Do you actually follow WTM's plan for history?

[chocoholic]

Does anyone out there follow the WTM's suggestions for history, and how is that working out (long term)?

 

I'm homeschooling 2 children who will be in 7th and 5th grades next year.

 

I'm trying to plan for next year's history. I'd like to do something radically different that what we're doing this year. (We're in our last year of Classical Conv. this year and we follow their history sentences, then go a little bit further in depth by reading the SOTW that corresponds to the history topic for the week. This drives me crazy and I can't wait to switch gears next year.)

 

I would like to hear from people who actually follow SWB's history suggestions from the WTM and would like to hear if it's working well or not.

 

I'm considering following that plan OR starting TOG for the first time next year (and then continuing for at least 3 more years after that).

 

TOG appeals to me b/c the connections/plans are already made in the teacher's manual. WTM plan appeals to me b/c it's teaching the kids great skills (outlining, timeline, etc.)

 

Advice welcome. Thank you.

[Mommee & Baba]

Yes we do. We enjoy it. We also use alot of the curriculum mentioned in TWTM so alot of the subjects blend so well together.

 

We are only on SOTW2 so it's not much experience, but I wanted to respond as I plan on continuing the path she suggests.

[Farrar]

Many people here do.

 

We didn't though. I wanted a year focused on US history in elementary school, so we took one in 2nd grade. We're doing early modern history this year in third.

[Hunter]

I wanted to, but couldn't find a spine with a K-3 reading level. I refuse to teach history with resources that sounds pretty and show off the writing skills of the author, but are incomprehensible to my students. And once I don't have a spine, I get distracted and move on.

 

If I have a self-educating spine I like enough, that can keep me on track, while relying on library books for the students. I wasn't personally excited enough by any of the 4 year history curricula, though, to be reading them on top of what I'm doing with students.

 

I haven't given up on the idea for the future, if I can find and can afford a spine I like enough.

[prairiewindmomma]

Yes, and it works well for us.

[2_girls_mommy]

Yes, we do and a lot of people on this board do. At our house we did all of WTM grammar stage w/my older and have moved into 5th grade, the first year of logic stage WTM recs. My younger is still in grammar stage, so I have a couple more years of SOTW. The KHE as spine for logic is working great. My dd loves the freedom of picking her topic to learn more about and writing about it. She loves the independence of working on her timeline and outlines and then following up with reading on her own. She loves to tell me about what she learned on a topic.

[chocoholic]

Yes, we do and a lot of people on this board do. At our house we did all of WTM grammar stage w/my older and have moved into 5th grade, the first year of logic stage WTM recs. My younger is still in grammar stage, so I have a couple more years of SOTW. The KHE as spine for logic is working great. My dd loves the freedom of picking her topic to learn more about and writing about it. She loves the independence of working on her timeline and outlines and then following up with reading on her own. She loves to tell me about what she learned on a topic.

 

 

"The KHE as spine for logic is working great."

 

So, can I ask you this - if the spine for the grammar stage is SOTW, the spine for the logic stage is KHE?

[SFM]

May I ask? What is KHE? Kingfisher History Encyclopedia?

[2_girls_mommy]

Yes, it is the spine for logic stage history a la WTM, and yes it stands for Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. We used it a little in grammar stage alongside SOTW. We would look at the pictures and maps. But I would rarely read it aloud to them. It didn't hold their attention, though I could often learn a bit more on the topic from it. Then we used the lists in the back for our memory lists as suggested in WTM. Now for 5th grade, dd uses it as her main text, and we get books from the library or use the internet or videos for going deeper on some topics.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Pretty much, as much as we follow anything for anything! :D

 

We started with SOTW 1 afterschooling in 3rd grade. We used the AG. We read the chapters and she answered the comp questions and did the narration orally. She colored/marked a map, and we read as many of the supplemental books as I could find in the library. It was great, as ps doesn't teach "history" in elementary.

 

When we started HSing full time last year in 4th, we continued with the same practice with SOTW 2, using the AG.

 

Now in 5th, we are doing the same thing, with SOTW 3, though not using the AG - I use MapQuest maps, and we do have the new KHE and an Atlas of Past Times that we go into for more supplemental geography & background info. We also added in the timeline this year. For topics that have a good historical novel, I will assign that and she reads it on her own and we discuss. I still get supplemental nonfiction/biographies for most topics from the library, and sometimes I will read them aloud, sometimes assign them for independent reading. The amount of extra reading we do is driven by interest and the availability of good books at the appropriate reading level - for some subjects she and/or I will read several extra books, for some subjects we don't read anything extra. Just depends on the topic.

 

 

We do all the output orally most of the time, as she is getting lots of writing with WWS. If I'm not working with her, and she reads the chapter on her own, I will have her summarize or outline one of the sections. Most of the time I read aloud, and we discuss.

 

It's working out well, as we are hitting the heavier-duty topics as she's older, and better able to handle them. I don't see starting SOTW with my current first grader, maybe next year.