I have 5 kids, but i do this with the oldest 3. They are ages 9, 11, 11. We've been doing the MFW/HOD thing since they were 8, 10, 10. Creation to Christ and Resurrection to Reformation (HOD) line up perfectly with MFW's Creation to the Greeks and Rome to the Ref. Most of the HOD stuff I used in the workboxes of my 2 olders bc it was above my younger one's ability to do independently. For next year, I'm considering supplementing a few items from Bigger Hearts with my 10yo and several items from the newest guide with the older two, while doing MFW Ex. to 1850 Bible/History/Science together. With younger kids this would be harder bc what I do assumes they can do a lot independently. With that said, we did ECC a few years ago, as written with no supplements, and we had a fantastic year. At that age, while they're still young, I find that less is more. As they get older, I like to challenge them more while keeping them bonded together. Hope that helps! :001_smile:

I have two thoughts: First, if you haven't already, decide what your goals are for your home. What is the MOST important thing for you and dh--family unity, depth of studies, something else? Then prayerfully make a pro and con list of each curriculum based on that TOP goal. Second, I had this exact same discussion with myself last year. We decided to stick with MFW and supplement with the best of HOD. Basically, we do the major subjects of MFW together, and I put HOD stuff in their workboxes each morning. That takes more work for me, but I feel like we're getting the best of both worlds. We can't do all of it of course, and it means buying more curriculum, but it's working for us. :001_smile:

I do this every year. I apologize for letting you in on my agony... My 10yo has done HOD LHFHG and MFW CtC + RtR. He'll be in 4th grade. Can anyone compare for me MFW Ex. to 1850 with HOD Bigger?? My 12yo twins will be doing either MFW Ex. to 1850 OR HOD's newest guide...also can't decide on that one. Anyone have any insight/praise/criticism of the MFW ex-1850 or HOD Bigger?? We live near Boston and I've been waaaaaiitttttting for American History for 4 yrs. We will be doing at least one field trip a week...so I want the curriculum to be the best!! Thanks, Bostonmom

I used Preparing too and it was a long day. We did it in 4 hrs. but we did what you did. We only did poetry once or twice a week, I didn't do DITHOR and we skipped things here and there to make it manageable. BUT, it was a great year and we loved it (Grandpa's Box is still one of my fav. books to this day). There is quite a bit more independent work in CtC (5 out of 10 boxes), so that will cut YOUR time down, at least, compared with Preparing. You could skip much of the LA box (we did not do DITHOR, Write with the Best, or the grammar book--I found that focusing on the dictation and narration alone was plenty for my kids, and we just started in HOD's RtR writing book and they're doing great. I plan to pick up grammar next year in 7th grade like MFW recommends.) So that would leave you with Storytime, Geography, and Math together. And then possibly helping with the hands-on history project. I think it's a pretty doable day. If it's taking your daughter too long, you could cut out some of the Independent History Study boxes (on the bottom of the left page), like when they have to draw pictures from Draw and Write Through History Book. But those are the assignments my kids enjoyed, so I'd hate to cut out too much of the fun stuff. But you could do it occasionally if you're falling behind. You could also cut out some of the weekly History Projects and be fine--we did that sometimes. The science in HOD CtC is very meaty, and also very CM...AND it's done completely independently by the student (though if you wanted to do it together you could easily do that). The science in MFW was lighter than HOD, but I thought was great. My kids (dd10, ds10, ds8 at the time) looked forward to science bc I made funny voices for the characters in the book (...your dd might not like that!). I felt the content was just right for them (we did about half of the experiments), but you could easily substitute something else if you want something "heavier." The elementary Apologia books are fantastic. The Storytime could be left out, but it was one of the best things about HOD, so I would try to get it in if possible. My husband does ALL the read-alouds at night before bed, so I don't ever have to do it--and that does save time. There were a lot though (more than MFW uses), so I remember giving one or two of them to my older kids to read on their own. I would def. do The Golden Bull, Boy of the Pyramids, God King, and Traveling the Way for enjoyment purposes. The good but more "educational ones" not to miss are Jashub's Journal and City. Archimedes and the Door of Science was okay (full of great info.), and my kids did not care much for The Accidental Voyage. Blessings and wisdom on your decision-making! Janet

I have more time to respond now, so thought i'd give a little more specifics about our experience. We chose MFW CtG because I really, really wanted to combine my kiddos 9,11,11. HOD allows for some combining, but my 9yo is quite a bit less mature than my 11yos and I didn't think he could hack it in HOD CtC. So, we did MFW together as our "main" curriculum, then I sent my older kids off to do a good portion of HOD by themselves (though not all). They moved through pretty quickly, but they are very strong readers and pretty self-motivated (mostly because they want to get to their free time!). What's nice about MFW is that most days you have time to add in extras if you want (like the truly excellent books from HOD). Like the previous poster said, HOD CtC is pretty full and def. takes longer than MFW CtG. So, had we used ALL of HOD, we would probably NOT have been able to add in MFW extras...at least not without burnout. But honestly, if I were just choosing for my oldest, I would use HOD exclusively. It seems more CM to me, has more variety in general, and the weekly independent "projects" are unique, easy and fun for the kids. It also includes poetry study (Rob. Frost in CtC) which is something I often "forget" to do with them. Now that said, the younger HOD programs are also full but require a lot of mom. Those I'm convinced take longer bc kids have to wait for mom to be ready, which can be tricky with babies and toddlers underfoot. What's nice about HOD's older programs like CtC is that they're full but the kids can go off on their own and be finished more quickly bc they're not waiting around for me. The things we need to do together (there are a few things in CtC) can be done when baby's napping and they're pretty quick. Hope that helps. Right now we're doing the same thing with MFW RtR and HOD RtR, and it's working out great. Janet

I have the opposite problem. I'm never sure if I'll need something again so I keep it until it's so outdated no one will want it! I just bought two more bookshelves to hold all my stuff! Ugh! :blushing:

A couple of the books were reprinted with new editions and the newer manual reflects those newer addition books. Other than that, I don't think anything else changed.

HOD or MFW

I've used both. What's nice about HOD is that the notebook pages are beautiful and done independently. What a nice keepsake when they're done. Also, there's less required of YOU. It's working them toward independence. I also like that HOD has the "key idea" at the bottom of each box so you can keep up with that they're learning even though you're not doing all the reading with them. Most of MFW book choices are great. ALL of HOD book choices are great. The read alouds for HOD are also particularly excellent. I also prefer the hands-on of HOD to MFW. Basically, I really like MFW, I really LOVE HOD. Each year I usually use elements of both in our homeschool.

MFW or HOD

Just curious--what's LOF? :blushing:

We did it as a "Holy Cow, he doesn't get it" reaction. We are using Singapore math, which my older kids have done really well with, but my younger ds has more trouble grasping concepts. Someone had given me a partially used Saxon 1 workbook, so we move slowly through Singapore and I give him the Saxon pages to do independently in the mornings before we sit down together. He finds those easier, so it boosts his confidence.

This helps a lot. Thanks. I had considered doing two programs, but was afraid it would be too much. We would do Adv. and/or CtG this coming year. We loved Adv. with our twins and I would like to do it again, but was worried that two programs would be over the top. I'm thinking I may start with two, see how it goes, and just mesh him into CtG if it seems like a good fit. Thank you!:001_smile:

Whoa! Claw retraction, please. Didn't mean anything by that comment, except that those on the MFW board are decidedly pro-MFW. Just wanted mixed opinions.

I vote for studied dictation.

Done that, thanks. I was hoping for more input here from some more "objective" users. ;)

Hello! Just discovered this board today. WOW! I've done an extensive search about MFW, but would like to know how the 4yr cycle works with younger kids, really. Specifically, I think I'll be using CtG with a young 2nd grader and am wondering how your youngers did with it. My other option is to do Adv. with him (which we loved) and HOD Ancients with the olders, which they would do mostly independently. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!