SOTW 1, Biblioplan and VP cards?

[Amanda_Jo]

Would using all 3 with a first grader be overkill?

Will it be confusing to figure out what VP card to use when using the Biblioplan schedule?

 

Thanks!

[eight_gregorys]

I'm using SOTW 1 and Biblioplan this fall for 5th, 1st, and Kindergarteners. I don't have the VP cards so I'm not sure on how they are laid out. Biblioplan is laid out by civilization. Personally, I think doing SOTW and Biblioplan will be plenty, especially if you are also using the reading suggestions in Biblioplan. I'm planning on just doing as much as my littlest ones will stay interested. My first grader has a very hard time sitting still and listening, but he does love SOTW. So we'll see how that goes. :)

 

HTH,

 

Andrea

[Amy loves Bud]

Yes, I think it will be too much. Been there, done that.

 

Particularly if your rising first grader is still 4 as indicated in your signature line. And particularly if you feel you must use every resource listed in Biblioplan and on the VP cards. Been there, done that, too.

 

Why not just go with SOTW and read lots of great books? I don't want to be negative about your plans, it's just that my oldest really suffered while I tried to get him to do too much early on. I should have relaxed and enjoyed the great stories with him more.

 

Good luck with your planning!

[Amanda_Jo]

No, I don't have a 4 year old rising 1st grader! She'll be five soon and in Kindergarten in the fall. I'm just looking ahead for the following year. We're Galloping the Globe this year, then STOW next year. I want to make my decision so I can keep my eye on the "for sale" boards.

 

Thanks!

[FlockOfSillies]

Biblioplan will be most useful for you when you have multiple kids to teach, at different stages.

 

The activity guide has the comprehension questions, maps, coloring pages, and hands-on stuff. You could go overboard just trying to max out the activity guide. I only did a couple of hands-on activities with my then-first grader, and we were plenty busy. (I also had a 2.5yo and a 1.5yo at the time.)

 

I get all excited and sometimes buy used stuff that I won't need for the upcoming year. But I need to keep that under control, because it's easy to over-spend and clutter up my shelves with stuff "for later on." Lots of times that stuff goes to waste. Like that set of Genesis-Joshua VP stuff I bought used a few years ago... maybe I can revisit the cards, but I don't know.

 

If you know for sure you're using SOTW for one year from now, then it's OK to get it now. But you may want to save room in your budget for fun stuff you find along the way this year instead.

 

HTH. Welcome to the adventure!

[Amy loves Bud]

No, I don't have a 4 year old rising 1st grader! She'll be five soon and in Kindergarten in the fall. I'm just looking ahead for the following year. We're Galloping the Globe this year, then STOW next year. I want to make my decision so I can keep my eye on the "for sale" boards.

 

Thanks!

 

LOL! I wondered. Anyway, I think all three are a lot for first grade unless you can really restrain yourself in a way that I couldn't.

 

Have fun!

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I have combined SOTW and Biblioplan quite easily. Actually, in the second year SOTW is included for you in Biblioplan. I added the VP cards because they are a great one paragraph review of the material. I then pick and choose between the various readings and activities in the SOTW Activity Guide and VP Teacher's Manual. I have done this with a second grader and had no problem but he is a history nut. (We did combine SOTW and VP for the ancients with no problem.)

 

You might want to take a look at Paula's Archives correlation between SOTW and VP.

 

I think is depends on your child's enthusiasm but if you pick your favorite activities from each program it doesn't have to be overwhelming if you try to do 3 programs and "do it all" it would probably be overwhelming. But-SOTW and VP can be used as resources without their activities or you can pick activities from each. I also recommend you take a look at the SOTW tests if you are inclined in that direction. In first grade (and K) we used these as narration. I would read questions and answers (as we slowly transition to ds doing all the reading with me correcting) and he would complete the multiple choice/true-false. If the question required a long answer I would take dictation. I think that the VP test can be a bit much for a 1st grader (we did it but it was a bigger struggle).

[Tami]

I'll address the VP Cards. I consider them memory work for the year. Each morning, we go through the song and flascards and work on memorizing. It only takes a few minutes. Once a week or so, we mix up the cards and hand a few to each family member. As a friendly contest, we try be the first to to get our cards in order!

 

At the end of the year, you will have memorized a singable timeline. This is a great peg to hang later work on. Great returns for about 4 minutes a day.

[StephanieF]

Not wishing to appear a bit dense, but can you give me the links for the vp cards abd songs you mention?

Thanks!

Stephanie

[Amanda_Jo]

Not wishing to appear a bit dense, but can you give me the links for the vp cards abd songs you mention?

Thanks!

Stephanie

 

http://www.veritaspress.com/prodinfo.asp?number=000102

[Amanda_Jo]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

I'm wondering something else now. I wanted to use Biblioplan with Story of the World because I like the way it starts history with the Bible and I like the order of it's chapters better than STOW alone.

Would I get the same content using VP cards and STOW w/ AG?

Maybe I should switch my plan to VP and STOW instead of Biblioplan and STOW...or maybe get all three?

I understand that all 3 may be too much, but I could pick and choose. But if VP is going to give me the same Biblical picture of history- and I only have a first grader to schedule it with maybe I should not get Biblioplan at all.

I really like the idea of the memory cd VP has, my daughter is very auditory and remembers just about everything she hears on the radio in the car.

 

Thanks again!

[Ali in OR]

I use Biblioplan with SOTW and we have completed 1st and 2nd grade this way--just starting year 3. I think it fits people who want to study history by reading great books. If you prefer reading to lots of hands-on activity, it will fit you well. If you also want hands-on, I think the time commitment of the Biblioplan reading will be overwhelming.

 

I could see using the VP cards as Tami does--a way to remember the things you have studied. So it's not necessarily too much to do all three in a family that really loves studying history. With regard to using VP and SOTW alone (which is not my choice, so you know my bias!), keep in mind that VP structures their books differently with a much older slant than Biblioplan or the SOTW AG book recs. They start their cycle in 2nd grade and take 2 years to do ancients. And then even their choices for a 3rd grader studying Rome might be well beyond what most people do with a 3rd grader--and you won't be studying Rome with a 3rd grader, but a 1st grader. The Biblioplan k-2 readers are picture books. While we may skip some of the family read-alouds with younger kids, we have found that all of the k-2 readers are very appropriate for this age.

 

I think SOTW is wonderful, and no one should feel like they have to do more for a complete curriculum. For us, we really love the richness of studying history with the living books that Biblioplan adds. If you can take a look at the VP cards before ordering (especially since you would need the first 2 sets for ancients), you might be better able to decide if adding them is worth the extra complication.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Keep in mind if you haven't seen a copy of Biblioplan yet that it is basically a scheduled reading list. Many of the options you will find for extra reading beyond just the SOTW text will be the same as or similar to those offered in the SOTW activity guide and in the Veritas Press catalog. Biblioplan also has some hints for what to study for geography and what to put on a timeline. It is not a full program like TOG with tests, workbook pages etc. For this reason I think that it blends well with SOTW AG/Tests.

 

Veritas Press doesn't schedule readings beyond their basics texts on their cards so all the books you see listed in that year's history section are not necessarily pegged to a card unless you choose when to read that book and do the planning. Each chapter of SOTW AG has recommendations for extra reading as well. To get the activity pages you need the VP Teacher's Manual in either print or CD-ROM.

 

Any combination of the three would be fine and Tami has a great idea how to add the VP cards for review. I think if you aren't a planner Biblioplan is a great aid to supplement either program. It would give you a schedule to put the rest with. Then you would just need to add activities and tests as you desire.

[Tabrett]

I'm looking in to doing the same things as you (SOTW with AB, Biblioplan, VP Cards and Memory Songs CD) and also add Ancient History Portfolio Junior (AHPJ). I too, am looking for something that follows the Biblical story along with history and pre-made notebooking. I'm not sure if you have the SOTW AB, but it has cards at the end of the AB for each chapter. The cards have a black and white picture and a paragraph review of the chapter it represents. It is similar in nature as the VP cards, but no where near as nice and no memory CD. The AB is a full curriculum like Biblioplan.

 

My only problem with the Biblioplan so far, is it schedules more that one chapter of SOTW per week. I'm afraid it will go too fast for first grade. I really like the idea of doing one chapter per week. AHPJ also used SOTW as the spine. I have ordered AHJP, but haven't received it yet. I am holding off on Biblioplan until I recieve AHPJ and see what it offers as far as a teachers guide.

 

Have you looked at the Egermeier's Story Bible-SOTW chart? I wonder if you could do the VP cards and CD's as pegs with SOTW and Egermeier's Bible instead of Biblioplan. Do you think that would be more of a first grade level? I know this is a lot, but to me it is combining 2 subjects, Bible and history, into one. If this were done, you would probably have to add about an extra month to the year to get it all in without speeding through.

[Amanda_Jo]

Tabrett - Oh great give me another product to "need"! No, really Thank you. My daughter loves, loves, loves all things writing, coloring, etc. I know that lapbooking and notebooking are going to be greatly enjoyed. I'm bookmarking the portfolio; please post a review when yours arrives!

 

I haven't looked at the Egermeier's Story Bible chart. Your idea of using that with VP sounds great. I'm going to look into it more.

 

And thanks for telling me about the cards in the AG. I didn't know that. Since I'm sure I'm going to use STOW and AG maybe I should go ahead and get those and then think about what to use with it after going through them...

 

Thanks again!

[Tabrett]

Tabrett - Oh great give me another product to "need"! No, really Thank you. My daughter loves, loves, loves all things writing, coloring, etc. I know that lapbooking and notebooking are going to be greatly enjoyed. I'm bookmarking the portfolio; please post a review when yours arrives!

 

:lol::lol::lol:

 

I'm sorry and your welcome!! I'm looking for the year after next too!!! And I just keep finding great curriculum's and books!

[Kristine in KS]

I'm also interested in combining SOTW 1 and VP cards using the list in Paula's archives. I'm a little confused by the VP cards. From their website, it looks like they have 5 sets of History cards and 5 sets of Bible cards. Which sets do I buy for the SOTW 1 list in Paula's archives?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Kristine

[neesek]

I'm also interested in combining SOTW 1 and VP cards using the list in Paula's archives. I'm a little confused by the VP cards. From their website, it looks like they have 5 sets of History cards and 5 sets of Bible cards. Which sets do I buy for the SOTW 1 list in Paula's archives?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Kristine

 

 

VP takes two years to cover the material in SOTW 1, so you would need two sets for the year: the Old Testament and Egypt cards and the New Testament, Greece, and Rome cards.

[Trivium Academy]

I would start off with just SOTW for first grade. There are bible stories within SOTW 1 so if you want you could just read from your favorite children's Bible when you come across them in SOTW. Of course, read about Creation before starting SOTW b/c it starts with nomads and skips over anything regarding creation or the beginning of the earth.

 

I think once you have your footing with SOTW alone, then you could assess whether to add VP cards or Biblioplan and have the time to save up for them. As someone who used Egermeier's, VP and SOTW- it is overkill, especially when you consider that you're not in a race to stuff your child full of information. SOTW is more than enough on its own and if you have a separate Bible curriculum you're using there is really no need to supplement further than that. My VP cards are sitting unused right now, I think they are best used as VP intended them to be or at a later age like logic stage.

[bess1676]

thank you! this really helped!