Thanks for the suggestion to check on the purchase of the online being for only one year. You were in part right. You activate each unit separately and once activated you only have 3 months to complete a unit. Any unactivated units don't expire. You can use the student materials for as many of your children as you want during the three month time of each unit though. So yeah, not sure the "savings" is worth not being able to reuse it with another child and the other children after that.
That is really a crap-tastic policy. Sometimes life happens and we have to put school on the back burner if you are in the middle of a unit and have to stop for any reason for even a week or two, you could end up not being able to finish! That would really really suck! Esp when you only save $40 bucks! You're better off to just buy it and use it with all your kids, put the activity sheets in sheet protectors so you can use them with dry erase so you don't have that as an added cost over time, and if you never re-use it then it's not too big of a loss.
Awesome!!! I'm doing a happy dance for you. I bummed that I have to wait until July to order. Don't let it eat at you. If you really feel this is the right curriculum...then just be happy you can get it and get started on it....don't feel guilty about it. Keep us (me) posted on how it goes!
I agree with Sommer that the online is so not worth it. Plus what will you really be saving by having to print all those worksheets out? Yikes! Trust me....the actual sprial bound books are so worth it. And, I don't think I would even do dry erase on them....just buy an extra set of workbooks for each kid. Yes, it will be a little bit more...but you'll want to save all their hard work and individual creativity and not erase it. I like dry erase on some workbooks...but not on MBtP. If you can keep the parents manuals and books in fairly good shape you'll have really good resale value when you are done.
I'm suddenly really wondering if 6-8 or 7-9 would be best. If we start in Jan with them the kids will technically be in 1st and 2nd grades for the first half and 2nd and 3rd for the 2nd half of the years worth of curricula. If I go with 6-8, it won't be too easy will it? If I go with 7-9 I worry about the prerequisit of writing, neither are great at it. I'm ok if we had to do the lit as read alouds if they are above what they can read, really it would save them from fighting over 1 book. From the samples 7-9 looks doable for them, but I worry what kind of assignments I can't see. <sigh> what to do, what to do.
I am learning a lot from this thread: http://www.secularhomeschool.com/homeschool-curriculum/5235-calling-all-mbtp-families.html
I would e-mail them. I got a reply from Keith quickly and he was a great help. What helped me when considering the 7-9 was that I checked the samples at Amazon for the main books in that level. Tornado is first, and it's going to be easier. The others books are: Sarah, Plain and Tall Who Was Helen Keller Morning Girl Adventures in Ancient Egypt (no samples at Amazon) Adventures in the Middle Ages (no samples at Amazon) 50 American Heroes Poppy Charlotte's Web The Family Under the Bridge One Day in the Tropical Rainforest The Whipping Boy Iggie's House On their website under "Choosing An Age Level" at the bottom they say: "When we select the books for our literature units, we have advanced learners in mind. For this reason, our books have a reading level that is high for the ages provided. It is very possible, for example, for a 5th or 6th grader to benefit from the literature units of 8-10, or for a 4th or 5th grader to benefit from the 7-9 literature units. If the books or topics are of interest to your child, you should feel free to use them." When I e-mailed them asking if they thought a newly 10 year old could do level 7-9 without it being too easy, Keith replied: "One of the reasons that we chose to use age levels instead of grades was so that families would be free to choose a curriculum level that meets their child’s individual needs – rather than just choosing 3rd grade because of where their birthday happened to fall. You will probably find that the reading level in the first semester of Age 7-9 (especially the first unit) might be a bit simple for your 10 year-old to read, but by the second semester the books are on a 4th grade level and are interesting enough that most parents want to read them as well. It is not necessarily a bad thing that the reading level isn’t at a student’s max for a semester, and if your 10 year-old needs instruction in writing paragraphs, that is definitely where I would start her. The curriculum is engaging and fun, and if you need to make things a bit more challenging, it is very easy to do so." The reason I want to go with level 7-9 is because we've never read any of those books, and I think she will enjoy them. Also, her writing isn't all that great (let's not even get started on her spelling). In 7-9 they are expected to be able to write 3 or 4 sentences on a topic. The next level up they should be able to write an organized paragraph (we aren't there yet). I guess in considering the level 7-9, you'll have to decide if your kids can "write 3 or 4 sentences on a topic" be able to "answer comprehension questions about a chapter in a journal" and then be able to read those books (which they are supposed to do independently....but I think my dd and I will read them aloud together). I wouldn't want to sway you toward one level over the other and then have you be disappointed...so it's best that you e-mail them and see what they suggest. But, I will say that...for us, I would rather have the work be just a little bit easier and beef it up a bit if needed then to have the level be a constant struggle.
I messaged the seller of the 2 units that are on ebay days ago, I have yet to hear back from her/him. They have completely lost my business I believe. I'm really not sure after sleeping on it a bit that I'm going to go with MBtP. I have done some extensive searches and found some really great resources to go with the Core Knowledge Sequence. I have also found some sources that have very reasonable annual fees for some activity/worksheet pages.
I've spent a lot of time looking at MBtP and Sonlight and even checking out Winter Promise for the first time today. I've concluded that the cost of MBtP when it's nearly impossible to combine my children with it isn't doable for us. I love the look and approach of sonlight BUT at the same time I think it's something I would get overwhelmed with once we were using two cores - my oldest two could do a core together and my younger two could do a core together. I was in the middle of looking at winter promise when I remembered that bought an e-book omnibus MONTHS ago that has a US Geography program I intend to use next year for our social studies. I'm already set for spelling and grammar, and know what I want for math. So it really is better for me to just focus on finding a science program to use next year. I always LOVE the idea of the laid out full curriculum but in the end I ALWAYS end up piecing together subject by subject because it's just what works best for us.
That is so annoying. I contacted a seller on ebay two weeks ago about something...never got a reply. I mean...isn't it just common courtesy to at least reply?? I guess not with a lot of people these days. Hopefully you'll figure out what you want to do. It's hard when there are so many options.
Hi! this is my very first post on this forum. In fact, I was compelled to join, just so I could write to you! I don't know where you are with you quest for MBTP, but I just wanted to share my experience. I am new to homeschooling, so I'm still learning a lot, and my daughter is only in kindergarten, so obviously my situation is different from yours, BUT...I just started with the MBTP that I bought used. We already do reading and math programs, and I don't want to ditch them, so MBTP is an add on. We have done a few of the lessons in the 5-7 level and my daughter has enjoyed them, but I really don't think she'd be missing out all that much if we didn't have this particular curriculum. Mostly, it has given me a focus for topics to discuss and talk about with her (ex...right now we've been reading and talking about habitats). We have skipped quite a few of the worksheets... So, I guess what i'm saying is that, in my experience, unless you're willing to ditch everything else you're doing and just do MBTP (with a math program...I think they recommend Right Start), I don't know if it's worth the money. I'm also thinking the "gifted" claims may be hype. I think my daughter is probably average in terms of her intelligence...but she has no problems with the concepts or activities so far. We have skipped the worksheets for two reasons. 1) it's printing practice that she doesn't need 2)We don't have time for them (we do MBTP after she has already done ETC, JUMP Math, HWOT, and reading practice with me. I'm trying to use this program to add interest and variety. Also, I'm wondering if you have thought about Five in a Row instead. You can always cut out the religious stuff if you want. The parent book is about $35 and then there are the children's books you can get from the library or purchase. There are activities for each subject in this program as well... If you still really really really want it though, it seems that you may have an easy time selling it, when it comes time! Good luck with your decision!
