Tell me about Story of the World.

[SuperMama]

I am interested in using it for next year. I have it on hold (Vol 1) at the library so I can take a look at it.
My oldest dd will be in 2nd grade in the fall, and my younger pre-k. I have heard that it is a 1st-4th grade, but it looks a little advanced.
What do you think about the activity guide, test book and cd pkg?
Anything, good or bad, you have to say would be VERY helpful!
Thanks

[Marsha]

subbing. I got it at the library and I thought it looked very advanced, too.

[ArmsOfLove]

We used it for pre-K until this last year. It isn't too advanced imo :shrug I figure for the first time through history they are only going to get what they get anyway :shrug It's broken up into very easy to read segments, my children really enjoyed them, and despite some errors or omissions I really liked it. In fact, I have come to realize that every program is going to have them. Even when I was a senior in public hs and our ap Government class got to help choose the curriculum for the next year there was not a single book without major gaps and errors. Holds true for anyone writing history apparently ;)

It's from a Christian perspective but not overly so--just tracks church history and the history of the Jewish people alongside everyone else :tu

[Marsha]

would you then recommend the activity books as well? I"d want to make really sure we liked them, because they increase the cost considerably.

[Leslie]

I have heard that it is a 1st-4th grade, but it looks a little advanced.


They get more advanced as they go - vol 2 is more advanced than vol 1, vol 3 is more advanced than vol 3, etc. We use only vol 4 (it's scheduled for Ambleside Online in Year 6; other books are scheduled in the earlier grades) and my son really liked it when he was in sixth grade. We didn't use anything other than the book.

[teamommy]

I have it and the activity book (vol. 1). Until a couple of weeks ago, my plan was to use it for first grade. But I think it's such a rich year, with the potential for lots of extra reading related to Greece, Egypt, and Rome. I think I want to do early American History next year instead, and save SOTW for second grade.

I don't think it's too advanced for reading aloud, but I thought it might be a little heavy for narrations for first grade. :shrug I'm still beginning hs, so I don't know. The activity book has a bunch of coloring pages, maps, and booklists. I haven't looked at the other activities too closely yet.

I have also read that SOTW 4 is quite mature, and that fourth grade is the minimum age to deal with that material, so I feel better about starting vol. 1 later, if we end up doing the 4 year cycle.

[ArmsOfLove]

Honestly, we spent about 2 years on book 1 and then about 9 months on book 4 (modern and post modern history is VERY dark). This time through we'll spend more time on it. Most of the stuff I want to use as resources is way too mature for them.

We had the first activity book and I didn't get the others. TBH, it didn't do it for me. Busy work combined with crafts I never had the stuff for and I ended up just not doing it. Though there were some great things--like burying stuff in the sand at a park for archaelogy and teaching them how to rope off the area and dig with paintbrushes :)

[TestifyToLove]

I use it for my 1st grader. I don't use the supplemental stuff. He's constantly spouting historical information back at me that *I* forget from the books. We're on vol.2 this year. My goal next fall is to put my current 1st and 3rd graders into Sonlight with the US History core curriculum and then take them back to an in-depth look at World history after they do an in-depth US history course. I'm using SOTW to give them an overview of world history so they can understand the context against which the US was formed and plug it into world history properly.

We supplement with the Usborne History of the World book and a similiar one I got at B&N several years back. It provides the visual stuff that SOTW lacks for them.

[ShangriLewis]

Crystal you had mentioned using Mystery of History before. But, I read a post from you recently that said something different. Are you still considering using it down the road? :poke

[ArmsOfLove]

Crystal you had mentioned using Mystery of History before. But, I read a post from you recently that said something different. Are you still considering using it down the road? :poke
No. It was not a good fit for us. I absolutely loved the activities, but I found t it was very much one particular theological POV being presented as factual. Which is great if that is your theological POV :tu I think the biggest problem with it for me is that pesky seminary degree ;) She'd make a point using an illustration from Scripture and I'd find myself arguing with it in front of the children :doh Or even something like her talking in two lessons about Esau being a red head when all of my research says he had a Giant Congenital Hairy Nevus :shifty Often it wasn't truly important things but they were things that bugged me. She also takes a very patriarchal, order of creation approach to the Creation story, though if that had been all I would have redone that lesson and moved on :) I guess I prefer to interject our theology into the lessons rather than have someone else insert it for me. But that's just me :)

If I had purchased the books I would absolutely use the activities out of them :tu They were some of the best I've seen compiled :yes But it wasn't a good fit for me more than anything. Still, I'm glad I tried them out :yes

[mom2boys]

we've used the SOTW and we like them. We do the activities, too. I do like the activity books, and the ready-made notebook pages, maps, etc. That's the lazy in me coming out... :blush
I don't like that they are small blurbs of reading. I know that's best for the youngers, but we find we spend a lot more time in the Usborne books we own then the actual SOTW story book.

[SuperMama]

Do you all use the CD's?
What are in the activity books? Just extra ideas? OR worksheet type things?

[HuggaBuggaMommy]

Do you all use the CD's?
What are in the activity books? Just extra ideas? OR worksheet type things?


I have the audio CDs and the activity books. The activity books offer additional reading ideas, crafty type projects, recipes, games, coloring and notebooking pages, maps, etc...

I started SOTW 1 when ds was in K; he's *not* a history lover, and doesn't like to be read to (except before bed). So, this year and next we're doing an overview of American history (also necessary to keep xh happy), and when ds is in 3rd grade, I plan to go back to SOTW so ds can read it himself (which he prefers now).

[Teribear]

Do you all use the CD's?
What are in the activity books? Just extra ideas? OR worksheet type things?


I have all three; books, CD's and activity books. We really only use the CD's. DD listens to the CD's for literally hours on end and just today she was telling me all about "Bloody Mary" and why she was called that and her sister was Elizabeth and she had Elizabeth locked away in prison but she died before she could have Elizabeth sentenced to death so Elizabeth became queen instead. That whole conversation was inspired by her seeing the title of a completely unrelated to SOTW book in the local kids used bookstore. IT was pretty cool.

[SuperMama]

I checked out Vol 1 from the library, and really like the way it reads. Very user friendly. I can see the value of the CD's, but am unsure about the activity books.

[Teribear]

I checked out Vol 1 from the library, and really like the way it reads. Very user friendly. I can see the value of the CD's, but am unsure about the activity books.


Honestly...I find the activity books the least useful personally. I get a ton of use out of the CD's, some out of the books but rarely do I use the activity books. We tend to go on our own tangents rather than following someone else's.

[SuperMama]

Thanks. That's kinda the vibe I got when I saw them online. I figure that if we get interested in something, we can always look up the information on the internet, or go to the library.

[Marsha]

Duh.........now I know why it looks too advanced to me. I was looking at History of the Ancient World by the same author. Totally different animal! I ordered SOTW Vol 1 for less than $8 on Amazon.

[SuperMama]

LOL Marsha!! :giggle
I am going to use my library copy for a month or so, and see about ordering it then. :heart
Nice to know you can get cheap copies. Let me know if anyone sees the CD's cheap..... :shifty

Oh, FWIW, I read the first chapter with my dd's yesterday, and my 7 yr old really liked it! My 4 yr old did alot of climbing around while I read, :P~ but you never know how much she actually hears so....
Maybe I was just underestimating my kids.....when I said it looked advanced. :shrug

[ArmsOfLove]

I have found I often underestimate my kids and when I grab things that say they are for this age or that and I try them I'm often very pleased that they are excited and stimulated by it :heart We are currently reading the Iliad (the children's abridged version, but it's pretty true to the story :tu) and they are loving it!

[Leslie]

I was looking at History of the Ancient World by the same author. Totally different animal!


I'm looking at that for my high school senior! Yes, it's more advanced that SOTW. :lol

[illinoismommy]

story of the world has cds? what is that? for the computer?

[Marsha]

story of the world has cds? what is that? for the computer?


no, read alouds. My dd doesn't care for books on CD, she isn't an auditory learner at all so that wouldn't be worth the expense for us.

[Teribear]

story of the world has cds? what is that? for the computer?


no, read alouds. My dd doesn't care for books on CD, she isn't an auditory learner at all so that wouldn't be worth the expense for us.


Yeah, its audio books. My DD didn't read independently until she was 9. We started using SOTW when she was 5. We listen to them as stories on long car trips. She listens to them for pleasure in study hall while I teach. We are both strongly auditory learners so it was wonderful to have the CD option. I'm getting ready to order the CD's for Vol 4. really soon. We'll be using that next year for history and they weren't out yet when we ordered the others.

[Marsha]

story of the world has cds? what is that? for the computer?


no, read alouds. My dd doesn't care for books on CD, she isn't an auditory learner at all so that wouldn't be worth the expense for us.


Yeah, its audio books. My DD didn't read independently until she was 9. We started using SOTW when she was 5. We listen to them as stories on long car trips. She listens to them for pleasure in study hall while I teach. We are both strongly auditory learners so it was wonderful to have the CD option. I'm getting ready to order the CD's for Vol 4. really soon. We'll be using that next year for history and they weren't out yet when we ordered the others.


Ainslee is highly visual, not to get too OT. She says she gets "dizzy" and "mixed up" when she just listens. I know what she means LOL, it could be ADD, which I also have, but I need a book to anchor me!

[ShangriLewis]

I like the CD's because it helps me pronounce things better. My boys do the workbook pages and they listen to the CD's while they work on their pages. It makes it so they hear the story at least 3 times.