AFthfulJrney Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 I was hoping to get some feedback on the barefoot ragamuffin curriculum. I'm in search of a new science and history program to use next year with my to-be 2nd and 4th graders. What are your thoughts/opinions on wayfarers and the Quark Chronicles? Are they complete? Are they typically used as a spine? From what I am reading on their website, they both sound like something I'd like, but I'd love some honest feedback from those of you who have actually used it. I'm also very curious about ELTL and RLTL. Are they to be used together? How does ELTL compare to Bravewriter...another program I am very interested in. Any thoughts, opinions, or how you use this curriculum in your homeschool would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hands-on-mama Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 I just got our first Wayfarers guide in today. We have been using ELTL 2 for a couple months though. We really enjoy it. I do know that in level 2 it is copywork and narration. I'm not completely sure when she moves to written narrations. Hope someone else can help. There is a Facebook group btw! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCF612 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 We are planning to use it next year so I'm interested in this too. I've been trying to read all I can find on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFthfulJrney Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 I just got our first Wayfarers guide in today. We have been using ELTL 2 for a couple months though. We really enjoy it. I do know that in level 2 it is copywork and narration. I'm not completely sure when she moves to written narrations. Hope someone else can help. There is a Facebook group btw! Thank you for the info. LULU.com is having a sale that ends at midnight and I'm trying to decide what to purchase. I'm thinking of buying it all...ELTL, Quark, and Wayfarers...and just pray I like it, or just go ahead and sell it if I don't. I've done some google searching for reviews and the ones I have found have all been positive, so that's definitely encouraging. Have you ever used RLTL? I wouldn't need it for my oldest, but I'm wondering if it would benefit my son or not. He is 6...almost 7...and still not reading. What I've been using with him up to this point has been ETC books as well as easy readers from Usborne and the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caedmyn Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 There are good samples on lulu. Also that bundle sale that happens in May had a lot of her stuff last year ..choice of one level of ELTL (1-3 I think it was), RLTL, and Quark Chronicles Botany were all there. Can't remember about Wayfarers. We're using ELTL 1 & 3 this year. Written narration is introduced in 3. I really like it though we don't do everything in 3 (using a different grammar program and we don't do the playing with words exercises). We won't use 4 next year but will use 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caedmyn Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Wayfarers is a schedule/guide from what I understand. You could use RLTL completely separate from ELTL...they're not intertwined at all. Quark chronicles reads like a novel...idk if it's intended to be used as a spine. We used it as a supplement (the botany one). There have been several threads on ELTL and her other stuff recently if you want to do a forum search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFthfulJrney Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 There are good samples on lulu. Also that bundle sale that happens in May had a lot of her stuff last year ..choice of one level of ELTL (1-3 I think it was), RLTL, and Quark Chronicles Botany were all there. Can't remember about Wayfarers. We're using ELTL 1 & 3 this year. Written narration is introduced in 3. I really like it though we don't do everything in 3 (using a different grammar program and we don't do the playing with words exercises). We won't use 4 next year but will use 2. I wasn't aware of a bundle sale! How much are the savings? LULU is having 27% off that ends at midnight, so I went ahead and ordered Wayfarers Ancients Term 1, Botany, ELTL 1 and 4, and RLTL 1. Hoping I don't regret it now that I learned of this sale! Ha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caedmyn Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 It's a homeschool bundle sale with many different publishers of e-curriculum. There were different packages at different prices, plus a build-your-own option, and buy 1 or 2 and get 1 free options. How much you'd save depended on the package, or original price of the curriculum. (And I don't know if the same material will be available again...I thought it said something last year about being all new material, but it was the first year I've seen it so can't say for sure). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizahelen Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 I am using rltl. It got me to do wrtr, which was great, because that book was not user friendly for me (at first!). I am still doing just phonograms, and haven't yet started the spelling notebook. I have actually gone back to the wrtr phonogram order of phonograms. I think it really helped me break down wrtr and make it simpler and less intimidating, but at the same time, I am using wrtr more now too. I don't have any experience with wayfarers, but I do think it's awesome that she likes the same literature as I do! Sent from my XT1094 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verity Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 I used Wayfarers for lit, science and history for my 4th and 8th graders this year. In practice that means that they were studying the same topics during the year, just at different levels, and listening to the same read alouds for Geography and science. Wayfarers has been a huge hit in my house even though I ended up subbing History Odyssey level 2 ancients for my 8th grader because I felt that the dialectic spines were too basic for him and he needed more structure to do something with the information. We used her Ellen McHenry science spines, along with Quark Chronicles and a variety of other living books (the Story Book of Science, for instance). We have really enjoyed the geography readers and history books as well. I did get ELTL books for my sons but I think I picked the wrong levels for my kids so I have two workbooks that are barely used. I ended up going with WWS I for my 8th grader and a mixture of Writing and Rhetoric (from CAP) and IEW fairy tales for my 4th grader. I could just as easily used WWE but I wanted to try something new that had alot of continuing options. Wayfarers isn't a spine, it organizes your spines (you are given several options for each level grammer, upper grammer, dialectic & rhetoric stages) and suggests living books and literature to supplement. It is a curriculum more like Tapestry of Grace (but much easier to use) with book suggestions that are some of the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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