HOD Bigger, Preparing, CTC question

[Alison in KY]

We're currently using HOD's Beyond for my 10, 8, and 6 yr old. It's been hit or miss this fall on getting it done. We've had sickness interruptions, trips, appts, etc. I had thought I would begin CTC next year with my oldest, and let the younger two just listen in on my reading aloud, listen to the poetry, do the projects, but now I'm re-thinking that. We only use HOD for it's left side, our math and language arts are age appropriate for all kids. I do want my younger two to get something out of the lesson, but at their age I really just want to expose them to things and have it be enjoyable to them. I was thinking I'd go with CTC to get a good 4 year history rotation in before my son enters high school, then hopefully we'd cover another four years (or close to it) in high school.

 

But, my son is not independent, so I don't know if he'd do well with the left side only of CTC.,although he'll do fine if I hand him a book and ask him to go read a certain number of pages from it. I also don't know if CTC covers things that are too graphic, or scary, or tough (etc.) for my younger girls to be exposed to. This is what bothered me about sonlight and it's mission stories, etc, that I am choosing not to cover with my kids at this age.

 

So, I need some experienced users to please give me an idea of what I would expect from these packages. Please keep in mind, I will not be using more than one program. I want to stick with our own language arts and math for now (since it is working), and I only want to read one read aloud that would be okay for all of my kids to listen in on.

 

I think Preparing package had Hero Tales as a resource in it, and I remember owning it several years ago and thinking it was really dry and too old for my kids. Please give me advice on this book also.

 

Thank you all for any help you can give, just when I thought I knew my plan, I'm starting to change my mind again :001_huh:.

 

Alison

[Marsha]

My plans is to use CTC next year.

I will have a 9th, 6th, 5th, 2nd, and K.

I plan to add a program for the 9th grader(maybe MFW HS) and add SOTW for the younger ones so I can keep everyone together.

They will have their own LA and Math.

[Alison in KY]

Marsha, you're going to be one busy woman :) Sounds like a good plan though, how do you like the looks of MFW for 9th? That's my tentative plan if I go with the HOD guides for middle school, but I'm just not sure if I should skip Bigger and preparing.

 

Help anyone?

 

Alison

[Donna A.]

We plan to use MFW for high school. I think Marsha has a great idea doing MFW Ancients for 9th and CTC for elementary. However, I do think she's going to have her hands full. CTC is *very* busy. (I'm currently combining HOD CTC and MFW CTG with my 5th grader. They don't line up very well, so I'm literally going week by week and picking what I want from each one. CTChrist moves at a much quicker pace than CTGreeks.) There were things I liked better about CTGreeks and things I liked better about CTChrist... couldn't make up my mind, so I decided to drive myself crazy and mix it up a little. :lol:

 

One thing I don't like about CTChrist (if you use it as scheduled) is the fact that they have history and Bible assigned for the child to do independently. I'm a firm believer that these subjects need to be done together with a parent, and discussed as we go along. The downside is that that requires more of *my* time... and so eliminates one of the advantages of CTChrist over CTGreeks (for our family, anyway).

 

I love the books used in CTChrist, but I like the Bible in CTGreeks better.

 

MFW waits until high school to have the child doing their history and Bible (mostly) independently, and I do think that's more appropriate, but we still won't be leaving our dd hanging out there working on her own without us looking over her shoulder. In fact, we plan to do the Old Testament challenge with her (and then New Testament in 10th grade). MFW does have a weekly meeting time scheduled between student and parent.... so even if you do it the way they have it scheduled, you're still insured of getting at least one sit-down time each week, which is scheduled.

 

We don't care for the Rick Warren book, but will most likely use it as a discussion tool for what we agree and disagree with. This is part of teaching her how to discern when Bible verses are taken out of context, the use of different translations... and of course the main point of the book, which is that we're not on this earth for ourselves, but have been called for a purpose. (Romans 8:28)

 

That said, the Warren book isn't an integral part of the program and can be easily swapped out for something of your preference. (For those who don't like this book or author, I'm saying.)

 

One of the goals of MFW h.s. is to teach the child how to give their own apologetic (defend their faith) by the time they reach college age and adulthood. You know there are sooooo many things taught and done in colleges that could easily sway a child from their faith, if they don't have a strong foundation and can't recognize falsehoods. That's one of the primary goals of MFW.

[Alison in KY]

Donna, so you are saying that if I went with CTC for all of my kids, I could just read aloud the history portion instead of having my son read it all aloud? How much reading would that be (it's always easier to just read than to read aloud...at least to me).

 

Do you think the CTC books are intense?

 

IF I followed the schedule as is, are the regular CTC read alouds good choices for all of my kids to listen to? Do you think my younger ones will get enough out of history by just listening to the regular read alouds, then I could have my oldest go ahead and do the history reading to himself?

 

Thanks for any ideas, I really don't know which way to go here.

[Marsha]

Here is my plan...

I plan to let my 9th grader listed in on HOD, I will read aloud instead of doing independently, and let her do MFW as scheduled. This should be plenty.

I would like to do SOTW 1 as reading for the younger ones.

I hope it works. We are doing Preparing right now. My 4 year old and 1st grader is doing FIAR and listening in on some of Preparing. I have added things for my oldest daughter for history and science.

 

II also have a 2 year old and a newborn so I really like to keep everyone together. I don't think my mind could handle everyone having different science and history programs.

[Donna A.]

Donna, so you are saying that if I went with CTC for all of my kids, I could just read aloud the history portion instead of having my son read it all aloud? How much reading would that be (it's always easier to just read than to read aloud...at least to me).

 

Do you think the CTC books are intense?

 

Well, we just started our CTC/CTG combo in mid-September, then turned around and immediately set school on the shelf as we went into our family's "Birthday Season" (all our kids' birthdays are in the fall), plus grandparents were in town, hubby and I had a few days away, one child was sick, etc. So we basically lost all of October. I tell you that just to let you know we aren't that far into it yet, BUT I can tell you my observations based on the first two weeks' lessons, and what I've seen from looking ahead.

 

IOW, because we aren't that far into it yet, we haven't run across any "intense" books yet EXCEPT for something in The Golden Bull which until today, my 5th grader was reading on her own. (This is the 2nd scheduled read-aloud for Storytime.) She started out enjoying it, but then came to me and said it talks an awful lot about the "little g gods" and it made her feel uncomfortable, so I told her she doesn't have to finish it.

 

The first scheduled read-aloud was Dinosaurs of Eden. We liked that book, but didn't read it at the pace HOD has it scheduled (the whole book in 6 days). We're reading it according to MFW's schedule, which is spread out 2+ weeks (10 scheduled days)... so fewer pages to read each day.

 

HOD uses the Beechick book Genesis: Finding our Roots for "Bible Study" time. I find this to be a nice book to browse, with beautiful pictures and some interesting information. But it's completely unnecessary even as a teacher-directed resource, considering how many other books are used to cover the same topics in this curriculum. It would be way over your younger kids' heads, anyway.

 

My dd likes The Story of the Ancient World, but the author does ad-lib quite a bit to "round out" the story. I do let my dd read it (out loud to me), as she enjoys it and it's a nice book, but then we also read the story directly from the Bible as per the MFW schedule. HOD has you read the story directly from the Bible, too, BUT, just like with Dino of Eden, HOD has you reading more pages each day. Both the Bible account, and the story as told in the Miller book are scheduled as Independent.

 

Ancient World contains some immodest pictures (nudity). They don't show any private parts, but they do show whole nude bodies with the private parts barely covered. Not sure what your family's standard is on this.

 

If you're going to do CTC with all your children, I would recommend that you read Ancient World aloud. Then maybe have any children who can read take turns reading the story aloud from the Bible so that you all can discuss it together.

 

I would take the scheduled read-alouds on a book-by-book basis. So far for us, Dino of Eden is a yes; Golden Bull is a no.

 

IF I followed the schedule as is, are the regular CTC read alouds good choices for all of my kids to listen to? Do you think my younger ones will get enough out of history by just listening to the regular read alouds, then I could have my oldest go ahead and do the history reading to himself?

See above, but I'll tell you that my 1st grader seems bored with what my 5th grader is doing and wanders off. Part of it is that they're all chapter books and kind of lengthy (and again, the Beechick book is *completely* unnecessary, IMO). Remember that CTC is intended for ages 9 to 11 (or higher w/extensions), and it's hard to bring along younger ones for this reason. Carrie even says that HOD is geared to the youngest child, and I think that's true, from all the HOD manuals I've seen. Looking at the ages of your kids, I'd say you're right on target with Beyond. But CTC is a big jump. So for you to include your younger kids in CTC, you'll have to do the footwork to find age-appropriate books and activities for them. Whereas with MFW (just an FYI), you usually have some of the scheduled books geared to older children, and some geared to younger ones, too... plus the Book Basket which allows for many more choices for differing ages. HOD just doesn't have that variety. It really is easier to use MFW with multiple ages than HOD.... unless you're at the younger end of HOD, which you currently are.

 

If you try to have your younger kids do the hands-on stuff in HOD CTC, I think you'll have to do a lot FOR them.

 

Thus, if you were staying with HOD, I'd recommend doing Preparing (or even Bigger) before jumping into CTC, because of both the reading content and the amount of workload. CTC just seems like a lot to do. Even if I were doing *just* CTC (not combining with CTG), I'd likely still spread it out over 5 days instead of the scheduled 4 days a week.

 

There are some intense (i.e., talk of "little g gods", as my dd puts it) books in MFW CTG, too, so this isn't particular to HOD. I think it's a time period problem.... hard to cover without finding too much material that's "intense" at some level. In CTG, for example, you have the Children's Homer scheduled, but we're not reading that one. They also schedule the Patricia St. John books for read-alouds, which are very wholesome and family-friendly for all ages. They even say that the reason they scheduled the St. John books in CTG, even though they're not particular to the time period, is because of the wholesomeness and God-honoring content. They wanted something that you could read with the whole family. (Whereas the Children's Homer would be more suited for older kids.)

 

One thing I like about Book Basket in MFW is that even though there may be some titles listed that don't meet your family's standard, the author has pre-read every single one of them, and has noted parent alerts for possible questionable content next to each one. This makes it easier for me to decide which ones to order from the library. You don't have this benefit with HOD, unfortunately.

 

Marsha said she's adding SOTW 1 for her younger ones, and that is an option for some families. However, I've bought and sold SOTW 1 twice already, and it just isn't a good fit for our family.

 

Again, for you, I'd probably recommend one of the following:

 

-- Hold off on doing CTC (if you really want to include your younger kids), so do Bigger or Preparing first. Or,

 

-- Go with MFW CTG instead (more adaptable to different ages). Or,

 

-- Go ahead and do CTC with your oldest, but don't expect there to be much there for the younger kids. In which case you'd need to either be content to let them primarily focus on the 3 R's, or get a different program for them. My 1st grader is doing MFW 1st grade.

 

Please ask if I've confused you about something. I do hope something there is helpful.

[Alison in KY]

Donna, that was a most excellent explanation:001_smile:. Thank you, however, now I have much more to consider :)

 

I am buying a used copy of CTC from someone, so maybe that will help me. Where I'm concerned is that my oldest is not very independent, so I'm afraid CTC will just be too much, but I'm also comfortable just slowing it down.

 

I looked at the MFW high school packages and they look like something I would really be interested in doing. I'm stumped on how to fit all of my kids in the history rotation at the moment. I know I'd like my son to start off with a creation year in 5th grade, but my middle daughter will be messed up in the rotation. I usually play everything by ear, but I certainly want everyone prepared for high school, so I'm finally trying to look ahead a bit.

 

You said CTC is pretty tough. Are you talking the entire package? I likely will not be using their choices for LA's and math. So my son would be reading all the history and Bible to himself, then is there still a read aloud scheduled with CTC? I'm thinking maybe I should just go for CTC with my oldest, and have my girls listen to SOTW and do a few of their activity pages, since they enjoy coloring. However, thanks to you, I really need to explore the MFW CTG set.

 

Thank you so much, both of you, for your ideas.

 

Alison

[lovetobehome]

:lurk5:

[Donna T.]

Hi, Alison! I'd like to encourage you to do Preparing with your oldest two (using the extension package for your then 11 year old - you may want to preread Shakespeare Stealer, that is the only one I'm a bit hesitant to assign but I probably will) and consider adding Little Hearts for your then 7 yo. I know you don't want to teach from two guides. And, if you really are opposed to it, then I think Preparing would be just great with all of your kids. My 2nd grader sits in on alot of Preparing and he just loves it. He does miss out on some of it because my oldest son completes all of the independent work himself. He also often completes the semi-independent work by himself.

 

I'm glad I'm using Little Hearts with him though. It is a light program for a 2nd grader but I'm fine with that because he is getting alot out of Preparing. If his own program were any fuller, he would miss out on Preparing completely (at this time). He LOVES Little Hearts. If something seems too young for him, and sometimes it does, we just skip it. He just adores having his own books and especially these particular books. Also, Little Hearts goes along with Preparing very well. It made more sense to me to have him in Little Hearts, where the history matches up quite a bit, as opposed to a American History based guide.

 

The two blend together! When my oldest son does the independent work, my youngest son does Little Hearts. He loves that alone time with me and my oldest son gets more accomplished without his little brother hanging around! The history in Little Hearts moves quicker than Preparing so when we get to something in Preparing my youngest son has already had some exposure to it. I like that because then I can dismiss him from that content if he'd rather be playing. He almost always wants to sit in on Preparing and having already learned alittle bit about that topic in Little Hearts engages him.

 

I am very glad I didn't place my oldest son in CTC first. He placed in that guide according to the HOD chart but I knew he needed to learn to be independent and he also needed the writing lessons that are integrated into the Preparing TM. He is doing GREAT! I can't believe how far he has come. Preparing does exactly that... it is meant to prepare the child for CTC. I wanted my son to learn to work more independently this year. That was something that I thought he was ready for. He just needed a curriculum that gave him the right tools to do that. He is able to follow the directions in the HOD TM just fine. His confidence in his own abilities has grown by leaps and bounds.

 

My oldest son will be doing the last of the four years in 9th grade. I know it will be enough. I am not at all worried about that. The extension packages are only going to get meatier as the guides come out. Plus, I believe HOD will have a high school option by the time we get there. Carrie's oldest son is a 7th grader. I just know as he moves into high school that there will be a HOD option.

 

I am so glad we are doing Preparing. Not just for the academic benefits. The spiritual training that is going on is very profound. Same thing with Little Hearts. Using the two guides has made my life easier.

[Donna T.]

So my son would be reading all the history and Bible to himself, then is there still a read aloud scheduled with CTC? I'm thinking maybe I should just go for CTC with my oldest, and have my girls listen to SOTW and do a few of their activity pages, since they enjoy coloring. However, thanks to you, I really need to explore the MFW CTG set.

 

Thank you so much, both of you, for your ideas.

 

Alison

 

In Preparing, you are still reading the history in the basic package. There is some independent history reading but the bulk of history is read aloud. The extension package adds additional independent reading, which you would probably want to assign to your oldest child. Your middle child would not need those. So, your oldest would listen to you read the history outloud and then read the additional info. for himself. In CTC, the main history readings become independent but you still have a daily storytime. You could read the history in CTC outloud of course but your oldest child would then miss out on some of the benefit of the CTC guide, which is the independence that is promoted... getting them ready for more of that in the next guide. You could select titles from the extension package to give to your older child for independent reading, if that is important to you.

 

I'm sure MFW or SOTW, either one, would be an excellent option. Just wanted to answer about the read-alouds.... short answer, yes! :)

[Donna A.]

So my son would be reading all the history and Bible to himself, then is there still a read aloud scheduled with CTC? I'm thinking maybe I should just go for CTC with my oldest, and have my girls listen to SOTW and do a few of their activity pages, since they enjoy coloring. However, thanks to you, I really need to explore the MFW CTG set.

 

Yes, there's a history reading, Bible reading, Storytime reading, Bible "study" reading, plus a science reading, and then DITHOR if you use that, too. And a geography reading. (This is alternated with the Beechick book for Bible "study".)

 

Plus additional reading (or listening to the Waring CDs) if you do the Independent Study box for older kids.

 

Plus hands-on activities, mapwork, or notebooking for ALL those things.

 

Yes, it's that way throughout the entire program. Lessons are scheduled for 4 days a week, which frees up 1 day for enrichment subjects, catch-up work, field trips, housecleaning, whatever... IF you can get everything done in those 4 days. I would not be able to.

 

MFW has a similar 4-day schedule, with light Fridays that might only consist of Bible reading, a very short LA assignment, math, and Reading. Most of the time, MFW's schedule is much more realistic to get done in 4 days. I'm glad for the light Friday so that if we have a day of appointments or something, we really CAN catch up on Friday. But since I'm combining CTC and CTG, neither schedule works out perfectly for me, which is why I've ended up doing a loop schedule type of thing in order to get our work done. (I've probably taken too much on myself this year, but I have certain goals in mind to accomplish, so.... :lol: )

[lovetobehome]

I agree, I think Preparing would be perfect. I amusing BIGGER with my 9.5 yo and 7yo. I use the extensions for the older one,and it is a great fit. I think my older child would fit better into Prep, and my younger would be better in BEYOND, but I chose to combine.

I kind of wish I had placed them where they truly fit instead of combining.

HOD is different than MFW; HOD helps the older children become more independent so you can do the younger programs with the littles. MFW tries to combine them. I can't say one is better than the other; they are different approaches that work differently for different families.

Anyway. I have the Prep TM and all books, I used it for about 6 weeks. I also have the CTC manual. I dont think using CTC for everyone is the best fit in your situation. I think it is a HUGE, GIGANTIC jump to go from Beyond to CTC. Each year builds in so many age-appropriate skills and steps.

I do think PREPARING is your best bet. Another good option would be to use BIGGER and beef it up with extensions for the then-11yo.

[lovetobehome]

One thing I like about Book Basket in MFW is that even though there may be some titles listed that don't meet your family's standard, the author has pre-read every single one of them, and has noted parent alerts for possible questionable content next to each one. This makes it easier for me to decide which ones to order from the library. You don't have this benefit with HOD, unfortunately.

 

Just wanted to comment on this, I have used MFW and HOD too, and like both a lot. HOD doesn't have Book Basket, but there are plenty of books recommended in their book sets....they usually have a Girl option, Boy option, History/Classical option. This is different than MFW's, because MFW makes sure the books are on topic with that week. But I have found plenty from HOD that is on topic. I use the library or used book sales and collect as many as I can, and then I have LOADS of awesome books. Also, there are the DITHR recommended books, and she has a list on her site with TONS more. I have found all her book selections to be wholesome, age-appropriate and delightful! She won't list something that she doesn't find acceptable, and I have never found ANY list that matches my own standards as well as her list does. I am very delighted by this added aspect of HOD!

[Another Lynn]

Hi Alison,

I've never used CTC or CTG, so my advice is suspect at best :) (I have used HOD, but never anything from MFW). I am always drawn to MFW - I like classical and CM; I want a Christian worldview; I want a 4 year history cycle; I want to combine my kids. It should be perfect. But I can never get past the spines - I'm always stopped dead in my tracks by Streams of Civilization and later Augustus Caesar's World (and even SOTW is not my favorite, though I get into it deeper in Early Modern and Modern because there's not much else to choose from - especially for Modern, but I digress). Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I'm really enjoying reading STory of the Ancient World with all my kids (5th, 2nd, and 1st grades - even my 4yo listens and today asked questions showing understanding!) I've added in some other read alouds for my 2nd and 1st grader and some independent reads for my oldest.

 

So, if I were in your shoes.... I would look hard at MFW, and then see if it's possible to substitute SAW for Streams.

 

Just my .02

[i.love.lucy]

But I have found plenty from HOD that is on topic. I use the library or used book sales and collect as many as I can, and then I have LOADS of awesome books. Also, there are the DITHR recommended books, and she has a list on her site with TONS more. I have found all her book selections to be wholesome, age-appropriate and delightful! She won't list something that she doesn't find acceptable, and I have never found ANY list that matches my own standards as well as her list does. I am very delighted by this added aspect of HOD!

:iagree:I trust Carrie's book recommendations explicitly and keep the book list that came with DITHOR in my library bag in the car so I am never really out and about without it. And the story time books DO match what you are studying if you chose the History Interest set vs boy or girl interest. So many great books, so little time!:D

[Donna A.]

One thing I like about Book Basket in MFW is that even though there may be some titles listed that don't meet your family's standard, the author has pre-read every single one of them, and has noted parent alerts for possible questionable content next to each one. This makes it easier for me to decide which ones to order from the library. You don't have this benefit with HOD, unfortunately.

Just wanted to comment on this, I have used MFW and HOD too, and like both a lot. HOD doesn't have Book Basket, but there are plenty of books recommended in their book sets....they usually have a Girl option, Boy option, History/Classical option. This is different than MFW's, because MFW makes sure the books are on topic with that week. But I have found plenty from HOD that is on topic. I use the library or used book sales and collect as many as I can, and then I have LOADS of awesome books. Also, there are the DITHR recommended books, and she has a list on her site with TONS more. I have found all her book selections to be wholesome, age-appropriate and delightful! She won't list something that she doesn't find acceptable, and I have never found ANY list that matches my own standards as well as her list does. I am very delighted by this added aspect of HOD!

Yes, agreed that HOD includes MANY books.... But part of my point was that every book -- And I do mean EVERY book -- on the MFW Book Basket list has been pre-read by the author, so if there's any potential questionable content in a book (or movie title), she's noted that right there next to the book/video title. This eliminates me from either buying, or getting from the library, a load of books that may contain something to which I haven't been alerted. Does Carrie pre-read and give warnings for every title that she recommends/schedules in her programs? I don't *think* she does? Not that I've ever seen, anyway. (Please correct me if I'm wrong about that. I haven't seen those parent alerts in the TMs, though.)

 

And I think that quote from my post was in the context of, or shortly after, I'd mentioned the book my dd has been reading, The Golden Bull, that she brought to me today and told of the many "little g gods" (a goddess of BEER?) contained in it.... Prayers to the powerful god moongod of Ur, prayers to the goddess of beer, and so forth. I just looked through the TM, and nowhere in the Storytime boxes where this book is scheduled does it "warn" in any way of the content of this book. I also checked the Bibliography at the back of the book. There's a description of the book, but no note to the parent warning of the content or age-appropriateness, or the need for supervision or anything like that. I had handed it over to my dd to read independently based on the trust that Carrie wouldn't schedule books that might be of a concern to a parent (because I do believe her to be a loving mom and a Godly woman).

 

Anyway, my intent was not to slam HOD, but to clarify to the OP that this is one of the differences between HOD and MFW. It's one of the reasons I'm combining the two programs. They both have their positives and negatives, and this happens to be a negative of HOD... for *our* family.

 

And the *variety* I spoke of in my earlier post had to do with variety for different age groups.... not the amount of books scheduled. MFW Book Basket has that. HOD CTC is geared to ages 9 and up, with no options included for younger kids. So yes, while HOD includes MANY books, they're not that flexible for a wide range of ages. That's why I told the OP that she'd have to do the footwork for that herself, if she were combining.

[Donna A.]

So, if I were in your shoes.... I would look hard at MFW, and then see if it's possible to substitute SAW for Streams.

 

She could read SAW with CTG.... we are. ;) However, the purpose of Streams is to provide more details about certain events and people... like an encyclopedia type of resource. It's not read cover to cover, nor is it scheduled every day.

 

IOW, SAW isn't really a "substitution" for Streams, as they have different purposes.

[Alison in KY]

Wow, even more to think about, thank you everyone, this has been a great conversation.

 

Donna A., I totally understand what you are saying and I wish I could mesh the two programs. I actually like MFW's layout better, and I love that the books have warnings in them. I do not like Usbourne books(MFW) or CHOW(HOD). I do like the book packages from HOD. It sounds like I would like the reading schedule better with MFW, but overall I might like the book selections better with HOD :)

 

So, it sounds like I need to get my hands on someone's CTG copy and see it for what it is.

 

I appreciate the advice to use Preparing, however, out of all the HOD packages, this one overall just doesn't thrill me. It's a few of the book selections I think. I want to be excited about a program so I'll follow through with it. But, I also never say never.

 

I feel like when I get things resolved I should have a big party:D. What I do know is that I will re-visit this post time and time again. In the end, a happy combo of both programs would be better for me,but I'm not going to fork out the money for that.

 

Thank you again, please don't hesitate to keep this conversation going.

 

Alison

[Donna T.]

One thing I like about Book Basket in MFW is that even though there may be some titles listed that don't meet your family's standard, the author has pre-read every single one of them, and has noted parent alerts for possible questionable content next to each one. This makes it easier for me to decide which ones to order from the library. You don't have this benefit with HOD, unfortunately.

 

 

Just wanted to comment on this, I have used MFW and HOD too, and like both a lot. HOD doesn't have Book Basket, but there are plenty of books recommended in their book sets....they usually have a Girl option, Boy option, History/Classical option. This is different than MFW's, because MFW makes sure the books are on topic with that week. But I have found plenty from HOD that is on topic. I use the library or used book sales and collect as many as I can, and then I have LOADS of awesome books. Also, there are the DITHR recommended books, and she has a list on her site with TONS more. I have found all her book selections to be wholesome, age-appropriate and delightful! She won't list something that she doesn't find acceptable, and I have never found ANY list that matches my own standards as well as her list does. I am very delighted by this added aspect of HOD!

 

 

 

All of the HOD books have been pre-read. I love all the options that HOD provides for us. Using DITHOR has really broadened our reading. With both MFW and SL almost all of our reading was history related. Not all, but almost. HOD has its own philosophy about literature and it's intended to be a literature rich curriculum that integrates all of the genres (except horror). This is our first year with HOD but so far the courses that we are using have been so rich, we don't need the library at all. We don't do book basket anymore. The kids read in their free time but we don't depend on extra books for our school time. I think MFW's book basket with the book lists are great! It just wasn't a good fit for us over the long term. By the end of Adventures, I was wore out with the book lists.

[Alison in KY]

Thank you Donna T. I appreciate your views. I do wish HOD went ahead and warned us of things that we might object too, like the beer god stuff. However, I'm thinking I can just email them and find out what books I might object too. Not as easy as having things noted, but still workable if I decide to go with another HOD package.

 

Can we all have too much of a good thing :D

[jewel7123]

Anyway, my intent was not to slam HOD, but to clarify to the OP that this is one of the differences between HOD and MFW. It's one of the reasons I'm combining the two programs. They both have their positives and negatives, and this happens to be a negative of HOD... for *our* family.

 

Donna.......I am really curious as to what you found in HOD that MFW did not cover. I have read many of your posts on MFW (since I am a HOD'er but will consider using MFW sometime in the future possibly) and never once have I heard you were using HOD also, so I must say I was a bit surprised to read here that you were combining both HOD and MFW. I thought you were die hard MFW, lol! Is this your first year doing that? What problems did you have with MFW that you felt HOD solved and vice versa? I'd really love to hear your reasons for combining the two programs. Also, is this something you think would only work for CTC/CTG or do you think it would work in some of the lower grades of HOD and MFW as well. Thanks!

Edited November 5, 2009 by jewel7123

[Donna A.]

Donna.......I am really curious as to what you found in HOD that MFW did not cover. I have read many of your posts on MFW (since I am a HOD'er but will consider using MFW sometime in the future possibly) and never once have I heard you were using HOD also, so I must say I was a bit surprised to read here that you were combining both HOD and MFW. I thought you were die hard MFW, lol! Is this your first year doing that? What problems did you have with MFW that you felt HOD solved and vice versa? I'd really love to hear your reasons for combining the two programs. Also, is this something you think would only work for CTC/CTG or do you think it would work in some of the lower grades of HOD and MFW as well. Thanks!

 

Hhmm, how to explain.

 

I'm been curious/interested/wanting to try HOD for a couple years now, but everytime I've bought it (yes, I've bought everything from Little Hearts to CTC :blush: ) I've looked through it and realized I liked the way MFW does it better and sold the HOD.

 

But then this year, I wanted my 8th and 5th graders doing separate topics for a variety of reasons. 8th grader is doing MFW 1850-Modern. I was on the fence between HOD or MFW for Ancients (for 5th grader) for a long time. Do I dare buy another HOD package, or should I just stick with MFW for CTG, too? (Our family has never yet done CTG, as we came into MFW later and oldest dd had already done ancients.) So I took a chance and bought HOD CTC because I thought since it's geared to my dd's age group, it might be a good fit for her.

 

But then once I sat down to go through the manual and see what we'd actually be doing, I realized (again) that I like the way MFW does Bible better. Maybe I'm just used to it, I don't know. It feels like "home". :lol: I also like the layout of the MFW TM better. So I bought what I wanted from MFW to do CTG, and figured I could just do the components of CTC that I like.

 

The two main things I thought would "fill a gap" from CTC were the notebooking (CTG does notebooking and it's been fine for us -- no complaints about that -- but the notebooking pages in CTC are beautiful!), and the books in CTC. I thought we could just follow the reading schedule in CTC in lieu of doing Book Basket in CTG. Well, as you can see from my earlier posts, I'm disappointed in some of the books. But mostly disappointed that books are scheduled that *should* contain some kind of parent warning as to content. I mean, let's face it... Golden Bull is all about the worship of false gods in the City of Ur, in *great detail* (not just skimming or mentioning), which Abraham was told to leave! But Carrie doesn't even address that point in her lesson plans for this book (in the Storytime box). I guess it's my own fault that I let my dd start reading Golden Bull on her own without previewing it -- if I'd only looked at the TOC, I would've seen a chapter titled "Goddess of Beer" and that would've been an immediate red flag for me -- but I didn't preview it because I was trusting Carrie's choices (as everyone says to do). I'm not ditching CTC because of this one book, but I won't blindly hand a book over to my dd again, either, just because Carrie chose it and I'm supposed to trust that.

 

The problem is, this particular time period is very difficult to handle in a completely "safe" way. That's why I feel like I'm doing a balancing act here. Last night I even thought (for about 5 minutes) about ditching all of it and just using the BJU 6th grade textbook instead. Except I love the way MFW does Bible, and we like the Ancient World book from CTC, so we'll continue on.

 

As for the notebooking in CTC... I'm finding the way Carrie assigns the notebooking projects a little confusing. They seem out of order, or disjointed. For example, there are TWO entries about Noah and the Flood, but none about Cain & Abel. :confused: We read about Cain & Abel, but nothing to go into the notebook about them. That was a pretty significant event! So I added something from the CTG appendix pages and am sort of recreating the notebook in my own way. What we'll end up with is the beautiful notebook pages from CTC, but not completed exactly the way Carrie instructs.

 

There are other examples of how I changed the notebooking assignments, too, but that's one of them. I do like how she has the "Prophecies and Fulfillments" pages in the notebook, but I didn't like the verse she chose for fulfillment of Gen. 3:15 (1 John 3:8), so I found another verse that was actually mentioned in the CTG manual that I like the wording of better. (Heb. 2:14)

 

As for combining other years.... I'd thought that Preparing and ECC would make a good mix. I was actually planning on doing that this year, but then decided not to for various reasons. But I have to say it IS taking a lot of work for me to combine.... And still make sure my other dd's are getting what they need, too. (Not to mention what it costs to buy two programs!) MFW and HOD are just similar enough to make you want to combine them (or to have a hard decision to make!), and yet just different enough to be frustrating when you do. :glare: I think you have to know *exactly* what you want, not just in the curriculum itself, but in your overall goals for your family. I also think the number of children you're working with would make a difference. As well as your own self-confidence to change things up and be comfortable with it. I'm essentially writing my own curriculum for this child this year, using the resources from two different publishers! :lol:

 

If you do combine (any of the years, for that matter), you're by necessity going to eliminate something somewhere. There's NO WAY we could do everything from *both* programs.

 

We do like the Ancient World book quite a bit, but that can easily be added to MFW without tweaking a lot of stuff like I'm doing now. I think the hardest thing about combining the programs is the pace... CTG doesn't move as fast as CTC, so what I'm essentially doing is following the MFW schedule and then adding from CTC where it fits. I'd initially thought that I'd like the pace in HOD better because it summarizes the Creation days (which my dd has done to death), where MFW stretches them out over a whole week. But once we finished that topic (which didn't take long!), I was ready to continue on at the pace in MFW because I find its schedule to be much more "efficient". Maybe that's why I keep turning away from HOD even though I'm so tempted by it.... the lesson plans just doesn't feel as efficient to me as the MFW lessons.

 

And then again, maybe I'm just too picky. LOL

Edited November 5, 2009 by Donna A.

[Donna A.]

I have read many of your posts on MFW (since I am a HOD'er but will consider using MFW sometime in the future possibly) and never once have I heard you were using HOD also, so I must say I was a bit surprised to read here that you were combining both HOD and MFW.

 

P.S. I just wanted to clarify this a bit. I'm still a die-hard MFW user. :D But I did post on the HOD boards back when I first bought CTC, and I've also posted on HSR about combining the two programs. You may have missed it because I have a different user name on both of those boards (kayrenee). So it's not completely a "secret". I guess I just haven't mentioned it on this board because nothing has come up specific to CTG or CTC until now (since I decided to do this). Or at least not that I've seen, anyway.

 

Btw, in full disclosure: I do not work for MFW, nor am I related to anyone there. ;) I've worked the convention booth a couple of times, and that's one reason I know so much about the MFW programs that we haven't used yet. (Although as of this year, we've now used, or are using, every elementary program from K thru 1850-Modern.) But the convention booth is completely voluntary and I decide whether I'm going to work it on a year-by-year basis. No obligations whatsoever. It just works for our family in practicality, and fits our long term goals philosophically. :)

[Alison in KY]

Donna A,

 

I'm still thinking things through, and I probably will be for awhile :). I'm curious about CTG and it's book selections. One thing that has turned me off of MFW before, was their use of Usbourne books, but another is in ECC their Christian Heroes Then and Now series. For me, I think this series is more appropriate for a high schooler. So now that you know me better, would CTG have anything objectionable in it? Also, since I can't lay eyes on the MFW book warnings, can you tell me if the authors warned parents about the Then and Now series? I sometimes think I'm one of a kind, since these books are used in more than one curriculum and I tend to feel like the only person who has a problem with them.

 

I think I would have a different feel for MFW if they had a bit more info on their website. I feel like there are some great things with this program, I'm just not seeing enough of the whole picture.

 

Thanks so much for all your help.

 

Alison

[jewel7123]

Donna A,

 

I One thing that has turned me off of MFW before, was their use of Usbourne books

 

Alison

 

Me too!

[Donna A.]

Donna A,

 

I'm still thinking things through, and I probably will be for awhile :). I'm curious about CTG and it's book selections. One thing that has turned me off of MFW before, was their use of Usbourne books, but another is in ECC their Christian Heroes Then and Now series. For me, I think this series is more appropriate for a high schooler. So now that you know me better, would CTG have anything objectionable in it? Also, since I can't lay eyes on the MFW book warnings, can you tell me if the authors warned parents about the Then and Now series? I sometimes think I'm one of a kind, since these books are used in more than one curriculum and I tend to feel like the only person who has a problem with them.

 

I think I would have a different feel for MFW if they had a bit more info on their website. I feel like there are some great things with this program, I'm just not seeing enough of the whole picture.

 

Thanks so much for all your help.

 

Alison

 

Alison, what specifically about the Then and Now series are you not comfortable with? These are missionary biographies, and as such, there are some (somewhat) graphic scenes in them because that's the reality of missionary life in other countries. I put these in a different category than say, The Golden Bull. The missionary bios depict the potential reality for a Christian who's completely sold out to God.... much the same as the story of Stephen in the Bible, for example. But the other thing that the missionary bios show us is how we can have complete confidence in our Lord when we serve Him.... through the lives of real people. You see real *miracles* being done by studying the lives of missionaries.

 

Since missionary bios are a big part of ECC, then you'd be missing a significant part of that particular program if you didn't use any missionary bios. (Although they do use Hero Tales, too, which is a more a condensed, "cleaner" version of biographies of people who've done great things for God.) However, if you could find another publisher of missionary bios to replace this particular series, one which is more suitable for your family, then that could work, too. You just wouldn't have page #'s scheduled for you.

 

There are no missionary bios scheduled in CTG because you're studying the people of the Old Testament.... which is another form of missionary bios, you could say. ;) The Patricia St. John series are very wholesome. Even though they don't go along with the time period, they were scheduled for teaching character values, as the author herself was a missionary who wrote historical fiction based on real events and places.

 

We chose not use the Children's Homer in CTG. That's the only book I had an issue with in this program. Even so, once I got the manual and saw Marie's notes for how to use this book (discussion topics for showing biblical principles even through extra-biblical writings), I briefly thought about going ahead and using the book after all. I won't, though, because we have enough else going on and don't need another book to have to read through.

 

As to the Usborne books, MFW is very clear about Creation science and tells you in the TMs where to avoid certain page #'s or sections that don't align with that belief. (They only assign certain pages from the Usborne books... it's an encyclopedia type resource with more information on certain topics, the same way Streams is used in CTG and RTR.) In fact, at the beginning of the CTG TM is a several-paragraph explanation of how to properly use the Usborne books. They also explain a bit of how to teach what evolution says vs. what God's Word says. If you look through all the book packages, you'll see many Creation-focused resources which MFW uses to teach Creation. I've heard at least one person refer to MFW as being "ungodly" just because they include some Usborne books, but that is a completely false accusation. :001_huh:

 

Not sure if I've already posted it in this thread, but here's a link to a detailed explanation as to how they choose their books: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8418

 

You have time to make your decision. Have you shown your choices to your dh? What does he think? Can you get to a convention somewhere to see the materials in person and have someone walk through it with you? Have you been able to listen to any of the conference CDs that explain the way it works... the driving wheel behind the curriculum? Here's a link to some of those: http://www.mfwbooks.com/workshops.htm

 

Keep praying for the Lord to show you! :)

[Alison in KY]

Donna A, yet again you have been most helpful. I will go to the link later and try to get a better feel for MFW.

 

My prob. with Usbourne, other than what you mentioned, is strictly a visual thing. I just don't like the lay out of those books. I'm also not so impressed with the One Small Square series from Bigger.

 

As far as the missionary stories goes, well, I guess I'm just not ready for my kiddos to cover more graphic real life scenarios. I read George Mueller and thought it was a great book, but I just remember thinking that I would want my son to be more mature when he heard that (and obviously the same for his younger sisters). I might sound like a total prude, but I really am not, lol. I just remember Mueller starting off pretty racy...and I didn't want my kids to get the wrong impression that they could lie, drink, steal, etc and it still be okay? I'm probably not expressing myself very well, but anyway, that's it. The only other one I tried was on Gladys Aylward. I was surprised in one of the early chapters where someone tried to rape her. I don't think they said rape, but it was obvious what was going on. Again, that's just not something our kids have been exposed too at this point, so I don't feel like I should have to cover it just because the book has it in there...I'll cover those issues when I think they are mature enough to handle that kind of thing.

 

Knowing those books were in an early package of MFW has affected how I feel about the entire program, although, I'm trying to keep an open mind about things and I agree to never say never :lol:

 

Alison

[lovetobehome]

It sounds to me like the issue with Golden Bull is going to be similar to the issue many have with Augustus Caesar's World....used in MFW RTR. In covering the history in these early periods, it is just pretty difficult to avoid the topic of gods/goddesses. It is a really important part of those cultures, it can't be avoided. And to do so would make it hard to understand so much of how God related to these cultures.

This is why MANY curricula suggest avoiding this time period for young children. Both MFW and HOD wait until the later-elementary years to study this time period.

Some people may want to even wait until high school...

I personally think it is wise to introduce this time period later in elem school, and then when doing so to make sure the curriculum is not GLORIFYING this type of thing. I haven't read Golden Bull. I have read Augustus Caesars World, and it contains quite a bit of 'gods/goddesses' material. I have Golden Bull on the way, I will be very interested to read it for myself!

I have owned all the MFW years, and all the HOD years!

I'd say, if you are interested in protecting your kids from more mature topics, you may want to stick to the younger side of the age recommendations for either curriculum.

[jewel7123]

I have owned all the MFW years, and all the HOD years!

I'd say, if you are interested in protecting your kids from more mature topics, you may want to stick to the younger side of the age recommendations for either curriculum.

 

Sorry, but did you mean to say stick to the older side of the age recommendations, meaning they would be older when doing a guide and hopefully be more mature and able to handle the content in question?

[Donna A.]

Donna A, yet again you have been most helpful. I will go to the link later and try to get a better feel for MFW.

 

My prob. with Usbourne, other than what you mentioned, is strictly a visual thing. I just don't like the lay out of those books. I'm also not so impressed with the One Small Square series from Bigger.

 

As far as the missionary stories goes, well, I guess I'm just not ready for my kiddos to cover more graphic real life scenarios. I read George Mueller and thought it was a great book, but I just remember thinking that I would want my son to be more mature when he heard that (and obviously the same for his younger sisters). I might sound like a total prude, but I really am not, lol. I just remember Mueller starting off pretty racy...and I didn't want my kids to get the wrong impression that they could lie, drink, steal, etc and it still be okay? I'm probably not expressing myself very well, but anyway, that's it. The only other one I tried was on Gladys Aylward. I was surprised in one of the early chapters where someone tried to rape her. I don't think they said rape, but it was obvious what was going on. Again, that's just not something our kids have been exposed too at this point, so I don't feel like I should have to cover it just because the book has it in there...I'll cover those issues when I think they are mature enough to handle that kind of thing.

 

Knowing those books were in an early package of MFW has affected how I feel about the entire program, although, I'm trying to keep an open mind about things and I agree to never say never :lol:

 

Alison

 

I don't think you're prude. Not at all. You have certain goals and standards for your family, and you need to decide accordingly. :) Even if you decide not to use MFW, at least you'll have decided based on an informed decision, right? I always appreciate detailed reviews on things like this... which is why I was so disappointed about the book in HOD. Still, the ultimate responsibility belongs to us parents.

 

I do agree about the layout of Usborne books. If they weren't scheduled in MFW (i.e., just read this page, or this section on this page), I wouldn't be using them at all. I never liked the Usborne style.

 

It might be helpful to know that *most* of the Usborne books aren't foundational to the program. ;) You actually CAN do MFW without them. (Or most of them.) They just provide more details/information about a topic.

[lovetobehome]

FYI, Carrie notes the violent and mature nature of some selections on the front page of the book packages, ...Golden Bull is a book in the optional HISTORY INTEREST section. There are also 2 other book set options with less mature topics...the GIRL INTEREST or BOY INTEREST options, that you could choose to use instead.

From HOD site:

NOTE: Choose one or more of the following book sets to read aloud for the Storytime part of the plans. If you desire to read aloud books that coordinate with the historical time period being studied, you want to choose the History Interest Set. In keeping with the ancient time period, the History Interest Set does contain some violent content. If you wish to avoid this, choose the Boy Interest or Girl Interest Set instead. The Boy and Girl Interest Sets do not match the history but were instead selected to provide excellent read-alouds from 9 different genres.

[lovetobehome]

Sorry, but did you mean to say stick to the older side of the age recommendations, meaning they would be older when doing a guide and hopefully be more mature and able to handle the content in question?

 

Oh, whoops! Thanks for catching that! What I was trying to say was, you might want to stick to using the curriculums designed for younger ones....so instead of using CTC (meant for 9-11 year olds with extensions for 12-13 yo), you might want to place your children in a lower guide and do the extensions....like Preparing (written for 8-10 yo with extensions for 11-12) or Bigger (written for 7-9yo with extensions for 10-11). Or, the way you said it, above!

If you were using MFW, the same concept applies...to avoid more mature topics, go with a guide meant for a younger age.

I, personally, find the age recommendations from BOTH authors to be spot-on! I learned it the hard way...I wanted to delve into all kinds of topics and move forward with lots of chronological history. It was MFW and HOD that helped me see the importance of waiting to introduce many topics until my kiddos were older.

[Donna A.]

FYI, Carrie notes the violent and mature nature of some selections on the front page of the book packages, ...Golden Bull is a book in the optional HISTORY INTEREST section. There are also 2 other book set options with less mature topics...the GIRL INTEREST or BOY INTEREST options, that you could choose to use instead.

From HOD site:

NOTE: Choose one or more of the following book sets to read aloud for the Storytime part of the plans. If you desire to read aloud books that coordinate with the historical time period being studied, you want to choose the History Interest Set. In keeping with the ancient time period, the History Interest Set does contain some violent content. If you wish to avoid this, choose the Boy Interest or Girl Interest Set instead. The Boy and Girl Interest Sets do not match the history but were instead selected to provide excellent read-alouds from 9 different genres.

 

That's a very general statement, though, to the time period. We all know that, or should. The statement is also hard to find. (Small print in one place on the web page.) What I'm getting at is the content of specific books, because not ALL of the history interest books have graphic or questionable (details about worship of false gods) content in them. Some are actually very wholesome. For example, I know I can trust Traveling the Way because it's published by Rod & Staff. ;)

 

And there's no mention of it in the TM at all.

[Donna A.]

Oh, whoops! Thanks for catching that! What I was trying to say was, you might want to stick to using the curriculums designed for younger ones....so instead of using CTC (meant for 9-11 year olds with extensions for 12-13 yo), you might want to place your children in a lower guide and do the extensions....like Preparing (written for 8-10 yo with extensions for 11-12) or Bigger (written for 7-9yo with extensions for 10-11). Or, the way you said it, above!

If you were using MFW, the same concept applies...to avoid more mature topics, go with a guide meant for a younger age.

I, personally, find the age recommendations from BOTH authors to be spot-on! I learned it the hard way...I wanted to delve into all kinds of topics and move forward with lots of chronological history. It was MFW and HOD that helped me see the importance of waiting to introduce many topics until my kiddos were older.

 

I agree with this. The sooner you start Ancients, the sooner you're going to run into book problems. That's one reason we don't do WTM which starts Ancients in 1st grade.

 

The other alternative is to do JUST Bible/OT for the Ancients time period and not try to add secular history to it. MFW attempts to *primarily* do this in CTG... the main spine is the Bible. Of course, there's a lot of folks who don't like that, either.... "Where are the books?" they cry. I guess you can't please everybody! :lol:

 

Alison, have you ever looked at Simply Charlotte Mason? Here's a link to their history modules: http://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/scmguide/history-modules-overview/

[lovetobehome]

I thought Simply CM might appeal to Alison, too!

[lovetobehome]

I agree, it would be good if it were noted in the TM!

[Alison in KY]

Another thanks to everyone. This has turned into such an informative thread. I will definitely check out Simply Charlotte Mason...I've never heard of that one.

 

 

Alison

[Alison in KY]

I'm pondering for a minute this morning, and I have just re-read all of these posts.

 

So if I use CTC for my oldest, he would be reading his own history selection and Bible, and science, correct? Would what I need to know about these selections be in the TM (like key ideas/questions so I'd know for sure he'd read the books without my having to read them?) That would leave me with ONLY reading the storytime and poetry?

 

So if I decided to use Bigger primarily for my girls, then I could skip out on the CTC storytime (not even buy them) and make the Bigger storytime books be ALL of our read aloud. I could even make my son read throught the CTC poem himself, just to be exposed to it since we don't memorize the poems anyway (too busy learning books of the Bible, then states after that), and I'd RA the poetry, Bible, and history.

 

ACK, what am I thinking? It all sounds pretty good, but I also hate for one to be in one history time period, and someone to be in a different time period.

 

And projects don't bother me so much, I'm a project skipper anyway:lol:

 

Or we could just start all of Bigger together a bit earlier in the year next year and then I could start CTC earlier with my son.

 

The ONE thing that is bothering me with all of this is trying to get a complete four year history rotation in for my son in the middle years,plus trying to figure out how to set my girls up for that same rotation :tongue_smilie:BLECH

 

Okay, I'll do something next year.

 

Thanks again to all,

 

Alison

[Donna A.]

So if I use CTC for my oldest, he would be reading his own history selection and Bible, and science, correct? Would what I need to know about these selections be in the TM (like key ideas/questions so I'd know for sure he'd read the books without my having to read them?) That would leave me with ONLY reading the storytime and poetry?

 

If you do it the way it's written, then your son would do History, Bible Quiet Time, Science, and Poetry independently. (There's no way my dd would have a clue about the Poetry if she was doing it alone, because there's a painting project scheduled with it frequently.) You would be involved with Bible Study time, Geography, Storytime, and the History Project.

 

So if I decided to use Bigger primarily for my girls, then I could skip out on the CTC storytime (not even buy them) and make the Bigger storytime books be ALL of our read aloud. I could even make my son read throught the CTC poem himself, just to be exposed to it since we don't memorize the poems anyway (too busy learning books of the Bible, then states after that), and I'd RA the poetry, Bible, and history.

I don't have Bigger, but yes, that sounds about right. You'd also have to do science with your girls.

 

ACK, what am I thinking? It all sounds pretty good, but I also hate for one to be in one history time period, and someone to be in a different time period.

I understand. We've always done everyone together, until this year when 2nd dd hit 5th grade. I wanted her to have one full rotation before h.s. Unfortunately, the only way to insure that *each* child goes through the cycle at least once in elementary is to have them in separate years beginning with the oldest being in 5th grade. So that's a decision you'll have to work out one way or the other. Decide which is most important to you... keep them all together, or break them up once they reach 5th grade.

 

Okay, I'll do something next year.

LOL!

[Alison in KY]

Thank you Donna :grouphug:

[Alison in KY]

I love the books used in CTChrist, but I like the Bible in CTGreeks better.

 

 

 

What Bible is this, and can it be used in HOD's CTC instead of their suggested Bible?

[Donna A.]

What Bible is this, and can it be used in HOD's CTC instead of their suggested Bible?

 

I was referring to the Bible lessons in MFW CTG. You use your own Bible as you read through a big chunk of the Old Testament, and occasionally you look up additional info in Victor Journey Through the Bible, too (for cultural and geographical information). You also read Dinosaurs of Eden, which is also scheduled in HOD, but at a much faster pace in HOD. MFW assigns shorter passages each day and therefore takes a few days longer to get through it. I like the pace better in MFW.

 

I would even dare to consider the scheduled read-alouds as part of "Bible" in MFW CTG, in the sense that biblical character values are taught through those stories. These are the books by Patricia St. John, who was a missionary. She wrote several historical fiction books, some of which are in the context of biblical times and situations (such as Twice Freed which is used in Rome to Reformation), but even the somewhat more modern ones -- more modern than Bible times, I mean -- have a storyline centered around biblical teaching.