againstthegrain Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 I saw this and was considering it for DD next year. We are doing SOTW Vol. 1 this year and though she enjoys it, we are going to wait a couple years and restart SOTW independently with her so she can get more out of it. Anybody use this? Like? Dislike? How long of a program will this be for her with 2 lessons a week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 With only 30 lessons, that's 15 weeks. It's a little dry, but it is informative. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
againstthegrain Posted January 23, 2016 Author Share Posted January 23, 2016 Thanks! ..Could it be paired with a big lot of living books on continents/maps/oceans/etc to make it less dry do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Thanks! ..Could it be paired with a big lot of living books on continents/maps/oceans/etc to make it less dry do you think? I think that would be a necessity. :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 It's a serious step back from SOTW. Dry is the word. Personally if I had to spend that much time collecting living books to make it interesting, I'd just hand them the living books and skip the OFW. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyhock Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 I tried to use it this year with my 2nd grade son and we quit after about 10 lessons. He was just. not. interested. I liked the activities in it and the stories are ok (maybe a bit cheesy). The other thing is that it is outdated: one story is about a girl living in Czechoslovakia, so you would have to address that. If my son had liked it, we would have continued but he just didn't. It is a nice basic intro to geography. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
againstthegrain Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 It's a serious step back from SOTW. Dry is the word. Personally if I had to spend that much time collecting living books to make it interesting, I'd just hand them the living books and skip the OFW. We need a serious step back (whether this is the right choice or not is unknown). She isn't taking much away from it and is struggling with narration. I am happy to reapproach SOTW with her when she is ready as I love it and it's disheartening to feel like we are losing so much in doing it too early. I am not confident in handing just living books, I need some kind of formal curriculum to follow along with at a minimum - whether it's a workbook...or a teacher guide... or unit study outline...etc. When I'm confident in what living books I make available when - that's when life and school flows much better here. I am going to order one of the student workbooks and see if it would work as a "basic geography" curriculum for us using plenty of living books --- and the workbook more as a review/guide/activity book. Both of my kids like worksheets that supplement what we are covering. I'm open to anything that would be a good step down for her history/social studies wise and is structured (even if just for my benefit). I just don't know where to look and need it to stay simple for her reading level. She WANTS to do history/social studies and as long as she wants to - I want to do it with her. She's young, I don't care if she leaves the lesson to go play (happens a lot in SOTW) but I need something available for when she wants to sit down with me... Hmmmm. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 You know, it's a very inexpensive book. You won't break the bank if you buy it, and you won't have buyer's remorse because you spent a boatload of money and hated it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daybreaking Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 I noticed in the signature that your dd is only five. There is a lot of writing involved in the book, along with small spaces in which to write, so unless you do it orally, you might find your dd overwhelmed. That being said, we've enjoyed the book and its brief overview of world geography. My ds completed it several years ago and my 2nd grade dd is currently working through it, mostly independently. To be honest, if I were in your shoes, I would just focus on the 3 R's with your daughter right now. If she has a strong foundation in them, everything else will be a piece of cake. If you strongly feel the need for a history/social studies curriculum, you might want to consider Heart of Dakota "Little Hearts for His Glory" or even A Beka. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
againstthegrain Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 I appreciate the words of advice, thank you :) She is flying through curriculum, is about a grade and a half above her age and has no issue with any of the 3 Rs. I want something available because she WANTS to do some kind of social studies (and science, she loves the Apologia Astronomy). She is in late first grade if we want to grade level her - which means that when I start it with her she'll be mid-2nd grade. I don't want a completely independent curriculum at 2nd grade though... I thought HoD was a complete curriculum? We really don't like Abeka though. DS used materials when he was younger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahM Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 She's only five? I wouldn't do a history curriculum she's very young. Just because she's capable of something doesn't always mean she should do something. I would just use the suggested books in the activity guide as a guide for you of when to use them and which books to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
againstthegrain Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 (edited) Ok, maybe I'm not being clear. She wants to do some form of social studies. So I will have something available - I'm not debating her age or capability of such. I'm asking what is a very basic history/geography/social studies program out there I can have on hand. I'm not forcing her to do anything. I don't require her to do math, reading or writing even. She's five. I'm am advocate of encouraging play and not starting school until the child wants it. As my above post stated, she flies through material and equates to mid-1st grade. She wants it. She craves it. She enjoys SOTW. But I don't like that she is unable to retain more than an overview of what she learns from it or narrate at the level I would like.. Which is why I want to hold off on SOTW for a couple years. I love it, she loves it, but I want her to get the most from it. In the meantime, she wants some kind of "history". I'm learning toward basic geography instead. She has good map reading skills and from our extensive hiking trips she can operate a compass and a map better than most adults (probably myself included, ha). She has a complete understanding of American community from our studies last year about the community and its structure. I need a structured curriculum - suggested books in an activity guide is definitely a curriculum. A curriculum is the materials that a student uses for the purpose of being education outcomes. I'm looking for something simple that offers a form of methodical geography curriculum. I'd like a workbook available for her as she enjoys completing them. I'm open to whatever but I want a structured curriculum to follow - We love living books but I need topics to go pick some up at the library weekly for her. Edited January 24, 2016 by againstthegrain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insertcreativenamehere Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Have you considered CLE social studies? Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daybreaking Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I thought HoD was a complete curriculum? We really don't like Abeka though. DS used materials when he was younger. HOD is a complete curriculum, but I've heard of many people that just use it for the history. It's definitely not a workbook, though, but instead is teacher-directed. If you think your dd can handle the work, I'd go ahead and get the R&S "Our Father's World." It's a nice, simple overview of world geography and cultures and can easily be supplemented with living books. If you do one lesson a week, spreading each lesson over two days, spending about a half hour a day, you can complete the workbook, along with supplemental readings, in 30 weeks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
againstthegrain Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Have you considered CLE social studies? Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk No, I haven't. I'll go pop over there and check it out. Thank you for the recommendation!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
againstthegrain Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 HOD is a complete curriculum, but I've heard of many people that just use it for the history. It's definitely not a workbook, though, but instead is teacher-directed. If you think your dd can handle the work, I'd go ahead and get the R&S "Our Father's World." It's a nice, simple overview of world geography and cultures and can easily be supplemented with living books. If you do one lesson a week, spreading each lesson over two days, spending about a half hour a day, you can complete the workbook, along with supplemental readings, in 30 weeks. I ordered OFW. That was the time frame I was thinking - 2 lessons a week, spreading one lesson out. We cover a lesson of Apologia Astronomy spread out over 4 lessons in 2 weeks (which is about that same pace?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy to monkeys Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 My 2nd grader is/was doing it this year. It's the only thing he's said he truly hates. It's pretty dry, so I won't be using it for any of my others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
908874 Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 We are officially using MBTP 5-7 with my K5 DS so that covers social studies. We are about to start a social-studies heavy unit about cultures around the world with a beautiful DK book called A life like mine. I hope my DS likes it because it's the kind of social studies I feel is important at this stage for him. However, if this helps at all we do for a lot of informal history outside of MBTP. It is scattered because we see it as fun and not part of homeschool per se. 1. My son loves to listen to Magic Tree House audiobooks. I leave it at that. I'm happy he will listen to the books while playing Lego. But - You can get worksheets for each book on various websites. At least some of the magic tree house books have a companion book with more information about the topics covered by Jack and Annie's adventures. DS and I haven't tried them, but they may help get your DD interested. And they are free at the library. 2. For fun we got Usborne's Time Traveler book and DH and DS have been devouring it. My son loves that it is so heavily illustrated and you could use it as a spine to get extra books on the topics that fascinate your child. They are almost done with it and they started reading it a month ago. I am considering using it next year as a spine for 1st grade history. You know, start it over slowly to have my son look at details. Do some narration, maybe some copy work... I'm not sure yet. We may need more than that, but I don't know yet. :) Hope you find what you need!!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithful_Steward Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) The r&s workbook is fine. Have you considered Galloping the Globe (uses Our Father's World workbook) or Cantering the Country? The Complete Book of American History/Geography/AnimalsRoad Trip USA (coah) Evan Moor geography workbooks I was going to suggest the CLP workbooks but I just saw you've already ordered. :) In any case, GTG would save you some time looking for activities/books/recipes. Edited January 26, 2016 by Faithful_Steward 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
againstthegrain Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 The r&s workbook is fine. Have you considered Galloping the Globe (uses Our Father's World workbook) or Cantering the Country? The Complete Book of American History/Geography/Animals Road Trip USA (coah) Evan Moor geography workbooks I was going to suggest the CLP workbooks but I just saw you've already ordered. :) In any case, GTG would save you some time looking for activities/books/recipes. CLP? I'll grab up a copy of GTG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Y Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 The Rod and Staff book is ok. Sorta dry and ho hum, but informative. Have you looked at Five in a Row or Galloping the Globe? Those use living books and have a basic teacher outline to follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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