Spy Car Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 While I don't want my children to refer to Native Americans as "savages" (among other terms she *sometimes* used), I do not necessarily consider it bigotry that someone 100 years ago did. It may very be that 100 years hence some of the terms we use in the name of political-correctness will be considered bigoted. I would hope my logic stage child could understand that as well. Â Sorry for the hijack SWB. Â Or that slavery wasn't that bad, and most of the enslaved were happy in their servitude. Or that Mormans are shiftless, and lazy thieves. Or that Native Americans are double-dealing and untrustworthy liars who will pretend to be friends and then slit your throat. Or.... Â I'm also sorry for the hijack Susan, but this book is (to my way of thinking) utterly contemptible. Â Bill (who's moving off the subject in this thread) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Wise Bauer Posted December 4, 2008 Author Share Posted December 4, 2008 Yeah. The thread's been helpful so far, though, so maybe it could shift back on topic? Â SWB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Susan, do you know if there will be a new edition of the Kingfisher encyclopedia to replace the discontinued text? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 I believe the most important aspect in this section of TWTM is not the actual book recommendation, but the outline demonstration. For some parents, myself included, teaching outling is a daunting task. It is more important for the parent to learn how to teach this concept and to understand what expectations to set for the child than it is to have a particular book recommened to use for outlining. Would it be possible to take excerts from several different books and then demonstrate how they should be outlined? Â :iagree: Â Any chance you'll be including something like this? WWE is soooooo helpful at fleshing out your WTM recs for writing in grammar stage, that it would be great if you included a little more detail for logic stage, since WWS is not available yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Lynx Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 My 5th grader reads and outlines from SOTW. Â My 7th grader uses that horrible This Country of Ours (we manage to discuss the bigotry and bias, occasionally with outright howls of laughter) and Our Island Story. I don't like those as much for outlining as I do SOTW. Â But for TWTM, I think I'd recommend the Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inashoe Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 We're probably going to use this as a narrative as well. I've been flirting with DK's History: A Definitive Visual Guide as our logic spine ... written for adults, but my oldest is advanced enough I think it would be usable. Â I looked at the pages available for this on Amazon, and it looks really good. Our children who have been through all of SOTW are wanting something a bit more indepth, and KF doesn't give any "new" information. My ds doesn't find KF satisfying for his curiosity. This looks like it might be indepth and challenging. It certainly seems to have a lot more detail that KF. Â I think outlining might just work - from what I can see the paragraphs look like they each develop one main idea, with supporting details. Â Although it does go chronologically through history, the approach is somewhat different. KF, Usborne and most other encyclopedias that we have looked at are strictly fact based, giving facts of events, births, deaths, rulers - this book discusses ideas, causes and consequences. I know WTM starts off the Logic Stage History chapter stating that our Logic Stage kids are ready for cause and consequences in History, but are they ready yet for the ideas of history - where they came from, how they developed, and how they influenced history ? I am a bit concerned that it might be a bit too advanced for a 5th or 6th grader. Â I do appreciate how it deals with the "evolution" of mankind. Many of the secular texts give an artists impression of what scientists surmise might have been the passage from ape to man. I find these artistic impressions offensive. They pass off as fact what is in fact a theory. Â This DK book seems to stick to the facts. The chapter Our Remote Ancestors starts off with "The evolution of modern humans extends back millions of years . It is not easy to trace, as our evidence comes from scattered , unrelated finds, making it difficult to form a cohesive picture." This is in fact more truthful, admitting that the different archeological finds are "unrelated". It then gives pictures of skull bones, which have in fact been found - but not an artists impression of an ape standing up, walking on two legs, getting taller, and then changing into a human - fantasy. Â Anyway, I think this book does deserve some consideration and I am curious to hear what others think about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Yes, I think the DK's History: A Definitive Visual Guide looks excellent as well. I was looking through it online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 (edited) It's probably not suitable for TWTM, but for others here, particularly of the secular kind, I have K12's text The Human Odyssey, Volume 1, Prehistory Through the Middle Ages. We used it for our Logic Stage Ancients this last year. I don't use K12- I actually bought it by mistake, thinking it was something else, but it has been perfect for us. The 1st section is hunter/gatherers then quickly moves onto Sumer and early civilizations. The 2nd is on The birth of early religions and ways of thinking- Confucius, Hinduism, Buddha, Judaism, and the Greeks. The 3rd section is on the Classical World- Greeks and Romans and Christianity. The 4th is on the Medieval World including the rise and spread of Islam, Africa, Europe, Vikings, China, the Mongols and more. It is written in a narrative style suitable for Logic age students, as it definitely goes into the connections and whys and especially into the way people thought- and is also good for outlining. Of course, the Medieval section is only 1/4 of the book. So if you come across one, its worth checking out. There is a 2nd volume, presumably for up to the present, but I haven't seen it. ISBN is 1-931728-53-4 (v.1) Authors are Cribb, Klee and Holdren Edited December 4, 2008 by Peela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 The Oxford books look great but I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw the price tag. 230$ for books to cover one year of Logic stage history!! :001_huh: I think I will have to muddle through without them. Â I was just pointed at these, and I'm happy to find out that my ILL has most of them. Â They do also have a Medieval/Early Modern set that goes through 1800 - doesn't that cover the next two years of the cycle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karie Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 What about the Oxford First Ancient History book. It focuses just on Ancient History and is 320 pages long. Of course, that only covers 1/4 of the history cycle. Â http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-First-Ancient-History-Books/dp/0195213734/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228356986&sr=8-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 I really like VanLoon's History of Mankind and Story of America. I also like Hakim's A History of US, but that wouldn't work for the full four years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 What about the Oxford First Ancient History book. It focuses just on Ancient History and is 320 pages long. Of course, that only covers 1/4 of the history cycle. Â The concern I would have with this book is that judging from the table of contents, it's too focused on Mediterranean civilizations, especially Greece & Rome. I have the same problem with the Usborne IL Encyclopedia of the Ancient World. Â One of the nice features of the KHE is that it is very inclusive in the topics it covers. I'd like to see the same in whatever reference book makes the final cut in the new edition of TWTM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 That's why SWB always gives a couple of options in her recommendations; every homeschool has a different need based on our personal preferences as teachers and parents. I extremely dislike The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History because of its old world secular view of history. In addition, I really don't think that the writing is challenging enough for the upper logic ages (7th & 8th grade). Of course, the biggest draw back for me is all of busyness on the pages which is why I didn't use KF too.  ETA: For me, history is the most challenging subject in our homeschool. Luckily, we aren't very history-oriented, so I've been able to plan and organize a decent exposure during the grammar & logic stages, but it is far from perfect.  Beth, I'm totally tracking your vibe. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 (edited) What about the Kingfisher Atlases? Â http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=kingfisher+atlas&x=0&y=0 Â And has anyone mentioned: Â http://www.amazon.com/History-World-Third-Revised-Updated/dp/0756631440/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228362313&sr=1-10 Â YIKES! Edited December 4, 2008 by kalanamak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Susan, I don't know what books you are considering, but I would like to raise an issue that hasn't been discussed yet. Several people have mentioned books that have been criticized for being racist or bigoted and said that these books work for them because they discuss the issues with their kids. That's fine, and I respect that they feel comfortable handling the situation that way. However, I have kids who are racial minorities. I am Caucasian. There is no way that I would or could ever use as a spine a book that consistently degrades racial and ethnic minorities. Racism and prejudice were and still are a fact of life, and I definitely discuss these things with my kids, but the way I see it, my children's education should be a refuge from bigotry and prejudice, particularly since it is taking place in the (expected) comfort of our home. I will not use as the center of our studies a book that continues to remind my children of prejudice. My children should never have to endure that. I would encourage you (strongly) not to recommend those books. Â Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophiaH Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Out of all the ones I've looked at and own, I too, prefer the DK: A Definitive Guide by far. (Except for the KF Illustrated History which I just snagged online a couple of days ago for $17.00 at Alibris, shipping included.) Many of the others are way too busy for me. I would really prefer paragraph form for that age instead of the little snippets you get in the other DK and Usborne. Usborne Internet-Linked is one that we're actually using in the grammar stage with our SOTW and TOG and I can't imagine it being meaty enough for a logic stage kiddo to outline out of. Although we aren't there yet, so maybe I'm wrong. My second choice would be the Oxford World History mentioned above. My concern with that was the same that others stated--it's only available in the newest edition in paperback form. Â Peela, The book that you mentioned sounds very interesting, but I couldn't find it on Amazon. They have Vol 3: Modern to Contemporary but it must be OOP as there were only used copies. Rats. Â My meager $.02... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Mommahawk, the books are here: http://k12.com/curriculum_and_products/history_main/k12_history_books/ Â HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophiaH Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Mommahawk, the books are here: http://k12.com/curriculum_and_products/history_main/k12_history_books/Â HTH! Â Thanks! Although I wish they gave a little more description--like pictures for the visual folks! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Thanks! Although I wish they gave a little more description--like pictures for the visual folks! :) Â Yeah...sorry about that :) but I can say there are lots and lots of pictures in the books- very visual. I think they would be good for many people- they cover world history well, I love the covering of the religions- however I just doubt they are very accessible for most people, so wouldn't be suitable for TWTM. I think unless you can find one 2nd hand like I did, you would have to go through K12 and I am not sure how easy that is, just to buy a book. But hopefully it helps someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda (Australia) Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 ...to tell me what YOU would pick for logic-stage history, given the chance to write TWTM yourself. I can hardly believe this, but once again Kingfisher has let their history encyclopedia go out of print with absolutely no warning. As in: last week it was available, this week it isn't. And, of course, I had picked it once more for the history spine in the logic stage of TWTM. :banghead:  I have a couple of alternatives in mind, and three whole days to make the changes in the galleys, which are almost ready to go to the printer. But I thought I'd ask any of you who might be interested to weigh in with favorites.  SWB   Hi Susan - how frustrating! Oh, that they would warn us of these things! :glare:  For 5-8th grades, we've found Christine Millers (Guerber's) History books (Nothing New Press) excellent - similar to SOTW, but in more detail. There are also maps, etc. included. They're the best we've found for this age group.  But I also support the idea of Peace Hill Press buying the rights to the 1993 version of the Kingfisher book! We still use this as well.  Hope you find something suitable - we look forward to the new version of TWTM - is there a release date as yet?  God bless,  Linda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Wise Bauer Posted December 4, 2008 Author Share Posted December 4, 2008 This has been fascinating. Thanks for the glimpse into your homes--I'll post some more info here shortly. Â Brief answers before I go back to work-- Â Bill, it doesn't look as though there's an updated version in the works. Kingfisher is still publishing a Concise Encyclopedia of World History which is shorter version of KHE, but the pub date on it is 2001, and I don't trust its availability. Â Colleen--will do what I can about outlining, but the space limitations in TWTM are severe, given its length. I'm working on the second volume of the Complete Writer, though, I promise! There's not nearly enough out there for parents to use in teaching outlining. Â Tara, I hear you. My younger sister is African American (adopted at 2 days old) and growing up with her (in the 1970s in southeastern Virginia, no less) has made me acutely aware of this. Â And for everyone who suggested, my father also said, "Why don't we see if we can get the rights to the Kingfisher book?" We'll look into it, but as a company we're debt-free and this seems like a good time to remain that way.:001_smile: Â SWB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Thank you, Susan. Â Maybe you could solicit donations from Hive members and we could all help you buy the rights? Â Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 (edited) He did the old Kingfisher in the logic stage, outlining a spread most weeks. Then in high school, since he isn't the most academic-minded of people, I though perhaps Human Odyssey would be better for him than Western Civ, so he started on that. After a month or so, he switched to Western Civ. Here is his comparison of the two. Keep in mind that he wasn't doing Human Odyssey as a 5th grader, and he didn't get terribly far through the book. Â He says that as far as he can remember, the reading level in HO is a little higher than Kingfisher, and that there are fewer pictures and far more words. He liked the amount of pictures in Kingfisher much more than the amount in HO. He says that he liked the condensed-ness of the Kingfisher text. He says he was learning very little from HO that he didn't already know from Kingfisher, and for the amount of text that he was having to wade through in HO, he thinks he would have learned more by just going back through Kingfisher again. In other words, there is more information per word in Kingfisher, so you get more information per time. I think this is probably an important point for middle schoolers and others who read slowly. A fast reader is better off with more text that contains more storyline and more interesting details, but a slower reader is better off with a more condensed text and the details and other bits that make the subject come alive in the pictures. I've known for 7 1/2 years now that a major reason TWTM worked so well for us is that the recommended texts for elementary school and high school are HEAVILY ILLUSTRATED. Either that, or they are in story form. Â PS - He likes Speilvogel's Western Civ very much. He says it is interesting and it is just the right level to follow Kingfisher; he is learning enough new material to make it worth reading. It contains the right amount of reading, spread over four years, and he doesn't feel like he is spending too much of his time reading history rather than reading great books. The bits I myself read seemed like good background material for great books (the main reason we study history). It has illustrations of things refered to in our great books reading, bits of primary sources like poetry, and lots of maps. I know you didn't ask how Western Civ was working out, but thought the info might give you some idea of what sort of person my son is, so you know how much attention to pay to his comparison. Â HTH, and hope you see this. I should have asked him yesterday. -Nan Edited December 5, 2008 by Nan in Mass Added Western Civ info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori in MS Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 I also like Christine Miller's Guerber books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Several people have suggested re-using SOTW in the logic stage. While I am sure that has worked well for those who made that suggestion, it would not work for our family. While my dd really loves SOTW and always has, as a 6th grader her reading ability and reading comprehension level is really solid. The pace of SOTW1 would be waaaaaay too slow for her and does not offer nearly enough detail to satisfy her. I have used SOTW effectively to teach basic outlining and summary skills, but personally think that one year of doing that with a simpler text like SOTW is plenty of training for more advanced work in a denser text. While I think SOTW is the very best, richest, and most delightful text available for grammar stage learners, I would not recommend it for middle schoolers. JMHO--hope it helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 That is a good idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 We still use our KFHE, my best $10.00 used book sale to date. That one is a keeper. ;) The Usborne World History was received well by my ds, but my dd never liked the style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhondabee Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 (edited) But, what if for outlining you suggested using something like The World Book Encyclopedia on CD (mine was less than $10 - but, it might have been used). Then, the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History (the internet linked one), which doesn't have long enough paragraphs for 3-point outlines, could be just the spine - suggesting names, places, events to look up in the World Book, as well as dates for timeline and some maps. Â ETA: Of course, you could always outline from "other books", too. Just, it is sometimes nice to know I *have* a good source *at home* that doesn't rely on the library and a plethora of books. Â I have used SOTW for my oldest in logic stage, but as my younger ds approaches Ancients in 6th grade, I'm leery of re-doing it for some reason. I think because I really appreciated your comments in Atlanta about delving into what the student finds interesting, and emphasizing primary sources. That just did not get done nearly to the extent I would have liked using SOTW in logic stage. Basically, I always feel under the gun time-wise trying to do SOTW and Kingfisher (IHOW) and so other stuff gets spread out few and far between. I am excited about trying to give my student some of that lee-way next year, but it will only happen if we leave SOTW. Â (tho' the advantage of using SOTW as a "first time through history" has been that we loved the stories, and we retained them! I certainly don't regret using it.) Â Thanks Susan for all you do! It is hard to get used to that "free-falling" feeling that comes from not using a textbook, but I'm so glad we found WTM. Edited December 4, 2008 by Rhondabee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhondabee Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Peela, Â Is that the same as Spielvogel's "World History: The Human Odyssey"? Â Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Colleen--will do what I can about outlining, but the space limitations in TWTM are severe, given its length. I'm working on the second volume of the Complete Writer, though, I promise! There's not nearly enough out there for parents to use in teaching outlining.  I understand. I'm sure anything you revamp in WTM about outlining will be helpful, though. As well as these boards - people here have been so helpful in the whole writing realm. I greatly look forward to your second writing book because your way of teaching it makes plain sense to me! :)  as a company we're debt-free  Completely OT now, but I'm really impressed by this! Dh runs his business debt-free, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyinNNV Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 I would use something free from the internet to demonstrate outlining (Van Loon?). Of course, use a chapter that is appropriate and slur-free.:) Then suggest 2-3 books that people can pick from to use all year long. They could be tiered in terms of difficulty. Â New to homeschooling, less background in history, choose A. Modest history background, choose B. History buff, choose C. Â You would be assured of never having to do the work of demonstrating outlining again as the online resource would not go out of print. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 I will donate to a buy the rights fund... Will you change the format? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Peela, Is that the same as Spielvogel's "World History: The Human Odyssey"?  Thanks!  No, it isnt. And that's why I ended up with the wrong book- I thought i was getting the Spielvogel book. But I was happy with what I got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in VA Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 What about the National Geographic Visual History of the World? I haven't looked closely at it but my mom got it on a good sale and I'm getting it for Christmas :-). The samples I've seen look very nice. Â Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela&4boys Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 What about the National Geographic Visual History of the World? I haven't looked closely at it but my mom got it on a good sale and I'm getting it for Christmas :-). The samples I've seen look very nice. Â This looks *very* nice and affordable. It also looks a bit more meaty in comparison to my initial UILEWH vote. Â Is there a site where you can read the text? I can only see it faintly at the National Geographic site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 While I think SOTW is the very best, richest, and most delightful text available for grammar stage learners, I would not recommend it for middle schoolers. JMHO--hope it helps. Â Dc 6th & 8th are using SOTW 2,3 & 4 during Fall/Winter as our history spine. They will read Hakim's History Of US in the spring. SOTW has plenty of detail, especially at the pace dc are reading them. We add some reference material from KF & Usborne & a few Netflix docs/movies. Its a nice logic stage history program. They love it. Â I own Spielvogel's Human Odyssey and plan to use it next year w/ another hybrid history/lit program consisting of HO, SWB's HOAW, Omnibus 1 selections and Drew/Plaid Dad's new Iliad study guide. Â For now, SOTW is doing the trick...well :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophiaH Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 The National Geographic Visual History does look fascinating. I like the price ($23.10 on Amazon) and it has 656 pages! I wish you could 'see inside' it, but from the description it doesn't sound like the pages would be overly "busy," which for me, is good. It's just hard to know how the text reads without having it in your hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Dc 6th & 8th are using SOTW 2,3 & 4 during Fall/Winter as our history spine. They will read Hakim's History Of US in the spring. SOTW has plenty of detail, especially at the pace dc are reading them. We add some reference material from KF & Usborne & a few Netflix docs/movies. Its a nice logic stage history program. They love it. I own Spielvogel's Human Odyssey and plan to use it next year w/ another hybrid history/lit program consisting of HO, SWB's HOAW, Omnibus 1 selections and Drew/Plaid Dad's new Iliad study guide.  For now, SOTW is doing the trick...well :)  I hope I did not offend you with my thoughts. I specifically wrote in my post that SOTW would not work for my family at the logic stage. Because of my personal experience with my family it's not something I would recommend for others at the logic stage. However, the beauty of homeschooling is that we can tailor the curriculum to our own children, and I am glad that your experience, though different from mine, is working well for you. I did not mean in any way to slight your choice or others, but simply to provide another perspective for SWB to consider as she evaluates the resources that are available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 The National Geographic Visual History does look fascinating. I like the price ($23.10 on Amazon) and it has 656 pages! I wish you could 'see inside' it, but from the description it doesn't sound like the pages would be overly "busy," which for me, is good. It's just hard to know how the text reads without having it in your hands. Â I own this one. It is beautifully illustrated and has reasonable flow to the text. However, I've looked at samples of the Kingfisher text and this is a pretty big leap from that. It is, after all, an adult book. It is very good but the writing might be a bit much for the average middle school child. Considering that some people consider SOTW appropriate for the middle grades, it is hard to imagine this being appropriate. It would definitely be on the other end of the level of difficulty spectrum. Take my opinion with a grain of salt, however. My oldest is in Kindergarten this year! Â After stating in a previous post that I thought the Oxford Children's History of the World would be a good choice, someone pointed out the enormous page difference between it and Kingfisher (192 vs. 491), so I don't know if there is enough meat in Oxford to do the job. It does seem to be the language/illustration level equivalent, however. The Usborne history that has been suggested would be a tough sell because it's choppy, slightly better than DK's choppy but still choppy. Â I do agree that the having the outlining procedure spelled out in the next volume of The Complete Writer (and also in the new WTM?) will be immensely helpful. It would also put many of us at ease about picking the text from which our children develop this skill. Â Kristina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inashoe Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 The National Geographic Visual History does look fascinating. I like the price ($23.10 on Amazon) and it has 656 pages! I wish you could 'see inside' it, but from the description it doesn't sound like the pages would be overly "busy," which for me, is good. It's just hard to know how the text reads without having it in your hands. Â Can someone who has a copy of the National Geographic Visual History confirm the number of pages. Amazon states 656 pages, but the National Geographic website states 256 pages. Â http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/product/crossell/2706.html# Â Â Â Â Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Can someone who has a copy of the National Geographic Visual History confirm the number of pages. Amazon states 656 pages, but the National Geographic website states 256 pages. Â http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/product/crossell/2706.html# Â Â Â Â Thanks. Â It must be a typo on the NG site because 656 is accurate. It's a big book! Â Kristina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 I own this one. It is beautifully illustrated and has reasonable flow to the text. However, I've looked at samples of the Kingfisher text and this is a pretty big leap from that. It is, after all, an adult book. It is very good but the writing might be a bit much for the average middle school child. Â Agreed. My daughter used the National Geographic book as a spine for high school. Â My 10-year-old son is using the Parragon Atlas of World History as his spine for this cycle. It's working very well for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funschooler5 Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 After stating in a previous post that I thought the Oxford Children's History of the World would be a good choice, someone pointed out the enormous page difference between it and Kingfisher (192 vs. 491), so I don't know if there is enough meat in Oxford to do the job. It does seem to be the language/illustration level equivalent, however. The Usborne history that has been suggested would be a tough sell because it's choppy, slightly better than DK's choppy but still choppy. Â Â I bought Oxford Children's History of the World a few years ago and ended up ebaying it because there were a few things I tried to look up that weren't in there (I can't remember what we were searching for). It might make a nice spine along with another book...sometimes one will have some information another book doesn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 How about Ancient History from Primary Sources: A Literary Timeline by the Bluedorns? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula in PA Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 How about Ancient History from Primary Sources: A Literary Timeline by the Bluedorns? Â This would not work for a secular homeschooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophiaH Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 I own this one. It is beautifully illustrated and has reasonable flow to the text. However, I've looked at samples of the Kingfisher text and this is a pretty big leap from that. It is, after all, an adult book. It is very good but the writing might be a bit much for the average middle school child. Considering that some people consider SOTW appropriate for the middle grades, it is hard to imagine this being appropriate. It would definitely be on the other end of the level of difficulty spectrum. Take my opinion with a grain of salt, however. My oldest is in Kindergarten this year!  Kristina  Thanks you for posting. It's good to hear from someone who actually owns the book! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 I hope I did not offend you with my thoughts. I specifically wrote in my post that SOTW would not work for my family at the logic stage. Because of my personal experience with my family it's not something I would recommend for others at the logic stage. However, the beauty of homeschooling is that we can tailor the curriculum to our own children, and I am glad that your experience, though different from mine, is working well for you. I did not mean in any way to slight your choice or others, but simply to provide another perspective for SWB to consider as she evaluates the resources that are available. Â No offense at all. Just clarifying. :) Have a super Friday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 ...to tell me what YOU would pick for logic-stage history, given the chance to write TWTM yourself. I can hardly believe this, but once again Kingfisher has let their history encyclopedia go out of print with absolutely no warning. As in: last week it was available, this week it isn't. And, of course, I had picked it once more for the history spine in the logic stage of TWTM. :banghead:  I have a couple of alternatives in mind, and three whole days to make the changes in the galleys, which are almost ready to go to the printer. But I thought I'd ask any of you who might be interested to weigh in with favorites.  SWB  You can still buy it for $30 from the publishers...  http://us.macmillan.com/Retailer.aspx?isbn=9780753457849 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen the RD Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 After 105 posts, I'm not sure who's still looking at this thread, but I'll post anyway because I haven't seen anyone list this resource. I found this three years ago at Marshall's for $6 and it has been a terrific resource and jumping off point for deepening our knowledge in certain era's of history. I have used it for grades 3,4,and now 5 as a read aloud. However, I am transitioning my 5th grade dd into reading it and either doing a narration or outline and it's working very well. IMHO, it is well written to accomodate kids through logic stage. Most topics have a 2 pg spread written in paragraphs with pictures, maps, and illustrations. The timeline is placed on the lower edge of the page and I found it to be accurate with other sources such as World Book. An additional timeline in the appendix summarizes events by politics, religion, arts, technology, exploration, and daily life. Also in the appendix are lists of important battles in history, Chinese dynasties, Roman & Byzantine emperors, prime ministers of England, Canada, and Australia as well as political leaders for many other countries. The publication date for this book is 2003, so I don't know if that's a drawback in terms of going out of print. I do know it's available new at amazon.com for around $20.  BTW, there are 112 topics covered among the 5 eras of history covered: Ancient World, Middle Ages, Age of Discovery, Revolution and Industry, The Modern World.  God bless to all, Jennifer  DD 5th gr DS 1st gr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela&4boys Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 After 105 posts, I'm not sure who's still looking at this thread, but I'll post anyway because I haven't seen anyone list this resource. Â I, for one, am definitely still looking! I'm curious what SWB's decision will be. :bigear: Â Would you mind sharing the amazon link and/or ISBN? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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