mykidsrmyjoy Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Ok, I know this is well in advance of when I'll actually need this info, but I'm a planner and we're camping this weekend so I've got some free time to think this through. :-) I've been drawn to MFW for a long time but have never used it. Next year I will have a 5th grader, 2nd grader and 1st grader. My current 4th grader is doing ancient history this year and i really would like to keep going with that. But I also know that MFW recommends starting with ECC. Would it be feasible to put 5th grader in Rome to Reformation and the 1st and 2nd grader in Adventures or would that be way too much work for me as the teacher? Should I put everyone in ECC (not really the 1st grader, she could just tag along with the read alouds). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 I used mfw for a long time and graduated 2 of mine already. oldest used their stuff from grade 2-12, middle gal pre k (old version that is) through grade 12. This is my opinion although others may disagree. I personally would not try to do both RTR and ADV at the same time. I'm not nearly as organized as it would take and it would feel like a lot to me as a teacher. People either like or hate ECC. It gets "boring" doing similar kinds of things with various countries to show similarities and differences. I personally really liked using ECC the times I did it. I found it easy to implement and still give everyone a little bit of what they liked. The repetition of stuff didn't bother me and didn't upset the kids. If they did whine about it, it was easy to find something to do like a new song, or new food dish, or just get out of the house and play at the science center. with that out of the way.... You could do RTR as the main program if keeping with history is that important to you to continue with chronological history. The issue might be that you don't over do it with younger siblings. They don't have to learn all of the stuff in there at that age. They can be invited to join in fun stuff like food, crafts, making a simple notebooking project, take part in timeline, enjoy the music, science, etc. But books like Augustus Caesar World, they don't have to listen. You can have them do the coloring pages so they hear the names and events. but that's plenty in a book like that. Listening in on SOTW will be mostly ok. Then the 2nd and 1st grader are still primarily working on 3Rs and everything else is just icing on the cake. The 3Rs can be done with anything you want. If the first grader is still learning to read, then consider MFW's first grade program. Using mfw first grade and RTR will not be undoable. by the way, when my oldest did RTR, middle gal was in first grade, and youngest was this wild autism child in preschool. reasons against RTR and ADV together?? if the first grader is still learning to read, then you're basically going to be running 3 programs once you add in 3Rs for that student. ECC with everyone: I think there are a lot more games in ECC that would fit for fun. in the long run, if mfw worked for you then you'd go from ECC to RTR (since you've done MOH ancient) and then EX1850, 1850mod and then oldest is ready for high school). In the long run, waiting one year on history isn't that big of a deal. Everyone gets a year old and history is easier to teach and understand. not to be creepy or anything, but I just also saw your post on mfw's board where you mention the children younger than 1st grader (congrats on new baby coming!!!!). That extra info makes me lean in the direction of suggesting ECC for 5th and 2nd grader, and letting the first grader tag along in ECC not for read alouds, but for the games, crafts, foods, fun with currency exchange, looking at picture books of people and places around the world. Then you have time to do 3Rs. If continuing some chronological history is really important with oldest, you can do that in easy ways with book basket time with topical history info from that era. Then you know you'll come back in a year and pick up with full on history ahead, and still get it in by end of jr. high. hope some of those jumbled along thoughts are helpful in some way. If the thought of ECC and year long geography is really blah to you?? it's ok to do RTR and let youngers have some fun tag along stuff while in 3Rs. don't fret on doing ADV with them. It can be skipped because the content will be picked up in EX1850 and 1850 MOD. In fact, the younger supplements for those basically is ADV program. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mykidsrmyjoy Posted October 2, 2017 Author Share Posted October 2, 2017 Thank you for this detailed response! You've given me some things to chew on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Ok, I know this is well in advance of when I'll actually need this info, but I'm a planner and we're camping this weekend so I've got some free time to think this through. :-) I've been drawn to MFW for a long time but have never used it. Next year I will have a 5th grader, 2nd grader and 1st grader. My current 4th grader is doing ancient history this year and i really would like to keep going with that. But I also know that MFW recommends starting with ECC. Would it be feasible to put 5th grader in Rome to Reformation and the 1st and 2nd grader in Adventures or would that be way too much work for me as the teacher? Should I put everyone in ECC (not really the 1st grader, she could just tag along with the read alouds). Two of mine are using MFW ECC this year - we are on week 15-ish. The oldest of the two won't be continuing with MFW, but the 9 year-old really wants to. So, if I can afford it, I'll be doing MFW Ancients with her next year (by herself). I would have no problem doing Adventures and RtR simultaneously. At this point, I'm juggling 5 kids moving in 30 different directions, anyway... I mean, at this point, we have 4 different science programs going...3 different foreign languages going... :svengo: The only thing that might stop me is money. MFW is expensive (well, for us it is). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 If the thought of ECC and year long geography is really blah to you?? It is very repetitious, but my 9 year-old and 12 year-old are loving MFW this year. They get mad at me if we have to skip it one day. They are almost to the point where they know where every country is through the Geography Game. And they love the Currency Exchange and the cooking. OP, if you decide to do ECC, don't skip the little extra things that seem frivolous - like Book Basket (mine like that, too), the cooking and art projects, exchanging currency, stamping their passports, etc. I'm very schedule-driven and I have a tendency to think we don't "have time" for stuff like that, but my kids have had a great time this year. They even made the "world cake" where they baked a cake, iced it and then took icing and drew the continents. One cake was the Eastern Hemisphere and one cake was the Western Hemisphere. :D The girls had a great time. And they told everyone how they made tortillas! lol The only thing we didn't like was Cameron Townshend and Kingdom Tales (we eventually dropped both). Oh well. Good luck with whatever you decide to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Those cakes sound like fun! I have a lot of warm fuzzy memories from ECC years with the little stuff. I can't remember at this point if it was in the teacher manual or just an idea I heard out there. But I used to have the girls pretend to be on a plane or train as we started a new country and would have breakfast in the new place based on common breakfasts of that place. oh and my warm fuzzy memory has a photo on their forum. in the ecc subforum, brazil section, top of page 3. oh, I do enjoy looking back at that with the stuffed animals in carnival outfits. LOL. that's right. Cam Townsend bio was slow and the details with the car thing.. . He didn't have lots of funky things happen to him. I remember condensing his story a bit to get to the point with Bible translation. Kingdom Tales wasn't in the program the first time we did ECC, nor the second time actually. But it became available right as we were finishing ecc the second time (five years apart, right?) and I remember liking one of the stories with dragon eggs. Good thing is with that book, it's read aloud and if one drops it, it's ok. Plenty to read and you don't lose the essence of program for dropping it, or not finishing a biography. very flexible like that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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