Tell me about "a child's history of the world"

[Melenie]

Firstly, we are a Christian family and from what I have read it starts with the Big Bang theory. If this is covered only in the first few chapters, I can look past that and start in later chapters. If that is the tone of the book throughout, I prefer to read something else with my K'er.

 

I would also like to know how it stacks up against SOTW1, how different is it and is it worth owning both?

 

Can someone who has the book and has read through it, please give me some guidance.

 

Many thanks!

[AudreyTN]

I haven't read all the way yet, but we skipped the first 4-5 chapters. It's kind of like a condensed version of SOTW v. 1-4.

[tuckabella]

I have both and plan on skipping the first three or four chapters of CHOW. HEre is a link to a schedule of CHOW and SOTW:

http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/chowsotw.htm

[Amy in KS]

You also have to consider how graphic SOTW 1 is and how sensitive your child is. SOTW 1 goes into gruesome detail about making mummies and many of the battle scenes (lots of head chopping off, etc). Chapter after chapter of graphic (enough to give my daughter nightmares). I find CHOW much less graphic.

 

I also find there is too much emphasis placed on several stories that sound just like the Moses story (but not Christian), and other old testament stories (placing the question of "how do we know the moses story is true and not that one" into little minds). It presents myths with the same weight as Christian history stories.

 

Now, I do like some of SOTW 1, but excerpts of it. I prefer CHOW because it has better flow.

 

Having said that, I think it would be an awful lot for a Kindergartener. I would probably go with something like "Usborne First Encyclopedia of History" instead.

[Amy in KS]

I also wanted to mention that you certainly can skip the first couple of chapters. She doesn't really present it as Big Bang exactly, but not creationist either.

 

There is christian content in the book and I don't believe you will find any of it offensive other than maybe the first couple of chapters.

[Tree House Academy]

We are almost finished with CHOW this year and we love it. We are Christian. I too had an issue with the start of the book. However, it is just those first few chapters. Van Hilyer brings lots and lots of Bible folks into his book and even takes a "We believe in one God, but the Greeks/Romans believed in many gods" approach. My son is 9 and has thoroughly enjoyed Child's History of the World.

[shehmeth]

I'm doing CHOW with my daughter (5) in kinder - she enjoys the stories... The beginning is not 100% Big Bang, but not Creationism either and the book has a does have Religious component - to echo Amy in ks post.. The book has a good flow, and in my opinion, it has a bit of sense of humor included (geared toward a child).. I can't compare it to SOTW yet, I plan to purchase it for 1st Grade; so I'm not sure how gruesome or detailed SOTW is compared to CHOW... but I found CHOW to be very kid friendly and not gruesome...

 

My daughter likes the cute little bits of "odd writing" - like making a staircase with the words... this is used sporadically and is used to emphasize something like the name of a person - like Cleisthenes (p. 93). She find them funny...

 

Note: when I bought it, the Vendor clearly told me that CHOW is not for everyone; but it has worked for us.. She enjoys when I read it.. and someone asked her the other day what was her favorite subject and she said "History, because she gets to learn about things that happened before her"..

 

I've been looking forward to STOW, but given amy in ks comment about the gruesome details, I'm a bit worried now.. my daughter is very sensitive to the point of runny out hen watching cartoons when she sense that something "bad" is going to happen.. I wonder if the fact that is being read rather than acted out in an cartoon would make a difference..

 

Kate..

[Caroline4kids]

We are on our second trip through CHOW, once with Ambleside and this time with SL core 1+2. My kids seem to really like it. We are creationist Christians and so I just skipped the first three chapters.

 

We often use this book as a reference too. My husband watched the movie "300" and I found myself grabbing my CHOW and reading him the account that movie is based on.

 

It is nice to keep around for a quick overview of world history, plus it has a nice conversational style.

[Paintedlady]

The style of writing didn't appeal to me, and as a young earth creationist I felt the need to skip several chapters. It wasn't a good fit for my tastes at all.

[Melenie]

Thank you for the great replies! We have SOTW1 and I do not think DD is ready for it, this is the reason that I am looking for something else to read with her now. She loves stories based and real life and I thought CHOW, would be worth looking into for K.

 

Tuckabella, thank you for the link. I think we may get CHOW and pick only the age appropriate stories for K and leave the rest for 1st.

[jellogirl]

It's fine. I've read it a couple of times, and I only remember the first four chapters as being bizarre. The stories are interesting, as I believe they focus on specific individuals and events, unlike so many textbooks. It's been a while. ;)

[calandalsmom]

Its a nice book and we enjoyed it very much when ds1 was 7 and ds2 was 4. As a christian I certainly didnt have an issue with the first chapters presenting something other than a biblical creation story.

[Zoo Keeper]

CHOW has been a hit at our house; I think it presents the flow of ancient history very well, in a gentle yet interesting way for younger guys. Like many others, we just skipped the first four chapters, no big deal. It is a nice supplement and/or replacement for SOTW. I do think SOTW is a better fit for the 9-12 yr. old range than CHOW (some of the ways the narrator addresses the reader in CHOW may seem "babyish" for a I-know-it-all ten year old), but that is just what one ten year old told me. :001_smile:

 

If you are seriously considering CHOW, I would highly recommend getting the 1997 editon (or a later version, if there is one). The earlier versions use repeated racial/ethnic sterotypes when discussing some people groups. Not good speech or thought habits for young minds to be absorbing. The newer edition is available through Calvert, Sonlight, or Rainbow Resource Center.

[rafiki]

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[birchbark]

I actually like CHOW better than SOTW. :ohmy:

[abbeyej]

I think CHOW is fantastic. I love SOTW too. :) CHOW gives a brief overview of world history, and easily fits in a single school year (doing roughly three chapters a week). It's engaging and my kids enjoyed it (as did I, as a child). By necessity, it doesn't go into nearly the depth that SOTW does, and is more focused on Western history (though not exclusively, of course).

 

I recommend getting a "new" edition of CHOW (something published in the 90s or later), since older editions include language and comments that are at best a product of their time. eh-hem. (Sonlight, Calvert and Veritas Press all carry the new edition.)

 

Michelle's recommendation of the poster from Calvert is great too. It's a really nice visual reference for the highlights of history covered in CHOW.

[Loupelou]

It wasn't a good fit for our family at all, I didn't like the writing style and I kept having to lead lengthy discussions with my children,as to why we didn't believe that way, so we skipped it. You might try Usborne history with a younger child. We have really enjoyed SOTW and have found much less to complain about there. :)