SOTW Ancients: K or 1st?

[cseitter]

I was thinking of doing SOTW either in K or 1st. Which do you do and why? If you use SOTW. If you use something else, what do you use?? :001_smile:

[Jen Becker]

We're going to save SOTW for 1st and do "daily life" studies in various time periods in K. I think something a bit more concrete and interest-based will work better than the deeper studies in SOTW for my daughter.

[TKDmom]

Definitely wait until 1st. Sometimes I wonder if my first grader is even too young for it. Ancient history is kind of abstract and far away for young children to understand.

[ThreeBlessings]

I wouldn't read it before 1st. For K I suggest a general geography/social studies approach. Go through each continent and learn about the culture, a bit of history, the animals, and the land.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I would generally do it in 1st. Because my kids are exactly a grade apart, I'm waiting til my middle kid is in 1st so the older will be 2nd and the younger kinder.

[3peasinapod]

Definitely the youngest would be 1st grade. Like a previous post, I wonder if even that might be a tad young, depending on the child of course. My 2nd grader is grasping it well, but some of the history portions I could see going over their heads as a 6yo. The story sections are much more well received.

[Tawlas]

i'm waiting until first as well. We're doing a bit of prehistory big bang, dinosaur, evolution type stuff with Charlie's Playhouse timeline, then learning a bit of about maps and countries in general after that.

[momma2three]

I'm saving it for 1st. And I'm actually going to do a second year of kindergarten, because she's a very young kindergartener now. This year we're concentrating on reading, math, and thematic science units. Next year we're going to concentrate on a more structured science and history curriculum in addition to reading and math. Reading SOTW, it's pretty advanced stuff.

[MeganW]

I am going to do it with my 1st graders (who will be 7.5 when we start) as well as my kindergartener (who will be turning 6 when we start). I am ONLY starting then b/c we do Classical Conversations, and I want their CC memory work to coincide with what we are doing at home.

 

If we weren't in CC, I would do another year of world cultures or world geography, and start SOTW when my youngest was going into 1st grade. I've bought it and read it, and I am afraid a lot of this is going to be over their heads. Another year of world cultures & geography, and SOTW would probably make a lot more sense and they would get a lot more out of it.

[thegirlwhopaintedtrees]

We're using it for K (in the fall) mostly because we belong to Classical Conversations and they will be in Cycle 1, which is the one in which they cover the Ancients. We actually already listen to it in the car and my DD is listening to it during quiet time. She really enjoys it and even though I am sure a lot of it is over her head, she does retain a surprising amount. She's looking forward to doing activities to go along with it.

[boscopup]

1st

 

(and some kids aren't even ready then, so YMMV)

[FairProspects]

Well, so far both of mine have been ready for it in K, but I was a history teacher previously, and have prepped them all their lives for history (We also do living history, which they have participated in since birth, so their concept of change over time is pretty well ingrained). I teach it very hands-on with a lot of projects that I think (hope!) add retention. I would say it depends on your teaching style and how well you can scaffold or adapt it to your kids, but it definitely can be done successfully in K. :)

Edited April 5, 2012 by FairProspects

[ALB]

We're doing it in first, but I think we could have used it successfully for K. However, my K er is a bit accelerated. She will probably be bumped up a grade officially at some point, and in that case wouldn't get the full 3 cycles of history :glare:.

 

I agree with pp- it depends on your kids' abilities. Can they listen attentively to stories with no/ few pictures? Are they ready for narration and map work? If you think they are mature K ers, I'd say go for it whenever you are ready!

[BoZeeCo's Mom]

My K son absolutely loves it. The way I make it work for him is to do an activity with each section, and I always have lots of fun, lively books to go with the topic. He is too young for the journaling, for sure, so I just ask him the questions from the activity guide. We absolutely love it.

 

Another reason why i think it's great is because it is so easy for younger kids to listen to. You would be so surprised by how much my three year old retains! We reenact some of the livelier chapters with puppet shows, and have so much fun. I heard her tell her father today what the definition of a "timeline" was.

[chepyl]

I used the History and Geography selections in What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know and lots of library books on the topics listed for K. We did a semester on world geography, continents and a few select countries followed by a very general American History. It has provided a good base for this year. He can undrstand where we are on the globe when we study the maps for Ancients. The Am History really covered enough to understand government holidays and a few big presidents.

 

Save Ancients for next year.