joysworld Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 We've had some major life changes, and I can no longer do history the way I was:( Basically, I was using SOTW as a guide, and using real books from the library. Ds6 couldn't stand the readings from SOTW so that is why I just used it as guide on what to read about. With the changes, I no longer have the option to go to the library like I did before to make our history work. So, I was thinking of shifting gears to something like CHOW, Story of Mankind, or a Little History of the World. I'm also open to other suggestions. I realize these aren't detailed, but overviews, which is fine by me since ds is just in first grade. I would greatly appreciate any input in these three books or even other suggestions that would be just a read and go type thing. At the moment, I'm leaning toward a Little History, but still unsure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I highly recommend CHOW - especially for a 6 yo (the others are geared for older kids AFAIK). We are doing an overview this year with CHOW (9 and 7 yos) and enjoying it. The chapters are a nice length, a few illustrations and some dates to remember. It does hop around a bit, but stays generally in chronological order. (For example, the chapter on the Jews covers from Abraham to King David - a fairly long stretch.) We are reading 2-3 chapters a week (we skipped chapters 1-4 and started with Egypt). Make sure you get an updated version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LavenderGreen Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 We are doing Story of the World with my eight year old, and then following up by listening to the free librivox podcast through itunes of Story of Mankind, either on computer, ipad or ipod. The chapters don't correlate precisely, but he really enjoys (or maybe I just do) hearing it almost like a review or different take on what we have been doing in SOTW. At least I feel like we are covering both bases. Dont have any experience with CHOW or Little History of the World. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caedmyn Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I don't know anything about Story of Mankind, but I've looked at CHOW and LHOW. LHOW is geared for kids that are a little older IMO. I liked it but I think it would be over my 5 YO's head. I think CHOW is a better fit for a younger child. If you're not set on world history Elemental History would be super easy to do for an American history overview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyR Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I like CHOW , but for a 6yr old that's kind of stretching it. They may sit and listen to you read but I"m not sure how much a 6yr old will get out of it. Considering the book was written for fourth graders. Not limiting because of grade here but just letting you know the audience it was intended for. So if your going to read it and want him to get a lot out of it then you may be possibly disappointed. I know I've used it for two of my girls so far and my third daughter listened in from time to time but showed very little interest in the book. It is good and I HIGHLY recommend it for an advanced 4th grader and up ( I learned quite a bit from it myself) but a 6yr old isn't going remember much from it unless they are very tuned into history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joysworld Posted November 1, 2011 Author Share Posted November 1, 2011 Thanks for the replies. Anybody else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 I had too many issues with the way things were presented in CHOW, but I feel like the style of Story of Mankind and LHOW is a little above the head of younger kids. So I'll suggest something else - Builders of the Old World by Gertrude Hartman, though you'll have to add in the non-Western stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrissySC Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 Age 6 - NONE of them. I would go to picture books and content books. Use Dover coloring books too .... Honestly, I wouldn't be able to stomach being forced to read all of that to such a little one. For example: Egypt Life in Ancient Egypt Step Inside Egypt DK Ancient Egypt Secrets of the Mummies I would load Google Earth and take my little one to the Pyramids too. :) Add copywork, drawings/sketches, or tracings. You have studied Egypt from top to bottom. Divide your study into content areas. 1. Creation/Early Civilization 2. Egypt 3. Rome 4. Greece 5. China and Japan We use Kingfisher for our foundation text. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrissySC Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 I suppose that you should understand the age limitations - as well - and realize that this is the fact-filling time. Build a knowledge base. :) General knowledge needs to be gained for comparison, understanding, and study. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 I think a big pile of picture books is, indeed, the best option by far for early elementary, but it sounds like the OP doesn't have that option any more. I personally wouldn't rely on something like the Eyewitness books because they don't have a central narrative - it's all blurb. If the kids can listen to longer read alouds, what about getting the Usborne or the Kingfisher encyclopedia and doing one longer chapter book read aloud for each major section/time period of history. My boys really enjoyed Detectives in Togas in first grade when we read it for Rome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystie Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 I have CHOW & LHOTW and agree that LHOTW is for older kids. I am currently reading CHOW with my 8yo & 6yo and they both love it. The chapters are short and tell one story. After we read a chapter I have them narrate their favorite part. They don't retain everything, but I figure it's an introduction to spark interest. You never know what they'll latch onto. I probably wouldn't have done CHOW with a 1 st grader as the oldest, preferring the picture book approach at that age, but I have been pleasantly surprised at what my 6yo has picked up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalphs Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 I highly recommend CHOW - especially for a 6 yo (the others are geared for older kids AFAIK). We are doing an overview this year with CHOW (9 and 7 yos) and enjoying it. The chapters are a nice length, a few illustrations and some dates to remember. It does hop around a bit, but stays generally in chronological order. (For example, the chapter on the Jews covers from Abraham to King David - a fairly long stretch.) We are reading 2-3 chapters a week (we skipped chapters 1-4 and started with Egypt). Make sure you get an updated version. :iagree: Dd loved CHOW so much we read it twice. Excellent book! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Is there a place to see a sample of CHOW online? Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Is there a place to see a sample of CHOW online? Tara christianbook.com :) (Just the first chapter) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 I also recommend CHOW. I think it is fine for 1st, but if you think it is too much, you could always save it for later. CHOW has made history the favorite subject at our house, and we are planning to read it again next year. I also skip the first three (maybe four? I can't remember) chapters. I also second the recommendation for Builders of the Old World. It is a great book, similar to CHOW. I am doing it with 1st and 3rd graders this year, and we like it very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrub Jay Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I've been reading LHOTW to my 6 year old as a supplement and she's really enjoyed it. We've only read the first 4 chapters but it hasn't seemed too "old" for her in any way. It's definitely holding her interest, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay3fer Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 :iagree: with the many lovers of CHOW out there. My kids are 6 and 4 and for the most part, are fascinated by the story of it. And I'm happy to have invested a book that will "grow" with them as they're able to understand more. The chapter lengths are just perfect for read-aloud - nobody ever gets fidgety. It's weirdly written and makes references to many things they don't understand, but I think they "get" that it's filling them in on important secrets about the world. I didn't expect to like this book so much. I have found myself sneaking glimpses at it when I want to understand chapters of recent history - like the Cold War - a little better. Susan Wise Bauer's grown-up history texts are probably better for this, but I'm not always feeling that smart. :001_smile: All of which said, being Jewish, I find it slightly annoying reworking every reference to a date as being before or after the birth of Christ - I do a quick "add 2000" in my head and say "3500 years AGO" or whatever. I personally enjoyed how the author dodges the "creation" issue with the vagueness of the first chapter, and believe creation is beyond the purview of a history of civilization text, BUT I understand it may disturb some Christians who want the exact origin of mankind spelled out more precisely. I'm happiest with vague. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I personally enjoyed how the author dodges the "creation" issue with the vagueness of the first chapter That's interesting. I can't get a feel for the book because there are no good samples online. At one point in time I looked through the book and felt it was way too Christian for us. The only sample I can see right now shows some of the first chapter, and the author writes, "... before this, there was a time when there was NO WORLD AT ALL! Now world at all! Only the stars, and God, who made the stars." If that's the tone the book takes, it would be completely unsuitable for us. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morosophe Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I, too, absolutely adore Hillyer's A Child's History of the World. CHOW is great for reading a chapter or so every couple days to your six-year-old--the chapter are just about exactly the right length. Supplement it with whatever other age-appropriate books you can find. (My son loved Tut's Mummy: Lost and Found, even grabbing it to read himself, although he was close to seven by then; and Pompeii: Buried Alive! was also extraordinarily popular.) Following the program from Sonlight, we also got a few Usborne books. Sure, the pictures in them are pretty neat, but they were very hard to use with my son at six. (Actually, they're still kind of hard at seven!) So perhaps those coloring books would be better! I would also recommend a timeline, just to start getting a sense of the scale of history in your child's head. For TaraTheLiberator: And we had to skip the first chapter because it was too evolutionary for us! I guess you really can't please everyone. I enjoy the book despite it having a vague cultural monotheist perspective occasionally, definitely not because of it. But for the opposite reason from you, it sounds like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrissySC Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 And, I would not do either with a 6yo. I posted a few days ago that more of a general fact-based knowledge would be my route. Here. With that said, I think that CHOW is best enjoyed the most when read by the child. I still do not get a warm reception for SOTW, but I schedule the reading for the POV and additional perspective. I did read SOTW with dd #2, and while she did not hate it, it was not a pleasant moment in time. :) Therefore, I would use more of a subject-based or unit study approach to history without much concern for chronology or enriched content at this point. They can be too young, and you could kill the love of history. The first edition WTM had some wonderful resources, including the Kingfisher Illustrated World History Encyclopedia for which you could easily substitute another. Sometimes being simpler accomplishes far more in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julikins Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Well, I want to put in a vote for History for Little Pilgrims. It's from a Providential History perspective, creationist. It's a general overview of history from the beginning to present day. My goal for my first grader was to give them a reference point to understand history as God's Story and see the main people God put into history to guide the events according to His sovereignty. The child does a basic timeline with a few dates and main characters, but gets an overview of history that can be built on in future years. I loved it with my now 4th grader and am doing it with my current 1st grader. It's one of my curricula that surprised me in how much we enjoyed it. We use the accompanying coloring book for reinforcement because that's what my children like to do. But it's not necessary. The only other expense it poster board. My daughter and I highlighted to the vocabulary words at the beginning of each lesson and reviewed them regularly before reading and then went over the questions at the end of the chapter for comprehension. That might be hard for some 1st graders, like my son now, but some can handle it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Well, I want to put in a vote for History for Little Pilgrims. Sounds like a nice book, thanks for recommending it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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