Anything to add to SOTW 1?

[TriciaS]

Hi all! Just wondering if there is anything I need to add in to SOTW 1. It seems like it's missing something. Is there nothing going on in most of Europe or something? I know there are ancient Celtic people, and there have to be some things happening in the Americas besides the couple sections on it. Am I crazy, or just really forgetting my history from school? :tongue_smilie:

 

Maybe these things are brought up more in the next book? I know it's impossible to learn EVERYTHING all in one year...just want to make sure I give my kids the broad picture at this point. I also don't want to give them a one-sided view of history. I'd like it to be "this is what was happening here at the same time this was happening there".

 

If you know of any resources I could look up, please let me know!

 

Thanks!

[serendipitous journey]

I would say that you needn't fret about missing things, it is so easy to get worried about what's not there; if you do SOTW1, you'll be giving a very solid history base.

 

That said, I started by boosting the prehistory. We had a good feel for the timeline of the universe through the development of the earth's current state -- with the continents about where they are now -- and skipped over dinosaurs, etc. 'cause Button wasn't interested. One neat source for prehistory is Satori Smiles; if you'd like what we used you can PM me or just post it on this thread, I won't list it 'cause I need to go Do Things and if you are Young Earth you won't care :). Following on the creation of the earth &c we're using the K12 Human Odyssey to bring us "From Hunter-Gatherers to City-Builders" (the title of the first section in volume 1). Now, we are doing this going into 2nd and not first; SOTW1 didn't work well for us the first go-round for many reasons and I'm picking up the history cycle again from the beginning. Human Odyssey is a terrific resource, and you might like it for yourself, but it is written for middle school and so isn't a natural pick for primary history. Here is a site matching it to SOTW1.

 

If you are young-earth the none of the above will apply :).

 

RE the Americas, my Human Odyssey book (roundly agreed to be excellent) doesn't really deal with the ancient Americas, either. Here is a timeline for the Mayas if you want to introduce them. Note they don't really get going until after the Common Era (A.D. 1 or later), before that it is the Olmecs, about very very little is known if I am correct; here's one for Aztecs, which come closer to Middle Ages/Renaissance. So the late dates of the civilizations, civilizations being the focus of history books (as opposed to pre-state societies), may be why they aren't in SOTW1?

 

Human Odyssey, and SOTW, do introduce China & India; HO emphasized the development of Confucianism and Buddhism, which are very much a part of today's global culture. I think the reason Americas are not the focus of Grammar history is that the cultures have, frankly, little impact on our contemporary culture. The theologies and philosophies of the Mayas and Aztecs are not inspiring any major thinkers, for example. It is also the case that the fall of the Mayan empire seems to have resulted in the true decline of Mayan culture; whereas the fall of Rome, for ex., or of the Chinese dynasties was followed by those cultures being incorporated into the next cultures to arise.

 

At least that's what I think. :) I do believe that teaching the history of the ancient peoples of America and of Polynesia and Oceania is important, but it is more complex I myself would be happy to hold it until middle or high school. I'd like the children to understand the different factors for different rates of cultural development -- ie, why so few writing systems have arisen independently; what is required for a broad and stable civilization; how civilizations can progress from more violent (child sacrifice, for ex. -- not a topic I like for elementary) to less violent (rule of law in modern states -- even with a death penalty and modern wars & conflicts, the rate of deaths at the hands of the government has plummeted between ancient and modern times). I'd also like them to understand some of the challenges on all sides when isolated, essentially pre-historic cultures come into contact with a long-developed civilization. But all of these things feel post-Grammar stage to me.

 

If you are old-earth and okay with evolutionary arguments, and you haven't read Jared Diamond's work yet, you might want to read his Guns, Germs and Steel before middle school or high school. It gives a workable base for all of world history, in terms of political and military power at least.

Edited July 28, 2012 by serendipitous journey

[JoLuRu]

Yes, there were people in North America, but they didn't leave written records. Same with the aborigines in Australia, who were definitely there already. I don't know why they're not included, but it's understandable that the majority of the focus is on cultures that left records.

[serendipitous journey]

Yes, there were people in North America, but they didn't leave written records. Same with the aborigines in Australia, who were definitely there already. I don't know why they're not included, but it's understandable that the majority of the focus is on cultures that left records.

 

An excellent point about the written records: those societies that didn't leave writing are harder to study because much much less is known about them; also, they tend to be pre-state societies and not to do the sort of things that historians traditionally love to write about (ie, engage in major wars of conquest).

 

In the Americas, while no writing that I know of developed in the areas that are now the US, Canada, and Greenland (until Europeans arrived, either Vikings or later peoples) the Maya and Aztec civilizations developed on the North American continent, in central America. They were states (with social stratification/hierarchy, division of labor, intense agriculture with work done by a particular class -- the head of the Mayan state did not hoe his own potatoes, for example) and they did have writing, both the Mayans and (as I learned recently) the Aztecs. The Aboriginal Australians don't seem to have developed states or written language (which is not surprising, given the population size, geographical isolation, constraints on intensive agriculture incl. limited species available -- these factors are the sorts of things Jared Diamond focuses on). There is evidence that their societies were growing more complex, and moving toward the sorts of more-intensive resource use and development of technologies (regarding fisheries, if I remember correctly -- there were fish farms constructed) but at a slower pace than in the Eurasian centers of civilization, which had advantages of trade, of more-domesticable species, of flow of ideas, &c.

Edited July 28, 2012 by serendipitous journey

[hollyfell]

I am just starting out homeschooling this year but I just yesterday did a comparison between SOTW and Usborne Internet Linked Enclycopedia. I like the format of SOTW and my dd loves it but I agree that there are some major gaps. The Celts being one of the most glaring. How can she skip the builders of Stonehenge? If you look in Usborne, there are more chapters on the Celts and also on the Americas and Japan. Also, some societies that I thought would have fit in with ancients, were actually not until AD 500 or so, like the Inca. They are covered in Usborne in the Medieval section.

 

SOTW focuses more on Judeo-Christian history with a lot of stories related to the old testament. I plan to use Usborne as my primary spine and SOTW as a secondary spine, filling in the gaps and using a lot of extra reading from the library to help guard against bias.

 

Another great resource I've found and am hoping to purchase is the Kingfisher atlas of world history which has really nice illustrated historical maps.

[Chris in VA]

I am just starting out homeschooling this year but I just yesterday did a comparison between SOTW and Usborne Internet Linked Enclycopedia. I like the format of SOTW and my dd loves it but I agree that there are some major gaps. The Celts being one of the most glaring. How can she skip the builders of Stonehenge? SOTW focuses more on Judeo-Christian history with a lot of stories related to the old testament. I plan to use Usborne as my primary spine and SOTW as a secondary spine, filling in the gaps and using a lot of extra reading from the library to help guard against bias.

 

QUOTE]

 

The British Celts are covered. She does not skip the builders of Stonehenge. Only 4 chapters cover the Old Testament, and they are in the context of showing the Israelite's experiences, which are foundational to world civilization.

[TriciaS]

 

That said, I started by boosting the prehistory. We had a good feel for the timeline of the universe through the development of the earth's current state -- with the continents about where they are now -- and skipped over dinosaurs, etc. 'cause Button wasn't interested. One neat source for prehistory is Satori Smiles; if you'd like what we used you can PM me or just post it on this thread, I won't list it 'cause I need to go Do Things and if you are Young Earth you won't care :). Following on the creation of the earth &c we're using the K12 Human Odyssey to bring us "From Hunter-Gatherers to City-Builders" (the title of the first section in volume 1). Now, we are doing this going into 2nd and not first; SOTW1 didn't work well for us the first go-round for many reasons and I'm picking up the history cycle again from the beginning. Human Odyssey is a terrific resource, and you might like it for yourself, but it is written for middle school and so isn't a natural pick for primary history. Here is a site matching it to SOTW1.

 

If you are young-earth the none of the above will apply :).

 

RE the Americas, my Human Odyssey book (roundly agreed to be excellent) doesn't really deal with the ancient Americas, either. Here is a timeline for the Mayas if you want to introduce them. Note they don't really get going until after the Common Era (A.D. 1 or later), before that it is the Olmecs, about very very little is known if I am correct; here's one for Aztecs, which come closer to Middle Ages/Renaissance. So the late dates of the civilizations, civilizations being the focus of history books (as opposed to pre-state societies), may be why they aren't in SOTW1?

 

Human Odyssey, and SOTW, do introduce China & India; HO emphasized the development of Confucianism and Buddhism, which are very much a part of today's global culture. I think the reason Americas are not the focus of Grammar history is that the cultures have, frankly, little impact on our contemporary culture. The theologies and philosophies of the Mayas and Aztecs are not inspiring any major thinkers, for example. It is also the case that the fall of the Mayan empire seems to have resulted in the true decline of Mayan culture; whereas the fall of Rome, for ex., or of the Chinese dynasties was followed by those cultures being incorporated into the next cultures to arise.

 

At least that's what I think. :) I do believe that teaching the history of the ancient peoples of America and of Polynesia and Oceania is important, but it is more complex I myself would be happy to hold it until middle or high school. I'd like the children to understand the different factors for different rates of cultural development -- ie, why so few writing systems have arisen independently; what is required for a broad and stable civilization; how civilizations can progress from more violent (child sacrifice, for ex. -- not a topic I like for elementary) to less violent (rule of law in modern states -- even with a death penalty and modern wars & conflicts, the rate of deaths at the hands of the government has plummeted between ancient and modern times). I'd also like them to understand some of the challenges on all sides when isolated, essentially pre-historic cultures come into contact with a long-developed civilization. But all of these things feel post-Grammar stage to me.

 

If you are old-earth and okay with evolutionary arguments, and you haven't read Jared Diamond's work yet, you might want to read his Guns, Germs and Steel before middle school or high school. It gives a workable base for all of world history, in terms of political and military power at least.

 

 

Thanks for all this! We are old-earth, so I would love to see your list of what you covered for prehistory. I have seen Satori Smiles and love the things she did. I tried to read some books and go over some "big bang" stuff with with DD, and she just didn't want to hear it. Of course, she tends to want to do exactly opposite of anything I think is cool (already, at 7!...can't wait until she's 13 :001_huh:). I'm hoping that at some point, she may get interested on how it all started and I'd like to have some things lined up so it's a quick grab when the time comes. Otherwise, she may be doing prehistory for summer school next year :lol:. That actually may make a good tie-in to start Earth and Space science next year (2013-14).

 

I think I may look up the Human Odyssey book and maybe use that alongside what we're doing. She tends to like things better if they seem to be meant for "older" kids, anyway. She can't stand childish books, she likes to think. Except, of course, for those stinkin' Rainbow Magic Fairy books. Those things, she loves! :confused:

 

It makes sense what you're saying about some topics seeming too mature for the grammar stage. She tends to get scared easily (last night's Olympics gave her nightmares), so maybe I'll just keep it to some old Celtic folk tales and light info about the Americas and leave it at that.

 

I appreciate everyone's help!

[TriciaS]

Yes, there were people in North America, but they didn't leave written records. Same with the aborigines in Australia, who were definitely there already. I don't know why they're not included, but it's understandable that the majority of the focus is on cultures that left records.

 

That makes sense. I guess I was just thinking about archaeological evidence being used to at least talk about them existing. Maybe I can find some books about them that don't mention child sacrifices and all that nastiness. And I understand that this book was already pretty big, so there is only so much you can add in a curriculum meant to be handled by 1st graders! I'll just have to make a note to myself at those dates in the book to look up the other peoples in the Usborne or online.