Kathleen in LV Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I saw the thread discussing using this program for middle school. I had been considering it for elementary, starting with ancients, and maybe combining it with SOTW. It appears that there are many supplemental books and CD's that are more or less required, and most are not available at our local library. Has anybody used this program for elementary? Practically speaking, how does it work? Thanks! Kathleen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oraetstudia Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I suggest you sign up for the RC History forum and ask there. I own two levels and use a few ideas and some book lists, but it takes a level of planning that I don't want to put into it. Also, like Tapestry of Grace, it will cost a fair bit to implement, because it uses a lot of books -- which is a great, but expensive way to do history. It can be really nice to help hold kids at different levels together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avila Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 (edited) I saw the thread discussing using this program for middle school. I had been considering it for elementary, starting with ancients, and maybe combining it with SOTW. It appears that there are many supplemental books and CD's that are more or less required, and most are not available at our local library. Has anybody used this program for elementary? Practically speaking, how does it work? Thanks! Kathleen I tried using it for elementary/middle school. I bought the ancients year one, which (in all fairness) seems to be the least favorite year for many people. I found that it was really not scheduled enough and that it required me to do my own scheduling. I also had issues with the pacing. Some units were just the Bible, and therefore had almost no other resources, which was a problem for me because just reading from the Bible seemed so slow. Other times, the units were so jam-packed that we felt like we were choking. All of Greece is in one unit. So we never got a comfortable pacing that felt like we were reading enough to keep things interesting but not so much that the speed was breakneck. I gave up within weeks with my midde schooler and went with History Odyssey. I limped along a little longer with my elementary kids, but I ended up switching to Biblioplan (not Catholic, but MUCH better thought out and paced, and it was all scheduled for me). So I think it depends on why you are choosing it. I wanted a year that was at least mostly scheduled for me. I just could not make it work as a program. It was a fine booklist though. Edited June 2, 2012 by Asenik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2Many4 Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I was using this history curriculum and loving it. As much as I could, it was mostly just about the bible. I was already teaching them about the faith through the entire day, so I really just wanted to teach them about what happened in the world. The whole world! Then the emails started coming in. "There's an error on this page, remove that map and do this one instead, cross out this on page x, etc." I just couldn't keep tweaking something that was supposed to be complete! So we went back to SOTW and have been much happier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen in LV Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 Thank you for the comments. I just couldn't keep tweaking something that was supposed to be complete! So we went back to SOTW and have been much happier. I'm wondering if there would be any value in using the Volume One book as a supplement to SOTW to help me include the bibical history at the right points. Also, is there any substance in the Volume One book (like the chapters in SOTW), or does it just provide an outline of how to use the recommended books and CDs? For any of you who used Volume One, were there any recommeneded supplemental items that you found really helpful for their biblical and/or Catholic teachings? Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIS0320 Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I've got the the first year of CWH and it is just not organized well. There are some gems in there for copy work and memorization as well as decent Bible integration with timelines and such but it doesn't look easy to use. I've decided on History Odyssey and I am pulling things from CWH that fit in with the HO lessons as I see fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2Many4 Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Thank you for the comments. I'm wondering if there would be any value in using the Volume One book as a supplement to SOTW to help me include the bibical history at the right points. Also, is there any substance in the Volume One book (like the chapters in SOTW), or does it just provide an outline of how to use the recommended books and CDs? For any of you who used Volume One, were there any recommeneded supplemental items that you found really helpful for their biblical and/or Catholic teachings? Thanks again! It's really a mess. The bible parts don't line up at ALL with the other things in history. I tried; I really tried. But it's just not ready at all for sale. None of the volumes. I have all three and I'm sorry I was hasty and bought them all when I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie4 Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I was all set to buy this program but then talked with some people that said the same as pp, it is a mess. It has alot of potential but just isn't there yet. I am going to be using SOTW (ancients) along with The Old World and America by Furlong. Here's a review of it iif you want to take a look http://cathyduffyreviews.com/history-geography/old-world-and-america.htm I'm going to use it to help pull Catholic perspective into SOTW, mostly as a reference for myself, and maybe reading some to the kids. Maybe this would be helpful to you too. It's available through Emmanuel Books and they have some great timeline figures too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkateLeft Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I was glad to hear other people say that it's a bit of a mess. That was my impression, but I thought it was just me. :D I bought the first year, thinking that maybe we'd use it this coming school year, but after spending a couple of weeks working with it, I just decided that it's not for us. I like the idea, and as others have said, there are some good aspects, but I just can't see us using it as written. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen in LV Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 Thanks again for all the comments which will save me some money I could spend on something worthwhile. I think it's pretty clear that Connecting with History isn't the right choice for my purposes. I am going to be using SOTW (ancients) along with The Old World and America by Furlong. Here's a review of it iif you want to take a look http://cathyduffyreviews.com/history-geography/old-world-and-america.htm I'm going to use it to help pull Catholic perspective into SOTW, mostly as a reference for myself, and maybe reading some to the kids. Maybe this would be helpful to you too. It's available through Emmanuel Books and they have some great timeline figures too. Julie, I also was looking for something mainly as a reference for myself to integrate the Catholic/Christian history at the right points. Have you purchased and read through this book yet? It looks like it has potential. I would appreciate any further description you could provide in addition to the review I read, because I think we're looking for something similar. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie4 Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Thanks again for all the comments which will save me some money I could spend on something worthwhile. I think it's pretty clear that Connecting with History isn't the right choice for my purposes. Julie, I also was looking for something mainly as a reference for myself to integrate the Catholic/Christian history at the right points. Have you purchased and read through this book yet? It looks like it has potential. I would appreciate any further description you could provide in addition to the review I read, because I think we're looking for something similar. Thanks! Here is another review of that book and it has a few sample pages. http://www.love2learn.net/node/1317 I'm hoping to look at it next week at our Catholic homeschool conference/used book sale. There is another Catholic book called Creation to Christ http://cathyduffyreviews.com/history-geography/creation-to-present.htm and here with some sample pages http://www.love2learn.net/samples/histtime.htm This is more of a reference book I think, I'm really tempted because it looks to be complete integration of history, saints, popes, the Church with all the dates/timeline but it's expensive. Hope to look at them both at the book sale & then decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oraetstudia Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Thanks again for all the comments which will save me some money I could spend on something worthwhile. I think it's pretty clear that Connecting with History isn't the right choice for my purposes. Julie, I also was looking for something mainly as a reference for myself to integrate the Catholic/Christian history at the right points. Have you purchased and read through this book yet? It looks like it has potential. I would appreciate any further description you could provide in addition to the review I read, because I think we're looking for something similar. Thanks! I have the Furlong book. It is ok, but not as much of a story as SotW. I prefer The Old World's Gift to the New, if one is looking at old books, but both of them are dated. They use words like Mohamedan and basically almost entirely skip the Reformation. The newer books in the Catholic Schools Textbook Project line up are excellent. I really recommend them. I think for younger kids using SotW vol. 1 by itself is fine. At the end of the year one could study some early Church fathers and early saints, but otherwise it is world history before the Church. For the Middle Ages it gets more complicated and not all of SotW is appropriate, but much of it is fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcara Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 This doesn't make me happy :). I was planning to use this in the fall, but I haven't purchased it yet. I guess I need to educate myself on Catholic history and supplement something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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