Well trained mind curriculum

[Jadde32]

Have any of you used the story of the world with a five year old? Do you think they can understand it? Or should one wait till 6? I have an advanced five year old who is finishing up all kindergarten work and cam read well beyond second grade level. Advice me please

 

 

 

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[Syllieann]

My oldest listened to it at not quite five. I didn't do all the ag stuff or require narrating. It was just something he did for enjoyment. He definitely understood it, and it was a fave for awhile. At the time I think he was reading around a 3rd grade level and could easily follow the plot line in chapter books like charlotte's web and Charlie and the chocolate Factory. I'd say go for it. Worst case scenario, you just shelve it for a few months and try again later. No long term damage will be done.

Edited April 2, 2016 by Syllieann

[desertflower]

I have a 5 1/2 yo and we decided to wait. Her comprehension is great (understanding books like Charlotte's Web and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), but we decided to take a gentle approach.  Not that Sotw is gruesome or anything like that.  It's just empires conquering empires, but I can just picture her looking up at me and asking, "Why would they do that mommy?"  And we feel for her that she's too sensitive for all the battles at this age.  

 

To answer your question, yes I do believe an advanced 5 yo will understand it. 

 

 

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

It depends on the book.  If you are referring to ancients, I think they could potentially enjoy it.  Mine did it in first grade when he was almost seven and loved that book.  Books 3 and 4 should definitely be postponed.  However, it may get a little advanced for them.  Get the activity book where there are tons of library book suggestions that you can select that will help solidify the stories with your child.

[Roseto27]

I think a five year old could easily understand it. I would aim for about a chapter a week. We read it on Monday and would have them draw a picture of what happened in the chapter. We would also update our timeline with the new information. Then Tuesday-Thursday we read library books and checked out youtube for related content. On Friday we reread the chapter aloud to discuss it. It sounds like a lot, but it's really not! They enjoyed it and I feel like they got more out of it because of the interaction. The library books helped to flesh out concepts for them.

[HomeAgain]

We considered it and chose to wait.  There were a lot of reasons, but it came down to looking at the big picture, future skills, and spending right now developing a sense of one's true place in the world/universe.  I considered that last one to be a prerequisite to starting SOTW.  So this year we covered the beginnings of the universe, the beginnings of life, the development and life cycles of plants and animals, basic geography and timelines.  We continued studies on various cultures.  Advanced or not, a child needs basic understanding before they dive into Ancient Egypt.

[Chris in VA]

I started it in January of dd's K year. She was 5 and 9 months. We went slowly--not to go deep, but because some weeks we didn't feel like doing history. She'd listen to a section of the book (Ancients), tell me something she remembered about it, and I'd write it down. Then usually she'd draw a picture at the top of the page (I used a blank-at-the-top notebooking page I found online for free). She didn't do the coloring pages because she wasn't really into coloring (but she used them in SOTW 2 and 3). We did projects from the AG and read a lot of other books. We continued SOTW 1 in first grade, finishing it at the end of the year.

 

I probably should have waited, but it was great fun.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I found at that age my kids weren't at all interested in it.  So I set it aside and at around 6 they loved it.  But really every kid is different.  So try it.  If not, set it aside.

 

 

[luuknam]

We did a couple of months of prehistory at the beginning of the school year, so we started SOTW 1 right around the time my youngest turned 5 (it's my first year homeschooling my oldest, who's 8). Neither of them are big fans of SOTW. At first, I mostly had my oldest summarizing sections out loud while I wrote down the summary, and now we're mostly alternating who summarizes the sections out loud. When I can, I find stickers that they can put next to the summaries - I had a cheap sticker booklet of Egyptian life, and now of Greek and Roman stuff (my kids aren't really into coloring, but they do love stickers):

 

http://www.amazon.com/Egyptian-Life-Stickers-A-Smith/dp/0486299694/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

http://www.amazon.com/Greece-Rome-Ultimate-Sticker-Book/dp/1564587169/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

Before we read a section in SOTW, I read the summaries of the previous 3-4 sections aloud to them, and once every 1-2 months I read all the summaries out loud. We also do things like watch documentaries or read picture books about the time period, which are kind of hit-and-miss, and sometimes I'll find some arts/crafts activity.* They're just not history fans, it seems. I may or may not check out the audiobook version of SOTW from the library and play it at some point after we finish the book (either to recap before beginning SOTW 2, or later so they don't forget it by the time we reach SOTW 3 or 4). Not sure, since they're not fans of SOTW, but then and again, they may like it better when someone else reads it out loud, in the car and multiple sections in a row as recap (so they're already familiar with the story), without summarizing. We'll see.

 

You could try it, and if your kid doesn't like it, put it away for a while. I probably would've put it away for a while, except my oldest is 8 and in 3rd grade and dislikes it just as much (if they liked other history books better I might switch, but it seems they don't). I do not have the activity guide.

 

* https://www.artinhistory.com/art-projects/189/World-History-Projects- we did the Bantu Migration African Kuba Mask and the Indus Valley Storage Vessel (one kid one, the other kid the other, and I'm thinking of doing the Mayan Cooking Pot (I was thinking the Maize God Sculpture would be more fun, but youngest said he wants the cooking pot) and Terra Cotta Warrior later (moving the Americas chapter to later, next to the Chinese chapter).

 

http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Israelites-Their-Neighbors-Activity/dp/1556524579/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8- we did a few of these, such as dress up the kids in 'tunics' (adults size t-shirts and cut up an old sheet to make a thing to tie around their waists), youngest made a philistine warrior's headdress, stomped grapes and drank grape juice, dyed socks purple.

[hisforhomeschooling]

I have 6, 4 and 2 year old boys and we have been reading it weekly since September. We read about Alexander the Great recently and the 2 older boys were cracking up about the Gordian Knot. So, with a grain of salt, my opinion is it depends on the child. My middle little was 4y3m when we started reading it and I have no regrets.

[Jadde32]

Thanks for all your responses. I have decided to wait one more year until she is six because I do not want to start something she will not fully understand like dates, wars, the whole concept of history is very abstract for a child that young. I will most likely be doing unit studies based on things she can grasp such as community helpers, grade level biographies, History and Geography readers. Abeka has one called My America and My World. You just read aloud. This would be more age appropriate.

 

 

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[Bluegoat]

I think your plan sounds fine, but I also wouldn't hesitate to just read history stories.  I wouldn't call them history or anything - just read them as stories, something like 50 Famous stories, or biographies she might enjoy, whatever.

[redsquirrel]

I know your decision is made, but I wanted to share my experience.  I did use SOTW 1 with my then 5 year old. That was actually fine. He was able to answer the questions in the AG etc.  We did the whole year and had a blast.

 

Then we moved onto SOTW 2 when he was 6. Again, we had a blast. 

 

I should add here, that I did this because I was trying to keep both my boys on the same history cycle.  DS1 is 5 years older than DS2, so I had one in logic stage and one in grammar stage, but both studying Ancients, and then both studying Medieval history.  DS1 was NOT using SOTW, because we had already used that in years 1-4. But, I had them on the same cycle.

 

Then came SOTW 3 with my second grader. And I realized I was going to be using SOTW 4 with a third grader.  Nope. I've already done it once with my 4th grader and that was 'just right' for DS1. Now, DS2 was capable of doing the work required, that was clear. But, I was clear in my own mind that I didn't want to start in on the endless wars and imperialism and slavery and genocide that I knew was coming. Not with a younger child. I just wanted him to be a little bit older.

 

So, in second grade we redid medieval history. It was no big deal. Honestly, I don't think he even noticed, lol. What we did do was read a whole lot more of the fiction and non-fiction suggestions in SOTW AG, sometimes skipping SOTW altogether.  I did a few more of the activities, a few that I had skipped because they seemed too involved, etc.  It was a great year.  Then we got back "on track" with SOTW 3 in his third year.  Now his is a 5th year and this year we have done logic stage Ancients. 

 

I just wanted to mention this because it's not just the ability to do the work in the moment, it's also a level of maturity for the subject matter that is coming down the line. I know some people have used SOTW 4 with first and second graders, fine, that works for them. But I know my kids and I wanted DS2 to bring just a bit more maturity and ability to reason to the topic. I should add that my kids were clearly moving into the logic stage by 4th grade, so that added to their ability to make connections and ask hard questions, the sort of thing I wanted them to have for subjects like slavery, two world wars, and the holocaust.

[Roseto27]

We haven't done SotW4 yet. Is the content presented in such a way that it seems more vivid than the slavery, wars, and atrocities depicted in volumes 1 and 2? Is it dealt with at a more intimate level? It's not as if evils being perpetrated against one group or another is an invention of the past two hundred years, so I am assuming that the style of the book changes. Can you expand at all so I can determine if this will still be a good fit for us moving forward? I have a rather sensitive one that I don't want to traumatize. He's been fine with volumes 1, 2, and the portions of 3 that we've covered thus far, though.

[redsquirrel]

We haven't done SotW4 yet. Is the content presented in such a way that it seems more vivid than the slavery, wars, and atrocities depicted in volumes 1 and 2? Is it dealt with at a more intimate level? It's not as if evils being perpetrated against one group or another is an invention of the past two hundred years, so I am assuming that the style of the book changes. Can you expand at all so I can determine if this will still be a good fit for us moving forward? I have a rather sensitive one that I don't want to traumatize. He's been fine with volumes 1, 2, and the portions of 3 that we've covered thus far, though.

 

Because you say you have a sensitive child, I would say that you should look at it for yourself. I wouldn't try to predict for a child I didn't know very, very well.

 

What changes over books 3& 4 vs books 1&2, is the pace of awfulness picks up. There is war in books 1&2, but there are intervening chapters, sometimes quite a few.  By the time you get to book 4, it starts to feel like it never stops. There is war after war, and sometimes they overlap with each other. Also the activities become a bit less fun but still useful. But, there isn't the same 'let's get dressed up and run around and pretend to be knights" feel to the activities. By books 3&4 we were mainly sticking to the cooking activities.

 

And, FWIW, the style does change a bit, but not to become more vivid. The writing becomes denser and the language more academic. The chapters become more complex. I think the print even becomes smaller, but I am not sure about that. I found SOTW 4 great for year 4, but I also pulled it back in for 8th grade. The writing level was such that it still worked.  I would never use SOTW 1 or 2 with 7th or 8th grade student, because the language is geared towards younger kids, but SOTW4 was a fine supplement for 8th grade, alongside our spine. It is also easy to outline.

[ondreeuh]

Have any of you used the story of the world with a five year old? Do you think they can understand it? Or should one wait till 6? I have an advanced five year old who is finishing up all kindergarten work and cam read well beyond second grade level. Advice me please

 

 

 

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My son listened to the whole series as an audiobook at 6-7 (first grade). We kept it going in the car while we drove to classes and it lasted us most of the school year. We were formally doing US history at that time, but I wasn't expecting any kind of mastery with the SOTW CDs.

 

In 2nd grade we used Calvert's Gods of Greece book (along with most of their 3rd grade curriculum) in the 1st semester. In the 2nd semester we started CHOW (Child's History of the World). It's what Calvert uses in their 4th grade, but Sonlight/BookShark schedules it for 1st/2nd. I bought the TM for CHOW and it has discussion questions. It has been a wonderful set. My son remembers some stuff from SOTW, but CHOW with the guide is more deliberate learning.

 

Personally, I have way too many things I want to do to stick with SOTW over four years. It works better for us as a supplement.

 

[Roseto27]

Because you say you have a sensitive child, I would say that you should look at it for yourself. I wouldn't try to predict for a child I didn't know very, very well.

Thank you! That was helpful. I will likely pull out volume four later and look it over. We haven't used the activity guides at all, so maybe that will help some. We use library books and narration along with just plain discussion to round it all out.

[redsquirrel]

Thank you! That was helpful. I will likely pull out volume four later and look it over. We haven't used the activity guides at all, so maybe that will help some. We use library books and narration along with just plain discussion to round it all out.

 

In book four, some of the chapters become quite dense. Dense to the point where there were a couple times my kids would be laughing at all the competing rivalries and treaties, etc. It was just so many moving parts! That was just a couple places though. I don't want you to think it is all the chapters. Most are pretty straightforward.

 

The AG helps with that so much!  For all of the books, I personally adored the discussion questions and narration guides. But, in book 4 I found it invaluable. In some of the chapters the AG has guided narration, meaning that the information is just so much that you take it a bit at a time. It worked very well for us.

 

It also has library book suggestions, both fiction and non-fiction right there for you. Sometimes the books are OOP, but I haven't had any real trouble finding what I needed. There are multiple suggested books (usually) so if one isn't in my local library another one is. And there is weekly map work. Again, in books 3&4 that is very useful. My kids have a good sense of geography and I think it is from 4 years of mapwork with SOTW.  My older boy is in public high school and loves map quizes, lol. He's not perfect, but he always does much better than the other kids.

[Guest]

I found at that age my kids weren't at all interested in it.  So I set it aside and at around 6 they loved it.  But really every kid is different.  So try it.  If not, set it aside.

I agree. I tried for years but really it wasn't until the boys were 10 and 9 that they were interested at all. My dd has zero interest for now. I plan to wait a few more years. No rush.