mommyshanti Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Barnes and Nobles has the hb for $13 compared to $21 at ph so I'm going to snag it, do I need the tests? Wish they had the activity book but I don't see it, guess I'll have to pay reg. price. waaaa! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyshanti Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Yeah, we are not really test takers:) I found the activity book, $21 compared to $34, yay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Whether or not you need the tests depends upon your goals for the course and how you wish to reach them. What do you want to accomplish by studying history this year? How old are your kids? What age group were those tests written for? How would you prepare your kids for the tests-- would you have them review and study, or just use the tests for your own information to guage what they are remembering so you can adjust your expectations and/or approach accordingly as you move along? We use History Odyssey, which uses SOTW as one of many books in the program, and as part of that program, we rely more upon drawing pictures and doing narrations to learn, rather than testing. I periodically discuss things with my younger son (older is not using SOTW) and remember back to things we have read in the past, or point things out on our big timeline on the wall. No history tests here so far, for us, but my goals for grammar stage history do not include any expectation that he will recall boatloads of facts about everything we study down to nitty gritty details (which may fly in the face of the trivium a bit, but we have our reasons). We are going mostly for exposure at the moment. Your goals may differ from mine. Look at what you want to accomplish. Ask yourself how your child learns best, and what you think a test would accomplish. Then you can discern whether a test would help accomplish your family's goals, or impede them. Then you will know whether the tests are a good choice for your family or not. It is a highly individual decision, rather than a popular vote kind of decision, IMHO. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 We use the tests as worksheets for review. It has helped cement important ideas in DS's head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jpoy85 Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 We use the tests as worksheets for review. It has helped cement important ideas in DS's head. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprilleigh Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I use the tests for my DS6 because he's hard on himself when he can't answer the more involved review questions, and this gives him a boost at the end because he rarely missed more than 1 or 2 of them. I'll probably have him start doing them independently sometime this year, depending on his interest level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I didn't use the tests or the review questions. This is because I did SOTW the way that WTM originally suggested--discussions, supplementary reading, map work, oral summaries giving way to written summaries, giving way to outlines, giving way to analysis. I saw the addition of the tests and review questions as crutches that I did not need, and busywork that I did not choose to burden my DD with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprilleigh Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I started out that way, but found his attention wandered without the incentive of being able to answer my questions about the story when we were done. I do frequently make up my own questions instead of using the ones provided in the activity book. He still likes the tests better, because he thinks the questions are easier. By the time we do the tests he's discussed the stories with me in far more depth than the tests expect, so it's a great boost to his confidence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 No tests in grammar stage here. I'm not concerned with retention. We spend that time reading more library books on the subject, giving us more depth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyontheFarm Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 You don't need the test book. You might want to search around online for some review questions that other parents have created already. For example, http://quizlet.com/subject/story-of-the-world-volume-2/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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