History of Our World People, Place, and Ideas

[Jen the RD]

I've tried to search for this curriculum on the forum, but have had little success finding out anything about it. What I know is that this is a Steck-Vaughn textbook that comes with a student & teacher's edition and resources/worksheets for the teacher to use.

 

I am an evangelical Christian and would like to have a Christian perspective, but that's not a requirement . There are many Christian programs available; however, I don't often agree with their commentaries. I prefer to allow the Holy Spirit to guide our discussion on this.

 

Having said that, for those of you who've used this curriculum,

 

1) What do you think of the overall content of this program for a middle schooler?

2) I'd like to cover it in 2 1/2-3 yrs with additional reading. Is this doable?

3) Is the reading engaging and fun for a kid or just downright boring? Please be honest! I'd like to have my 11yo dd reading and drawing out info on her own.

4) Any other feedback you have would be appreciated.

 

Thanks to the hive for looking at this thread!

 

Jennifer

[Jen the RD]

Bump! Anyone????

[Mandy in TN]

I own this book, but I wasn't very impressed. It is very, very simple. There is far more content in SOTW and Kingfisher.

 

If you really want a text, I liked Power Basics World History volumes 1-3. Power Basic isn't visual at all. It is more along the lines of SOTW in that it is about the same length and width and has no photos or color pictures. It is written at about a 4th grade level, but designed to meet national high school standards. Also, the student text is broken down into sections that are followed by short questions to help the student pay attention to what they are reading.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[Jen the RD]

Mandy,

Thanks for your reply. Hmmm, doesn't sound like this is the book I want. Ironically, I looked at the samples of Power Basics World History and thought it looked pretty good. I'm glad you mentioned it. I'll investigate it a bit further. I like SOTW, but I wasn't sure my dd could get all 4 books read in 2 1/2 - 3 years with additional reading from literature. She's an excellent reader, but we have other priorities for middle school besides history. What's your opinion on a middler reading through SOTW?

 

Thanks,

Jennifer

[Mandy in TN]

What's your opinion on a middler reading through SOTW?

 

SOTW is a fun historical narrative that is wonderful as a read-aloud. You could always get SOTW on audio and just listen to casually as you drive places. My middle ds actually listened to it in bed at night.

 

Also, SL uses all 4 SOTW books over 2 years in their middle school cores 6 and 7.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[cougarmom4]

I'd also have to say that I was not impressed with History of Our World (People, Places, and Ideas). I purchased volume 2, because from the website (Rainbow Resources), it looked and sounded like exactly what I was looking for. Then it arrived and I almost cried. (This was my first homeschool curriculum purchase as we only started a few months ago--and I was so looking forward to that first package!).

 

Actually, I think the book would be great for a 4th-5th grader. Maybe even a 3rd grader. But it is most certainly not meaty enough for a middle schooler as they supposedly intend it to be.

 

We ended up using SOTW and Kingfisher and library books, so I have no additional recommendations for you...but I wanted to help you save your money before you purchased that book. :tongue_smilie:

[Jen the RD]

Thanks cougarmom!