Using SOTW1 at logic level

[Coco_Clark]

I am preparing to jump into our second cycle of SOTW. But, of course, the older children are, well, older now. I'll have two 5th graders (ages 10/11), a 4th grader (age 9), a third grader (age 8), and two first graders (age 6) to be exact.

 

Does anyone have any favorite tips for beefing SOTW1 up a bit? I'm especially interested in a good mythology anthology for the middle grades age group. We have a Useborne collection but it's most appropriate for my younger kids.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Coco_Clark

[Element]

It sounds like you mean Logic stage rather than rhetoric, right? That's not unheard of at all. :) We used Zinn's "A Young People's History of the United States" along with SOTW 4. I'm sure others will chime in with suggestions to supplement other levels. 

ETA: Oops! I see now that you were looking for SOTW 1 supplements specifically. Sorry! 

Edited November 7, 2017 by Element

[2_girls_mommy]

Yep, you don't have any rhetoric level yet. (and even when you do, it won't hurt them to listen in to the read alouds, but they would need to have a spine and work of their own.) 

 

For beefing up SOTW1 for the logic stage users, I just always followed the instructions in the Well Trained Mind Logic stage history section. I did read the SOTW aloud. The student read the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia on the topic, added dates to their timeline book, color coding them according to the way WTM says to. (a color assigned for political happenings. A color assigned to births and deaths, a color assigned to scientific dates, etc.) The child outlined the section from the KHE. And once in awhile I assigned a written summary from a supplementary book on a topic from the SOTW or the KHE.  We had stacks of library books on all topics from the SOTW AGs and others we found. Children were required to be reading from them, and I read some aloud too. And they chose a topic to write on, according to their abilities. If they needed to just learn to make a complete paragraph with topic sentence they did that. If working on and ready for a 5 paragraph essay, we did that, etc.  Sometimes we did other output like a big project, presentation, craft or art project, etc. We also did field trips and watched videos wherever possible. Reading the logic section for great books of The Well Trained Mind will lay this all out step by step. 

[MerryAtHope]

You might see if any of the Sonlight Core G books appeal--they use SOTW 1 and 2 with that core, and you might enjoy some of the additional history books, or the read-alouds/readers that tie in.

[Coco_Clark]

Yes! I meant logic, of course. I'll see if I can edit the title. Thanks.

[Ausmumof3]

Yes sonlight uses stow at a higher level so looking at their book lists is helpful for supplementary ideas. My 11yo is doing stow plus some of the sonlight read alouds and more of the reading from the activity guide.

[ondreeuh]

My 9 yr old is using SOTW1 right now with Bookshark 6, but it goes at a good clip (3-4 chapters a week). So in addition to SOTW, he reads from the encyclopedia, listens to a read aloud and has his own reader, plus we read the poetry. I have him do the tests, and I have the Oxford University Press books (The Ancient ____ World) which he sometimes reads out of. He is welcome to look up more info on anything that catches his interest.

[Milknhoney]

My 8th grader is using SOTW for the second time. I bought the PDF from the WTM Press site of the comprehension questions typed out. So this time around, he has to read on his own and write out the answers to the questions. I also have him create a timeline notecard for a key event in each section. I still have him do the map activity. I don't make him fill in the outline page this time. He also reads corresponding pages from DK History of the World and Kid's Guide to American History and outlines. I also give him the test, which we didn't do the first time. Because all of that takes a lot of time, I am not having him read any additional nonfiction. However, we're following the logic stage literature suggestions in the WTM that correspond to the time period. 

[Milknhoney]

Also regarding an anthology, I also re-used DeAulaire's. He read it on his own this time instead of me reading it aloud. He didn't remember most of it the first time anyway. I feel that it is still beefy enough for middle grades.

[jaredluvsjoanie]

Also regarding an anthology, I also re-used DeAulaire's. He read it on his own this time instead of me reading it aloud. He didn't remember most of it the first time anyway. I feel that it is still beefy enough for middle grades.

Agreed! Also, Memoria Press has an excellent course using D'Aulaire's Greek Myths. Your student will gain a lot from it, including geography and history in addition to the myths themselves.

[2_girls_mommy]

We only skimmed through DuLaire's ( I always spell that wrong!) in grammar stage. In the logic stage, we read the Greek Myths all of the way through which really prepared my girls for the National Latin Exams and was just plain enjoyable. It is perfect to read alongside. 

[Btervet]

Another great myths anthology collection is the Percy Jackson mythology books. Not the main stories, but a book just about the myths. Hilarious for that age range, and still full of accurate information. This is the link for the Greek Gods one, there is another for Greek Hero’s. https://www.amazon.com/Percy-Jacksons-Greek-Gods-Riordan/dp/1484712374

[EKS]

I'd supplement with K12's Human Odyssey. There are 29 chapters in the first volume that are relevant to the material in SOTW 1. 

[HS Mom in NC]

Do you have the Activity Guide that goes with SOTW 1?  There are recommended reading book lists in it covering a wider age range.

We used Bullfinch's Mythology at the logic stage for Ancients and Medieval.  (We had already done SOTW 1 during the Grammar stage and had moved to Greenleaf Guides for the Logic stage .)