I also don't consider MFW a boxed curriculum. I'm considering switching over to it for first grade, although I do consider it a boxed curriculum for first. I'm curious as to what you don't like about it?

I didn't get a smart phone until April, and before then I had no wireless type of internet. A few weeks out of the year we would visit my in laws, and they have no internet. So when we would visit, we literally had no way of emailing or anything of the sort. So, I think it's possible. And I didn't know you could set your email up for "vacation." I'm not trying to be smart or anything, but just saying that I think it's very possible that she could have been without internet access. It doesn't explain other inaccuracies to the stories though.

I did not use a boxed curriculum for K, and I regret it. And I'm flip flopping whether to go with one for first. As much as I regretted how K went down for us, I still have hopes first will be better if I change some of our curriculum up. But I have a FEAR that it will be a repeat of K. And I really need to decide quickly. I took a break from putting a lot of thought into what we would do next year, thinking that if I stopped thinking so much about it, it would be clearer what we should do. It's not though. So, I'm up in the air about whether to use HOD Beyond, MFW first, or a mix of my own which would be FLL, WWE, MUS Alpha, Spelling Work Out, Zaner Bloser, and either FIAR (which I failed at miserably this year, but I want it to work!) or a new book by VP called Bede's History of US. ARGH!!!!! So, I'm one of those people who want to piece it together on my own, but I think a box curriculum will be better for me because I suck at planning.

Do you use these books as your only penmanship practice, or do you do penmanship practice, then the Draw Write Now books as a fun supplement? It looks like there's copywork in these books too, which I think I plan to use FLL and WWE this year, so I'm wondering if it would be overkill to use a penmanship curriculum, plus FLL and WWE, PLUS the Draw Write Now books? Thank you for your input!

I haven't bought anything yet. And I think in my case it's worse, because I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M GOING TO BUY! At least most of you ladies KNOW what you're going to order. I have been up in the air about what we're going to use next year for months now. I was obsessing over it, and then I decided to just chill and pray about it. I thought I'd feel at peace about one of the options by now, but I don't! :(

I haven't bought anything yet. And I think in my case it's worse, because I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M GOING TO BUY! At least most of you ladies KNOW what you're going to order. I have been up in the air about what we're going to use next year for months now. I was obsessing over it, and then I decided to just chill and pray about it. I thought I'd feel at peace about one of the options by now, but I don't! :(

I haven't bought anything yet. And I think in my case it's worse, because I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M GOING TO BUY! At least most of you ladies KNOW what you're going to order. I have been up in the air about what we're going to use next year for months now. I was obsessing over it, and then I decided to just chill and pray about it. I thought I'd feel at peace about one of the options by now, but I don't! :(

I haven't bought anything yet. And I think in my case it's worse, because I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M GOING TO BUY! At least most of you ladies KNOW what you're going to order. I have been up in the air about what we're going to use next year for months now. I was obsessing over it, and then I decided to just chill and pray about it. I thought I'd feel at peace about one of the options by now, but I don't! :(

My efforts are slow. I was going to post some of the same pictures that are available to view on Amazon, from the older, red version, just so you could compare. Anyway, honestly, the pictures look almost identical. I doubt much has changed.

I've never tried to upload pics with my phone before, so here goes nothing! I tried to upload two pics, but I think only one would stick. ETA: I see that worked beautifully. :glare: I'll try again.

I'm askng purely out of curiosity. I haven't used either, and I'm JUST starting to read about CM. I'm really digging her philosophy. It seems a little hard implement though, and because I also dig the classical philosophy of education, I doubt I will ever do 100% CM. I know that MFW is supposedly a mix of unit studies, CM, and Classical. People make it sound like HOD is more CM, but I don't really see that. HOD has the literature studies and there are lots of questions in the teacher's guide. In what I'm reading of Charlotte Mason, she was all about letting the children guide the questions. I'm not expert though, so maybe I'm wrong. So, which do YOU think is more Charlotte Mason? Heart of Dakota or My Father's World? I don't think there is a right or wrong answer here, since I'm just asking for opinions. Thank you!

I have both sets, since we started CC when they used the VP cards. They both do have their advantages and disadvantages. I prefer the new timeline though, b/c it covers more countries after the 1700's. it seems that the VP cards really focus a lot on US history after the US is founded. But I do like that the VP cards coverlet in the ancients. There is a lot more about ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in the VP cards. I like that when we listen to SOTW that they mention these things and I am able to refer back to the VP cards. Like the Code of Hammarabi. Anyway, I don't plan to get rid of my VP cards for this reason.

I tutored the youngest class this year. I think it was harder in the beginning of the year, not really knowing what to expect. It got easier, as I found my groove. I'm a procrastinator, so I would usually wait until the night before to begin preparing and planning. It would take about 4 hours. Organized and smart tutors would prepare two nights before CC day. I'd suggest doing that. I don't know why I don't do it. Many ideas should be given to you at tutor training. I have also gotten many ideas from CC Connected and pinterest. We would sing songs, repeat memory work with silly voices, use hand motions, erase words from the board (even though my kids couldn't really read, it still helped). For review time, I'd play different games. We'd play candyland, using the CC review cards (the little ones that go on a ring.) We'd put together a Mr. Potato Head one item at a time, after someone answered a review question. I had subjects written on popcicle sticks, and had kids draw sticks to choose which subject we'd review next. The possiblilities for review games are endless! The science and art time is organized by the director, and we would meet up before the beginning of each quarter to discuss how we were going to do each project. I'm not going to say that it's easy peasy, but it isn't really hard either.

I voted "other" because I do both. I use the library as much as possible, but I also like to buy really good books. I think it's good to have some books take up a permanent residence on our bookshelves, so we can read and reread them over and over again. But books are expensive, and even when you buy them used they add up. That's why we mostly use the library. Edited to add that I do buy used as often as possible, when I do buy them. I've been surprised at the classics that I have found at thrift stores. I shop at used bookstores, and also buy used through Amazon and Ebay.

Commenting so I can follow this thread.

I hate being so indecisive! I have a feeling that we will be happy with either program. That does NOT help me. Haha! :p Now I wonder if we were to do HOD, whether I should do the Little Hearts one that comes before Beyond. I think she could handle Beyond, and it would challenge her just enough, but I wouldn't want to mess with tweeking future years, just so she doesn't get to Preparing too early. To be honest, I think I'm still leaning toward MFW, but I looked both up on HomeSchoolReviews.com and I couldn't help but notice that MFW had a lot more negative reviews than HOD. I'm trying to keep in mind that most of the negative reviews are from people who were dissatisfied with MFWK. Some people were also dissatisfied with MFW 1st too, and I am trying to keep in mind that MFW has revised their 1st grade since those reviews were written. My mind is spinning! And then there's also a part of me that wants to just ride Classical Conversations this year, and focus mainly on LA and math, and just read SOTW and other historical books. But I tried that this year, and I wanted something more interesting. That's why I am looking at fuller curricula. ARGH!

That looks very cool! May I ask, what curriculum are you using and what grade? Thank you for sharing!

I agree. You have no catching up to do. You can do the cycles in any order. We also jumped in with cycle 3. My daughter was 4, almost 5 when we started. We did nothing before starting it, and we really enjoyed cycle 3. It all works out because you'll memorize the timeline every year, and be able to reference that when learning new events. Plus, if you stay with CC, you'll eventually get around to cycle 1. :)

As for your new question, I do not have long term results yet, but I agree. I can only think it'd be beneficial to memorize a timeline. It's an excellent reference tool, and when memorized, it's always there in the back of your mind. Just a couple weeks ago I happened to show my daughter a picture of someone's father serving in the Vietnam War. I told her, "Hey! He fought in the Vietnam War! You remember that from our timeline?" And then my daughter said, "Really? So that's real?" She's only 6, so for right now, she's just memorizing things and not really know what she's memorizing. I'm okay with that! It will gradually click when she's ready to understand. Having the timeline memorized has helped me. The CC timeline gives dates sporatically through the song. When I hear of an event that might not be on the timeline, I find out when the date is and I can kind of place it on the timeline. Like, "Oh! That happened right before the French Revolution!" Little "Aha!" moments for me. :) I also just got the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, and when I first opened it, I flipped through every single page, finding things that are on the timeline. Many things are not on the timeline too, but I have a better idea of when they did happen now that I have a timeline memorized. :)

I taught A Beka K way back when when, before I had children. I remember a cute little "Good-bye" song that was in the curriculum guide, but it was not on the CD. Would anyone happen to know the lyrics? Anyone just happen to have the A Beka K guide just lying around? This might be a stretch, b/c I don't think many of you use A Beka. Maybe someone? Thank you!

Just curious. I hadn't really looked into HOD until today. I think my DD would be ready for Beyond. I was pretty set on using MFW for next year, but now I'm second guessing myself. I already have Math U See Alpha for next year, and I was going to use that on top of MFW 1st. I already bought some phonics books for next year too, but I was going to hang onto them for extra practice. It looks like HOD might be more flesible, and I could use the stuff I already have instead of their suggestions for phonics and math. I wanted to get MFW for next year because I feel I need my lessons already planned out for me. I intended to plan my own lessons this year, but I lacked the organization and motivation, so we have just been plugging away with worksheets. I want to do more hands on activities that go along with our lessons, and MFW looked like it fit the bill. But will HOD fit that bill too? By the way, what educational style is HOD? Is it Classical, Charlotte Mason, a mix, etc? Thanks a bunch!

Really? We have the "Who is God?" book, and I started to read it to my 6 year old. It was over her head. I felt like the age range is more like ages 6-10'ish. I'm holding off on continuing it. I do like the look of the curriculum.

I haven't read it, nor do I have boys, but isn't it natural for boys to play "war" and fight/wrestle/all that stuff? I just thought it was because I swear it seems that whenever there are two or more boys in a free range environment, they end up wrestling. Maybe I'm wrong! LOL! Like I said, I don't have any boys. I just assumed. On a side note, one day at our co-op recess, some boys were play fighting and one boy said, "I'm Genghis Khan!" I thought it was awesome and I chuckled a bit.

Just curious, do they do this sale every year? I don't know if I ever will use VP, and if I were to, I don't know if I'd do the self paced online. I let my DD play around with the free demos, and she really liked it. Another question. VP says that the self paced online is the best option for their history curriculum. Do you all agree? Do you have experience with the parent taught curriculum? I was just wondering. Thank you!

I'm very uncreative. Mine is just my last name Home School. It's not really official. I've just put it down when ordering things and they require a school name. I don't think my state requires a name. I could be wrong. I really haven't had to do anything with my state yet, since nothing is required for K.