What's your opinion of SOTW year 4?

[home4fun]

I am beginning to plan for next year, and get the feeling that many people have not liked SOTW year 4. If you have used it, can you give me your opinion about it..what you liked and disliked? My boys have loved SOTW 1,2,and 3.

Thanks

home4fun

[ArwenA]

We too love SOTW 1, 2 and 3. This year we should have used SOTW 4, and we did start with it. SOTW 4 is also a great history book (thanks SWB!!) but the modern history with all it''s wars was too much for DD9 and WAY too much for DD6 and DD3.
How old are your dc? You may wish to spend a year on geography or a study of your country. SOTW 4 can be used as a read aloud or for independent reading.

[home4fun]

I have 3 boys 3,6,9, (1st and 4th) for next year. They love talking about any war! But not sure if it would be too much for them too?

Thanks for your response.

home4fun

[WTMindy]

It is definitely heavier, but we loved it. It is a good transition year, but not so great for younger tag-alongs. I did it with my 4th and 2nd grader, and they both liked it, but we are history lovers around here. I personally learned a TON from it.

[home4fun]

I noticed on your blog tou are doinf TOG...Did you start this for after SOTW 4? Did you start with TOG yr.1?

Thanks!

home4fun

[WABeth]

So far it is going great (WWI this week). It has worked really well with a 4th grader. The writing and activities are more advanced than in v. 1-3, but my 4th grader was ready to step up a little (beginning outlining and more involved map work). My two disappointments with v. 4, were 1) no coloring pages in the AG (my dd9 still loves to color while I read) and 2) not covering some of the fun American History events of modern times (first automobile, wright brothers, roaring 20's, etc.).

I dealt with these problems by buying historical coloring books and finding lots of coloring pages on-line and by adding in some fun topics along the way using great library books.

HTH

[ArwenA]

I have 3 boys 3,6,9, (1st and 4th) for next year. They love talking about any war! But not sure if it would be too much for them too?

Thanks for your response.

home4fun

Really?! Wow, that's the same as my three girls!:) Well, DD6 was 5 at the beginning, but still. Your 9yo may be fine but I'd be cautious with your 6yo and 3yo.

[Pam in MA]

The pace and work level is definitely harder, but they are more than ready for it (4th and 6th grade) Everyone loves history in this house, in large part because of this series. I have also found some other coloring sources at Dover, Bellerophon, but there sure aren't as many for the modern age, are there? Sometimes they just pull out their Ancient Egyptian coloring book anyway or draw their own pictures.

[dangermom]

I have been worried about this too, since my younger one will be in 1st grade when the older one does SOTW4 in 4th grade. I figure I'll concentrate on the 'fun' things with the little one! Any suggestions are very appreciated.

[Kalah]

I have a very sensitive 7.5 yo so we skipped SOTW4. I am using it as a very loose outline though. I decided to spend this year reading lots of biographies. So far, Huck loves it. Later in the year we will be doing presidents and state history for fun. I posted this week on the AL board about this very topic. I was advised last year that I may want to look closely at them (My post was thanking everyone). I had already purchased SOTW4 and had a good time reading it myself. I always learn soooo much! I will be using this text the next cycle around but I think it was too much for him this year. I'm happy with my decision.
HTH

[WTMindy]

I noticed on your blog tou are doinf TOG...Did you start this for after SOTW 4? Did you start with TOG yr.1?

Thanks!

home4fun

Yes, we started TOG Ancients after our first rotation with SOTW. It has been a great segue for us. I have loved delving deeper into how our faith blends with the history and having guided discussions about this. I am a huge SOTW fan and we really loved all 4 years!

[Tammyla]

It's a lot heavier than the first three.

[Nancy in SoCal]

My kids were 9, 8, and 6. It was great for the older 2, but a bit tough for the little one. There are no coloring pages and the activities (outlining and such) are definitely geared toward the older set. I am glad we did it, though. We learned a lot. It just wasn't as fun as SOTW 1, 2, + 3.

[Nancy in SoCal]

I meant to add...none of my children are particularly sensitive, so YMMV.

:)

[mcconnellboys]

It's not that I don't like SOTW IV, actually I'm finding that I love it as much as SOTW III for the marvelous way it weaves modern history into perspective for us. *I* am learning so much that has been lacking in my modern history education! It's just that teaching modern history, in general, is so very distasteful for me. It's all about revolution and struggle and war and the thousands of ways to commit genocide against those who get in the way of power, are thought to hold up progress, or just get blamed for things not their fault. And it's about political corruption around the world, and big business squeezing the little guy as much as the aristocracy ever did and all the dirty underbelly of civilization. Where's the romance? It's hard to grasp it. And so it is simply not as appealing as those millenia that have gone before. We do try to balance out all the bad and sad with all the accomplishments and innovations; the advances in science and technology, etc. that have occurred during modern times. But there really is a lot of turmoil and sadness in modern history...... Not every story is a comedy.....

Regena

[home4fun]

Has anyone supplemented HO modern with SOTW 4?

Thanks

Home4fun

[Another Lynn]

I am SO glad I read this thread. I have mostly boys too and they love war and history, etc, BUT I had no idea there weren't coloring pages in the AG for SOTW vol.4. That will definitely effect my decision about history for next year. What about maps... does the vol. 4 AG have maps to color? I would think maps would be crucial to modern history.

[Nancy in SoCal]

... does the vol. 4 AG have maps to color? I would think maps would be crucial to modern history.

Yes, it has maps. :)

[Brindee]

There are LOTS of maps! My kids were a little older, so we didn't miss the coloring pages. They were 4th and 7th at the time. We really liked it, not as much as the Ancients though. We spent 2 years on that and delved into all sorts of extra stuff to enhance the learning! We added Bible history in with it and made a timeline with the Bible stuff on the top and the other world stuff on the bottom of the timeline. It was fascinating to all of us to see what happened at the same time in the world and the Bible!

Anyway, I digress. Since my kids were older, it was a good levle. I like the way it is set up for the outlines.

[sailmom]

My 9.5yo dd loves SOTW 4, and we don't find it too heavy at all, but she's not particularly sensitive, nor are we very big censors when it comes to the unpleasant realities of history. We have had lots of great discussions as a result of the reading. I've really enjoyed how thought provoking SOTW 4 has been for her this year. :)

She's not a big fan of the outlines, but I think they've been a great tool for her in learning how to take notes! She does enjoy the mapwork. My older daughter, who did her four year elementary world history cycle with K12, also enjoyed reading SOTW 4 earlier this year just for fun, and tags along sometimes with the project suggestions in the AG.

(SOTW 1, on the other hand, has me bored to tears this year! This is my third time through the ancients though, and sadly, it's long since lost it's magic! :blink: My 6.5yo son *does* tend to internalize things, so I wouldn't read SOTW 4 with him yet. I doubt it would hold his interest either at this age.)

[Elise]

We are doing SOTW4 this year and have loved it! I think it may even be the girls' favorite of the series.

I think it was perfect timing developmentally for them (4th and 5th grade). It's definitely heavy stuff, but they were totally ready for it. I'm going to be sad when we finish--we have had the most amazing discussions this year!

[mcconnellboys]

LOVE it! I SO wish I had SOTW III and IV to have done with my older son when he was younger. I have learned SO much from these last two years about modern history that I did not know. Every week I learn more! I'm amazed at how lacking my education has been, LOL! I understand so much more about the modern world now - how current events fit together, America's place in the world - wow!

We're reading this week about Kennedy's handling of the Cuban missile crisis and I have, for the first time, a *real* sense of why he was so admired in the world. I finally understand what the deal has been with Cuba all my life - wow! (One great little book we've read is Cuba, After the Revolution.)

I'm newly amazed every week since Christmas, as we've gotten into very unfamiliar territory for me. And I've gotten a much clearer picture of the presidents of our modern era, as well.
I wish SWB would write a book about the Presidents, or a government book, perhaps.....

[Susie in CA]

Well, we will use it as an add on as we like. We, too, have used SOTW 1, 2, and 3 and really liked them. I don't have a problem with the wars - they are in the others, too. I just think that SWB stepped it up too much for us. We are not ready for that much detail.

Susie

[WTMindy]

It's not that I don't like SOTW IV, actually I'm finding that I love it as much as SOTW III for the marvelous way it weaves modern history into perspective for us. *I* am learning so much that has been lacking in my modern history education! It's just that teaching modern history, in general, is so very distasteful for me. It's all about revolution and struggle and war and the thousands of ways to commit genocide against those who get in the way of power, are thought to hold up progress, or just get blamed for things not their fault. And it's about political corruption around the world, and big business squeezing the little guy as much as the aristocracy ever did and all the dirty underbelly of civilization. Where's the romance? It's hard to grasp it. And so it is simply not as appealing as those millenia that have gone before. We do try to balance out all the bad and sad with all the accomplishments and innovations; the advances in science and technology, etc. that have occurred during modern times. But there really is a lot of turmoil and sadness in modern history...... Not every story is a comedy.....

Regena
This is one of the reasons that I liked adding in History of US alongside SOTW4 because they were able to include chapters on artists, sports heros and musicians along with the realities of the century. It was a good addition.