It has to get better! It has to! Right?

[Jpoy85]

I am having so much trouble with C on Apologia Astronomy and SOTW 1.

At first i read through a few pages and then asked the questions, that didnt work. Someone suggested reading a little bit at a time and then ask questions. I started that. Its not any different though. Today I tried having her work with playdoh while listening and it didnt make a difference.

 

How can I switch it up but get the same info across? Can I get books from the library on the subjects rather than read the chapters? Should I do the activity (say a lapbook) WHILE reading?

[AimeeM]

At that age I would concentrate on *exposure*, not *output* (her being able to answer questions, for example). You would be surprised at how much children remember at really random times, and when you think they aren't listening.

I might suggest nixing the SOTW at 6 years old and, instead, buying some awesome picture books for history... and coloring books. Lots of coloring books. Same for science (and I'm a fan of better early than late, but some kids just aren't READY to sit, listen, retain, and spout off information at that age).

In general, I favor formal science and formal history AFTER a child is an established reader; concentrating on the content subjects formally only after her skill subjects are well established. Not suggesting at all that you do this willy nilly (keep a schedule and require it, by all means), but perhaps keep it interest driven and a bit more hands on until next year. Just my two cents though :tongue_smilie:.

[2_girls_mommy]

For SOTW, mine always colored the coloring pages while I read. And I just don't read. I interact with them while I read. If we are reading about butterflies I stop and point out what I am talking about on the picture. I stop and have them repeat an important word after I say it. "metamorphoses, say it, metamorphoses. Now tell me again what it means..." We talk and interact while I read it. I stress the important parts while I am reading. I stop and remind them of the time we saw something related to what I am reading and ask if they remember it, etc.

 

Also, does your child do well listening to you real fiction aloud? It could be a problem altogether, not just with the science and history.

 

And YES, it is ok to just get picture books on the subjects and use the curric as a guideline. I just use the Apologia zoology notebook as our guideline. We don't even actually have the text. I check out library books from their book lists and we read them and draw and fill in the notebook pages....

[serendipitous journey]

I am having so much trouble with C on Apologia Astronomy and SOTW 1.

At first i read through a few pages and then asked the questions, that didnt work. Someone suggested reading a little bit at a time and then ask questions. I started that. Its not any different though. Today I tried having her work with playdoh while listening and it didnt make a difference.

 

How can I switch it up but get the same info across? Can I get books from the library on the subjects rather than read the chapters? Should I do the activity (say a lapbook) WHILE reading?

 

I had so much trouble with Button last year -- when he was 6 -- on SOTW1. We did the same astronomy too! but that went more easily, he's a science nut.

 

Honestly, I think that SOTW1 doesn't make very good sense to a lot of children that age. There is so much new information in each chapter, and they don't really understand enough about the world to put it together. -- not ALL children, clearly lots do fine; but it is a lot to assimilate. I wish I'd just set it aside for a while. If you wanted, you could pick it up at the beginning of 2nd and just do history year-round to finish the cycle before 5th -- doing SOTW year-round simply means listening to 2 or 3 audiobook sections each week, coloring a map and going over some questions (if you get the audiobook & the AG to go with the book). We ourselves are just picking up in 2nd with SOTW2 after dropping SOTW1 early last year: Button doesn't want to do the ancient stuff, and our AO readings are medieval so that fits well for me.

 

If you want to proceed, I strongly suggest the audiobook, and play it in the car 2 or 3 or 4 times for each section. That was how Button retained the best. Don't worry if the narrations seem poor -- you can do thread searches RE narrations, to see that if usually takes 2 years of steady work to elicit good narrations -- just be gentle and encouraging.

 

I'll say we really benefited from using the Ambleside Online history resources for Year 1 -- especially Viking Tales & Our Island Story. This gave Button a much much better idea of what conquering was all about, and government changing hands, and what being a king entailed (as in, often the chief warlord of a disorderly and rebellious group of other warlords, generally conquering and/or being conquered) and what other sorts of folks there are -- farmers, artisans, fisherfolk, &c. I don't know if that sounds appealing to you, though.

 

RE astronomy: Apologia Astronomy does sometimes fall a bit flat at that age. You could try HA Rey's constellation books to round it out (nothing old earth per se in those) and add interest. If you are old earth (we are) I can suggest several resources -- PM me if you like; if not, it may be worth searching the old threads for Young Earth astronomy videos/books, or posting for ideas. Button loved it b/c he was already enchanted with and fascinated by space and the experiments were mostly very fun. We did get the Rainbow Resource experiment kit, and the young-children's version of the notebook ("Junior Notebook") from Apologia, and both those were worthwhile I thought.

[LindaOz]

I don't think that all kids are ready for Apologia books at 6. We are doing Astronomy now and my ds is 8. He wasn't ready for it last year - he wouldn't have concentrated or taken it in. He just needed time, and probably exposure to easier texts, to be ready. The same probably goes for SOTW. He loves it now, but a year or two ago would have been a different story.

 

Maybe just reading some easier science related books and doing some fun experiments together would be great for your dd at this stage :) .

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I am having so much trouble with C on Apologia Astronomy and SOTW 1.

At first i read through a few pages and then asked the questions, that didnt work. Someone suggested reading a little bit at a time and then ask questions. I started that. Its not any different though. Today I tried having her work with playdoh while listening and it didnt make a difference.

 

How can I switch it up but get the same info across? Can I get books from the library on the subjects rather than read the chapters? Should I do the activity (say a lapbook) WHILE reading?

I am using Apologia Astronomy with dd and we are not enjoying it (love the other Apologia books). Mostly I think is due to the subject matter. I have done a few things to help make it tolerable, but it still is not a hit here. I am going to drop Apologia and just read library books for each topic left to cover. We are keeping a night journal (every night we look at the sky , record date, cloudy or clear, and something we see) this has made a small difference in dd's enthusiasm for the subject.

Things I tried:

Letting dd read it herself

Cover smaller chunks over the week instead of the 2 days suggested

Add in more experiments

Night journal

[Susie in MS]

You may want to try something like FIAR this year and then move on to SOTW and Apologia when you child is older next year. My dd couldn't sit well for readings and narrate back when she was 6. But picture books captivated her and and she learned well from them.

[Holly]

We also didn't have much luck with Apologia Astronomy at that age. We are giving Zoo 2 Swimming Creatures a try this year and it's a completely different experience! They are now 10, 7 (almost 8), and 5. My 5yo pretty much just looks at the pictures and joins in for the projects. :lol:

 

We are having better luck with daily lessons instead of 2-3 times a week lessons. Their attention drifts off after too long of a reading. You might try shorter readings. Maybe read a paragraph or two, then ask questions.

[Bree]

I tried SOTW and Apologia Astronomy at that age and put it away. DS is almost 8 and he loves them both now. You might want to give him a little time.

[...................]

At that age Sonlight Pre-K or K or FIAR would be a lot more fun and interesting.

 

I wouldn't push SOTW any more.

[angelmama1209]

we are doing both of those this year at age 7. dd is loving them. we do both daily in smaller chunks.

[morosophe]

We did (and enjoyed) Sonlight Cores B and C, both of which use Villyer's A Child's History of the World for the narrative history, which is a lot simpler text than Story of the World. Sonlight usually had us interspersing a chapter or three of Hillyer a week with other resources, particularly from Usborne, (although the Time Traveler books usually took several weeks apiece,) and it worked really well for my son in first and second grade.

 

Unfortunately, while Hillyer covers the ancient history very well, it only covers the middle ages pretty well, and it pretty much skims through most of modern history. Still, it's a possible alternative "spine" for your medieval studies, around which you could schedule other books that look appealing.

[justLisa]

I do nothing except read aloud for history, and then discuss a little after.

[Homemama2]

My kids would not have done well with either of those at 6yrs. I started SOTW 1 when my kids were in 3rd and 1st. My 1st grader didn't really get anything out of it. I used Apologia Astronomy when they were in 2nd (7yrs) and 4th. That was a better fit for us. I love both programs, but for some kids it's too much info. I found sticking to easier picture books (let's read and find out science, magic school bus etc.) worked better for my kids at that age.

[Mommy22alyns]

Apologia can be very wordy, IME, so it might not be that great for a 6yo. I did SOTW 1 with Rebecca when she was 5 and 6, but it did take a while for her to get the hang of narration. She has great memories of the projects. Also, IME, SOTW is much more engaging than CHOW. We tried SL B when Rebecca was in 2nd grade and it was just awful.

[SnMomof7]

Tried Apologia Astronomy twice. Couldn't make it go. Thought we'd love it. Didn't. It's okay to let it go if ti doesn't work. Really.

[kristi26]

We are doing SOTW2 (and later, part of 3) as our spine for TOG2 for my middle two kids. Typically I go over the information I want them to know ahead of time, sometimes speaking from notes I've taken and other times reading from books with really good pictures or even from websites. Then I have DS9 practice reading aloud to DD6. I know he says she doesn't listen (though I also know that she is much like DS12 in that she doesn't have to be looking at you to be hearing what you're saying). I also figure that she is likely absorbing at least SOME of what he says and it's more important to me that she practice learning history right now than that we skip it for her altogether.

 

Another thing we do is activities to go with our history. I had them make "history folders" this week (based on the ever-popular idea of history pockets but my own free ones created based on Ancient China and the Mongol Empire), we've done notebooking a lot, and we've even done arts and crafts around our lesson.

 

So, I guess my idea is that you read the chapter and talk to her about the things you want her to know. Do an activity or two to help the ideas stick. It'll get better as she gets older. :)

[ByGrace3]

We struggled through SOTW 1 last year as well. I struggled through and in hindsight should have just dropped it. It was too much information for "exposure" for us. Looking back, I think our next venture through Ancients with a first grader will primarily be picture books and read alouds. The Story of the World Activity guide is great and you can still follow the sequence, but just read the extra books and do the coloring, maps, and projects. Someone suggested that to me last year and I wish I would have listened! In case it helps, I blogged about our experience with it last year here.

[Jpoy85]

Im going to skip the chapter reading and get the books from the library and do the activities and lapbook instead for SOTW.

 

Still trying to figure out Apologia.. I might decrease the reading.

[pitterpatter]

We don't use the SOTW text, but we are studying ancients this year. See my blog to see what we do. History recently surpassed science as DD's favorite subject. Just click on the "Ancient History" link on the right-hand side. My blog link is in my siggy.