I'm toying with the same idea, as I have one who LOVES geometry and thought she'd have a blast with the RS kit.

Here's a few links for you to check out, each showing a CM/classical blend with slightly different flavors: www.amblesideonline.org http://higherupandfurtherin.blogspot.com/2006/01/our-curriculum.html www.mfwbooks.com And these two are links to articles on this website discussion comparing and contrasting CM and classical: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/charlottemason.php http://www.welltrainedmind.com/morecharlotte.php

Five in a Row :thumbup: This is a fun, very easy-to-implement unit study covering "social studies", science, art, practical math, and some language arts skills. You'd still need to add phonics and arithmetic. FIAR gave us a great foundation with which to start our homeschooling career. http://www.fiveinarow.com/ If you prefer to have something spelled out day by day and which includes math and LA/phonics, then I recommend Heart of Dakota. www.heartofdakota.com

I'm watching this thread, as my oldest dd is wanting to study French, as well.

Yes, exactly. Take a look at those 7th/8th grade recommendations that I linked you to for ECC at that level. We've done the rotation differently because of coming into MFW later, so we're just now getting around to ECC and my oldest will be a 7th grader with it. Her maturity and understanding of the things of the world vs. the things of God is much deeper than it was at the 3rd grade level, and she's very "ready" for that missions focus. At the 3rd grade level, it's just "fun". At the junior high level, it has a much deeper spiritual meaning. I guess you could say the Lord "primed" her for it just recently when a missionary from Brazil came to our church, and she was VERY much into that message. In fact, she asked for a tape of the sermon to hear it again, and is now excited to study other countries and learn a foreign language. We've been undecided about which foreign language, but now she knows what SHE wants vs. whatever language Mom and Dad might "make" her learn. So, based on our personal experience, I think there's very good reason for the Hazell's to plan it out so that ECC is repeated as a junior higher, with the extra supplementation to make the academics portion of it age-appropriate. It goes to both emotional and spiritual maturity of the child. And if you really just don't want to do that for some reason, then I agree with the suggestion to do a year of FIAR before starting Adventures. Both of those years could be really FUN. I think that HOD is a wonderful program, but American history is stretched out over several years in HOD, so you're going to have a lot of duplication if you do it that way (while planning to stay with MFW long term). Both HOD and MFW are "complete", but they follow a different pattern. I'd choose one or the other, but not both for the coming years.

If your oldest is reading well by the end of that 1st grade year, I'm pretty sure the folks at MFW would recommend bumping everything up a year and then repeating ECC in 8th grade, using the junior high recommendations at that point to make it age-appropriate. Doing ECC in junior high (with their recommendations) will afford a lot of research and notetaking projects, reading higher level missionary bios, etc. Have you looked at their 7th/8th grade page for ECC? Here's a link to that information: http://www.mfwbooks.com/ecc_7-8.htm The thing is, you don't want to do state history or Cantering the Country because that will be covered in Adventures. And you don't want to do Galloping the Globe because that'll duplicate ECC. Starting with the SOTW history cycle will begin in Creation to the Greeks. Likewise, most of the other suggestions that have been made will be covered if you're following the MFW plan, so that's why I suggest bumping everything up a year and then doing ECC at the deeper level in 8th grade. Also, you won't repeat CTG, RTR, Expl-1850 and 1850-Mod. in high school as written. MFW is putting out high school programs for each of those years that are different than the elementary programs. The h.s. programs are meant to be done more independently and are college-prep work. Just wanted to let you know that.

You know, I have to laugh because this is the kind of stuff we just did naturally as kids back in the 60's and 70's. That was before cable TV, computers, fax machines, and cell phones. It didn't become nearly so complicated until homeschooling became popular and began referring to it as a school subject. :rolleyes: I love Karen Andreola's book "Pocketful of Pinecones". The fictional mom's journal of their days as new homeschoolers is set in the 30's. There were no TVs or video games, so walking to the library and going to the park was just something they did. "Nature study" was a natural result of that lifestyle.

You're nuts. :smilielol5: (Sorry, I couldn't resist! You know I love ya! :D )

My 6th grader this year did the following: MFW (My Father's World) Rome to Reformation for history, Bible, science and other subjects as listed below: http://www.mfwbooks.com/rr.htm Math: Singapore Math Developmental Mathematics (one book) books from the Key To series Language Arts: "Building Spelling Skills" from Christian Liberty Press (there are two different series titled "Building Spelling Skills", so I wanted to clarify which BSS we use) did about half of the All-in-One Grammar book, then started: Abeka Language C Abeka Creative Writing Intermediate Language Lessons (ILL) English From the Roots Up (scheduled in MFW) Remedia Outlining book Narrations, copywork, and other language arts skills used in MFW Typing Instructor Deluxe Word Roots on the computer Literature/Reading: Books chosen from both MFW and Ambleside Online Art, Music, and other enrichment subjects: Piano lessons Composer studies from MFW Artpacs purchased from Rod & Staff Needlework and Sewing outside classes Books and videos from the library on painting and drawing P.E.: Fitness Center with Mom Health: Learning to read nutritional labels and healthy meal prep "The Care & Keeping of You -- The Body Book for Girls" from American Girl "Hair: Styling Tips and Tricks for Girls" from American Girl She also did a lot more cooking and cleaning chores on her own this year. We had our house on the market for a while, so this was good practice!

Ditto! If you want a biblical foundation, MFW is a great place to start. SOTW is used in later years in context of biblical history and discipleship principles. TOG is just *too much* at this age, IMO.

My Father's World does this. Their 1st grade history is based on passages throughout the Bible and memory verses from Proverbs (character training); 2nd grade is a one-year overview of American history, key people and events, patriotic songs and symbols, and the 50 states; 3rd grade is Exploring Countries & Cultures (world geography with a missions emphasis); and finally, 4th grade is when they start the Ancients with some secular history included. But even then, the Bible is the "spine" in that year; Ancient secular history is then studied more in-depth when they're older. And their reasons are the same as BF's. I agree. I see absolutely no reason to study the ancient mythologies and pagan lifestyles in the early years, particularly for a Christian family. That doesn't mean to never study it... but there are maturity issues to consider, as well.

Are you looking for 3rd grade? I have the 2nd ed. TE for 3rd grade for sale. ;)

Go ahead and do Adventures. Is the Am. history book you're talking about Exploring American History? Since that's a 5th grade text anyway, you could easily just skip it with your kids. If you and your dh really dislike the book, either sell it now or set it aside to sell it with the whole package later, if you plan to do that. (And FTR, there are many families who've done Adv. that didn't like that book for one reason or another, including us. You won't lose anything by not using it. The Book Basket list will give you many, many other choices.) Also, just FYI for future reference... the entirety of that book isn't read in Adv. Only parts of it are scheduled to fill in gaps here and there, so you're not getting the "whole" of the publisher's viewpoint. (I'm guessing that's what you're referring to in your post. ;) ) MFW doesn't use ALL the books from any one publisher for that very reason (including SOTW), because that isn't their goal. Their goal is to give a balanced, well-rounded view of history with a biblical perspective... not any one author's perspective. Also, on the point that you plan to do SL 3 & 4 later on, I wouldn't worry about that, either. Adventures if a fun, fast-paced, one-year "overview" of American history, highlighting key people and events, the 50 states, patriotic songs and symbols, the names and characteristics of Jesus, and many hands-on science experiments that tie in with the names of Jesus. One example is that while learning about Jesus as "the Bread of Life", some things scheduled are doing a yeast experiment, making bread for the neighbors, and talking about meaning of Communion. When doing SL 3/4 later, you'll go into much more depth over a longer period of time. HTH.

:smilielol5:

I've been a curriculum junkie our entire homeschooling career, but I think it's finally come to a stop! Eventually one (that is, I ;) ) must realize that there's something about every single curriculum out there that's not quite perfect. I think I've finally found a resting place by honing in on our long term goals and what will best help us to achieve those goals. Of course, I'll also admit that having an extremely limited budget -- and extremely limited SPACE -- can also force one to do that "honing in". LOL. But really, I'm just tired of the CLUTTER.... physical and mental.

Interesting!

Ambleside, My Father's World, and Simply Charlotte Mason are three great options for blending classical and CM, depending on your personal goals. Ambleside leans more toward the classical side, SCM, leans more toward the CM side, and MFW leans more toward the biblical side with some elements of both classical and CM. www.amblesideonline.org www.mfwbooks.com www.simplycharlottemason.com

I hear that A Child's Geography Vol. 1 (which is really more science than geography) makes a great go-along. We're doing ECC next, and I may look into that OR Considering God's Creation for my 9yo. I haven't decided yet what to do for science with my upcoming 7th grader. CGC has recommendations for "digging deeper" with an older student, so that's an option, too. A lot of people also like to use elementary Apologia books that aren't used in other MFW years. (Astronomy and Botany are used later by MFW.)

Yes, CLP has wonderful studies for this. I think both the 3rd grade and 6th grade books cover the early New Testament and life of Jesus. They use either KJV or NKJV, though, so you'll have to have your kids use their own Bibles for looking up passages and memorizing.

One thing I've done here, because I think dictation is a skill that can wait until they're a bit older, is to just continue with copywork on those dictation passages. And if the passage is very lengthy, I might have her do just one paragraph today, the 2nd paragraph tomorrow, and so on. This helps break it down for those who might still be having fine motor difficulties. We've also done a lot of it orally at this point.

PLL is written for 2nd and 3rd graders. It covers all areas of language arts except for what we know as "formal" LA, i.e., names of the parts of speech. You do need to add something for spelling, but that's it. Oh, and handwriting/cursive if you're still working on that. I like it because the lessons are short and focused. It's non-consumable. It's inexpensive. It doesn't take up much space. I wouldn't call it either secular or religious.... it's "morally strong" like that of our culture in 1911 when it was written.

Also wanted to add that for those who can't or don't like to use the library, buying some titles off the Book Basket list (or other titles of your choice) is perfectly fine, too. Marie has asterisked some of the titles on the list that she recommends for purchase if you have to do it that way. It makes my job a whole lot easier, as I know that if we ever move away from this incredible library system that we have, I can still use MFW. :001_smile:

How much Bible do you want integrated? MFW has a strong biblical worldview, and that is weaved into all subjects. Bible isn't a separate subject... it's part of life. There are lessons "assigned" for Bible, but then you see Bible principles and history popping up in all the other subjects, too. The weekly (not daily) lesson plan grid includes lessons for all subjects and a time box for the 3 R's so that you make sure not to forget. ;) They do have recommendations for the 3 R's and enrichment subjects like art and music, but you can use whatever you want. If using their recommendations in those subjects and following their suggested schedule, you can be done by or about noon every day, including all subjects. Older students might have to do some extra work in the afternoon. They also schedule "light and independent" Fridays for catch-up work, field trips, housecleaning or whatever you need to do. The daily plans on that weekly grid aren't dated so that you can adjust the schedule however you need to, like for example if Dad has Tuesdays off. You can work around that. It's very flexible, but it's there to hold your hand if you need it. There's a limited number of books scheduled into the daily/weekly lesson plans so that you have TIME for flexibility. The scheduled (required) books are a mix of literature, textbooks and a few Usborne books used as reference material, and consumables for individual student assignments. The method of learning is primarily notebooking, along with narration (both written and oral), copywork, dictation, both read-alouds and independent reading, research projects, plenty of repetition in the younger grades with less repetition in the older. Learning style in the early years is concrete, and becomes more abstract each year. The Book Basket is a very extensive, *optional* booklist inside the TM of over 400 titles of varying genres and reading levels. It also includes video recommendations. We have an awesome library system and have found almost everything I went looking for, but you're not obligated to choose the exact titles listed. The idea is to find books that go along with the theme of the weekly lesson to enrich the lessons as time and interest allow. I like to call it the gravy on the meat and potatoes. ;) There's a big jump in skill level between years 1 and 2 and years 4 and 5, which is why they recommend starting with ECC and following the cycle as written. This is true for both teacher and student... we jumped from Adventures (written for 2nd/3rd graders) to Rome to Reformation, and we're now going to be doing ECC. When I got my ECC manual, I was surprised at how EASY it looks compared to RTR! But if you have a junior higher doing ECC, there are additional materials recommended to make it age appropriate. Some people miss that. MFW is meant to be family-oriented, so as to keep everyone together for as long as possible. They want your family to become a "team", growing and learning together, preparing for adulthood. A high schooler doing MFW would then be working mostly independently with a weekly meeting time with Mom or Dad, and adding community service as well. They call it a "university style education". There's also a discipleship element built into the program through the process of learning who Christ is, then growing in Christ, and finally, serving Christ. There's definitely a learning curve when first going into MFW, and I'll say that now after having used MFW for about 2-1/2 years, it takes a little time to see the "fruit" of what you're doing. If you do choose MFW, my advice is to relax and enjoy the easy parts, then seek out help when you get to the harder parts. But keep on going... it's worth it. :)

Marsha, have you walked through the tutorial for the online organizer? You can use it for free for 30 days to try it out. Even if you decide not to stick with it, it would at least give you an idea of how it works because she gives step-by-step instructions. Then you could choose to either buy the program and keep using it, or do it on your own on paper. Also, have you checked the forums on the SCM website?

Sandy, would you mind terribly sharing the chart you made? I've been thinking about getting this for my girls.