shellbelle Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I purchased Story of the World (Ancients) to use in the fall. IF we can wait that long! I'm wondering if I should have bought the activity book to go along with it. My kids do enjoy hands on activities, but I don't want to get into anything too time consuming. I usually just find go alongs on the internet based upon what we are studying. We like doing lapbooks and the occasional craft...the kids love it, but I'm not very crafty. My children are in 5th, 2nd and K. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in OR Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 The short answer: Yes. I like it all—the review questions, the suggested books to see if our library has them, the map work, the coloring pages, the multiple crafts to choose from. It's worth it in time saved searching for various resources. And lots of fun for the kids. Erica in OR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Yes, it's definitely a must. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyontheFarm Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Yes, and if you use your local library often you'll love it even more! In the activity book you'll find lists of suggested additional reading to go along with each chapter. With my library we can create lists of library books we want to borrow and save them. I sat down and placed the books I could get into a list for each chapter and now in the fall when we start, I'll be able to order all the books on my list in just a few clicks each week. My kids enjoy going back and looking at their history binders frequently. I hope your kids will enjoy it too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momsuz123 Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Yes, yes, yes. I feel the activity book has really helped my kids and I. It gives me so many more ideas that I am sure I would have not thought of on my own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I know some will say no, but for us, it was WONDERFUL!!!! It made history the best thing about our homeschool for years. Fondest memories EVER. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I'll dissent. It wasn't worth it for us. I don't like the formulaic style of narrations in the AG. I don't need the review questions. Occasionally the literature suggestions were useful, but 90% + of the time I just went to the library and picked out whatever they had. A few of the craft ideas were good, but I found most of them to be pretty lame. We didn't use the coloring sheets. The maps were useful sometimes, but I could have easily just used others instead. So... I don't think it's a must, but I know that depending on how you use SOTW, that many people find it very useful. I just didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I've got SOTW 1 and the AG for this coming year. I think it depends on what kind of person you are. If you want to add a bunch of stuff, it makes it (seem like that will be) a lot easier. You can always research more online (there is a nice SOTW lapbook we'll be doing), but the AG has a lot of ideas already pulled together for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threedogfarm Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I really like the SOTW Activity book. I used it mostly for addn'l reading and literature suggestions and for the comprehension questions. We have a great library for a small town and I just found out that I can ORDER the books online now! Yippeee! I didn't like having to write the call letters, etc. For the ancient books I just brought the activity guide with me to the library but after Ancients those guides get big and bulky! For the price, it really pulls it together. We didn't do the activities though. . . We are continuing on with the series and the activity books change with the later books. There is more outlining, etc. so it becomes less of an activity book and more like a workbook (but I'm not sure if I would call it a workbook). As for the maps, I preferred using the Knowledge Quest Maps b/c for me they were more comprehensive (rather than just presenting a "piece" of the map--I had to show the whole thing anyways!). Also Knowledge Quest is a great resource for our read alouds, etc. This is a resource that I know we will use for years to come. I got the whole package, including the hardcover book because that is so easy to pull out and get to the map I want rather than have it printed out before hand. It was definitely money well spent. We're also adding on Trail Guide to World Geography this year so we'll be using the outline maps there as well. As an aside, I was able to get the test questions for Book 3 and 4 when I bought my books and activity guides used. I wouldn't have bought them otherwise. But I really liked them. I know that I will keep them in the background and use them periodically. I think they'll be handy for the days the kids are really paying attention or just to have them practice test taking as well. They were well written and I liked the format. After seeing them I would definitely have bought them new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellbelle Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 Wow, you all are so helpful! It does sound like something we would benefit from. I know that my younger two would like the activities and coloring pages. We do have a wonderful local library and I certainly wouldn't mind doing less research and trying to track things down on my own. I will have to put this on my "want" list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 To me, the activity guide is what makes it! My daughter loves to color, so she loves the coloring pages. The mapwork is very simple, but I like having the supplemental reading books listed for me. And the activities suggested seem to cover a good range of ideas for different age groups and different levels of difficulty- so when we want something that is just quick, simple, fun and stress-free, there's something suggested that's easy to do. When we want something a little more elaborate, there's often a suggestion for that, too. I have a review of SOTW on my blog in which I included a whole bunch of pics of some of the activities and projects we did for it, if you want to take a peek: http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/124469.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milknhoney Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I don't do any of the activities (except the stained glass window ornaments in SOTW 2 were his Christmas presents to his grandparents last year) but I still think the guide is worth it. I use the literature suggestions, review questions, map activities, and although ds doesn't like to do the coloring pages, I scan them and print them out smaller to use as illustrations in his notebook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kesmom Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I have a review of SOTW on my blog in which I included a whole bunch of pics of some of the activities and projects we did for it, if you want to take a peek: http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/124469.html Thank you for this! What a great overview. This is one of the best blog entries I have seen for SOTW1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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