Angelina
- Reviewed on Tuesday, May 11, 2010
- Grades Used: 1st & 2nd Grade
- Dates used: 2009-2010
This curriculum (Vol. 1 Ancient Times) worked great for us. We read 1-2 chapters each week and I had my sons color the corresponding activity pages. It didn't take much time at all and they really looked forward to listening to the chapters.
The chapters flow well. Its easy to understand and can be built on if you want to add more history. The activity guide has a lot of suggestions. Additional library books can also be read to embellish the topics.
This is not an anti-Christian book. It includes biblical events and people such as Abraham, Joseph, and Jesus. We made up for what was lacking by reading our bible and talking through events that took place.
This as a great introductory book that exposes young children to a classical, storybook-type of approach to history. As they get older I'll switch to a curriculum that has more "meat" and a stronger emphasis on a biblical world view.
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prplhrtwife
- Reviewed on Thursday, March 04, 2010
- Grades Used: 1st
- Dates used: 2010
First, a disclaimer: YES, I am a Christian. However, for personal reasons I would rather ADD Christ to my curriculum than use a curriculum published by a religious point of view that does not follow what MY home practices. We have struggled in the past with "Christian" curriculums with inappropriate levels of content for a young child and do not wish to return there again. For THIS reason, we selected Story of the World. I HIGHLY recommend you grab a copy from a friend, a local library, or at your local store before purchasing so you can see if the content is appropriate for your family or not before purchasing.
That said, we have been with SOTW for the past 3 months and I have to say, we like the TEXTBOOK immensely! The story version of history is interesting for my son to listen to and is engaging to hear.
The activity book, however, we found to be lacking in content. For young children, many of the activities are difficult to understand and for older children, they're either VERY involved or outright boring. Our "best bet" for our son was to have him color a page (he HATES coloring with a passion) while we read to try and increase retention. That was about it. There really weren't more options, especially for a child with motor skill disabilities. Generally, history hasn't been much of a hit because of this here.
So, we're throwing the activity book to the side and transferring to using THIS textbook with History Odyssey which incorporates the SOTW text as well as A Child's History of the World, The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History, History Pockets, and other books and activities. A MUCH better choice for our family, but take a serious look at this curriculum before you pass it over for yours. It may very well be exactly what YOUR family needs!
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crl
- Reviewed on Tuesday, September 29, 2009
- Grades Used: 1st
- Dates used: 2009
I personally feel that though this author may claim to be Christian, she caters too much to the secular crowd for our family to feel comfortable using SOTW. I tried very hard to be ok with using this series since others in our church use it. But after having to read an Egyptian myth where one brother tried to kill another, I just couldn't read anymore to my DD (age 6). I also didn't like the way the story of Moses and Abraham read. It felt like she did a bad job plagiarizing the Bible. Many others don't have these problems and friends of ours don't really understand our position, but they are not the ones needing to answer the questions our DD had, nor do they have to give an account for what we teach our DD. So we have elected to use another very Christ centered curriculum instead which feeds her spirit as well as her mind.
I would suggest trying to find a copy to read through before making a final decision. Or at the very least, pick up a used copy or a cheap copy from Amazon before committing to buying the whole set.
Again, this is just my opinion and other Christians have found this series to be exactly what their family needs.
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jet
- Reviewed on Monday, August 24, 2009
- Grades Used: 6-7
- Dates used: fall 2007 - fall 2009
We enjoyed the first two books quite a bit, but our enjoyment went down as we moved through the end of book 3 and into book 4. We never finished book 4 due to inaccuracies in the text. I was using this in conjunction as part of the Sonlight History. The Sonlight teacher notes helped, but I was disappointed with the book.
Jeanette
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