Jump to content

Menu

SOTW/Middle School questions


hsmom2011
 Share

Recommended Posts

We have been using Bibliolplan year 2 and my dd(11) hates the companion. It seems difficult to use the program without it, and as much as I like BP, sometimes I feel like I would just rather follow SOTW in order instead of jumping around. Since we are not using the companion we have had to ditch the cool history pages, and dd has decided to write a summary of her reading each week. I am now thinking about just doing straight SOTW with KF & the SOTW maps.

I'm thinking of doing SOTW 2,3, & 4 for 6th & 7th grades, and then doing History of US with the Hewitt syllabus for 8th.

I have also thought about doing SOTW over the 3 years and scheduling History of US alongside SOTW.

Any thoughts on this? :confused:

Edited by hsmom2011
Listed wrong vol. #s for SOTW
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am now thinking about just doing straight SOTW with KF & the SOTW maps.

 

Here's how we're using SOTW for middle school. :blush:

 

We're in Volume 2 right now (Middle Ages).

 

Reading SOTW 2 and corresponding sections of Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. Record important dates/names on Timeline. My daughter was doing writing with her history in a history notebook, but Writing with Skill has completely taken over all of her writing time.

 

We also have a booklist of readers/read-alouds that correspond with the SOTW readings:

 

Trying to follow along with this schedule: http://www.classicalhouseoflearning.com

 

The Sword and the Circle

1001 Arabian Nights

A Single Chard

Son of Charlemagne

Nordic Gods and Heroes (or D'Aulaire's Book of Norse Myths)

The Canterbury Tales

Adventures of Robin Hood

The Samurai's Tale

Russian Fairy Tales

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver

Shakespeare Stories (or Lamb's Shakespeare)

The King's Fifth

The Second Mrs. Giaconda

The Lyon's Roar

Walk the World's Rim

 

Also:

 

Beorn the Proud

The Dangerous Journey

Marco Polo

Beowulf the Warrior

The Lantern Bearers

 

We tend to be very math and science-focused, so this is my older kids' first real sweep through history. My older kids are enjoying history so much right now that we're working on history 4-5 times a week.

 

Not sure if that helps or if that's the kind of answer you're looking for. You should check out the Classical House of Learning Literature website!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SOTW didn't fit us for middle school.

 

We loved it in elementary, but frankly middle schoolers need more. They don't need their primary resource to be a story book. At that point, they should be researching and learning to use multiple sources to develop a viewpoint.

 

 

Do you mind showing us what that looks like week to week?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you mind showing us what that looks like week to week?

 

 

Sure. To follow the WTM before we used Creek Edge Press task cards - it was just a way of keeping things in order. Say it was a week on Marco Polo for a 7th grader.

 

Day 1 : read and outline/do story map for Kingfisher. Begin reading Looking For Marco Polo (fiction book).

Day 2 : skim through The Travels of Marco Polo, using highlighter tabs. Watch documentary. Add to story map or outline if necessary.

Day 3 : continue fiction book, open Jackdaw and examine the documents.

Day 4 : begin critical analysis, sorting through available resources (online, too) to find true primaries and secondaries.

Day 5 : Write paper on conclusion of findings - in this case, that there is no direct evidence showing that Marco Polo went on his journey.

 

 

This week we're doing a quarter of a study on Lewis & Clark. Step one is still outlining the story, but this time on index cards. He's still reading a fiction book, but also has access to documents from the trip: the instructions from Jefferson, the journals, the list of men, the letter from Lewis to Clark...

Then comes a comparison of language and implied facts in secondary sources vs. what is found in the original. "Friend and faithful slave" "Mean" "Difficult" all make inferences for him and he has to work to see if his conclusions, after looking at all the evidence, matches up to the secondary sources or if he feels differently.

 

 

There is plenty enough online that this can be done with almost any history subject but I'd really recommend getting good primary source-filled books to go with. We have no problem referring to SOTW, but it has long been outgrown as a main spine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While we have always homeschooled, it was early spring of this year that I got into the WTM way of educating. So for my DD in 5th, I am trying to catch up a lot of what I'm sure we have missed.

 

For history we are reading through A Little History of the World (Gombrich) as well as, hopefully, all 4 SOTW. At the same time, she will be doing a study on ancients using D'aulaires Greek and Norse books, Famous Men of Green and Rome books downloaded and this book to cover all cultures.

 

I don't plan on trying to match up the info and books. It will just be 2 separate history studies in the same year. My plan is to do another 2 years of World History during 7th and 8th with each year having a second simultaneous history study. One year will be Eastern Hemisphere geography and culture. The other year will be a focus on Middle Ages.

 

Not perfect but maybe this will give you some ideas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's how we're using SOTW for middle school. :blush:

 

We're in Volume 2 right now (Middle Ages).

 

Reading SOTW 2 and corresponding sections of Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. Record important dates/names on Timeline. My daughter was doing writing with her history in a history notebook, but Writing with Skill has completely taken over all of her writing time.

 

We also have a booklist of readers/read-alouds that correspond with the SOTW readings:

 

Trying to follow along with this schedule: www.classicalhouseoflearning.com

 

The Sword and the Circle

1001 Arabian Nights

A Single Chard

Son of Charlemagne

Nordic Gods and Heroes (or D'Aulaire's Book of Norse Myths)

The Canterbury Tales

Adventures of Robin Hood

The Samurai's Tale

Russian Fairy Tales

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver

Shakespeare Stories (or Lamb's Shakespeare)

The King's Fifth

The Second Mrs. Giaconda

The Lyon's Roar

Walk the World's Rim

 

Also:

 

Beorn the Proud

The Dangerous Journey

Marco Polo

Beowulf the Warrior

The Lantern Bearers

 

We tend to be very math and science-focused, so this is my older kids' first real sweep through history. My older kids are enjoying history so much right now that we're working on history 4-5 times a week.

 

Not sure if that helps or if that's the kind of answer you're looking for. You should check out the Classical House of Learning Literature website!

 

Thank you for the info.! :) My dd has not yet covered the Middle Ages and SOTW supplemented with other books seems to be plenty for her. We plan to continue using the booklist from BP, just rearranged to fit the sequence of SOTW. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's how we're using SOTW for middle school. :blush:

 

We're in Volume 2 right now (Middle Ages).

 

Reading SOTW 2 and corresponding sections of Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. Record important dates/names on Timeline. My daughter was doing writing with her history in a history notebook, but Writing with Skill has completely taken over all of her writing time.

 

We also have a booklist of readers/read-alouds that correspond with the SOTW readings:

 

Trying to follow along with this schedule: www.classicalhouseoflearning.com

 

The Sword and the Circle

1001 Arabian Nights

A Single Chard

Son of Charlemagne

Nordic Gods and Heroes (or D'Aulaire's Book of Norse Myths)

The Canterbury Tales

Adventures of Robin Hood

The Samurai's Tale

Russian Fairy Tales

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver

Shakespeare Stories (or Lamb's Shakespeare)

The King's Fifth

The Second Mrs. Giaconda

The Lyon's Roar

Walk the World's Rim

 

 

This is what we are doing also! Our Kingfisher time is outlining and we are also doing the SOTW tests. We have additional literature that is just for reading (with no lit guide work) as well as other interesting books from the library and Netflix videos. History is the highlight of our day!

 

I have DS2 doing SOTW 2 and DS1 doing SOTW 3 & 4. That's just how it worked out and there's no fixing it. :001_rolleyes: Oh, and DS2 is doing IEW Middle Ages and DS1 is doing IEW Narnia so the time periods covered are the same as their history. Its nice!

 

Kelly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...