Biblioplan and SOTW and A History of US (Hakim)?

[Dahliarw]

Would it be too much to use all of this (or a mesh of it not doing every reading)? I'll be working witha first grader and third grader on year 3 (my 3rd grader will have completed year 1 and 2 of SOTW). I plan to aim things more at my 3rd grader, knowing my 1st grader will get enough out of it. I want to make sure I beef up the US history aspect a bit. I know it might be a bit much to do all the Hakim readings and all the SOTW readings, but you would recommend using Hakim for some (if not all) of the US history aspect and then SOTW for the rest? Is Hakim too heavy for 3rd grade?

[OSUBuckeye]

There's eleven books in Hakim, unless you use the condensed version. It's listed as fifth grade to ninth grade (or can be used even older as a supplement.) My suggestion would be to wait on Hakim until your next go-around with U.S. history.

 

Hakim is on audiobook, and reviews look good for it. If you like audiobooks, pick your favorite part of U.S. History to get started, and through car-listening or Lego-time background sound your 3rd grader would pick up on the stories in a first exposure sort of way. If it's you presenting the book, there's just going to be mismatched expectations - you'll want to present all of the information to complete your checkbox, and he'll hate that your stressing him out over his new history stuff.

 

Third grade might be a better time for the Childhood of Famous Americans, or the DK "picture" books of the major wars, the Liberty's Kids show, or History Channel documentaries at the rare times when they're not focused on alien discoveries. Scholastic has some good ebooks (on sale for $1 several times a year) that would cover American History in an age appropriate way.

 

Also, Sonlight's Core D and E has a list of American history readers. If you want to go a reading/read-aloud approach, those books are much closer in age for your third grader than Hakim. They're also more enjoyable, too.

 

You could also pick the top 20 things you want covered and tell them in story form, along with play activities. Think about the Boston Tea Party, along with some creative play of drinking/boycotting/dumping tea, or Westward expansion along with the Oregon Trail game, or "buying and selling" things on the stockmarket, letting the prices go up, and then having them think about if the prices match the value. ( I keep a secondhand Beanie Baby Collectors book, which laughably has beanies listed at $2,000. I ask if I should buy the beanie for $500, since I'm going to sell it for $2,000. They get the concept that the beanie is being valued at thousands but intrinsically is worth $5). With games and stories, they'll have fun with history, and later when they're learning it in-depth it will spark memories and keep them deeply interested in those topics.

[Annabel Lee]

I'm doing something similar with my 4th & 6th graders, but I'm trying very hard to make myself choose a simpler plan. I tend towards perfectionism (NOT a good thing!) so I struggle with this.

 

Unless the grammar & logic stage BP schedules differ, using BP means using SOTW since BP schedules it. Are you asking if doing the SOTW AG with BP is too much? If so, my answer is probably. SOTW AG contains narration & beginning outlining aids (in Vol. 4) that BP doesn't, so it could be useful. I would pick only 1 map, 1 coloring page, 1 of each type of thing each week from the two programs. The SOTW audiobooks are very helpful.

 

At those ages, I wish I'd have just done SOTW and done it well. My kids would have had better retention. We skipped around outside the 4-yr. cycle for a couple years and I tried to push too much at once, but they can only remember so much at a time.

[Murrayshire]

For a 3rd grader and 1st grade tag a long, I would use The Complete book of American History...... The Liberty's Kids videos are sooo awesome! My first grader knows more about American History by just watching them!! You can add to the Complete book of AH with readers and picture books......try Beautiful Feet Books, Sonlight, Veritas Press, and the library! Evan Moor History Pockets are wonderful for crafts and notebooking!

 

FYI....I plan to coordinate Hakim books, with my 8th grader, with SOTW 3-4........It would be too much for 1st and 3rd.....

[ByGrace3]

Also, BP schedules A Childs Story of America so you have that option as well.

[Dahliarw]

Thanks. BP also schedules Hakim. For year 3 there are readings out of 4 of the books. My idea was to use SOTW for some of the readings and Hakim for some of them, depending on how in depth I want to go. Is Hakim too old for a 3rd grader?

 

It would be easy to supplement with other books as well...I do already own a few and I'm sure the library is plentiful!

[Annabel Lee]

I had forgotten that the new revised BP schedules Hakim. Which row/column is it listed in on the grid schedule? Usually things are divided by age group. If it's the suggested reading for everyone, I'd assume they intended it to be for everyone (prob. read-aloud for youngers). We can give our advice until the cows come home, but I think you know your kids best. Go to B&N or your library and read through some of the Hakim books to get a feel for them. See if the content matches their comprehension levels, if it is too graphic or not for your taste for those ages (I'm thinking of the wars here), and if you like it very well. That is my best recommendation. That, and contact BP to see what they say. Ask what ages they meant it to be scheduled for, and then describe your kids & your situation to find out if it would be a good fit. Rusty at BP has always been quick to respond when I email my questions. I can't say enough good about BP's customer service.

Best of luck!

[Dahliarw]

I don't have the newest Biblioplan (as in the one that is not out yet for year 3, but is already out for 1, 2, and 4). I have whatever the edition before it was for year 3. Hakim is listed 4th row down as an optional spine 5-12. So I guess it might be a bit heavy, but they do say that the listening level is fine for younger students (reading level is 5+, my 2nd grader is reading at a 5th-6th grade level right now, but I'd probably read aloud anyways). I may save it for logic stage, or just read bits here and there. We'll see. My library only has the 1999 edition of Hakim, so if I'm going to use it I'd rather get the more recent one (2007 I believe). I guess I'll just see how much information my kids are into as well... BP also does suggest A Child's Tory of America as well, I'll have to look into that one. Seeing that it's written from a Christian press makes me question how biased it would be (and I know all history is biased, and I know Hakim is biased to the left, but I've read some pretty blatant errors and assumptions in "Christian" histories that drive me bonkers - and I'm a Christian).

[jar7709]

I don't know about Bibilioplan, but I am planning on using History of Us with my (admittedly gifted) soon-to-be third grader. In comparing it to the level of detail, presentation, and writing style in SOTW, it is definitely a good step up, which is what I am looking for. FWIW. Samples are not too hard to find online, so I'd take a look at those and see if it looks appropriate for your DC.