Story of the World Activity Book

[CParker]

Others have kindly suggested the Story of the World v.1 Activity Book for my Egypt-obsessed DD. Here's my question about this though: Is it helpful to have the actual book in addition to the activity book, or can I do without? We are not classical in any sense, non-religious, etc., and I haven't really been drawn to SotW so far, but the activity book sounds really cool!

[elizawill]

yes, i think you could use the activity guide without purchasing the SOTW book. of course, the activities are written to accompany each chapter, but the guide also has lots of other suggested books. you could incorporate a couple of those & do the activities. you may not get the full experience that the author intended, but i'm sure you & your child would have fun. i own SOTW & the activity gude, and we *may* incorporate it down the road. have fun! hth.

ETA, in lieu of the activity guide, have you looked at blogs? many people use SOTW and blog about their activities and resources used. i know there are several very popular ones out there. i'll look for one specific blog that comes to mind and post back when i find it...

[elizawill]

thisi s the blog i was thinking of: http://runofthemillfamily.blogspot.com/

she's an MDC mama & her whole blog is about SOTW. hth.

[dotnetdiva]

We are non-religious and very secular, but love SOTW. I do think you could use the activity guide without the book, but the book will tie it all together nicely. There's also several Ancient Egypt craft books you could use instead of SOTW Activity Guide, but you won't get the maps and stuff. We now have 5 Ancient Egypt craft books, hehe.

The Run of the Mill blog has copied out all the Usborne Internet-Linked images and websites, and copied all the SOTW suggested books. Not sure that's so ethical, hehe, but it's certainly handy to have all these books' resources laid out for each SOTW chapter.

If you haven't been to our blog yet, head on over to http://satorismiles.com/tag/sotw to see how we use SOTW and activity guide in a secular way.

[zjande]

Our library carries all the SOTW books & activity guides. That's how I made the decision to purchase them- seeing them 1st from the library. Maybe your library carries them?

I rely heavily on the review questions in the activity book that follow up each chapter. And many of the activities are directly related to what we just read in the book..... I can't really imagine not having the book. But maybe the books not all that important after all. It'd be great if you could take a look at them at your library!

(BTW, we are also non-classical, secular schoolers & these books work great for us)

[CParker]

Unfortunately our library system does not have any SotW books. I didn't want to purchase the activity guide since its a bit more pricey (or I'm just especially cheap...) and have it be somewhat useless if I didn't get the main book too. Sounds like it'll be OK though, especially since we're not covering history in any sort of structured way at this point.

Thanks all!

[mangopassion]

I don't have the activity guide for SoTW, but I can tell you that we use SoTW and we are totally secular and agnostic in our homeschooling. I use History Odyssey and it has recommendations for some activities and it also has book suggestions that has have even more activities! For Egypt studies, we use Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors.

Elizawill ~ Thank you so much for posting that blog link! I've never visited that blog before and I really like reading blogs... especially when they pertain to either homeschooling or crafting! And especially Especially when they pertain to a curriculum or technique that I use.

[Smithie]

Another non-fundie SOTW fan here! There are places in SOTW where Judeo-Christian myths are presented as historical fact, but it's really no big deal to preface with "according to our (Jewish) tradition" and "according to Christian tradition" and go on with the chapters. It's not like I don't want my kids to KNOW those stories, after all. I really, really like the text and the workbook. Whether you a classical homeschooler or not, a world history written at the early-elementary level is a precious resource IMO.

[briansmama]

Yes! That's actually what we're doing- using the AG without the book. The guide has tons of listed books that you can use to learn about the topic in each chapter, and my ds really enjoyed those.

We have the SOTW book too, but my ds doesn't enjoy it so much, so we just use the AG.

[tbone]

Originally Posted by briansmama

Yes! That's actually what we're doing- using the AG without the book. The guide has tons of listed books that you can use to learn about the topic in each chapter, and my ds really enjoyed those.

We have the SOTW book too, but my ds doesn't enjoy it so much, so we just use the AG.

I'd be interested in learning more about how you use it without SOTW. I'm not planning on using SOTW, but from what I keep hearing the activity guide is quite useful.

Do you think it would follow along with the Usborne World History book or the Kingfisher one? Or is it better just to read the stories in the activity guide without following a spine?

Sorry, CParker, I don't mean to hijack your thread

[AngelBee]

Originally Posted by CParker

Unfortunately our library system does not have any SotW books. I didn't want to purchase the activity guide since its a bit more pricey (or I'm just especially cheap...) and have it be somewhat useless if I didn't get the main book too. Sounds like it'll be OK though, especially since we're not covering history in any sort of structured way at this point.

Thanks all!

I would try to pick up the AG and the book used. Then if it is not your cup of tea, resell it. The resell is pretty good, so you won't really lose any money.

Side note: If you are thrify, start doing through goggle books I am in LOVE with all of the free books available online. Many I have include Christian content, but that it why I am using them. I am sure there are many secular choices available too.

[CParker]

AngelBee, thanks for the Google Books suggestion! I found that they have a preview of SotW Activity Guide V. 1:

http://books.google.com/books?id=pa8...me%201&f=false

[AngelBee]

Originally Posted by CParker

AngelBee, thanks for the Google Books suggestion! I found that they have a preview of SotW Activity Guide V. 1:

http://books.google.com/books?id=pa8...me%201&f=false

Sweet! She has updated it since that version, but that will give you a good idea if you would like it.