:iagree: Initially I looked at placing my dd who will be in 4th next year in CTC, then I started reading all the posts here and on the HOD boards and started to panic. In my mind I went from placing her in CTC to Bigger and then really started looking closely at the skills of my child, where she was and where I wanted and knew she could go next year. I so want this year to be one focused on her learning level since she has always just tagged along with her older siblings and has never specifically been taught at her level in history or science. I'm not saying that this is bad, because I know her day will come when she is the oldest and leader of my upcoming little ones. I just saw this next year as an opportunity for her to learn separately in her own curriculum. Maybe one reason people place their older children in lower levels is for combining issues. I know personally I would have a hard time running 2-3 guides in the Beyond-Preparing stage. I think each person has to make an informed decision based on the samples and posts we have read to correctly place our children in the correct level. I have a real peace about placing dd 9 into Preparing because MY child: -fits into the age range and grade level for Preparing -I am not trying to combine any children with her -has done some oral and written narration -she is still working on cursive but with a little work over the summer hopefully will be able to write all in cursive -is ready for more independent work -has never done an overview of world history -I have looked ahead to the work level and requirements of CTC and think that realistically she will be able to handle the work load in 5th grade Honestly, I have looked at this endlessly and still may find that she may need to do Preparing at half speed. I don't have the guide yet so you are probably in a better position than most if you can see the actual work and perhaps try the level you feel led to do with your ds. Just my two cents, but if I had any doubt I would use Bigger with a 3rd grader because if you schedule out the remainder of the years he would fall right into finishing the HS level on track for his age. That was another factor for me to use Preparing:001_smile: You are such a great mom taking all this time to research and really want the best for your dc. I think you have a great head on your shoulders and will ultimately make the right decision for you :001_smile:

Linda, I think it all depends on the child. For my 12yo dd in 7th this year I knew she could handle the work and I think if she had been a year younger I would have not used Apologia GS (very time consuming and a more difficult text), or all the extra readers. Some of them are for a bit older child and had some graphic situations in them, nothing out of the ordinary for missionary work though. I think once you get started you will be able to add to her work if you need to, but with the bi weekly country summaries and geography workbook she will be busy enough. BTW I did not have my 9yo dd in 3rd grade use the geography workbook or do any country summary sheets. She dove into the book basket and read instead and orally narrated to me. Also, don't feel guilty if your 9yo can't fill in all of the science worksheets by herself, it really is a lot for them at a young age. I think your older children will get a lot out of ECC and you!! I am so excited to see how MFW HS is next year. I had yet to find a curriculum I could use and tweak so easily for all my dc. I am going to miss our time together in MFW, I only wish I had found it sooner! Please feel free to ask any other questions. :001_smile: Just saw that you were from Australia, the country/continent we are currently studying.....BEAUTIFUL. Last night we watched a movie on the Great Barrier Reef. What a field trip that would be

Linda, I thought that the 7th and 8th grade extra assignment add ons made this a complete geography and science program. I used these parts as is and found it to be enough for an 8th grader. We added some memory work to Bible, I used the LA grammar book they recommended but found it to not have enough practice for things he was struggling in. I used LL 8, WW 8, and IEW to give him the LA program that I wanted him to have. So, with that said he and his sister had full days! Overall, it was a great program. We all learned so much!

Thanks Heather, I took a quick look and I still think that HOD looks more interesting and well laid out than this. I also like that HOD is going through HS so I have the option for my younger ones to use HOD all the way through. Thank you again.:001_smile:

Sue, I totally know where you are coming from. I am going to be attempting to use PR 3 and HOD preparing next year with my dd 9. I think what draws me to HOD is the detailed guide more than anything. I plan to just pick and choose the LA section and continue with PR because we have come so far with it and I know how it works, despite my dislike of watching all those DVD's. I would say go with what gives you peace and you can see yourself doing. If you like HOD LA go with that, if you like PR continue with that. I know PR is time consuming...but that usually means it works!! I have tried so many things for LA and am sold on PR for spelling and grammar. I am almost contemplating getting The Bridge to Latin Grammar for my 12yo dd who is a weak speller and poor in grammar. I didn't start using PR until last year, but see that it works. Sure, I like the looks of HOD and using it as written, but I have never been able to do that with any curriculum so why think I will change now! :001_smile:

Thank you for this information, do you think I could find this out from the website or would I have to talk to the individual teacher to see if it is a "new" course? It looks like they have redone their website and there isn't as much info about each class as there used to be, or maybe I'm just not looking in the right place. I can always sign them up for a start date of early August (dc will love this :001_smile:) to give us 30 days to work with. Again, thank you!

I am almost afraid to ask, but what is LBC....? I haven't bought HOD preparing yet, so is it worth it to look...........or should I just close my eyes and forget I saw something else? :confused:

I used PR 2 with dd 3rd grade this year using MFW ECC. It was a great fit because MFW is so flexible with LA and gives plenty of room to do your own thing. However, I am moving my dd 9 over to HOD next year because the older two are doing their own programs (MFW AHL is one of them) and I really want to try HOD. I think you will have a great year with MFW if that is what you choose :001_smile:

Lisa, Thank you so much for taking the time to give such an informative and lengthy reply, this is the feedback I was hoping for. I too have struggled with the sciences, but after finding Apologia this year my kids have done really well with that and I think we will continue, but the math is another story. I am going to keep watching for what others say, but am leaning even more in the FLVS direction for math. thank you again :001_smile:

I am trying to figure out a math plan for my dc next year and I am considering FLVS for ds 9th geometry and dd 8th algebra 1. I guess I am a little nervous because we have used FLVS for extras but never for a subject that "counts." Also, I have no idea how they are going to teach my dc these subjects. On the other side I am not geometry gifted and my ds and I struggled through Algebra 1 this year first trying Saxon and now are about half way through Lials, and I am an algebra person! I just don't want to get stuck again next year with ds not "getting" geometry and then trying to scramble with tutors etc. We have both liked Lial's Algebra program much better than Saxon but I have not been able to get the DVT's to work even after reading all the posts on making them work :001_smile: My daughter needs to have some type of visual teacher, that is just her style and she has insisted that she is "done with Saxon." I assured her I already sold Algebra 1. So, if I can't get my Lial's DVT's to work I was thinking about trying FLVS with her. Any thoughts?

Well, I have only used MFW ECC but will say that this past year was our best in my eyes and my dc's. I'm not sure if it was the program or just that I felt better about teaching because it was all laid out for me as a general schedule to follow. We loved traveling to all the countries and cooking a meal when we finished studying each country. My dd 9 loved the book basket!! The older ones just felt that it was a liitle too much with all the other stuff they were doing with the 7th 8th grade extras. I will list my likes and dislikes and hope it helps you make your decision: Likes: everyone can learn together, Biblical worldview, easy schedule to follow, not much to prepare for ahead of time. Notebooking pages were simple, felt like I could pare down or beef up for each age I was teaching, flexible schedule and plenty of room to add other stuff. Science was just enough and engaging. Loved the book basket!! Dislikes: got a little repetative during second half of year, but that could have just been me as I tend to start looking towards next year by then, not much in terms of writing for a third grader, did not like LA for 7th and 8th grade, I love missionary stories, but just couldn't keep going through them but was ok because the book basket had alternates!! We pretty much skipped the art and did our own thing because we tried the book they reccomend and the projects just weren't turning out. I will still be using MFW for HS and K next year but am going a different route for 4th and 8th grade dds. Hope that helps :001_smile:

I really feel for you and hope you are feeling better about using MFW next year if that is what you are drawn to. I will have to say that this past year was our best with ECC. It worked great for my 3 dc and I loved that they could all learn together. I just realized though that this will be our last year of learning together as my ds moves up to HS in the fall :crying: However, he will be using MFW AHL and I am very excited about that. My decision to try HOD for my 9yo 4th grade dd next year was that my kids are all in different learning periods and to combine my 4th and 8th grader in CTG was just not going to be a good fit for either one of them. So, my 9yo will be using HOD preparing because I figure I still have a year before she needs to start the 4 year cycle to finish before HS and I have always drooled over their catalog and CM approach. My 8th grade dd will be using something totally different because she is a self motivated learner and likes a challenge and wants to be more independent. I will be using MFW K starting next week for my dd 4. So, I haven't left MFW, just trying out something a little different next year knowing that I can always come back to the 4 year cycle in 5th grade with 9yo dd if I don't like HOD. Sorry for the rambling, but I just wanted to let everyone know I think it is a great program!!

Thank you for the heads up. I knew that the grammar would be enough but worry about the writing instruction. I was just going to get R&S to look at the writing portion, not the grammar. I guess with PR 1 and 2 there was not anything but copywork and narration, which I think is great but there was never, "Write a story about this or what does that picture mean to you?" We did do that with PLL which I used only as an oral tool except the writing which I thought was just enough. Maybe that will be the case with HOD Preparing in the form of narrations and summaries? I haven't spent a lot of time looking through PR 3 so I'm not sure about the writing there. Any more thoughts?

I agree that one of the advantages of homeschooling is that they can complete their work in less time than PS. With that said my 7th and 8th graders usually spend a total of 5 hours per day on actual school work and sometimes I feel I am giving them too much work and not leaving enough room for them to just be kids :001_smile:

This past year I did something I never had tried before and that was to type out schedules for both of my older kids for the entire 34 weeks of school. I used a basic grid style 5 day schedule and placed each subject and what was expected each day. This wasn't as bad as it sounds because I just combined premade schedules for their main subjects, math, science and then added LA and and foreign languages. This made it so easy for them and me to see if they were on track according to my weekly MFW schedule. It took about 2 weeks of compiling the schedules but has been so worth it!! Also I had read somewhere about filing all your worksheets, maps etc according to week in a hanging file box. This also was so convenient when we started our weeks in MFW ECC, I just went to the file of the week we were on and pulled the papers for that week. With three students this worked wonderfully! Lastly, a new trick I tried was an in and out checking box. All my kids papers, books that I needed to check went to my in box and after I checked them they were moved into the out box for my kids to pick up. Mind you, several times their books and papers sat and sat and I had to be reminded to check them :001_smile: I hope this helps someone.

My dd 9 will be using Preparing in the fall with PR 3. Can anyone tell me if the writing instruction in Preparing that is not in Rod & Staff will be enough for her along with PR? or do I need to add an independent writing program alongside PR? Part of me just wants to get R&S 3 just to make sure I have all my bases covered.

:iagree: I will be totally new to HOD next year starting Preparing with my 9 yo DD. My dd said to me last night (as I was holding the HOD catalog) "Why are you always looking at that?" I just need something fresh next year and I think HOD will be perfect for her. I too am a little nervous about using a different language/reading program (phonics road 3) but since I already have it and have seen great results after using 1 and 2 I can't take the chance in changing her at this point. Not sure about the writing element either. I am new to WTM (I have the book on my nightstand and am reading it in my spare time) :001_smile: I will keep following all your great posts and I'm sure something will inspire me!

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