kate in seattle Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Is it overkill to have students read both? Do they supplement each other or only repeat information? I am just starting to read SOAW myself in prep for next year but thought I would draw on the collective wisdom. thanks, kate in seattle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 We have both but find ourselves using only SOAW . Dd and dh like the way it is written and think it gives a great overview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 we are doing both. the school year starts here in February. so we are only a little way into this school year. what we are doing is 2-3 chapters of SOAW per week.,with my son then writing a summery of each chapter ( I would think an outline would be better.) then every 4 weeks we do a section out of Spievogel western civ. my son uses the focus questions to then write about it. He is also reading the ancients year 9 list re. WTM. I find they supplement each other. I am really hoping that the new edition of WTM gives some guidance on how to use SOAW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhondabee Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 (edited) Kate, I haven't used either, yet. But, what I'm finding as I'm reading & outlining both for next year is that Spielvogel tends to be more general information. HOAW is much more personal info. Check out Hammurabi in both, and you will see what I mean. One thing HOAW has that I *really* like is its discussions on the great books, and where they fit into history. For example, HOAW has a chapter on the real Gilgamesh and then a chapter on the myth of Gilgamesh, with some really good thoughts to help the reader see ways the myth symbolizes the conditions of the real Gilgamesh. It has a paraphrase of the Mahabharata (and the historical info behind it), and shows where the Baghavad Gita fits into that epic. Really good stuff! But, it will be hard to mesh them without destroying the narrative of the HOAW. And, I'm not sure if I can use HOAW and study history as the context of the books via the WTM plan - and I would really like for this child to discover the joy of finding things in the library for himself. That won't happen if we use HOAW. It will take much longer to get to Ancient Greece using HOAW. And, I think in my most honest moments, "Hey woman, Spielvogel is a *college level* textbook." Obviously the info in HOAW is really great and interesting, but is it really necessary for high school? IDK. I know that doesn't help you. Just wanted to let you know you're definitely not alone in pondering these things. Thanks for the discussion! Edited April 12, 2009 by Rhondabee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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