Help!? Alternatives to SOTW reading?

[MommaOfalotta]

We've been using SOTW since the beginning.. and this year (Volume 3) I'm realizing I do NOT enjoy the reading. I actually dread it. It's wonderful and all but I feel like it's over my dd's head and she has trouble paying attention/comprehending so much info. We are "behind" in history yet again and today I gave it another shot. We read the first part of the 12th chapter.. I asked the review questions trying not to give her much help so I could just see how much she's getting on her own and she barely got 3-4 right. I think I've finally come to the realization that this isn't working for us.

 

I love the layout of the curriculum. I love the activity guide. I love that it follows the classical history rotation. Is there something else I can use for the reading that is similar but maybe easier to understand and maybe not so dry?

 

She's 8 soon to be 9 and a very hands on learner. She can comprehend and follow along with read alouds like Harry Potter but unless I stop every few seconds and ask a question or reword and summarize as we go she's totally zoned out. It just gets hard to constantly have to do this and even when I do she sometimes still can't give me a narration (oral or written.)

 

Anyone? :)

[Kiara.I]

Does she focus and retain it better if she reads it for herself instead?  You may still need to help with pronunciation of names.

[Freedom]

If she'll read library books - children's biographies or short well written stories about the topic or event, you could use the list in WTM, Biblioplan, Ambleside Online, or other living books type curricula.  If you are doing a 4-year cycle, you'll come back again and revisit the important events/people. 

[TheAttachedMama]

I wouldn't give up!

 

I think that listening comprehension is a skill...and something that many kids need to practice at.  It is just like running or anything else you need to train your body/mind to do.   You have to sometimes start slowly and walk A LOT before you can acutally run.   (Just to use that analogy. haha)  

 

 Here are some tips I would try...

 

1)  Before you start reading, ask her what she remembers from the last time you read.   Make that a general habit before you read anything new.  Work on seeing more improvement in these answers instead of perfection right away.

 

2)  Another thing to do is scan the chapter for key words.  (You can also use the comprehension questions or sample narrations in the AG for help with this.)  Write those key words (2 or 3 at most) on the board and tell your daughter to be listening for these.  Tell her you want her to include these words in her narration.

 

3)  Start reading shorter passages at each reading.  Meet your daughter where ever she is.   Maybe this means half a section.   OR, maybe she can only take in a single paragraph or two!   Meet her where she is.   Read VERY short parts of SOTW, and then asking her to give you a Charlotte Mason style oral narration.   (Have her tell back everything she remembers in her own words.)   Do this instead of the comprehension questions.  This will allow you to see how much she is actually taking away from the reading, and saying things back will help her make it her own.   Retention will go up.

 

4)  Keep practicing this skill.  Again, you are looking for improvement--not perfection.  

 

Eventually her narration skills (oral composition) will keep improving.   Eventually you can start reading a bit longer passages.   Eventually she will be able to answer more of the comprehension questions.  

 

And PLEASE, PLEASE don't worry about being "behind".   You aren't behind!  This is history not math!  Ignore the perfect 4 year cycle if you have to.    Just keep the skills practiced at each level of history appropriate (oral narration now, outlining in the logic stage, etc.) and read the content of wherever you are.    Maybe you will have a 6 year history cycle.   (The world will not end, and many, many classical homeschoolers do this.)    Maybe you will only make two rotations through history.  Again, the world will not end and she will be just fine.

 

[MommaOfalotta]

I wouldn't give up!

 

I think that listening comprehension is a skill...and something that many kids need to practice at.  It is just like running or anything else you need to train your body/mind to do.   You have to sometimes start slowly and walk A LOT before you can acutally run.   (Just to use that analogy. haha)  

 

 Here are some tips I would try...

 

1)  Before you start reading, ask her what she remembers from the last time you read.   Make that a general habit before you read anything new.  Work on seeing more improvement in these answers instead of perfection right away.

 

2)  Another thing to do is scan the chapter for key words.  (You can also use the comprehension questions or sample narrations in the AG for help with this.)  Write those key words (2 or 3 at most) on the board and tell your daughter to be listening for these.  Tell her you want her to include these words in her narration.

 

3)  Start reading shorter passages at each reading.  Meet your daughter where ever she is.   Maybe this means half a section.   OR, maybe she can only take in a single paragraph or two!   Meet her where she is.   Read VERY short parts of SOTW, and then asking her to give you a Charlotte Mason style oral narration.   (Have her tell back everything she remembers in her own words.)   Do this instead of the comprehension questions.  This will allow you to see how much she is actually taking away from the reading, and saying things back will help her make it her own.   Retention will go up.

 

4)  Keep practicing this skill.  Again, you are looking for improvement--not perfection.  

 

Eventually her narration skills (oral composition) will keep improving.   Eventually you can start reading a bit longer passages.   Eventually she will be able to answer more of the comprehension questions.  

 

And PLEASE, PLEASE don't worry about being "behind".   You aren't behind!  This is history not math!  Ignore the perfect 4 year cycle if you have to.    Just keep the skills practiced at each level of history appropriate (oral narration now, outlining in the logic stage, etc.) and read the content of wherever you are.    Maybe you will have a 6 year history cycle.   (The world will not end, and many, many classical homeschoolers do this.)    Maybe you will only make two rotations through history.  Again, the world will not end and she will be just fine.

 

Thank you! I posted this yesterday in a moment of frustration and afterwards decided to stick with SOTW in hopes that she will strengthen these skills the more we stick with it. Your tips are wonderful and we will be using them.

[wendyroo]

Sometimes we read the first comprehension question, and then I start reading the chapter until we find the answer.  Then I read the next question and we read to find the answer.  Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

 

I also mark one or two main paragraphs in each section and we re-read those at the beginning of the next session as a review.

 

We take our time as we read.  We start with a review of the previous chapter.  Next we look at the coloring page and predict what the day's lesson will be about.  Sometimes we'll do the map work before reading the chapter so we can visualize where the events are taking place.  We read slowly, stopping often to discuss vocab words or the events that are being described.  We keep the iPad next to us as we read so we can quickly find photographs or paintings of locations, events and people we are reading about.

 

Wendy

[MusicMama]

We had this exact problem with SOTW 3 and my daughter is also 8. I have to say, reading about the Defenestration of Prague just isn't as much fun as learning about Greek mythology! :) Originally, I read our selection over lunch and then afterwards asked the questions from the chapter. I kept getting blank looks and had a table full of restless children. So in November I ordered the pdf version of the questions, had a cover laminated and comb-bound the whole deal. Now, I still read aloud the selection over lunch, but my 8yo has to go and answer the questions on her own. A lot of times, she needs the textbook to search out the answers because she doesn't remember it all. There is a lot of detailed information in there! She writes a small sentence in response to each question. I continue to supplement with fun read alouds and clips from netflix that highlight the more enjoyable aspects of the reading. This $9 purchase made history SO MUCH easier for everyone!

https://peacehillpress.com/p/written-comprehension-responses-for-sotw-3/