Spetzi Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 DS will be using SL Core 6 (Anc + Med history). I'm having dds 9 & 6 use SOTW with the activity guide. We work on history 4x/week. Should we try to complete SOTW 1 & 2 this year or will that be too much? I think the AG will be a big hit with both kids and they love listening to me read. What do you think? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 I do think it's a little crazy... sorry! ;) I find that information overload doesn't do a lot for my kids and they tend to remember less the more I throw at them. Maybe it's just my kids, but that's my experience. Part of it depends on how you plan on using the books though. We do the reading, narration, timeline (for my 10 y/o) and mapwork. Plus, we try to do a little extra reading each week. This is a pretty full week. If you were just planning on reading the book and doing a project you might be able to move faster. Another option might be to pick out what you feel you can do from each year and just make it more of an overview of the two books. You could just summarize some of the chapters, not actually reading them. I've been tempted in the past to squish 2 books into one year, but it has never really worked for me. We have a hard enough time finishing one book in a year! My oldest will not have had modern history so my plan for him next year (we're doing SOTW3 this year) is to just listen to the SOTW4 CD's for exposure. Then his history work will be done in Ancients to get him on track in 5th grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholsonhomeschool Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 We love SOTW so much that we really have taken our time -- it will take us two years to finish book 1. I was stressed about it until I realized that the reason it is taking so long is because my son is really engaging in it and soaking it up. Personally, I wouldn't rush it or is turns into this-country-took-over-this-country-who-took-over-that-country... There's a lot to explore! Hope this helps, Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommy4ever Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Nope, it is in WTM if you are starting late, you can cover 2 years in one the first round, then more in depth later when it comes round again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 We're doing Core 6 this year, and will do core 7 next year. All of my boys have really enjoyed it. We don't do any of the activities, but we do the coloring pages, and we were using the map work but have switched to Map Trek. It's gone very well, and all by the 5 year old have really enjoyed all the read alouds as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diana B Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 We are still in SOTW 1, but here is my 2 cents anyways... If you want to treat it more as a reading book, maybe get the audio versions as well. Then you could give your kids a general overview of the history in one year. My DS is always asking for more of SOTW, and he'd read it all in one week if I'd let him. Would he have a great foundation in history if we did that? No. Would we have as much fun going through extra books and projects? No. But COULD we do it? Yes. The ancients are FUN to do with younger kids. Don't skip some of the awesome projects available to do. You could speed it up some - skipping/combining. Or just reading SOTW. But don't speed through it so fast that you don't get the fun of ancients. If you ARE going to go fast, I would really suggest the audios (even though I don't own currently). And maybe your kids will absorb some by listening to the audios multiple times even if they don't do more with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpidarkomama Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Half the fun is exploring sideways from the SOTW chapters, especially having time for historical fiction as well as nonfiction. Mapwork and activities take another good chunk of time. While you *could* finish two years in one year (especially w/o a break in the summer), I think it just wouldn't be quite as much fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Well, we're doing SOTW 3 and 4 next year (to get us back on our cycle), so I don't think so. We will likely be skipping a few of the chapters so we're not overwhelmed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasar31629 Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 I think so, yes! I had hoped to go through it more speedily to catch up to the 4yr cycle but have now decided that since we both so thoroughly enjoy going through these, as well as all the additional books and materials that we will do it slow the first round and then go through again with reading and perhaps a project or two the second time. I'd rather that time around be a little speedier. FWIW, she reads the more difficult book selections on her own as reading and language arts in general is her strong suit. If I had a child at or below grade level in that area I would probably go lightly at first and more in depth later. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Oh, I wouldn't do that. Really. We loved the ancients and are really enjoying book 2. I just think there are too many interesting things to camp on and explore to just rush through things. Besides, you want your kids to develop a love of history when they are young. Like now, we're doing the Vikings in book 2 and we're reading "Viking Adventure" by Robert Clyde Bulla and the boys love it. We've got some other great Viking books and a wonderful coloring book. We've been on this chapter in SOTW2 for a couple of weeks now. It's been great. I'm really looking forward to spending more time on Knights and the Crusades and Richard Lionheart. I certainly wouldn't rush through. We're waaay behind where I wanted to be, but I think we're going to only do 3 books in 4 years with this first round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katie.Louise Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 I would hate to burn them out on it. You really don't want them to start to hate history. They may love it at first, but once you have crossed that line, you may never get back to having them love it again. Take your time and enjoy, if you are speeding through, they may not retain as much. I agree with the other poster that said you could pick and choose. You could choose 34-40 chapters that you want to do, from both books and condense them that way. I just wouldn't do it everyday. Two to three days a week keeps them looking forward to more. Just my thoughts, Katie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chava_Raizel Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 We're doing Core 6 this year, and after the first few weeks we decided to stretch it out over two years. That's just way too fast of a pace for us. Dd loves history, and said she felt like she was being rushed through. I had to agree with her on that point. It did feel rushed. I suppose, if you were going to skip around and only focus on certain topics it could be done in a year. So if you were to do something like this: Egypt Mesopotamia Greece Rome Early Britain Islamic Empire Vikings Crusades Knights and Castles Hundred Years War War of the Roses Renaissance and Reformation Elizabethan England & Shakespeare I think that could feasibly be done in a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 We did ancients last year and the Middle Ages this year. The Middle Ages have been so much fun, I think you'd regret not letting them have their own year! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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