melissamomof5
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Posts posted by melissamomof5
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Talk to me about the pros and cons of each approach. I am so torn!!!
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n/m
got my answers already ;)
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Thank you all.
We do have insurance. So, the xrays were covered, but I just didn't expect her to go so gung-ho on his first visit.
I also am sure he will refill the filling for free, but the anxiety it has caused my daugher to have it fall out twice and need to be done for a 3rd time. The first two times she went with no numbing because she was more anxious/afraid of the shot. But I have convinced her she would do much better with the numbing shot...it's much less disturbing than having a hole drilled for a 3rd time in your tooth.
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We've been going to this dentist for 2 or 3 years now. I like him okay, his hygienists are nice and wonderful with the kids.
However, I just keep wondering if he's over zealous when it comes to treating "cavities"?
I've had teeth problems my whole life. I have only been in for a few cleanings the past 8 or 9 years due to lack of insurance. I have 9 teeth he wants to either do bonding or fillings on right now. I do actually trust this, because I can see/feel these problems.
However, with the kids, if the "cavity" is only visible on an xray, do we really need to go filling it?
Dd1 - no cavities
dd2 - he has filled the same spot twice, and both times it has fallen out. The most recent fall out was the night before our appt (this week). She thought it had been loose for some time. He put a temporary filling in, but scheduled her to re-do it as it has new decay under it. I am frustrated it's fallen out twice. I didn't get a chance to speak to him about it at the visit the other day, but I plan to go in and ask about it Monday.
dd3 - has 3 new cavities. She's already had a handful done.
ds - this was his first cleaning ever. He turned 5 yesterday. They did x-rays on him before I even knew it. I don't think his cavities even were visible without the xray. But supposedly he has 4 around one tooth. They want to fill them. I am afraid of how he will handle this. He takes a flight approach to when you want to put neosporin or even just chapstick or lotion on him. :P
I do not want to have a new dentist ask for our x-rays.
My thoughts are this.
#1 - just trust him and get the work done...afterall...I do like the office and they are good with kids
#2 - cancel fillings and find a new dentist to go to in 6 months for our next appts and see what they say
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We did HOD for 2 years with 3 separate guides. Honestly, at the time, I loved working independently with each child. It was good one-on-one time and I knew exactly what they were retaining.
This year we went back to MFW to combine the 3 girls. I needed that simplicity this year.
But now, we're on week 23. Part of it I know, is the time of year. It's the time when I start to look towards fall curriculum, I feel a bit of burnout, we are ready for the snow & cold to be gone, and I'm tired.
But, I'm really trying to evaluate whether the combining was worth it.
What do you think?
To combine or not to combine? :huh:
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Can anybody help me out if you've used both? I'm trying to look at the websites and compare samples. They are basically the same time period, yet look so different! The pretty notebook pages and book choices of HOD look so beautiful, but I also want to combine my will be 9, 11, and 12 year old girls into it. We are using MFW CTG this year and I do love combining them.
I have used 4 years of MFW, on our 5th, and have used HOD 2 years (Beyond, Bigger, & Preparing). I love that HOD already has the rich books built into the reading schedule. Because of our library, I almost never get to the book basket books. I really have to just buy them.
I love both for different reasons.
Any thoughts?
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oh ok... my dh also didn't have much opinion on stuff until we hit high school years, but sometimes they get an insight on stuff that is missed on the internet screens. thought it was worth at least saying to have him read through since you're getting many conflicting ideas. hope it wasn't offensive to suggest it.
Oh no! Definitely not offensive. :)
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Melissa - thank you for the thoughts! :) I need to look closer at them and talk to the girls and see what sounds interesting to them.
My husband doesn't really have an opinion on the matter. ;)
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Thank you Donna! Some great ideas to chew on!
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Neither is a bad or wrong choice. so I'm still not going to have a do this not that :)
If the driving reason you began to second guess your initial decision about Creation to the Greeks has to do with what oldest child will not do in 8th.... then I'd let that be a small factor in the decision if i were making the decision for me. Your oldest can learn some modern history in non overwhelming ways over the next few years and it will be ok by end of summer of 8th grade. get some current event magazine each year... then in 8th grade if you stick in mfw programs... you'll be in ex1850. during week 31, you can have oldest start reading SOTW vol 4 and/or the Children's Enc. of american history from the 1850MOD program. They'll get modern history again in high school. And even this year in CTG...... if you wanted to.. the 6th grader could begin to use "reading comprehension time" on the CTG grid for more modern history... or even on light and independent fridays, you can begin in non overwhelming ways to learn about 20th century and do current events. In the most ideal setting, independent reading time would be historical fiction related to CTG, but it doesn't HAVE to be. We struggled getting book basket for that stuff and I had no problem tweaking for that.
you can go to RTR and it'll be ok. even the soon to be 4th grader will be ok if you cycle back in MFW stuff and end up doing CTG in 8th and then AHL in 9th. My oldest did that and it was ok b/c it was just different stuff.
one advantage of sticking with the initial CTG decision.... 2nd child is 4th grade and if you stay with MFW.. then it works fine in that case.
no decision.. just thinking out loud with you. :)
Very helpful. ;)
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Those of you who've been through them, which would you choose in my situation and why? :)
We started with MFW and my oldest two have been through K, 1st, Adv, and ECC. The last two years we've used Heart of Dakota.
It's time to try bringing the girls back together for history, science, and Bible.
My oldest has done HOD Preparing this year. We have loved it! Their next guide would be to move on to Creation to Christ. So, I planned to just pick up with MFW CTG.
However, I realized my oldest will end up missing the last year in the cycle for MFW due to entering 9th grade.
So, I could go with CTG and just have her miss that last year or we could move on to RTR.
My girls will be 2nd, 4th, and 6th this fall.
What do you think? Which should I choose? :)
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We did HOD last year with 3 back-to-back guides.
I know they say not to do that and now I know why! BURNOUT! I tried to repeat Bigger this year only with my 2nd daughter and we scrapped it. I ended up doing MFW 1st with dd3 while moving forward with her 2nd grade level Math and LA.
I am LOVING Preparing. It has been fantastic and I hate to think of missing out on future guides, but I NEED to combine. I have a 3 year-old and am expecting another baby in April.
I am wondering just how many of you make HOD work with 5 or more kids?
I could possibly combine DD2 and 3 into Bigger or Preparing next year, while moving older onto CTC.....but I'd really rather just combine all 3.
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dd1 ~ 7.9 (2 days late)
dd2 ~ 7.5 (a couple days early)
dd3 ~ 8.15 (a couple days early)
ds1 ~ 9.1 (almost a week late)
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I have decided to go back to MFW CTG this fall. I just don't think I can handle anything else at this point. My oldest has done very well with Preparing and I have loved all the book choices.
I just know that I really really need to bring the girls together in school at this time. I have no plans to sell my Preparing set! ;P Maybe we will return to HOD. I think it is fabulous, but maybe not so much for my situation. My kids are spaced just so that I really can't combine any of them into HOD necessarily.
We will see how MFW goes this fall.
Gratitude - I totally agree with your comments. I think I have learned so much from my 2 years with HOD that maybe I can take back to MFW and improve upon the things I struggled so much with a few years ago in ECC. Maybe one day I'll branch out on my own totally! lol
I read a great quote a little while back that talked about how more depends on us as the teacher and how we teach (our attitude) than the curriculum we choose.
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Believe me, you are not alone! I have done the flip/flop more times than I'd like to admit-in fact, I was looking at the HOD website again prior to spotting this thread! :laugh: I love aspects of both programs & have done various years of both. I like how HOD has the poetry, copywork, discussion, vocab. stuff laid out for you. We also use R&S, so that's a plus. Both of my dc tend to like "artsy" stuff, so again, a plus. Here's where I always get hung up with HOD. If we get behind, I find it much more difficult. For some reason, with MFW I've managed to mold it to our way, so if some days we only get part of it done, it works. With HOD, we seemed to go totally off the rails if the schedule got messed up. When it was working & we were able to get everything done & in, HOD was fantastic. We all loved it, school didn't take forever, etc... Which is partly why I seem to flip/flop. I've got the "grass is greener" syndrome. :D We are doing MFW Exp-1850 this year, and I love that it uses SOTW along with the other history spines. Even though it may seem redundant, I've been adding in the student pages to it as well as the regular student pages.
My big issue now is that I'm also looking long-term. I like that HOD is teaching them to be more independent, but I do enjoy the interaction, and the read alouds. MFW seems to foster that more, even into the older years. The other thing is that I want my dc to learn together. I don't want them to be in completely different history periods. Last of all, I've been looking a lot more closely at MFW high school, and I'm very impressed.
Looking back at my post, I see I've started rambling (I've had to leave & come back several times, so it's choppy) but I'm leaving what I wrote! All I want to say is, good luck & don't stress! Both programs are excellent, and I don't think you can go wrong with either. My advice would be to do whichever one will make things go more smoothly for you & your household. If combining is the way, MFW. If you are able to do multiple HOD guides with no problems, go with them.
Not rambling at all! :) I completely agree with all you've said. That's the main reason I'm looking to go to MFW...combining and making our lives easier, hopefully. ;)
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Re: the bolded question.... I suppose that depends on who you ask. ;) It also depends on what you mean by "a bit boring". Opinions on what constitutes "boring" can sometimes vary widely even within one family, like mine. My middle dd found HOD boring (too much busywork), so it depends on individual style and preferences. My oldest dd, though, would've probably loved HOD just as much as she loved MFW elementary if we'd found HOD first.... but she's a project girl, so pretty much anything involving hands-on projects, research, and notebooking is good. Her sister is not, so she didn't like either program at the elementary level.
My youngest has had a lot of learning struggles, so she only likes (if we're taking about preferences vs. needs) a very *few* things about school in general, regardless of the curriculum we're using.
What aspect of CTG have you heard is boring? Is it one particular book, or is it the Jewish feasts, or is it Book Basket or the projects or.... ?? That can make a difference, too. Have you compared scope & sequence, lesson samples, and teacher notes side by side? You might try printing off the lesson samples for the two programs you're comparing and reading through them side by side. Makes it apples to apples, not apples and oranges. IOW, don't compare HOD Bigger to MFW CTG, for example, or ECC, because you're studying very different people and places in each of those programs. But you could compare MFW CTG to HOD CTC, for example. Then after reading through those, compare the next level -- MFW RTR to HOD RTR. And so on.
You might also try to get an understanding of the long term goals and underlying educational and spiritual philosophy of both authors, as well as their backgrounds. One's background heavily influences what they view as most important in a child's education. (This is true even from one mom to the next.) This can give you a great deal of insight into whether any program will be a good fit for your family over the long haul or not. No one curriculum is completely *perfect* -- you WILL have to adjust or tweak something, no matter what. But you've got to have a starting point, and a desired ending point. What do you do in between, and how do you get from here to there? And yes, sometimes things do change along the way, so you may not end up doing exactly what you think you'll be doing right now. But God uses ABC in order to get us to where HE wants us at XYZ. You've got to have some specific goals in mind in between, though.
"A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." ~~ Prov. 16:9
I've heard from a good few who didn't like the Streams book and replaced it with something else after a while? I hear great things about the new science that will start next year. Great advice. from you :)
I did print the samples for both CTC and CTG and have been comparing them like crazy. My poor dh is like "deja vouz"! (or however you spell it). I love HOD, but I am leaning towards MFW because I would hope the benefits I have in my mind of combining my girls would actually pan out and be so. I am actually excited about learning about the feasts. I think it would be a nice year after this year of Preparing. My oldest and I have been reading "Fountain of Life" and there is so much talk about all the Biblical Holidays but not a lot of digging into it. I think we might really enjoy learning about it.
I keep trying to remind myself, worst case scenario, we switch - don't like it - and come back to HOD the next year. :P It really isn't going to ruin us.
Thank you for all of your encouragement and help!
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I think if you are going to skip a guide with HOD for a dc Little Hearts and Beyond would be the one I would most likely do that with. Bigger is good prep for the independence expected starting with Preparing. From what you said in your original post here I do not think it would be good to combine your oldest two. It sounds like your oldest is doing well being independent and I would not hold her back. Since your second is not as independent, she may need longer to mature into the independent guides anyways. If you want to combine 2 and 3 I would look at the placement chart for both of them and try to find a guide that would work for both. You can use extensions with the older if needed. I didn't get the feeling that your dd2 was unhappy with Bigger it just sounded like you were bored with it because it was a repeat for you?
Yes, I was a bit bored this year with it since I just did it last year, not to mention morning sickness & pregnancy! :P
Honestly, I'm sure she was probably reflecting a bit off of me. She also has a lot of anxiety about my pregnancy and health and I think she's just been altogether distracted this school year.
So, I guess this fall I will pray between combining #2 and #3 in Bigger and moving #1 on to CTC or moving them all to MFW CTG for a try.
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OP - I totally feel for you. We are using MFW Adv this year. We've used K and 1st.
I haven't loved Adv to be honest. I did love 1st! I'm not into all the hands on projects. I'm just not, no matter how "simple" they may be. Anyway, back to my point...For several reasons, I'm not thinking ECC next year is for us. I think we are going to HOD Bigger next year for my oldest and MFW 1 for my current K'ers. But, I'm really not sure I want to stick with HOD long term. I have 6 kids. I would like to combine them eventually.
I'm totally back and forth between HOD and MFW. I just don't know. I keep looking around hoping to find a program that is somehow best of both, but of course, that doesn't exist. LOL!! It's so hard to decide and know what will work best. :grouphug:
It does sound like we're in the same boat. ;)
I loved 1st, though I omitted some of the stuff. I liked ADV okay, but was wavering at that point. We really didn't enjoy ECC.
However, I will comment, HOD does have a lot of foo foo projects that some love and some don't. Some we do, some we don't. :)
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Have you considered combining all three of them in MFW CTG? They're definitely all old enough, and there are "advanced" optional assignments in the manual for an older or more advanced student if she's ready. There's also a VERY wide range of books (and videos) for all ages in Book Basket... even more so than in ECC, and definitely a wider range than in ADV (which is targeted to a narrower age group). You can also buy more books from other suppliers if desired, but use the CTG manual as your "spine" for all three kids. (That's how I think of my MFW manuals... those are really my "spine", not the books scheduled on the grid, because I adjust and tweak and flex as we go along, depending on each of the children's needs and whatever season of life we're in at the time. I've even tried combining MFW and HOD. A few times. :scared: :lol: )
I do agree with not doing ADV after Bigger. Bigger is much more detailed, and targeted at a slightly older student, IMO. Although I did beef up ADV for my oldest who was 10 when we did it the first time. (If I'd known about Bigger, I might've had her do that, but I don't know if Bigger existed then? When did it come out?) Anyway, it was actually very easy to beef up ADV. (Even Carrie @ HOD says that "beefing up" is easier than tailoring down... that's one of her selling points. ;) ) So it's not a BAD thing to use ADV with a 9 or 10yo.... it can work really well. But my oldest hadn't had American history yet when we did it, so that might make a difference, too.
Usually people who hated (or only somewhat enjoyed) ECC like the history cycle much better, and vice versa. I know I do. ECC covers topics in "space", while the history cycle covers topics in "time", so they feel very different. Trouble is, many people ditch MFW after a bad experience with ECC and never have an opportunity to experience the history cycle. I see it All.The.Time. That's why I rarely suggest that a person do ECC first, even though that's the official MFW recommendation.
You do have a lot of options, but I honestly think it would be most efficient to just keep them all in MFW, while tailoring the program to each student's needs. They're not SO far apart in age that they can't combine, and it sounds like your other options just have too many different frustrations tied up in them. And they're all going to keep doing math and LA at their own level, anyway, no matter which "program" you go with, so..... :001_smile:
We were posting at the same time. :) I can see everything you are saying and that's why I am so torn. I have heard a lot lately that CTG is a bit boring? I agree with your comments about quitting after ECC though. My girls were about 6 and 8 when I did ECC and it was such a bore. We started with such gusto and quit early.
HOD and MFW are just so alike yet so different. :( I am so torn between all the options.
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Hi Joyfullhomeschooler! Am I remembering correctly that this is your first year with HOD after coming from MFW? I've been curious about how things are going with HOD. If you don't mind me asking, do you plan to stick with HOD or return to MFW?
This is our 2nd year with HOD. Last year we did LHFHG, Beyond, and Bigger. This year my girls are doing MFW1st, 1/2 Bigger sort of, and Preparing. I loved HOD last year and love Preparing this year. I think I'm just getting scared about running 3 guides again with a 4 year-old & a newborn. I am also nervous about my 2nd daughter and her ability to do the work required.
Hm, well I have not used MFW so I can not give you advice there, but I would think your oldest will do great with CTC next year. For the other two if you wanted to combine them you might just stop Bigger all together now and combine them both into it in the fall. I do not recommend running back to back guides with HOD. I like to have a guide between each of my dc it seems to run smoother that way for me. ;)
I wish I had found a better way to combine starting this all out. Hindsight always helps makes things clearer doesn't it! :)
So now I am wondering, next year would I....
combine dd2 and dd3 into Bigger and try extensions with dd2...this would leave dd3 missing Beyond altogether.
combine dd1 and dd2 into Preparing the rest of this year and so -on
Any other options?
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In light of their ages, I think that Adventures next year for your dd2 would be too easy. Let me think some more.....
Thank you. :)
I did ADV with my oldest, but it's been a few years and I don't remember much!
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If your oldest is very bright and independent I would at least keep her with HOD. It sounds like it really works for her.
For your DD2 and DD3 maybe you could combine them in Adventures next year, then move both of them into Preparing. At that point you could move them into the MFW family cycle (bypassing ECC) or keep them with HOD.
I'm not sure how accurate my advice is since you don't have ages listed.
Oh, I forgot to list their ages. I will go edit that.
I did think of what you mentioned too! lol Too many choices!
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I've read almost every past post about the matter and have gleaned so much, but I'm going to ask again so I can get some answers that relate to our situation.
We have done MFW K, 1st, ADV, and ECC. I really didn't enjoy ECC AT ALL! But, my two oldest were only about 6 and 8 at the time, so maybe that didn't help us. We found HOD and did that last year. DD1 did Bigger, dd2 did Beyond, and dd3 did 1/2 Little Hearts. I liked it well enough. It went well for us last year.
This year, I have oldest in Preparing (which we love), 2nd in Bigger (but I hate repeating it! I am bored and she does not like the Eggleston books), 3rd is doing MFW 1st, and did Emerging Readers. I wanted to work on her writing skills and have her read through the Bible and do the Bible notebook.
I also have a 3 1/2 year old boy and am pregnant, due in April 2014.
DD1 (10 turning 11 next month) - She is very bright and academically does well with what I give her. She is doing Heart of Dakota Preparing Hearts. She has done very well with it, but she's quite independent anyway.
DD2 (turned 9 last Nov) - She is very smart, but a bit distracted and I am finding it really hard to keep her focused this year. I have been trying to repeat with her this year what I did with the oldest last year. However, it is not going as well. She cannot handle/retain the history read-alouds. I admit, they are a bit hard to chew on. I am bored because I was trying to repeat a guide I did last year. So, we have basically been focusing on math, LA, Spelling, and poetry.
DD3 (turned 7 last Oct) - She is very bright and does very well with what I give her too. I think maybe her learning style is more like dd1. She is about to start CLE 2nd grade math. She can read super duper well, but her handwriting is awful. :)So, I'm drawn back to MFW so I can combine the 3 of them, but I'm afraid of not liking it and regretting the switch. Maybe combining the 3 of them won't really go that well? Maybe the grass is just greener?
I was excited to move dd1 on to CTC next year in HOD. The books look so good, but maybe I'm just star-struck by the pretty covers on the books in the catalog? I wish I could get my hands on both sets, but HOD doesn't come to any conventions near us and I don't think I know anyone near me who uses CTC.
So, if I stick with HOD next year, I am thinking of doing Bigger with dd2 and dd3, so at least 2 of them are combined to lighten my load a little?
Can anyone help talk me through this?
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:o
Language lessons for Today (MFW) vs CLE for language arts?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted · Edited by melissamomof3girls
I should have mentioned I have used both, but I am just wondering one which is the best approach.
This fall I am considering this for 1st, 4th, and 6th. The 6th would be intermediate language lessons or CLE.
CLE is more expensive of course and consumable. But there seems to be some reassurance in my kids moving through workbooks. But I also want to trust that MFW has best thought this out and thinks what they recommend is best.
Different ends of the spectrum totally!