NaturalFamiLEA Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I am starting Year 1 in the fall with my LG and was curious about using Story of the World or Mystery of History to go along with TOG. Would this be overkill? We love to read, and I was thinking Ariana would really enjoy the format, but again, I don't want to be adding too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 SOTW for you! This would be your best choice. I have MOH, considered it for dd when she was LG-over her head, and she's advanced. Had a df try it with her LG-the eyes glazed over. MOH starts to try to make connections, which is great for logic stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testimony Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 We do Story of the World. I don't know TOG. Blessings in your homeschooling journey. Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Alfred Academy Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I am using the audio of the STOW with my LG and LG/UG in year two. I don't like the spine they suggest so I am going to use HE Marshall's books (which is actually the D level spine) since we already have them and AO schedules them for this age. I think SOTW would be great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Lea, some of the best advice I got early on in homeschooling was not to let my enthusiasm for the good cause me to replace or skip things that were normal for the age. For instance, one lady said she had done ancients but never got around to reading her little one Pooh! When my dd was the age of yours, I read her fairy tales from the Lang Fairy Tales books, lots and lots of them. (by the hour, no joke!) I'd read to her while she played in the yard. I bought the D'Aulaire books and dh read them to her. We did tons of crafts together. You want to go for diversity at this point and not get too stuck in any one thing. An interesting history spine is MORE than enough. SOTW would work and CHOW is good. I think MOH is better saved for later. Reading aloud a lot at this age builds their general knowledge bank and also their vocabulary, so they recognize words as they learn to read. It's a great thing, but it doesn't have to be so formal or proper or scheduled or anything else. You can literally just have a pile of books, say covering 4 or 5 genres, and read a bit from each genre each day. That's how I did things with my dd in K5, and it was just lovely. Don't fail to do the FIAR books, even if you don't do it exactly their way. The FIAR books are so amazing, they became very memorable to my dd. Also there are some amazing picture books of the greek myths and whatnot. The illustrator slips my mind, but she has a whole series which I'm sure you'll find as you search on amazon. I'm just saying I would read widely and diversely, not trying too hard to be formal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I would totally agree with OhElizabeth, unless your dc is very advanced or asking for ancients. My dd was advanced and I would not have done SOTW at age 4-it will better serve its purpose when your dc is first grade. Plus the SOTW volumes get harder as they go, so you don't want to hit the harder ones too early! And TOG is definitely more than any 4yo needs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Even if the dc is very advanced, I wouldn't fiddle with TOG. I'd still go with a solid spine, say CHOW or Eggleston, and then go for diversity in the rest of the reading. We have an accelerated board for people with advanced dc. Some of the most interesting posts were on the old boards, which you can find by searching googling with your search terms and site:wtmboards.com. Abbeyej would be a good example of what I'm talking about, diversified reading across the genres (french, history, etc.), plenty of stimulation, thought and advancement, but all in a way that still fits the age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janice in NJ Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Along these lines... loved the FIAR books. :iagree: Great choices! Confession: I spent a TON of time when my kids were little trying to line up all of the "history" story books so that we covered everything comprehensively and in order. Waste of time. Now please understand that I'm NOT saying that doing history chronologically was a waste of time. By no means! BUT once you "study" the Greeks, your kids can pick up any book on the Greeks at any time and read it .... even if you're in the middle of Colonial America. (In fact, it's GREAT review... "Remember when we made Greek _________? What do you remember about the Greeks?") SOOOOO you don't have to worry about using two spines at the same time if you don't have the time. And you don't have to worry about reading "every" great book on the Greeks before you move on. Just buzz on to the next thing - worry free! So even if you plan to do the TOG spines and SOTW you can drop either of them as you go. You can always add in SOTW later - for review. OR you can use it to handle the "Read" part of TOG. OR you can use it in addition to the LG books that TOG offers. Or you can save the TOG books for later. No problem! TOG's model is read, think, write. At the LG level the reading part can be handled with a wide range of books. And they really do enjoy the "thinking" part - all of the activities and projects at that age. (See your yellow "Overview" and Student Activity Pages for all of the "thinking" choices that are available for each week's plan.) And don't forget to make sure that they do some age-appropriate writing every week. Read. Think. Write. It's an educational model that they continue to walk in for many, many years. SOTW is a terrific option for the "read" part. Along with or instead of the TOG suggestions. ...so - have a blast reading about history. Great, great stuff! But I would also like to offer an :iagree: with Elizabeth. DON'T forget all of those fabulous "classic" picturebooks for kids - the "non-history" ones! And don't read twice the amount of history if that means that you'll squeeze those out of your child's life. If you can fit in some history and some of these "greats", then go, go, go and read some more history! 2X the history might be fun. :001_smile: See if your library has a copy of any of these titles. LOTS of great suggestions. Most of the "Greats!" in the children's book world. NOT to be missed! Honey for a Child's Heart ISBN-10: 0310242460 Books Children Love ISBN-10: 1581341989 There are others! :001_smile: Have fun! Truly - it's a grand, grand ride! Peace, Janice Enjoy your little people Enjoy your journey P.S. Oh - and if you're chomping at the bit to do more history - which can lead us parents to try to mesh lots of great curriculum together for our kids - I would highly recommend that you spend your time working through the R level literature, history, government, and philosophy assignments found in TOG on your own. Give your daughter books on CD, and teach her how to have quiet time every afternoon when the little one is taking a nap; you can use that time to self-educate!!!!!! That time spent educating yourself will pay big, big dividends when it comes to educating your children over the long haul. One hour spent now studying these subjects on your own is worth MONTHS of trying to teach your kids when they are little. Self-education has made ALL the difference in the world as far as educating my kids all the way through high-school. I found that I was trying to mesh multiple programs together because I felt that I wanted them to have "more." What I realized was that *I* was the one who needed "more" - not them. :001_smile: For what it's worth.... Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 " Give your daughter books on CD, and teach her how to have quiet time every afternoon when the little one is taking a nap; you can use that time to self-educate!!!!!! " Janice, that's a fabulous idea! I don't know why it took so long for it to finally click for me. I know I've heard you saying before to read ahead, etc. I think it's because always before I had TIME to do that. Now I'm hitting 4th, looking at 5th, 6th, and whatnot and wondering, with new baby in tow, how that will work for me to spend as much time in the future as I have up till now pulling things together. I did in fact buy a bunch of the SL3 books on audio cd for this coming year, thinking they would allow me to get away without reading aloud (I always fall asleep, haha). It hadn't occurred to me I could USE them to my advantage, turning them into quiet/nap time for my dd. Cool! BTW, for the less historically astute, or for those like me who will never (haha, never) chuck down reading history commentary in TOG or anything else, there are these summaries in the Everything You Need to Know books that are really awesome... For instance they'll list the causes of such and such or show cause/effect in events. It's not as thorough as you'd want for high school, but I'm thinking it will tide us over into junior high a bit. So anyways, thanks for the idea on the audio cd's. It's finally clicking in my mind! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Alfred Academy Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 :iagree: with Elizabeth and Janice as well...I did not catch your daughter was 4. I started my ds4 on STOW vol. 1 this past year, but that was only because his older brother was doing it. I did not expect anything from him other than the coloring pages. If he chose not to listen one day, that was fine with me. You'll find what works for you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaturalFamiLEA Posted August 1, 2008 Author Share Posted August 1, 2008 Thank you all for your feedback. I think I am leaning towards Mystery of History, but I could go either way. OhElizabeth, I appreciate your concern that I would be doing too much in history (or overall). Ariana is advanced for her age, even if she is only 4, and has a 5th grade reading level. We read all the time, daily. She reads chapter books alone. It bother her not that there are no pictures. I do plan on "taking it easy" this year, and not having too much pressure. I realize she's starting ahead of the game, but she wants it, needs it. We did K with her last year, and she loved it. She is completely ready for first grade. We are starting the Little House books, have read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (I read aloud first time, she read it three more times before we had to return it to the library), The Secret Garden, Dr Doolittle, and more on that level. We definitely read a variety of books, and will continue to do so. I prefer to read the larger books aloud first, and then she can read them to herself (I enjoy them, too!). I will gogle the old boards. HappyGrace - Ariana is entering Year 1 ("first grade") this year. I agree TOG is thorough and doesn't need to be added to. I was more wondering if I should use a spine to replace the books TOG recommends. Janice, "Read, think, write" is good to remember. I will checkout those books you mentioned. You're right, self-education is very important. I look forward to studying TOG with her. Books on CD is a good idea. Thanks for all your advice :) After doing more reading on SOTH and MOH, I am leaning towards MOH. I guess my question should be, can MOH be used in addition to TOG's recommended books, or in the place of TOG's recommended books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testimony Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Lea, some of the best advice I got early on in homeschooling was not to let my enthusiasm for the good cause me to replace or skip things that were normal for the age. For instance, one lady said she had done ancients but never got around to reading her little one Pooh! When my dd was the age of yours, I read her fairy tales from the Lang Fairy Tales books, lots and lots of them. (by the hour, no joke!) I'd read to her while she played in the yard. I wanted to delete my original post because I thought that it was not sounding very nice. Your words were much more elegant and appropriate sounding. When my sons were four years old, I read Before Five in A Row books to them. You know my son still remembers Blueberries for Sal. Oh and reading The Story of Ping! My younger son remembers the book, The Red Coat. They are excellent history books with rich vocabulary. I read Pooh, Peter Rabbit, etc. Spend time loving and nuture a love for learning at that age. Reading books to them and cuddling is such a great way to do it. Blessings in your homeschool journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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