If I didn't like HOD will I not like MFW?

[mammabear6]

We started out this year using LHFHG (for k) and BHFHG (for 3rd). It just did not work for us. My older DD was not remember the things we were learning about and the science was not working. The activities in Little Hearts were too easy for my younger DD.

 

I am torn about what to do next year. I can keep them both separate and do work at their grade level (except science which we will do together) or try to combine as much as possible. I am drawn towards combining since I do have four younger kids at home, the youngest two being twins.

 

I have been drawn to MFW since we stared homeschooling, but I have never used it. Will I like MFW if I did not like HOD? Or is it different enough that I may like it?

 

Thanks

[Donna A.]

They are different enough. I think probably the simplest thing for you to do would be to try either ECC or Adventures in MFW, combining all your children, and then just use something simple that you like for math and phonics/learning to read for your K'ish kids who are in that learn-to-read stage. Each child would have their own level of math and LA, anyway, so that part wouldn't change. But combining them in history, Bible and science would be a lot more doable than multiple separate programs.... especially since your kids are so close together in age.

 

Did you get all the way through Beyond? Or did you skip a lot or drop it partway through the year? Where is your 3rd grader in the 3 R's? I'm just thinking about whether it would be more prudent to do ECC or Adventures. MFW says that Adventures is for families with the oldest in 2nd or 3rd grade, and your oldest would be 4th next year, right? But that might not be a problem... I can share how I incorporated a 10yo in Adventures when we did it, if you're interested.

[mammabear6]

We did not make it through Bigger. We dropped science after a few weeks and we tweaked the other things a lot and then we dropped it completely about a month ago.

 

My oldest DD is 8 (almost 9) and is a great reader, doing well in math and can write well too. My second DD is 6 and is reading well too. She has done great with phonics this year and is writing well too.

 

I would be interested in knowing how you combined your kids in Adventures.

 

Thanks

[Sheila in OK]

Same here--although we are still *sort of* using parts of it. We used Adventures a fews year ago (when my dd was 2nd grade) and really liked it. I remember getting *very* tired of the state pages, and we didn't care for one of the spines (Exploring American History, I believe) but other than that, it was great. EAH may work better with older dc; I think it is a 5th or 6th grade text.

 

Anyway I don't know about beefing it up for an older child, but I definitely think you may like it even if you didn't care for HOD.

 

We did not make it through Bigger. We dropped science after a few weeks and we tweaked the other things a lot and then we dropped it completely about a month ago.

 

My oldest DD is 8 (almost 9) and is a great reader, doing well in math and can write well too. My second DD is 6 and is reading well too. She has done great with phonics this year and is writing well too.

 

I would be interested in knowing how you combined your kids in Adventures.

 

Thanks

[Sue G in PA]

I agree with Donna that the 2 programs are different enough that if HOD didn't work for your family, then MFW just might. So, you will have a 4th grader and 1st grader and littles next year, is that correct? Whatever program you choose from MFW would be more for the 4th grader with your 1st grader just following along when she wants. When we did ECC, I had a Ker, 2nd grader, 3rd gr, 5th gr. and 7th gr. doing the program. My Ker and 2nd gr. didn't do any of the workbook pages but did listen to some of our read-alouds and missionary stories and colored the flags and John 3:16 pages. I also got a few geography books about countries we were studying that were age-appropriate for the youngers. They were Scholastic books, i believe. They also listened to some of the Science readings. I was doing MFW K with the Ker at the time, so it didn't really matter to me if he listened or not. :)

 

Adventures would also be a good choice, but you might have to "beef it up" for a 4th grader. But, maybe not. Having not done Adv. myself, I'm only going by what was suggested to me for next year when we were considering doing Adv. with a 4th gr. and a 2nd gr. I would say that if you felt drawn to MFW, then you should give it a try. It is a great program. Funny, but we are going in the opposite direction next year...moving from MFW to HOD.

[Donna T.]

I have been drawn to MFW since we stared homeschooling, but I have never used it. Will I like MFW if I did not like HOD? Or is it different enough that I may like it?

 

Thanks

 

In my experience, MFW and HOD are not at all the same. I used MFW K, 1st grade, Adventures and some of ECC (twice, tried it two different years). This year, I'm finishing up two HOD guides. I don't think they are as much the same as they are different. I guess whether or not you like MFW will depend on what you did or didn't like about HOD. MFW would probably suggest that you start with ECC but I think many of the books in the Adventures book list would appeal to a fourth grader. There are alot of picture books. We loved those. But, while doing library searches for those books, I always stumbled over many others on the same topics that would have been fine for a fourth grader. A fourth grader may also enjoy the Bible study. We loved the Bible study. I think it was our favorite part of Adventures. You will probably want to add something else for science. The science in Adventures, in my opinion, is very light. We enjoyed the bird study. I think I recall some adding one of the Apologia science books alongside Adventures - the one about Flying Creatures. That would be an ideal add on to the overall study.

 

I hope you find what you are looking for! I think both are good programs but I do think they are pretty different and your experience with MFW may be totally different than with HOD.

[SandKsmama]

Little Hearts did not work here, but we have loved and used MFW for 5 years now. I think while some of the basics of both programs are similar (the Charlotte Mason leanings, for example), a LOT of how those basics are implemented is very different, and this is what makes HOD work for some, and MFW work for others. I haven't met many that really loved both.

 

Anyway, I think Adventures might be a good place to start - you could easily combine your girls for Bible, history and science, and then they would do their own levels of English and math. How combining the kids works in my house is this: I basically read the books out loud to them, and then if there is a project, notebook page, etc. they all work on it at the same time (depending on what it is). I'm sure this looks different in different homes, but that's how we do it, in a nutshell.