Gingerbread Mama Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Before we started homeschooling, I did a lot of reading on history programs. I ended up going with Diana Warring's Ancient Civilizations through the Bible. I like the program, but I find teaching it a little confusing. I have the teacher's manual, student workbook, elementary student workbook, and three CDs. I like how she does four "phases", in theory, but it isn't working that well for us. She suggests a lot of activities but they tend to be more things you'd do in Sunday School with several kids (have kids line up and one plays Noah..etc..) than at home with 3. I think, maybe, if I could find more books to read aloud and flesh it out, it would feel more complete. As it is, I'm having trouble finding any that work for my kids - ages 12, 9, and 8 (12 and 8 a bit below grade level, 9 year old on grade level for most part.) I keep searching the library database but can't find anything I've seen suggested. I also feel like one of the CDs works well for the kids, but the other two are a bit above them right now. I was planning to use the elementary activities for the older two, giving the oldest any I felt he could handle from the older student workbook....but I'm not finding much to give them. The 8 year old can't do much besides listen right now, we are trying to figure out where to start him on reading. The others could read some on their own, they are good enough readers, but I have to "make" them read. Just having books available won't do it, I'll have to assign it. I skipped SOTW, because I read that it had some Biblical errors. I read it in more than one review. However, I'm now considering buying a used set because I think it might be more appropriate for the level my kids are on. My question, for myself, is how explainatory is it? Does it lay out for you how to present material or is it hunt and peck to pull it together? I can probably make what I have now work better with more planning. I'm still new to this and I'm sort of in a learning curve for what works with the kids. I basically just want them to have a good understanding of how events of the Bible coincide with historical events. That is an area I felt like I never grasped as a child, we were taught "bible stories" in Sunday school (but only the "happy" ones, no Soddom and Gomorrah - I didn't know they weren't people until highschool when I asked a friend who went to a fundamentalist church) and, of course, the Bible was never mentioned in school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I think it is pretty straightforward. You read or listen to a section, narrate or answer questions. Pick some other reading and/or activities from the AG. Do some map work and coloring pages, it is all there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I think it's very easy to use. The book lists are excellent, the narration questions are easy to use, the mapwork is easy to use. I am one that has said it has some Biblical errors in it. I still use and enjoy the book. I just used it as a teaching moment with my son (1st grade at the time). We went to the Bible, read the story there, then talked about which account we believe and why. No biggie. There are only 3 chapters, IIRC, out of 42, that include Bible stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 The instructions are in WTM more so than in SOTW as to what to do with it. The AG's will give you lots of ideas for what supplemental books to buy for each age category, and they are generally extremely good choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay3fer Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I think it's very easy to use. The book lists are excellent, the narration questions are easy to use, the mapwork is easy to use. I am one that has said it has some Biblical errors in it. I still use and enjoy the book. I just used it as a teaching moment with my son (1st grade at the time). We went to the Bible, read the story there, then talked about which account we believe and why. No biggie. There are only 3 chapters, IIRC, out of 42, that include Bible stories. Just curious - what errors have you found? Are they differences in doctrine / ideology, or actual mistakes in recounting Biblical incidents? I notice you're in SOTW2 now - how is that one faring? For the op, we're in SOTW1 and I find it VERY well-organized. Like many parents here, we don't do everything in the AG (that white paper crown thing seemed pretty goofy...), or even MOST of the activities, but I follow some of the suggestions, resources, maps, readings, etc. Enough to make the AG worthwhile, at least in my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Just curious - what errors have you found? Are they differences in doctrine / ideology, or actual mistakes in recounting Biblical incidents? I notice you're in SOTW2 now - how is that one faring? SOTW2 doesn't have anything Biblical, so I haven't had any problem there. :) For SOTW1, it's actual differences in the Biblical incidents compared to what the Bible says. It's sometimes little things, or just taking poetic license (the part where Abraham prays to the moon god and then God calls him... while we know Abraham's father prayed to the moon god, and it's entirely possible that Abraham did too, the Bible doesn't actually say Abraham did, and I feel icky making up a story like that). I think the Joseph story was ok... been a while, but I don't recall any glaring errors there. The biggest one I noticed was the crucifixion of Jesus, where she said that the Romans talked the Jews into it, or something like that. It was the other way around, and that's pretty clear in the Bible. According to the gospels, the Jewish leaders at that time conspired against Jesus and took him to the Romans to be put to death. Pilate (Roman) tried to give Jesus back, and they asked for Barabas instead. Pilate clearly said that he didn't find fault with the man, but then he went along with the crowd anyway. Both parties were certainly involved in the death and both did wrong things, but to say that the Romans were jealous and they convinced the Jews to put him to death? I just don't know where she even got that. :confused: I'm not sure why SWB changed that around in the story. This isn't a doctrine issue. It's a clear difference in what the Biblical account says and what SWB says. I just used it as a teaching moment though. I had my son read the Biblical account, and then we discussed what happened. (and sorry if I am recounting SWB's story improperly... I'm not sure where our SOTW1 copy is, so I can't reference it, and I have to go on memory from August or September :tongue_smilie:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalphs Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Susan and her staff at PHP did an outstanding job putting this history curriculum together! It is straightforward and easy to use. I would highly recommend purchasing both the SOTW Volumes 1-4 and SOTW activity books Volumes 1-4. I have written a review of this series at Rainbow Resource Center www.rainbowresource.com if you would like to read it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 The activity guides are well laid out and very helpful. I also like that the "textbook" really is a narration and it feels more like reading a book than doing a lesson. My dd always reads ahead (we're in SOTW 2 now) and picks up the SOTW 1 book and re-reads portions of it just like she does with Magic Treehouse, Alice in Wonderland, The Chronicles of Narnia and all the other books piled up all over our house. I think the narration style and writing fostered a love for history that I expect dd will maintain through all of her life. I was even inspired to get the adult/high school version of the book to get more details because I immediately recognized that my history education was sorely lacking. We are pretty conservative theologically and I haven't had any issues with the curriculum. I did notice the things mentioned by the pp but we addressed those while doing Bible Study. I think there have been some unfairly harsh statements made about the materials. I appreciate the tone and introduction to the broad scope of history and think it is both easy to use and very thorough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kesmom Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 What is the difference between the Activity Guide and the Student Pages? Would you consider it a disadvantage to buy either of these in PDF format? I would buy the actual text but otherwise am considering PDF's. *nevermind - I figured it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay3fer Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 According to the gospels, the Jewish leaders at that time conspired against Jesus and took him to the Romans to be put to death. Pilate (Roman) tried to give Jesus back, and they asked for Barabas instead. Pilate clearly said that he didn't find fault with the man, but then he went along with the crowd anyway. Both parties were certainly involved in the death and both did wrong things, but to say that the Romans were jealous and they convinced the Jews to put him to death? I just don't know where she even got that. :confused: I'm not sure why SWB changed that around in the story. This isn't a doctrine issue. It's a clear difference in what the Biblical account says and what SWB says. I noticed this as well, and I've read it in the Gospels, too. From what I've read outside, though, there are historical sources that - while not contradicting the Gospels - suggest that facts may perhaps have been edited to somewhat exonerate the Romans for any culpability they might have had. It's easy to pin his death on the Jews (who were then in exile and powerless), but not so easy to blame the folks who would have had the power of life and death when the Gospels were set down. (so I guess this is a doctrinal issue - based on how inerrant, unswayed by political realities, one believes one's scriptures are) Historically, from what I've seen, it's unlikely that the Jewish leaders would have had much sway or credibility with the Roman forces in Jerusalem. I mean, if they did, they might have found a clever way to save themselves... :( JM2cW! (I remember reading that thing about Abraham and wondering, wth??? I just skimmed it with the kiddies, who are very familiar with the midrashic story of Abraham's search for God at age 3.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I am going through SOTW the second time around with my two youngers. I love SOTW! It is extremely easy to use. You read the section in the text and then you peruse the offerings in the AG and you pick from the many suggestions of supplemental reading and activities what you would like to do. As for the biblical accuracy, we do not read Biblical accounts accept from the Bible. I did not even read the chapters based on the Bible, we read the story in the Bible and then moved on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomandlorih Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I am going through SOTW the second time around with my two youngers. I love SOTW! It is extremely easy to use. You read the section in the text and then you peruse the offerings in the AG and you pick from the many suggestions of supplemental reading and activities what you would like to do. As for the biblical accuracy, we do not read Biblical accounts accept from the Bible. I did not even read the chapters based on the Bible, we read the story in the Bible and then moved on. :iagree:This is what we did too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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