History help...

[Jess4879]

Forgive me if this is scattered.  :banghead: This is me and history right now.  We are using MoH Vol 1, with a bit of reading from SOTW 1 thrown in.  We are slogging through, but not really engaging. There is just so much with MoH.  The tests, reviews, memory cards, maps... We skip most of it now, but that annoys me because it is such a pricey book to just be using the stories.

 

I struggle to get books ordered in for when we need them, so our extra reading is very limited.  We had the Usborne & Kingfisher books for awhile, but the kids didn't care for them.  The kids enjoyed making Trojan horses and doing hieroglyphics, etc but these are things I found online for them.  I can't say I am overly thrilled with the majority of the projects offered in MoH. 

 

I also really liked that MoH included so much of the bible in the history...but now I am finding that it's all bible and so little of everything else.  Or that's how it feels anyways. 

 

I am not sure what I want to do!  Help! 

 

I have debated about dropping MoH in favor of a thematic approach to the ancients -- but I don't have time to plan something like this right now.  Does something like this already exist?  A tried-and-true book list, some crafts and some notebooking and I'd be set...  I have TFB, so would like to add in History Pockets...

 

Or...I've considered slowing things down and taking 2 years to cover MoH vol.1 and adding in more fun stuff.  But this seems like a lot of extra work.  It really, really annoys me that MoH stomps on people who make things to accompany their books.  I've considered jumping ship back to SOTW just for the ease of finding more "extras".  There is so much to be gained by allowing the creativity of others to expand on your product, I think they are doing a disservice by squelching this...but that's another vent. 

 

Please, tell me what to do!  My brain is mush.  (Oh, I need something that will work for all three kids - 12, 10 and 6)

 

[Kiara.I]

Well, the easy path is to go to SOTW and add Bible on top of it.  I think somebody might have even done a plan that includes that?

Of course SOTW had extra reading too, but it *can* be skipped.  Will it be as rich?  No.  Will it get done?  Yup.

 

I can't find most of the books that SOTW recommends at our library, and I haven't been ordering in from abebooks.  And my children are still enjoying history, so I decided to go with the idea that "good enough" is a whole lot better than "perfect but never gets done."  LOL

[tmstranger]

I feel very much the same way about MOH.  I know people love it, but it is just not working for us. 

 

For my kids (12, 8), the lessons are just too long for the 8yo.  (we are doing vol 2)  The 12yo does fine with it, but I have him to it independently now and I just read aloud to the 8yo.  This way, I can pull out more important parts and skip things as needed.  I also stopped the quizzes and tests because it was just too much. 

 

This is what I'm doing for the 2nd half of this year:  I'm using Guesthollow's History Bookshelf.  I went through the rest of our MOH vol and picked out the main things I wanted to cover and looked over the guesthollow list for additional resources (movies, literature, etc.)  I made a big list for the rest of the year and I check things off as we go.  I feel much less stressed about finishing each "week" in the volume and the we are enjoying the lessons we are completing.  Now, my kids don't like hands on stuff, so I can't advise you on that. I definitely preferred SOTW more, though! 

 

 

[MyLittleBears]

Your dc might be a tad on the younger side but Biblioplan schedules MOH and adds a great list of books and resources that correspond to the readings/topics week by week.

[Jess4879]

Well, the easy path is to go to SOTW and add Bible on top of it.  I think somebody might have even done a plan that includes that?

Of course SOTW had extra reading too, but it *can* be skipped.  Will it be as rich?  No.  Will it get done?  Yup.

 

I can't find most of the books that SOTW recommends at our library, and I haven't been ordering in from abebooks.  And my children are still enjoying history, so I decided to go with the idea that "good enough" is a whole lot better than "perfect but never gets done."  LOL

 

Trouble is, I have a love/hate with SOTW too.  I'm very hard to please, apparently. LOL

[Jess4879]

I feel very much the same way about MOH.  I know people love it, but it is just not working for us. 

 

For my kids (12, 8), the lessons are just too long for the 8yo.  (we are doing vol 2)  The 12yo does fine with it, but I have him to it independently now and I just read aloud to the 8yo.  This way, I can pull out more important parts and skip things as needed.  I also stopped the quizzes and tests because it was just too much. 

 

This is what I'm doing for the 2nd half of this year:  I'm using Guesthollow's History Bookshelf.  I went through the rest of our MOH vol and picked out the main things I wanted to cover and looked over the guesthollow list for additional resources (movies, literature, etc.)  I made a big list for the rest of the year and I check things off as we go.  I feel much less stressed about finishing each "week" in the volume and the we are enjoying the lessons we are completing.  Now, my kids don't like hands on stuff, so I can't advise you on that. I definitely preferred SOTW more, though! 

 

The checklist is a good idea.  I haven't heard of Guesthollow, so will have to check that out. 

[Chris in VA]

I'd get the Activity Guide and do SOTW, and have the older child pick a topic every 2 weeks for independent research--write a short paper or do a small project. Help your 12yo narrow down something that can be done in 3-4 hours of work.

 

What do you find irritating about SOTW?

[Jess4879]

I'd get the Activity Guide and do SOTW, and have the older child pick a topic every 2 weeks for independent research--write a short paper or do a small project. Help your 12yo narrow down something that can be done in 3-4 hours of work.

 

What do you find irritating about SOTW?

 

We ditched SOTW as a spine because I didn't like how some topics were taught.  I preferred MoH...which really brings us full circle.  lol  I can't put my finger on what exactly my issue is right now, to be honest, which could very likely mean that it's just a "February break-down" type of moment.  I am prone to those....

[Momto6inIN]

I love the lessons in MOH, but we're not project-y kind of people. And I felt like the maps were just busy work, so we do geography separately on its own. I really do just read the lessons as a textbook and skip the entire rest of it. :) They do read various books from different reading lists that I've compiled from many sources, but up through 6th grade that's really all we do for history. Doing this method 4x/week takes us through Vol I, II, & III in 2 years, then we're on to US History using different stuff, since the reading level of MOH jumps up quite a bit in Vol IV.

 

Oh, and we skipped almost all the Bible stories in Vol I other than a brief mention of "this is around the time when so and so lived" because my kids already know all those Bible stories from Sunday School and from us reading them at home.

[Jess4879]

I love the lessons in MOH, but we're not project-y kind of people. And I felt like the maps were just busy work, so we do geography separately on its own. I really do just read the lessons as a textbook and skip the entire rest of it. :) They do read various books from different reading lists that I've compiled from many sources, but up through 6th grade that's really all we do for history. Doing this method 4x/week takes us through Vol I, II, & III in 2 years, then we're on to US History using different stuff, since the reading level of MOH jumps up quite a bit in Vol IV.

 

Oh, and we skipped almost all the Bible stories in Vol I other than a brief mention of "this is around the time when so and so lived" because my kids already know all those Bible stories from Sunday School and from us reading them at home.

 

I felt the same way, but didn't want to say so!  I was sure I was somehow missing the point of the entire mapping process.  LOL  Glad I'm not the only one that skips it!

[Holly]

I had the same issues with MOH 1...love the readings, not crazy about everything else.  We switched back to SCM for Middle Ages (we'd used the Ancient Egypt book before trying MOH).  Most of my DC hated MOH's maps.  They like the SCM Visits To... series or SOTW maps though.  I finally gave up on MOH maps and we just did Charlotte Mason style map drills (I gave them a blank outline map, then filled in with the names of countries that they remembered, then added a few more new countries to learn).  We only did a few of the activities too, plus the timeline.  I added in some extra picture books and chapter books and we sometimes did tests orally for review.  We used the Challenge Cards as a review as well.    

 

My plan for when we get back to Ancients is to use MOH as a spine along with select books from SCM's first 3 modules.  I'd just stick with SCM, but I don't want to spend 3 years on Ancients.  We'll probably just use SCM's Visits to Africa and Visits to Middle East books for geography.  I'll skip the tests and most of the activities.  Yes it's quite expensive to just use as a spine, but it's already sitting on my shelf, so I might as well make the most of it!   ;)

Edited February 21, 2016 by Holly

[Flowergirl159]

I have stopped and started with history as well, including SOTW. I have found something that has been working well since September last year. 

I use Veritas Press cards along with Greenleaf Press Ancients - neither were expensive and I was able to order a direct download. Then I added what other resources we already had: SOTW when it suits us; CHOW; Literature to match up; VOS Bible. If you are interested, you can read my plan and exactly how I use it here. Hope this helps :)

[Jess4879]

I have stopped and started with history as well, including SOTW. I have found something that has been working well since September last year. 

I use Veritas Press cards along with Greenleaf Press Ancients - neither were expensive and I was able to order a direct download. Then I added what other resources we already had: SOTW when it suits us; CHOW; Literature to match up; VOS Bible. If you are interested, you can read my plan and exactly how I use it here. Hope this helps :)

 

I'm embarrassed to admit, I have the VP History cards sitting on a shelf and I kept thinking of using them for review, but it never occurred to me to actually use them for lessons.  See? My brain is muddled when it comes to history!  LOL

 

I haven't heard of Greenleaf Press.  Off to check it out! :)

[Flowergirl159]

I find the back of the card useful in that it lists the recommended resources to use, along with the page numbers to go with that cards story. I don't use all of the resources listed of course, just the ones that I do have :)