Could some of you explain to me in succinct explanations, what is Waldorf? Thank you! :001_huh:

Thank you, Eddie. education.com looks especially great!

Thanks! Anyone else think it's not worth the investment in time?

I have found a couple of sites that have free writing worksheets for alphabet and numbers on the web, and am considering using them for my upcoming 4-year old. We live in Africa, and I thought this might be cheaper than shipping a couple of books (was thinking of ABeka K4). But now I'm wondering--is it worth all our ink toner and my valuable time to organize it all (and it would be in black and white), or should I just go ahead and get something already organized for me? (and ABeka's sheets would go far beyond just writing letters, etc.) If any of you have tried the free internet route, did you find it worth it, or more effort and money in the long run? Please advise.

Thank you! I plan on using MFW ECC shortly.

Wow! Thank you so much for asking the question and for the helpful answers. Anything ELSE? :) I'm in South Africa and would love to get books without having to ship them all!

I'm in a similar situation! Barely 5, 3, 1 yo., and a 2-month infant! Thankfully, that means I only have kindergarten going on for homeschool. But it's still been stressful. I try to do that hour or two while the 1yo sleeps and before the infant's next feeding. I also make use of the high chair for the 1 yo and, if I were you, with the 4 yo, I'd put him on the top bunk (if you have bunk beds) to do his work baskets where the baby can't reach. :)

Thank you for the links!

I just started my son early this year at 4 and 8 months. :iagree:with everyone else who says go ahead if you decide he's ready. If I saw my boy flagging because of too many worksheets, we just went a bit slower. So long as your motivation is that you think he's ready, not trying to convince yourself he's smarter than he is. :)

Stuff by Lynne Reid Banks--Farthest-Away Mountain, Indian in the Cupboard. Also look for the authors Scott O'Dell and Avi.

Also Beauty. It's beautiful. :) A retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

Can anyone tell me if these are still there? I am a misisonary living in Africa, but really want these books. One of my relatives may be able to go with one of HER relatives who has membership there to get them, but I don't want her to make a special trip (she has 5 kids herself) if they're not there anymore. I just looked online and couldn't find them there. Can anyone help me with that? (She lives in IL.)

Thanks, Annabel Lee for the clarifications. Yes, MFW doesn't use SOTW for year 1, they use the Bible and a some other books. I had thought to maybe use Biblioplan instead or supplement MFW for that year. I don't know what I'm looking for in timelines. lol! I've never done this and the timelines seem like a boring part of classical ed to me! But BP's looked neat. I wondered if MFW's were as "cool." Wish I could see the student sheets for MFW, BP, and SOTW AG in front of me and see which look the most colorful and fun. Thanks for all of your comments!

I'm in between those 3 options: MFW, Biblio, or Truthquest. Trying to decide what's best for us. We're missionaries and plan to buy 4 years worth at one shot next year when we're in the States because international shipping is too expensive to ship curricula every year. So I don't want to make a mistake. Whatever I buy, I've got to make it work until the next time I come home to the US! :001_huh:

About that book list: It sounds great! But we are missionaries in Africa without a library. Could we still do it? Or would the costs to buy enough supplemental reading really add up? Thanks!

That's funny. :) I think I understand. It seems like their Bible/worldview discussions are pretty good, right?

Could former and present Truthquest History users please give me some users' reviews? Pros and cons? Also, do they schedule the optional spines for you? Thanks!

I also wanted to share that I wrote BP and MFW with questions on their website contact emails. BP has fantastic customer service! They wrote me back with answers in less than 20 minutes! I had asked questions of MFW a while ago, and it took them a week and a half to get back to me. And the BP lady was so kind. I wouldn't buy a curriculum just based on that, but it was very impressive for BP.

Also, if MFW has a sample of their student sheets, I haven't seen it. Any MFW users able to compare/explain MFW's students sheets with SOTW AG or BP's cool histories? What is in MFW's students sheets? Thank you all for your comments. I'm overseas and can't go to a homeschool convention to see the books and touch them. Makes me worried about making a mistake, especially since we plan on buying a couple years a head next time we're in the States, as international shipping is SO EXPENSIVE! :eek: Thanks again.

I was thinking of using the fascinating facts from BP to supplement the same year of history from MFW. MFW also does history in 4-year chronology. MFW also uses SOTW, so I thought if the Cool History questions come from SOTW, I could just find the question worksheets from that chapter, etc. I've heard MFW doesn't have any sort of worksheets/evaluations through 8th grade for history, and that kind of bothers me, since I grew up with consumable workbooks, and guess I still feel better having some of that. I don't really understand "narration," and don't change very well. :) Though I admit I might really like it once I figure it out. I did look at the samples and was impressed with BP's maps and timelines, especially considering that's an aspect of classical ed that seems like it would be dry and boring--I didn't grow up that way. :) Thank you for the advice, and for the tip on Homeschool in the Woods as well. I appreciate it!

This is so neat. Thanks for the link. I couldn't stop reading. Now I'm off to bed with happy feelings.:001_smile: The testimonies of how God has used MFW in people's lives means so much. I don't just want something academic. I especially love the testimonies of how MFW has given parents and children a bigger view of the world and a heart for missions (being missionaries ourselves!) What an encouragement.

This is a super-helpful link. Thank you. Their Bible looks much more comprehensive and GREAT than BP.

Thank you for these links. I'm up in the middle of the night after nursing baby, and saw our internet connection was going well, so read them. I thought the second and last ones were especially helpful. It's hard to know what to do! Would it work to just combine MFW with BP? Or does that defeat the purpose of both? For example, use MFW's lesson plans, but get BP's companion as an extra spine for all those cool "fascinating facts"; don't get MFW's students sheets, but get BP's cool histories, maps, timelines, and coloring sheets. What do you think? Are BP's cool histories and maps/timelines nicer than MFW's or just the SOTW AG? What exactly is in the MFW student sheets? Thanks for all of you help to those of you who can answer any of these questions!

Thank you very much for your thoughts and tacking on the urls for me to look at. That's a big help! Anyone out there use both MFW and BP? Or you like whichever one you started with so much you don't even desire to change?:) ~Amy

I need help comparing and contrasting MFW vs. Biblioplan, and I am totally new to this forum. I had heavily researched TOG, but we are missionaries, and the cost to buy and ship all those books is too much. We plan to buy 3 years ahead when we're in the States next year, because shipping curriculum and books internationally is so expensive. I don't want to make a mistake and be stuck with a curriculum I'm not happy with. Could you help me? 1. I like 4-year chronological history. 2. I want to use the curriculum for all my kids. 3. I also want things more scheduled out for me. (vs TOG) 4. I want it to incorporate the Bible. How do they compare biblically? Does Biblioplan incorporate it into every year, or mainly just ancients? Same question with MFW. 5. I want to mix the history with literature from the time period. How do they incorporate literature? Would it be cost-prohibitive to buy the extra books? Does MFW have discussion/review questions for lit? 6. I would like to be able to solidify their knowledge somehow, especially with the older grades--have some type of evaluations. Does MFW have study ?'s,/sheets, tests to review the history knowledge in their 5-year cycle? Please help me if you have used these curricula. Thank you!!!!!