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Help, please. SOTW1 not working for dd, 7. Don't know what to do!


Happy2BaMom
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We are in our 4th week of using SOTW1 with dd, 7/first grade. I'm going to stick with it for now, largely because I have no idea what else to use, but it is just not working...she listens to the story and is almost completely unable to answer the questions afterwards. I have tried both the CDs as well as reading to her. I can see her mind wandering during the reading and she cannot do summaries AT ALL (today, she said that Hammurabi was a city during her summary...and this was after I went through the comprehension questions and answers with her).

 

I'm somewhat mystified by this because my son is on SOTW4 & he has always loved and always thrived on all of the SOTWs - easily able to answer the questions, always could do at least a passable summary, etc.

 

I really like the idea of going through history chronologically, and I want to keep doing this in some format. I don't want to give up on SOTW too early, but, on the other hand, she absorbs almost nothing, so I'm wondering how long I continue before trying something else.

 

WWYD? What should I do? Keep going with SOTW and hope that she will catch on eventually? Switch to another chronological curriculum (is there one out there)? :bigear:

 

Thanks in advance for the help!

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Don't give up yet. She is only 7. This is what I do with my kids....who are 8, 10 and 12. We listen to the CD's but I stop every so often and ask the questions that go along with the story part we just heard. I don't make them listen to the entire section first...I tried that and it failed...they couldn't answer the questions either. And this is how we do SOTW....for a day or two (depending on the length of the chapter) we listen to the story. Then the next day we do the map work, add a piece to our timeline that we are working on and write the narration. and then sometime in the next day or two we will do an activity or two. My youngest didn't retain a lot either...but my view is this is an overview of history, we will revisit all of it sometime again, I am not worried....beside what other non-homeschooled 2nd or 3rd grader knows ANY history....at this age in school they get "social studies"...whatever that is?? So I figure if they even know the name Hammurabi they are ahead of most of the other kids around.

 

Don't give up if you like SOTW...it is a great program.

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Don't give up yet. She is only 7. This is what I do with my kids....who are 8, 10 and 12. We listen to the CD's but I stop every so often and ask the questions that go along with the story part we just heard. I don't make them listen to the entire section first...I tried that and it failed...they couldn't answer the questions either. And this is how we do SOTW....for a day or two (depending on the length of the chapter) we listen to the story. Then the next day we do the map work, add a piece to our timeline that we are working on and write the narration. and then sometime in the next day or two we will do an activity or two. My youngest didn't retain a lot either...but my view is this is an overview of history, we will revisit all of it sometime again, I am not worried....beside what other non-homeschooled 2nd or 3rd grader knows ANY history....at this age in school they get "social studies"...whatever that is?? So I figure if they even know the name Hammurabi they are ahead of most of the other kids around.

 

Don't give up if you like SOTW...it is a great program.

 

:iagree:

 

I wouldn't worry too much about retention at this point. Right now it's all about getting her feet wet. I would also recommend checking out some picture books from the library that relate to the topic you are reading. Maybe she's a a visual learner and needs pictures to help her learn the stories. Also, did you get the coloring books that SWB recommends? Maybe have her color a picture in the coloring book, or draw while a picture that relates to what you are reading while you read.

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Keep at it..does she enjoy the stories? Keep reading them. Don't worry so much about what she's remembering. I was the same way with my DD...but she will hear a country that we talked about on the news and her eyes light up. She remembers things even though I don't think she 'get's' it. She can't answer the questions either. We are on book 2 and history is her favorite subject...so we are sticking with it.

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Y'all are making me feel a lot better. Kfeusse, I really like your suggestions and we try implementing them. I also think more picture books will help, and stories, so I'll try those as well.

 

I'm so used to having it go smoothly, that I need to rethink my approach with dd.

 

Thanks for the responses!

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My oldest was very much NOT an auditory learner at 7. In fact, he couldn't listen to a chapter book read aloud (with any comprehension) until he was close to 10. For him we focused on picture book history for a long time. When my kids were 2nd, 4th and 6th, we finally made it to SOTW vol 1 and it was great! Not everyone can listen and understand. That's what learning styles are.

 

I'm revisiting that learning style challenge again with child #4 who doesn't seem to be much of an auditory learner either. We read history, she colors. I ask questions and we go over the answers together (she has no idea). She's not getting a lot, but she's 7, too. I'm not really worried this time around! What she gets, she gets.

 

She is really liking history pockets to go along with our history studies, though. She gets a lot more out of that because it includes coloring, cutting, gluing, and information in small doses. Maybe your child would like that?

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Swainsonshawk (one of your relatives just took out one of my chickens, btw), I think dd would like history pockets. When I've looked at a few examples, however, they seem to spend weeks on just one topic - Egypt, for instance. Are there any that move along a little more quickly through history? May I ask what you have used and liked?

 

Thanks for the feedback - it's helpful to know she's *normal* (does that term apply to kids?) :001_smile:

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My DD is younger than yours and I find she only really gets a lot out of it if I use all the ways of learning with her - auditory, visual (picture books, google images, youtube videos) and kinaesthetic (usually rebuilding scenes outside and playing it through or making the maps in the garden with rivers and towns etc). Since she is so young I am not asking her to narrate or answer the questions, but I hear back from her during play time when she puts part of the passages into her play and that is when I know she has learnt. For Hammurabi for example we discussed how we use rules today and a few weeks later she was making up "children's rules" for our house. I also find that she learns the most when we relate the history to what she understands of the present which is actually I believe the point of history - to find out how it influences today - to learn from the mistakes and to continue to use what was good.

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I agree with the PP who suggested picture books and/or other sources. I found with my DDs that on weeks we were rushed for whatever reason and I skipped "other resources" such as DK research books or the Usborne Internet-Linked World History Encyclopedia and just read SOTW, they did not retain a thing! It seemed they needed the info to be presented in more than one way. They did much better when reading other books, looking at the internet links, completing a related project etc.

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I think, especially if your older child is on SOTW4, you should wait a year.

 

Then they'd both be on the same spot in the rotation next year.

 

You don't have to do something else for this year. She'll survive without history for 1st grade. Just read some fun books in that time.

 

Of course, I wish I had waited to start history with my older boys, and am feeling very freed by not doing it with the younger kids.

 

If you really feel like you have to keep going, my boys always enjoyed acting out the chapters as I read them.

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There's a free lapbook online that my kids are LOVING. That might be something to try.

 

I pinned it on my SOTW1 pinterest board. When you get to the website with the lapbook the middle ages one is on top, but scroll down.

 

Other online stuff and fun ideas there too. Not too many, we're just getting started.

 

ETA: I've also been using the coloring sheets during the story (I use the CD). We do the lapbook stuff afterwards while we talk about what the reading was about.

Edited by Tjej
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We did as many activities as I could handle and added a lot of extra picture books and read alouds. Also, if she's just starting to narrate, it is a skill that will have to be learned. When Rebecca started, she didn't narrate well at all. But she ended up remembering a lot from that year+! All that said, waiting another year won't hurt anything and might make your teaching easier.

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Thanks for all the replies, everyone. My son took to SOTW so easily that I was a little fluxomed (sp?) by the struggles dd is having. Now I realize I just need to take a different, more multi-sensory approach with her (still using SOTW). It helps!

 

I appreciate the links to lapbooks and what not as well. We will check them out!

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Thanks for all the replies, everyone. My son took to SOTW so easily that I was a little fluxomed (sp?) by the struggles dd is having. Now I realize I just need to take a different, more multi-sensory approach with her (still using SOTW). It helps!

 

I appreciate the links to lapbooks and what not as well. We will check them out!

 

I have decided to put SOTW1 on hold for a year. Instead we are going to focus on world cultures/geography...kinda widen the view using Sonlight Core B I picked it up used and all the books are in our library system [i wouldn't have chosen it if I had to buy everything].

 

If this is a fail then I will shelve history for 1st grade and just focus on the 3 r's. :)

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You've gotten a lot of good advice. If you want to continue SOTW this year I would focus less on the readings and more on the extra literature. I tried using the recordings, but my kids would tune out... even though we listen to audio books every day! When I read I can stop and discuss something along the way or emphasize something. Sometimes with my 7 y/o I emphasize something he'll need to know for the questions while I'm reading. That helps a lot. My 7 y/o is like yours. He rarely gets the questions right (this is new for me too...) and he daydreams during most of the reading. I do let him color the color sheets while I'm reading and sometimes that helps him to focus. I usually help him come up with a one sentence narration. That's all we do. Heh, heh... you should see him try to do WWE2. He's my 4th child and I've never had one that couldn't answer 75% of the questions! At first I was frustrated, but that's just him. I don't think he's an auditory learner.... maybe your dd isn't either. :001_smile:

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:iagree:their retention isn't for too long at this age. Keep reading aloud to her and it will help improve her retention in a lot of areas. Andrew Pudewa of EIW has some excellent audios on kids and their development at different ages.

:iagree:

 

I wouldn't worry too much about retention at this point. Right now it's all about getting her feet wet. I would also recommend checking out some picture books from the library that relate to the topic you are reading. Maybe she's a a visual learner and needs pictures to help her learn the stories. Also, did you get the coloring books that SWB recommends? Maybe have her color a picture in the coloring book, or draw while a picture that relates to what you are reading while you read.

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We tried it in first. Dd liked it but after awhile the eyes started glazing over. This year we are using Elemental History (US). It's working well for us because it has narration, copy work, coloring pages, and geography. We will pick up SOTW next year when dd is in 3 and DS is in K. We may double up and do 2 a year. Just depends how deep we want to go. Dd has mentioned she is eager to return to Egypt. :)

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Hugs!:grouphug:

I emphathize with your situation.

Dd had a similar experience with SOTW.

Dh and I decided to use V.M. Hillyer's "A Child's History of the World" by the Calvert School over a two year period.

CHOW immediately clicked with her.

During the two year period CHOW was read at least 3 times, maybe 4.

Dd who is now a fifth grader is loving SOTW!

Warm Regards,

Kathy

:001_smile:

 

We are in our 4th week of using SOTW1 with dd, 7/first grade. I'm going to stick with it for now, largely because I have no idea what else to use, but it is just not working...she listens to the story and is almost completely unable to answer the questions afterwards. I have tried both the CDs as well as reading to her. I can see her mind wandering during the reading and she cannot do summaries AT ALL (today, she said that Hammurabi was a city during her summary...and this was after I went through the comprehension questions and answers with her).

 

I'm somewhat mystified by this because my son is on SOTW4 & he has always loved and always thrived on all of the SOTWs - easily able to answer the questions, always could do at least a passable summary, etc.

 

I really like the idea of going through history chronologically, and I want to keep doing this in some format. I don't want to give up on SOTW too early, but, on the other hand, she absorbs almost nothing, so I'm wondering how long I continue before trying something else.

 

WWYD? What should I do? Keep going with SOTW and hope that she will catch on eventually? Switch to another chronological curriculum (is there one out there)? :bigear:

 

Thanks in advance for the help!

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Swainsonshawk (one of your relatives just took out one of my chickens, btw), I think dd would like history pockets. When I've looked at a few examples, however, they seem to spend weeks on just one topic - Egypt, for instance. Are there any that move along a little more quickly through history? May I ask what you have used and liked?

 

Thanks for the feedback - it's helpful to know she's *normal* (does that term apply to kids?) :001_smile:

 

 

History Pockets do not move quickly through history. My daughter is still studying American Indians while her older brothers have moved on to explorers. I decided it was better this way for her. She participates with the group for our history together (explorers) then returns to American Indians for her history "extension."

 

I'm not sure I would like something to move more quickly. She loves History Pockets and she is getting a lot out of its slow pace. I have her planned to get through 2.5 books this year.

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Thanks, Hunter, for the link to the other, related thread. It seems I have a fair amount of company, which is comforting. There were some great links on that thread - I'm seriously looking at the SOTW lapbook.

 

I also appreciate the suggestion of the Hillyer book. I actually have that and will try that with dd.

 

I just want to say that I did "do SOTW" differently with dd this morning. She sat on my lap and we read out of the Usborne History book, just reviewing what we have covered so far, then I had her do a couple of the internet links. She really liked all of that and I was left feeling that she had absorbed more than she has so far. I will continue to explore the other ideas provided on this thread as well.

 

I do so appreciate the help!

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