SOTW Modern Times w/ a 5th grader

[Donna T.]

We plan to cover the Modern Times next year with a 5th grader. We will be using SOTW 4. I'm a little nervous about it. I have a 7th grader who has never really studied this time-period because... I just don't like it... :glare: and I think war is hell and it makes me angry :angry:. We have barely touched on this period with him and now he is FULL of questions that, to be honest, I can not answer. My now 4th grader is fascinated with this time-period. We plan to cover it with him next year and add some state history to it, something else we haven't focused on at all.

 

I know SOTW 4 is used with grammar stage kids, but I'm still wondering if it won't be too much for 5th grade. My son will be 10 in May. He is not AT ALL sensitive but he really has no clue how depraved men can be. I asked my oldest what he thought and he said that the ancients & men in all time-periods have dealt with the same issues. He pointed out that there was plenty of violence in all the other time periods. My now 4th grader loves history and has quite a strong interest in military history :patriot:.

 

 

Can you share your experiences with SOTW 4? We will be using the Activity Guide, adding in alot of Sonlight Core 4 (American history during this time) and some state history.

[lmrich]

I don't have time to elaborate now.

 

I love SOTW level 4. It makes your kids really think. It is ok to say "I don't know what those people were thinking." The need to control people and have power is a force for evil. You can really learn a lot by the mistakes of this world.

 

As far as activities we did lots of baking and mapping. I felt it was wrong to do "fun" activities when we studied the wars. We also watched documentaries and movies.

[Trillian]

We're nearly done with it this year. My DS is almost 10 and quite sensitive but also interested in war. I think it came at a perfect time for him developmentally, although he reacted strongly and with the same response you had - anger. It made war less of something far off and "game-like" and more real. I focused (and am focusing) with him on the good in the world and our responsibility to other people.

 

Something that was random, but happened to be a good choice, was he read the "Gregor the Overlander" series as we were approaching WWII. It's written by Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games) but for a younger audience than Hunger Games. The last 2 books in the series (I think it's the last 2) specifically are analogies for WWII (genocide of mice) and it gave us a way to discuss the parallels, decisions the characters/historical people made, how close her analogy was, that was a little "safer" than some of the historical fiction, which really affects him.

 

He has been fascinated by following the making and unmaking of countries during this time and how those decisions continue to effect wars today, so for us, the map work has been particularly important.

 

DS's favorite things, activity wise or other resources (we're just getting to WWII so this list ends there): rifle activity from the AG, The book "Shipwrecked," making a sling (AG), making a wanted poster (AG), making a covered wagon, War Horse (book, were still waiting for the DVD from Netflix), Archie's War (book - excellent for this age), The Dawn Patrol (movie, Errol Flynn, sad), making salt (AG).

 

He found Ken Burns Civil War slow, but I'm glad we watched it. I haven't decided if we'll watch Ken Burns The War yet, because of content. I decided against having him watching Ghandi, because he reacted strongly to the story, but I do think it would be good. It's also very long.

 

HTH,

[2_girls_mommy]

I am doing SOTW4 with a 2nd and 4th grader. We haven't had any problems, though it is less "fun" than the other volumes. We didn't purchase the coloring sheets, so my 2nd grader has drawn her own pictures this year for her notebook which has actually worked out really well. She gets out the KHE and looks at the uniforms of the soldiers so that she gets them the right colors.

 

Our projects have been mostly just any worksheets the A.G. provides and memory work and writing projects from the AG. We have maybe done one art project for history this year. We have watched many documentaries. My girls really liked Teddy Roosevelt and the docu on him that we had. My older girl is doing the outlining and beginning to write from them.

 

We are only in ch. 26 (the Great Depression) so we haven't reached Hitler yet, so I am not sure how that will go. But we did read Number the Stars for a book club earlier this year. It was an appropriate story on WWII for grammar stage kiddos or sensitive types.

[Donna T.]

I really appreciate your responses. I've been pondering this for so many days now. I have spent a couple of hours today making a timeline of our state's (Alabama) history, filling it with people and events, and searching out places to visit. I think I will develop a little state unit study to do along with SOTW. We have a rich history here and it's not all bad. I guess :001_unsure:. My husband has actually agreed to get involved and plan some trips. I think we will do alot of cooking and definately alot of mapping. We aren't crafty and we won't miss the coloring pages. I think some short trips while focusing on people from Alabama will add some fun to the topic.

 

I think I'm beginning to see that this could be a great thing. I think it will encourage some conversations that we probably need to have. Both of the kiddos have questions about racism and have actually just become aware that it is real. I guess they are kind of sheltered. I think we will go to Selma and face the civil rights issue head on.

 

I guess it doesn't have to be all about Hitler!!:tongue_smilie:

[Lori D.]

I guess it doesn't have to be all about Hitler!!:tongue_smilie:

 

 

Not at all!

 

And you can balance the wars and other grim topics with other books that focus on:

- lives of inspiring people

- inventions

- explorers

- medical and science advances

- athletes

- artists/musicians

- etc.

[2_girls_mommy]

:iagree::iagree: That is what I have done to make it a good program for even my 2nd grader. We have covered a lot of American Presidents, our state history, inventors, pioneers, buffalo (even though that is kind of a sad story) etc. They thought the roaring 20s and the thought of all night dance marathons was hilarious. There is a lot of good stuff. We have read some Little House books, Caddie Woodlawn, and Number the Stars so far for our read alouds. Even the Great Depression hasn't been too bad. For my girls, the Kit American Girl books and movie were a good introduction to that. Might not go over so well with your older boys though :)

[muffinmom]

I did SOTW4 with my 4th grade boy this year. It went great, partially because he is very interested in history and military things. But we just read through it and didn't sanitize anything (there was nothing particularly explicit). It gave us TONS to discuss. He is starting to understand the themes that you just can't escape if you study history--generally speaking, humans seek power, try to sieze power whenever possible, and try to do whatever it takes to keep it. When you oppress people, they eventually come to the point where they won't take it anymore. When people are oppressed, though, they are vulnerable to politicians who promise them anything. To me, it was a great opportunity to discuss that nothing is new under the sun, that humans easily let their egos get out of control, and to try to reap the multitude of life lessons in this.

 

But what is even better is in some of the additional reading you can do. Reading, for example, The Hiding Place, can show what is happening beneath the surface of these epic power struggles, which is that beauty, compassion, and kindness are quietly being practiced. The history of the ugly behavior of humankind is obvious, but it is great to be able to point out some of the beautiful and courageous stories that exist in spite of our blemished past.