Nm. Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 For those that have or are using it, I have a question… I wasn’t comfortable with SOTW’s focus.. it’s a little hard to explain, but it just had a negative feel to it. Every chapter we were discussing something that was ugly? I don’t mind my kids reading it as a resource, but as a read aloud, it was not my cup of tea. I have enjoyed beautiful feet and heart of dakota. I like the looks of masterbooks The World’s Story, Notgrass seems okay but dry. I guess I tend toward Christian material. Would this rule K12 out for me? I would love something that just presented the facts, but also didn’t focus on all the war and atrocities, and had more information on daily life, etc. Christian material just tends to be more positive, but I don’t tend to agree with all that is presented there either (I find that easier to adjust though). I would love to know if anyone had a similar experience with SOTW, but found K12 a good fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Bean Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 I did not like SOTW either. I tried so many times. Eventually, my DD decided she wanted to read them for herself and make notebooks. She made it to volume 3 before getting tired of all the wars. My DS24 used k12 with the online course many years ago and liked them. He said he learned a great deal. He was a very picky kid about what he liked or not. I haven’t really looked at them since. Different kids, different needs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 21 minutes ago, Lovinglife123 said: I guess I tend toward Christian material. Would this rule K12 out for me? I felt that the Human Odyssey was pretty balanced, but it is definitely secular (which was a prerequisite for us). We loved it as a read aloud. You can get used copies for just a few dollars. I recommend that you take a look at at least one of the volumes yourself to see if it suits your family. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 15, 2023 Author Share Posted January 15, 2023 (edited) I probably do just need to read it first and see. I am not sure what makes a book secular vs Christian besides teaching of evolution & the omission of bible content. Edited January 15, 2023 by Lovinglife123 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 We found SOTW to be a bit of a slog in vol. 4. In vol. 3, we ended up splitting our time: Reading through the volume but focusing most of our literature, crafts, and field trips on American history. In vol. 4, we did American history with a heavy emphasis on literature in the first semester, and picked world history back up around 1912, with the Titanic and leading up to WWI. It was a nice balance and let us skip several of the chapters, fitting the remaining ones in with a better balance. We did like HO quite a bit, finding it very interesting and appreciating the cultural tales/personal stories in each chapter or so. It has a beautiful layout and pairs well with the SOTW activity book. But, given your description of what you're wanting, I think OUP's World in Ancient Times (and the medieval set as well) would be a good option to look at and compare. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 3 minutes ago, Lovinglife123 said: I probably do just need to read it first and see. I am not sure what makes a book secular vs Christian besides teaching of evolution & the omission of bible content. Secular books do not give an intent to the information. Christian books have a tendency to see everything as God's will (providential) or insert their own agenda in what happened. Bob Jones, I believe, or A Beka, wrote that the "Trail of Tears brought many Indians to Christ", speaking of converting them. The audacity to pretend to know the will of a deity is huge, and not in the benefit of a company's moral character. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 15, 2023 Author Share Posted January 15, 2023 I like the page I found of human odyssey. Next year HOD is using mystery of history and I’m not sure what the authors stance is on things. Im guessing it’s providential which is ugh. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 15, 2023 Author Share Posted January 15, 2023 (edited) I ordered volume 1. From one review it sounds like it will be a good fit.. they complained it wasn’t secular, treating certain bible stories as fact which I like 😂 We don’t believe in evolution, so hopefully we can just skip that and be good. *attempting to cancel that order. Edited January 16, 2023 by Lovinglife123 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 1 hour ago, Lovinglife123 said: I ordered volume 1. From one review it sounds like it will be a good fit.. they complained it wasn’t secular, treating certain bible stories as fact which I like 😂 We don’t believe in evolution, so hopefully we can just skip that and b I wouldn't say they treat bible stories as fact. It's more like they acknowledge that the bible is a historical document that scholars use along with other evidence to figure out what might have happened in the past. As for evolution, it starts when human beings were already here, so there is nothing about the different sorts of hominins prior to homo sapiens. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 15, 2023 Author Share Posted January 15, 2023 (edited) Oh that sounds perfect! Can’t wait. I’m looking at my story of the world activity book and I’m thinking it will be a valuable resource with it. Edited January 15, 2023 by Lovinglife123 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 I found that the Human Odyssey books were approaching history for middle school as the history of ideas and not just a list of important people and events. Definitely secular, but by age 11, my kids were ready to discuss various viewpoints on many things. I considered the p.o.v. a strength, not a weakness. Mostly I read it aloud and it flows well, less episodic than SOTW. Dd read sections on her own too. We supplemented heavily with library books. We did not like SOTW after the first two books and used a combo of other resources for early and late modern at the elementary ages. I did continue to use the AG though, as the activities helped keep my younger student engaged and the booklists are great. The K12 books were my Dd’s first conventional textbooks and were a good to use to teach how to use one. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 15, 2023 Author Share Posted January 15, 2023 (edited) What kinds of various viewpoints? Lol I am clueless. I really just want to teach history, the people, their daily lives, their religion etc. I like the whole story format. Edited January 15, 2023 by Lovinglife123 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Bean Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 (edited) Listening in… Anyone used the full k12 course? I want maps, timelines, questions. Edited January 15, 2023 by Green Bean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 1 hour ago, Lovinglife123 said: What kinds of various viewpoints? Lol I am clueless. I really just want to teach history, the people, their daily lives, their religion etc. I like the whole story format. Secular point of view as opposed to a Christian one. It was super helpful for my kids to hear a different take on Biblical events or texts or Church history. I will look through my books and notes later this week and give you some examples. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 53 minutes ago, Green Bean said: Listening in… Anyone used the full k12 course? I want maps, timelines, questions. Not sure what the “full K12 course” is. Do you mean their online program? I think there may be some extra printed resources out there, not sure. I just used the texts as a spine and they worked very well for that. We always made our own timeline. There are maps in the books and we always had wall maps up, and a globe and atlas available. I used maps from the SOTW AG occasionally. What kind of questions? We always discussed the lessons, so I knew what my kids remembered and understood and what connections they were (or were not!) making. They would write and narrate about what we were studying. I love history so it’s not hard for me to teach. I understand that some moms may need a more structured approach, though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 @Green BeanThere is some sort of student guide for the 1st volume of K12. I ordered it used and then never used it. We read the text aloud and practiced taking notes. I used MapTrek for maps--I just lined them up with the sections in K12. https://www.rainbowresource.com/product/048990/Map-Trek-Hardcover-%26-CD-ROM-Complete-Collection.html We used History Through the Ages for timeline. https://store.homeschoolinthewoods.com/collections/history-through-the-ages-timeline-materials/products/historical-timeline-figures-collection 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 @Green Bean 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Bean Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 51 minutes ago, cintinative said: @Green BeanThere is some sort of student guide for the 1st volume of K12. I ordered it used and then never used it. We read the text aloud and practiced taking notes. I used MapTrek for maps--I just lined them up with the sections in K12. https://www.rainbowresource.com/product/048990/Map-Trek-Hardcover-%26-CD-ROM-Complete-Collection.html We used History Through the Ages for timeline. https://store.homeschoolinthewoods.com/collections/history-through-the-ages-timeline-materials/products/historical-timeline-figures-collection 48 minutes ago, cintinative said: @Green Bean Thank you I’m looking at these. By full course I did mean the k12 online one. My DS24 did it years ago, but I don’t remember what it was like now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 16, 2023 Author Share Posted January 16, 2023 (edited) Human odyssey is available on openlibrary.org ! *after reading some I don’t think it’d work for DS11. I had the impression it was more conversational than it actually is. Edited January 16, 2023 by Lovinglife123 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 7 hours ago, Lovinglife123 said: Human odyssey is available on openlibrary.org ! *after reading some I don’t think it’d work for DS11. I had the impression it was more conversational than it actually is. Have you looked at Curiosity Chronicles? It's more conversational, has lots of pictures...more upbeat than SOTW can be in tone. I'm not sure of the output being at level, but Reading Like A Historian might help with that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted January 17, 2023 Author Share Posted January 17, 2023 (edited) I decided to stick to HOD. It’s going SO well. Especially for my oldest who was the hardest to homeschool- for some reason it just clicks for him. He has never listened to me, but he listens to what his guide says, doing things like water coloring I never could get him to do 🤣. I am not used to having everyone doing something different, but it gives me more time for playing games/ read alouds. I am so glad I explored this other option thoroughly though. The only volume of mystery of history they use is level 3, the samples looked ok. Edited January 17, 2023 by Lovinglife123 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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