Having looked at these two sources for history I can't see much difference except in style. I think MOH would suit us better but as I am having trouble locating a source will consider SOW (which I know I can get.) Has anyone used both? Which do you prefer & why? What are the differences (besides the obvious one of MOH being bible based)? I basically want to paint the big general picture as I am strong in history & focus more of the cultural aspects. Anyone? Thanks ladies.
SOTW is for younger ages. MOH can be used for younger AND older. Well, you can use SOTW for older, I did, but it's written at a younger level, so they need to do more outside stuff. But we had a GREAT time with it! My kids loved it! We did so many of the Activities in the Activity book. There was a wide variety and I added some of our own things too. I actually haven't used MOH much yet. I'm waiting to continue until after US History, or sometime when we're not so busy! As you probably know, SOTW is more secular, MOH is Biblical. We added Biblical stuff to the SOTW from www.timelinesetc.com and other sources that we came across. Any specific questions?
SOTW is Story of the World. With SOTW, you purchase the activity book separately. With MOH, the activities are included at the end of each lesson, and there are supplements at the back of the book. ONE purchase, unless you desire the audio CD. (I'm not sure if SOTW has a teacher manual? MOH does not.) SOTW activity book does include some pages for "just coloring" and has quite a bit more worksheet activities than the MOH does. I have the SOTW activity book and plan to use it occasionally as a supplement to our MOH - IF we need something else to do, or if the kids are all jazzed up about a lesson, etc. (Someone gave it to me for free. LOL) I haven't looked extremely closely at the SOTW to know if it has a suggested reading list in the back of the book, but MOH has quite an extensive one that is divided by age group and includes games, boxed activity sets, and videos that seem to be mostly readily available. Each lesson in MOH has activities, as I mentioned, and they are also all divided according to age. There's an activity for younger, middle, and older kids for every lesson. I'm not sure if SOTW has this, or if it divides it by age group like that. I like this because I have one that is right on the cusp of younger/middle, so if the younger activity is too easy for him he can do the middle activity instead. MOH has built-in review every 3 lessons. (Not sure about SOTW.) Anyway. The seller point for me was that MOH is specifically Christian and includes Biblical history right alongside secular world history... AND puts a Christian worldview to each lesson. (It's all part of God's plan, kinda thing.) Pssst... God and His love ARE the mystery of history.
Thank you so much ladies. Exactly what I needed. My gut was MOH but it is so hard to judge accurately just from extracts. I'm not interested in busy work so even just the reading will be helpful as we are concentrating on Asia at present & I get living books through Sonlight. I want something to sit our in depth studies against a wider landscape. MOH sounds perfect & I haven't given up on locating an Aussie supplier yet. I'm not in any particular hurry.
one thought about the supplier.... You could contact adnil press and ask them if they could get it for you. It's not on their product list, but they do carry some US products, that's where I got my apologia science from. Worth a try, anyway. http://www.adnilpress.com/index.html
I wonder if one of US folks could pick it up and ship it to you? Maybe? I'm not sure if I could actually buy a hard copy w/out ordering online...but i could see?
kbabe1968 I wonder if one of US folks could pick it up and ship it to you? Maybe? That is a very sweet thought! :angel: I have a friend who will order from the US for me but I like to use Aussie suppliers if at all possible as an encouragement & a thank you for a family business that is usually a ministry run by another homeschooling family out here. At least the people I've found are mostly in that category. Great Aussiemum, I'll try Adnil too.
SOTW is much much better, and can be done with a bit higher grades than mentioned. There are dif levels to it just as MOH.
Nellie, can you elaborate, please. Why do you think sow is so much better. What makes it so in your opinion?
MOH is a five volume series, with only the first two volumes being available. MOH is a combined book/activities all in one. They also offer the audio version. They offer a printable reproducibles cdrom. The exercises to go further into the study are worthless. MOH wants you to make separate folders for each country or time period. They also say to make index cards, though they have nothing printed you are to make them on your own. Everything is 'on your own' make this and that and file it in folders. I also do not get why it is so much money for not as thorough of books. Being aprox $45 for the book/activity, the audio book is aprox $44 and the reproducibles cdrom $20. SOTW is a four volume series, all available. Their text is available as a hardback text, paperback, spiral or audio book. It then has an activity guide you purchase separately, also tests if you wish. You can also purchase extra sets of student pages if you have more than one child or print them on your own. There is much more to their activity guide; their are comprehension questions, narrations, reading lists, activities, maps, coloring pages, printed index cards that you cut out/color and paste onto index cards if you want. You can also add more info to them. This is multi age level and says it can be done from 1-6th. Though I have heard some even use them up to 7th. Prices, paperback book $16, hardback $21, audio $40, activity book $32, extra student pages if needed $9. These prices vary a bit according to which site you purchase them from and which volume. You can also purchase the first versions for less, now that their are new versions of each vol available. Cheers.
Also, I am not saying MOH isn't any good. We have used the first one. It is fine, just not nearly as thorough or indepth and can be done very quickly. We did not do all the individual folders or the index cards as we already have the ones from SOTW that are awesome.
I'm glad you posted that Nellie. We use SOTW and like it. Anytime MOH is brought up, I've just heard that it's Christian based, thus making is superior to SOTW. I was glad to hear some actual differences in the way the curriculums are set up. I have never seen a copy of MOH, so I have no idea what it's like. The cost was a factor for me. SOTW is readily available, and can almost always be found used. My kids LOVE all the activities in SOTW. It makes learning history fun.
Thanks! Yes, SOTW is available practically everywhere, also pretty good prices on resale value. I have looked at the newer versions and they aren't worth me changing over to at all. Either copy would be good enough. I think MOH's selling point about being Christian based...hm...is about all they have. I did not see anything 'wrong' with SOTW ('in general' I am no history major) being used by Christians. If you are using MOH with younger kids you may want to skip the parts about sodomy among other things. I also saw no point in learning that supposedly Julius Caesar was born by c-section. :roll: I guess I could be picky and name off several things in it...but I won't. That's it, I'm done.
I don't think I've ever said that MOH is "superior" to SOTW because it's Christian-based. I hope I haven't given anyone that idea! What I've said is that it depends on what you want. If you WANT Christian world view, go with MOH. If you prefer secular world view, SOTW is a better choice. I was looking very seriously at SOTW and had pretty much decided on it, but dh looked at it, and said he didn't want me using it because of the world view. It was then I found MOH. It's really been a great fit for my family.
Nellie, that was great & really helpful. Next question. I'm not interested in all the activities & stuff as any program I use gets tweaked towards music & art sooo...If I just want a reader that gives an overview of world history what difference, if any, is there between the two curriculums? I have a 12, nearly 13yr old & the Sow just looked a little too young but as I've never actually seen these in 'real life' it's hard to judge & it's a lot of money for what will basically be a supplement. Oh, & perhaps I should add we particularly like odd & useless bits of information such as Julius being born by C~section. Makes history come alive.
I don't think either one is 'better'....(well LOL yes I do) We also like useless tidbits of info too, btw I just thought the c-section one was a bit odd and stood out is all. And I won't forget it. That's why I mentioned it. I just did not appreciate some of the things MOH mentions in the book and I will not be studying more indepth in those areas. First off, if you get MOH it's not just a reader, it is a book and activity book all in one. There is no separate reader book for it. It is a paperback workbook. SOTW does have just the reader book. You can purchase the acivity book which can be used as art and music, we did. The difference between them is that SOTW is much more thorough. If your kids like audio books then I would get those. I have older children also and younger. I must say that all of them LOVED SOTW. I asked them and noone paused a moment. (btw when I asked them they said, "What did you think we would say!" They loved listening to the stories and ask for them even though we are no longer using them in our curriculum. My younger ones have memorized verses from SOTW and go around saying them all the time. You can always add in more religion to any type of curriculum that you are using. I was not worried about people saying it was 'secular' at all. We love history and pretty much any we can get our hands on. I would not say do not get MOH because it is up to you. Though I will say it is not nearly as entertaining, thorough or as interesting as SOTW. Hands down, there is no comparison.
