I'm making myself crazy trying to figure out what to do for next year! We used MFW this year. My kids are on such vastly different levels that I ended up doing three levels-K, 1st, and ECE. Individually, I really like each one of those, but trying to do them all has been crazy! Scheduling has been a nightmare. We finally found a routine that mostly works, but it's there are many days when we run out of time and don't finish everything we need to. I've looked at so much curriculum trying to figure this out. What I'd really like to find is something that has a common topic-something from science or history-with activities for different age levels. For example, if the topic was butterflies it would list different levels of books for each child to read, have vocab/spelling lists for several levels, some hands on activities to do together, some science worksheets/coloring pages of various levels...KWIM? It seems like I saw something like that last year when I was looking but decided not to go with it for some reason. I can't remember what it was, though. (or maybe I just dreamed it) Does anyone know if there is anything like this out there?
If I remember correctly, there is one called the Weaver program. this is supposed to be easy to do with a broad range of levels. It's been a couple of years since I looked at it, so I'm not completely sure of the details. wish I had more info to help you with! Good luck on your search.
"Christian Kids Explore _____ " for science topics is multi-level. If I remember correctly its for 1-6th grade.
Look at Learning Adventures. It is a unit-study that includes everything except math. It is for grades 4-8 as is, but can be adjusted quite a bit for younger and older.
Great Science Adventures is another that works well with a mostly younger group. (And I just happen to have their "Tools and Technology" book I'd love to sell!) Also either Mystery of History or Story of the World for your history.
I did ECC this year. I folded my kinder into it by letting her do the bible verse sheets. Being around for the readings, etc. BUT...I had different L/A curricula for her. Truly, quite a few of the book basket books are for younger readers. My youngest has loved the book basket suggestions this year! And it was an easy way to pull her in. We're not doing MFW next year (not because I don't love the content, but because I can't be a slave to a schedule, it kills my self-esteem!), But I'm still going to fold in my youngest. Now...I have it easier b/c my older two are closer in age. But I would recommend if you like MFW, JUST do Creation to the Greeks, and pull the younger two in as they are interested...let them participate in the read alouds and find coloring pages they can color while reading (that's another way I pulled my Kinder in this year). I know for your 5 y/o you might be working on teaching reading - but you can use the reading resources in the MFW 1st (I love that bible reader! My friend lent it to my for my youngest....she's loved it so much!!!). HTH. (((HUGS)))
So, kbabe, can you tell me more about how you did that? Did you read everything aloud to them (Living World Encyclopedia, Window on the World, etc) all together? Were you all pretty much working on the same things at the same time? I just can't wrap my mind around how to do it with all of them at once. I know for sure that my dd13 would get frustrated really quick having to wait for the rest of us. She prefers to work independently. She doesn't mind a read aloud for a biography or a novel, but it would drive her nuts to have me read the "textbook" to her. And I think most of the information would be above my ds5. If I started reading to him from Window on the World, I would lose him quick. And, I'm completely with you about the schedule. I have felt like we've been behind the whole year and no matter how much I try, I can't catch up. We're going to be doing ECC until July! Thanks for the advice!
I'm thinking of MFW next year so I can put my 2nd, 5th, and 7th graders together. I can't get past the price yet.
I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it yet. Like I said, we won't finish until sometime in July. :| Price is another factor in why I am probably not using MFW again (except 1st. I love that Bible reader! My son is definitely going to be using that next year). If I decide to sell it, I'll let you know. You'd still have to buy the student sheets, world map, globe, etc. But buying the books used would definitely help some.
My oldest can work on her own if she likes, I do not make her wait for me or the youngers. She often does everything, even the read-aloud on her own. I created a form called a DRS (Daily Response Form) which they use to write down words they need to look up, and I use it for copy work and narration, too. There's a spot for their favorite sentence, and a spot for them to summarize what happens in the chapter. For the Hero Tales, i created a form for them to write out the character trait and then there's a place for them to answer the questions. Our state is big on portfolio fodder. For my youngest, I use the Geography A-Z (I use Geography Scribe and print out the words for her to do) - There's a place for her to copy the picture, I often write a brief definition on the writing part for her to trace. (I use this for ALL the kids, some of them have turned out really pretty!!!) She colors the Bible Pages. I read the Bible verses to her (or we read them together). I do not have her trying to memorize, them, though. I do NOT do WoW with her...I think it's way over her head. She's done some of the art activites, and some of the eco-system discussions...it goes really well with the CLP Nature Readers (she's done K and started the 1st grade one recently). She sits in on the Missionary Story Read-alouds and Hero Tales. And I do not make her fill out the forms or answer the questions. (again my oldest does all of this on her own). Also, my Ker has done SOME of the mapping work....I usually let her color it and we talk about the continent and point out some of the countries and such, but I don't make her memorize it with the Geography game. For my Ker, I'm giving her an introduction to everything knowing that she'll see it again in her schooling. My Ker is VERY interested in whatever her older siblings are doing, so she refuses to be left out, and will often create work for herself! My middle (4th Grade) has taken to doing a lot of the work independently, too. I hope this helps you!!! Glad to know I was not alone on the schedule stuff! We're not going to finish all of it this year. But I'm thinking that we'll either do some two week stints in the summer where we'll do a unit here or there OR maybe start the fall with finishing up the book. We'll have about 4 weeks of it we won't get too, and I really do want to finish it b/c I really love the content.
Thanks kbabe! I definitely have a better picture of how it would work now. I love the idea of the Daily Response sheets! One area I feel like I've really be lacking this year is a way to have them record in some way what they've read/learned daily. We go over the readings and discuss them, but I feel like we need more. kbabe, how long have you been homeschooling? This is my first year and I'm just a little too overwhelmed by it all to think through it very well.
Tiff, it CAN be overwhelming at first! Just take things one day at a time, remember that you are HOMESCHOOLING, and not SCHOOLING AT HOME. You'll find your days will eventually fall into a pattern that works for you. Probably by this time next year, you'll be wondering what you were so concerned about!
Just wanted to add a thought here I initially tried to school my children together. And it was a HUGE disaster. I felt like my days drrraaaggged, the kids were constantly bickering, and my stress level was out of control. What works best for me is to do each child separately. The days are still longer than I'd like, but we are all MUCH happier. It does mean I repeat a sci and ss lessons twice, but that's ok: my kids each get more of me, and the discussions are completely different. Both kids get the SAME ss and sci, we read the same info and they watch the same documentaries. But my goals for each are different. And because they are separate, I have time to figure out exactly what each one is taking away from the lesson. Some things go over dd's head, of course, but she really takes FAR FAR more out of them than she would if I was trying to just teach to her age group.
Thanks, Jackie! I think with everything combined this year (first year of HS, buying our house and moving, staying with parents for 6ish months, health issues, DH's job situation) I just haven't felt like I've been able to focus enough on school. Schooling at home is exactly the pattern we've fallen into. It helps me feel like I am accomplishing something if I can put a little check mark in the box and say "we finished chapter _". But, I don't like it. It's not my style of teaching. My kids are learning (how could they not with one-on-one focused instruction) but they're not getting as much as they could be. That's why I'm thinking that going with a more inclusive curriculum might be better for us.
I've been homeschooling for 7 years. My kids have never set foot in a PS. Of course, we decided on homeschooling before we even had kids, so I had years to prepare before they were even school-aged. Our schooling has been a mish-mosh of trial and error and a trail of spent money on things we never used!!! BUT...I'm finally comfortable in my own homeschooling skin. My school does not look the same as others, but, it works for us!!! I would call us Classical Ecclectic. We lean towards classical and learning from literature, etc. BUT...I'm also a box checker with things like Math and Grammar! LOL I LOVE Teaching Textbooks. And I LOVE Easy Grammar. So do my kids, thankfully. I would be happy to send you the forms for the DRS and the Hero Tales if you would like them...just PM me your email address. They are my own creation, so no copyright issues. Now...onto the cost of MFW. that was my initial hesitation with it. BUT the only things I bought from them were the Teacher's Guide and Student Sheets. And they are very strict on their copyright rules - NO photocopying (mostly because some of the sheets in the student sheets they are using by permission from other publishers). Also, you're not supposed to resell the Teacher Guides. I think Sonlight is like that too. You are allowed to lend, though. That made me very happy. I did NOT buy all the extras through them. And there were things we skipped. (I got free passports from the Missori Synnod of the Luthern Church and made my own passport stickers - I could send this too b/c I did it myself from various sources on the Web) I got a lot using Paper Back Swap - which was awesome. I also got a lot from Amazon using folks who were selling things for .01 - which means it's $4 b/c of the shipping. I did a lot of shopping around to get the best price for everything. So I spent about $200 instead of the $400+. Also, I was able to get Global Art out of the library - so instead of buying it - I looked through and photo copied only the things I wanted to do, and I didn't feel guilty about that at all. I did buy the Properties of Ecosystems from AiG b/c I wanted to support them, I love them! Also, the History Scribe resources (Geo Scribe, etc) are usually inexpensive downloads - and sometimes she'll run a special on the whole system. I love these for filler and portfolio fodder!!! My husband gives me a fairly strict budget. If I bought all of the MFW from MFW, I would exhaust that budget and not be able to buy anything else!!!! So....I have to be a bargain shopper. I use my library system A LOT. and am thankful to live near a good one. Alright, I've rambled enough, again!!!!
