Red encyclopedia b/c it is already bare bones. Basically every sentence is important and you don't get that skill of being able to extract the important info and not including everything.

[AmericanMom]

I don't know Amy but it could be b/c many find it difficult to outline Kingfisher Red encyclopedia b/c it is already bare bones. Basically every sentence is important and you don't get that skill of being able to extract the important info and not including everything.

:iagree: So glad to hear someone else say this -- I wondered how on earth people outlined those things!

[coffeefreak]

I don't know why either, but it might have something to do with age appropriateness. DD has been using SOTW IV and the activity pages that go with it this year. She's just starting to complete those outlines on her own, and I can't imagine if I had just given her the Kingfisher book and said, "Start outlining!" I think the new recommendations are MUCH more age appropriate than the old. Outlining is a skill I didn't start learning till 6th grade, and really was frustrated with till High School (I feel like some of it's subjective). I like the kinder, gentler approach in the new book.:001_smile:

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

[MamaSheep]

I don't know the reasons either, but I like the change. Going from a narrative summary straight into outlining would have been too big of a jump for my ds (for whom writing in any format has always been a problem). The "list of facts" was just exactly the perfect transition between the two. A list of facts isn't all that intimidating. He can come up with a list of facts. Then when he was comfortable with that I was able to say that now the list of facts needs to be just the most important thing from each paragraph, and he needed to number the list using Roman numerals, an voila! Outlining. Putting that list of facts stage in there was just the right approach for us.

[MamaSheep]

Ooops...accidental double post.

[redsquirrel]

I am pretty sure SWB hadn't actually taught a logic age child, through the entire stage, when TWTM came out. That can make a big difference.

 

I know she wrote it with her mom but I wonder if the original directives were more based on wishful thinking than actual practices.

[aelgraham]

I am pretty sure SWB hadn't actually taught a logic age child, through the entire stage, when TWTM came out. That can make a big difference.

 

I know she wrote it with her mom but I wonder if the original directives were more based on wishful thinking than actual practices.

 

Ahhh, I hadn't thought of that. Perhaps she realized that those encyclopedia selections are not great choices for outlining. My son is a pretty good outliner now that we've struggled through, but I think I'll go with the 'list of facts' approach and have him outline reading selections that are better suited for it. I wish I'd gone with my own instincts on this point from the get-go.

[mommycheryl]

I don't know Amy but it could be b/c many find it difficult to outline Kingfisher Red encyclopedia b/c it is already bare bones. Basically every sentence is important and you don't get that skill of being able to extract the important info and not including everything.

 

I wonder if it has to do with the change in versions of Kingfisher that she suggests using. I assumed that change was because the White version is out of print.

[coffeefreak]

I wonder if it has to do with the change in versions of Kingfisher that she suggests using. I assumed that change was because the White version is out of print.

 

No, I don't think so. The second edition recommended the Kingfisher book and the white version was out of print before that one was written (I had the 2nd edition and the Red Kingfisher).

[Stacy in NJ]

Hmmm, I'm not sure this is such a big change. Previously, a year one logic student (5th gradeer) was expected to write one sentence for every paragraph from their spine (either Kingfisher or Usborne). This is beginning outlining. I'm not sure that's all that different from listing relevant facts from their reading - it's pretty much the same thing just described differently. SWB always recommeded that students continue with written narrations through logic stage; she just never included it specifically as a history assignment. It was assumed it would be done across the curriculum. It sounds like the recommendations are very similar; she's just being more explicit in how she describes it.