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I was just wondering if anyone has ever used this curriculum or even looked at it? It advertises that it is for gifted children and so I was wondering what you all thought of it? My first thought would be that it would still have the limitation that all packaged curricula has, that our children are often learning on many different levels throughout their content areas and so this wouldn't work. However, I am still interested in what others may think of this program.

 

Thanks!

 

http://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/

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I have a friend locally who used it with her (gifted) dd. I remember she was very excited about it early on, and gradually lost all enthusiasm for it. As you said, it had all of the limitations of any boxed curriculum, and her daughter grew to hate the sameness of it all. They ended up returning to more standard wtm recommendations and are much happier.

 

All that said, I haven't used it personally and my information is hearsay.

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I used the ages 6-8 Culture Concept last fall as 'world culture' studies. I bought the concept/books required.

 

I could never see it as a stand alone curriculum. It was cute(hand drawn pictures) but I did not find it to be very challenging. The little math thrown in seemed out of place. My kids enjoyed the stories!!! But the activities overall seemed like busywork.

 

We never did the last part, Literature. It is Cinderella stories from around the world. We may do it this summer.

 

For what I needed it for, it worked. We got to study world culture in a light and fun way.

 

I would not purchase this again. It doesn't fit into our style of school/learning.

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Thank you Tess. Your review really pointed out a few things I was concerned with and I kind of doubt this is really something that would work for us. The all-in-one program, and "cuteness" and fun factor are what got me looking but I think in the end I'd really end up disliking it. It is just that sometimes I feel like everything we do is so "academic" and my son is missing out on some of the fun stuff I know that he would get in ps. However, some of this "fun" stuff is often busy work and neither ds or I have much tolerance for busy work. Ds usually just wants to get down to business.

 

Thanks for giving me a first hand review of this program, I really appreciate it :001_smile:.

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I looked at it but not for long, and for some of the reasons already stated: It looked too schoolish; there were several limitations built in to make it difficult to use with a child whose abilities vary over a span of more than a grade or two; and, most importantly, it nearly wasn't advanced enough content and interest wise in DD's case.

 

I prefer to build challenging a challenging curriculum one subject at a time.

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Naturalmom and Nmoira,

 

Thank you both for your thoughts. I think I got excited at the thought of an all in one "gifted" curriculum but this doesn't look like what we want. I don't know why I'm even looking, I like what we are doing, and it is working, but I guess I got bit by the curriculum bug :D.

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Hello,

 

I know I'm late in answering this question, but I did want to post a short review I did in comparing with the curriculum I currently use- My Father's World. Hopefully it will help someone.

 

I've also looked at MBtP, am part of the yahoo group, and have Concept

4 of ages 6-8 which is Matter and Movement (the parent manual and a few

books I picked up used).

 

Pros:

1. Lots of activities to expand on different concepts in different ways.

2. Extension activities include those that can be used in science fair

or family presentations.

3. It's like different unit studies throughout the year in which other

subjects are integrated (see Con #2).

 

Cons:

 

1. No Bible basis- since this is one of the main reasons I'm

homeschooling, having Bible integrated into our studies is important to

us.

 

2. It's scattered (kind of like my message, lol). It's based on

different "concepts" (unit studies), such as relationships, in which

social studies, science, and literature studies are based on. There is

no rhyme or reason to the order in which concepts are presented. First

concept will be relationships, the next change, etc. There is nothing

to "tack" this information into- such as a historical base

(chronological).

 

3. Some concepts are more science-heavy, others focus more on social

studies. This may not be a con, it's just another example of

scattered-ness.

 

4. It uses worksheets. These worksheets do include such things as

graphic organizers though, which could be helpful for some children.

Even without the student manual, there seems to be a bit of writing.

Some people in the yahoo group are asking if they can skip the writing

because their children aren't up to that level yet.

 

5. Time commitment. The author expects a family will be spending 2

hours a day just on the lessons in the parent manual -- for ages 6-8.

This does not include independent reading, readalouds, "reviewing

vocabulary and/or spelling words," - another 1.5 hours spelled out -

not to mention art, music, foreign language (if doing that), or

exploration time. Plus, she mentions (though not done every day),

another hour for reteaching/reinforcing information and real-life

application.

 

Having said that, I can see using different concepts to expand or go

deeper in different areas of MFW. I got Matter and Movement, as after

looking forward at our studies in friction, energy, etc (we're in

Adventures), I know she'll want to do more. Then again, I could have

just checked out more books from the library. I probably wouldn't have

come up with the activities in the manual though.

 

There is another certain concept that seems it would have gone good

with studying Native Americans, but then again, it looks heavy on their

folklore. There's a literature study that uses Little House on the

Prairie, if one were so inclined to do that. But, getting so many bits

and pieces to supplement another curriculum could get expensive.

 

All in all, it works for some, it wouldn't work for us. I like the unit

study approach, but one that has a base. MFW has a base- the Bible, but

also history. The history is chronological, which I like, in the upper

years. The children get a foundation in God's word first and foremost.

There is a definite scope and sequence in the long-term using MFW,

whereas with MBtP it jumps around. You'll need to keep good records to

keep up with what you cover each year.

 

Just my opinion based on one concept.

 

Renai

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If you need another negative response, I can give one too, lol. I found it at the convention last year, bought two of the literature units just to try. My initial impression of Howe at the convention is pretty much in line with the material. She's a public school teacher who taught gifted kids, has a young dc she's homeschooling, and thinks that translates into teaching gifted/advanced/capable kids at home. As the others said, the materials have the cluttered setup of someone used to writing school lesson plans and don't really reflect what HOMEschoolers are looking for (pick-up and go, large print, no educational jargon or stupidity only needed in schools).

 

Some of the activities in the lessons themselves are very good, which is why I bought a couple to try. (We haven't tried them yet, btw.) However sometimes you have this agenda running through them, sort of a humanistic, public school slant, not the perspective or way WE would discuss the literature. To her, Poppy by Avi is an example of societal power struggles, the cycle of power, abuse of power, etc. Granted I haven't even READ the book, but does that seem as weird to you as it does to me? I don't buy a lit guide to have it put some weird spin on the literature, kwim? I'm looking for historical and scientific context, moral truths, literary techniques, etc. This is more like political spin. There's some other stuff there, but this weird train of thought invades her questions, etc. I don't know, maybe it wouldn't bug some people, but when you actually LOOK at the questions and where she's going with it, it just seems weird.

 

There is some value to her activities, and they're certainly not things most of us would think up ourselves. I'm planning to try them at some point, in some fashion, just to see how dd responds to something really different. As Abbeyej said, I think most of us would be very dissatisfied to use MBP as a complete curriculum approach. It's not a systematic study through topics, more of a unit study approach. That unit study thing is really popular in some of the good schools in our area (if you're studying dirt that year, spell about dirt, have social studies classes about the implications and special needs of dirt, read about dirt, science about things in dirt, etc., and no I'm NOT making that up, a school around here does that in 4th grade!), but WTM is the total opposite (study systematically, learn the foundations). And that was why I just picked a couple guides to play with, because I think MBP had some value, just isn't strong enough to be a complete curriculum. It would work in a SCHOOL setting, where kids are used to that and fed limited amounts of predetermined thought, agenda, and experience. At home it's very different, with kids going faster, reading more deeply, pursuing their interest-led rabbit trails. I'm curious to see how my dd would react to something like this. I think in the end around here we tend to find that guiding spine instruction plus plenty of freedom is a good balance. This is the total opposite, using the assumption that you can totally guide, something that could only be accomplished in school, where you cage them in. Even the extent of the activities reflect school. She suggests in Poppy that 7-9 yo's would like to make a paper bag owl (snort)... In a homeschool environment some might, but others might sculpt it, build it from legos, draw in on all kinds of paper or bring in unusual materials. Sky is the limit! There are going to be a lot of things that you realize you could expand, enlighten, or bring freedom to. For instance in Family in the Bridge she does a simple worksheet of background info on France. Well a dc might have enjoyed reading about France from the start and putting that info into a lapbook, rather than just filling out a worksheet in one day. She has a papercraft for the eiffel tower, when there are LOTS better ways to build it at home. So the activities weren't bad, just either redundant (work on contractions? we did that in grammar) or too stiff, needing to loosen up, get open-ended, and reflect what kids really can do when they're at home and have more freedom and opportunities.

 

I think that's in the end her real difficulty. Not only is there a style mismatch, but her dc is too young and homeschooling experience too limited to show her what can happen when you teach at home in an unfettered way. I wouldn't use her approach as a complete curriculum unless you want the unit study method popular in the public schools right now. It's not too bad to use just a unit of it here or there if you are willing to sort through the clutter. Like I said, I found enough value to be willing to buy a couple of them, but to me they're supplements or side-tracks, not the main thing I'm doing.

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Katilac and Elizabeth,

 

Thank you both for your feedback. Elizabeth, your post really hit home with me. It was a conversation with a public school/TAG teacher that got me feeling discontent and looking around in the first place. You are right about the public schools really being into the unit study approach and it is sooooo not me or our homeschooling style:rolleyes:. It was that slight seed of insecurity that made me second guess myself for a moment and think maybe this was a better approach, especially for a bright student. But, it really wouldn't be right for our family. I was also still slightly considering the Literature Units but I don't think they really sound like a very good fit for us either. Thank you so much for chiming in. It is such a blessing to have a group like this that we can gather information and feedback!

 

Thanks!

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I agree with much of what Renai has said, but have a different take on it. We have done the 7-9 Social Studies Science Change as a supplement with our gifted 7 yo. It was easy for her and by way of comparison if you do buy it, she's technically in 1st grade but uses books for the first half of fourth in language arts and math. It was about $45 for the parent and student books and it would have been worth it if it had been more challenging. I should have returned it and gone with the 8-10, but I was super busy with activities the other children were involved in and short on ideas-brain fatigue that is-and just dove in when it arrived.

 

Initially I was not impressed with the books. The format doesn't lend itself to skimming while teaching and the questions, while of the right type for gifted children, do not run deep. I think the author is just off a year, so if your child is truly gifted and not just bright, you should use a level higher than she recommends.

 

Despite some disappointment with the material, it has saved me time and I have found it worth the money. Once I started using the books I was pleased with how the material built on itself and I can see that it would be easy to mesh the other concepts with each of the others. If you are familiar with William & Mary gifted curriculum you know that the big focus is on change and they loosely tie in many of the concepts that the MBP author uses. I've been building curriculum since we started homeschooling our youngest children who are now in college. I still love creating new programs, but it can be difficult to keep up with a gifted child. It's sometimes easier to just used advanced material forgetting that they need to go deep and not just harder and by deep I don't mean exploring the material in depth.

 

MBP could be created by an enthusiastic homeschooling mother, but it would be a lot of work. The author provides some unique activities along with open ended questions that provide a situation where the child is challenged to think on a conceptual level. The answers are not spelled out for the child as they are with most programs. In MBP the child often has to mentally integrate the results of several activities in order to address a question or explain the results of an experiment. That the child is challenged in that way was not obvious to me until we were on lesson 5 or 6. As I mentioned before, it does build.

 

The bottom line is that it is a stronger program than it probably looks and if you have a lot of children, little time, or if you don't have a lot of experience building a program to challenge a gifted child than MBP is worth trying. This would be a nice change of pace from the usual programs for an average child. It's not at all like a unit study (not at all) or other curriculum I've seen. It is somewhat politically correct which can be annoying, but for what it's worth Poppy by Avi is about power struggles and a gifted child sees things like that and thinks it's fun to discuss. It's closest to William & Mary gifted curriculum, but theirs is more challenging and easier to use while skimming the material. They also would go the Poppy is about power struggles route too. MBP doesn't have the cooperative learning experiences that W&M have, which makes it more appealing to homeschoolers. I would recommend MBP as a supplement. Can't speak to the issue of it being a whole, stand alone program.

 

I've seen MBP compared to MFW on another site and I'm not sure why. We also use that and while I like it very much, I don't see it as having any of the special elements that a gifted child needs beyond just allowing the child to explore a topic in depth, which can be done with most programs, or being a little differentiated, also found in other programs.

 

Maybe I should start a thread asking that question.

 

It's late and I've rambled. Sorry.

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Ok Love2read, you've inspired me. I got out Poppy today and I'll have her read it, get started on the guide, just so we can see what happens. Like you say, there's probably a subtlety to the approach that we're missing just by looking at it. We're mature enough to overlook some clutter or faults to get to the good stuff. There was enough value to interest me in buying a couple books of it in the first place. We'll see what happens! Maybe she'll love the guide and want to school this way forever, lol. And yes, I did wonder if her age-ranges were off. The Poppy guide says 7-9 and my dd just turned 9. We'll see. I figured I'd give the author the benefit of the doubt, since she was trying to mix thought with activities and academic content.

 

As far as gifted kids seeing power struggles in Poppy, well we'll see. I'm an extremely straightforward person, more the linguistics, analytical type, and honestly stuff like that goes right over my head. My dh and dd are the total opposite and see right through people. (Needless to say, when I have a personal problem or can't understand someone, I ask THEM!)

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Let us know what you think. I've never seen the literature guides and what I saw online only looked so-so. We have really enjoyed the William & Mary literature curriculum. In terms of the ages, I think the author of MBP doesn't have a lot of one on one experience with gifted children and may be basing the age range on her own child or one or two others that she knows.

 

I don't think most of my children would have picked up on the underlying messages in Poppy at that age. Only two of them have been gifted academically and both of them were picking up on messages even in picture books that I missed. The others were really oblivious until I pointed it out to them and didn't start seeing things on a deeper level until junior high when they began reading "Where the Red Fern Grows" and other books like that as part of literature study and not just for fun reading.

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Love2read,

 

Thanks for your review. It is good to hear the other side. You mentioned MBP as having a few strengths that kind of peak my interest again. The biggest being that it makes the child connect and integrate information they have learned from various activities. I feel that is something we are really lacking as everything in our hs is very linear and compartmentalized. My dh and I were just talking a few days ago about how I can get my ds to apply what he has learned in one area to other areas.

 

You mention that it isn't a unit study, can you elaborate on that?

 

Secondly, you mention using some of the WM curriculum. Could you tell me a little more about what you have used and your thoughts on that?

 

I only wish this program wasn't so expensive, I would love to give it a go for myself but I'm not sure I can justify the cost to just try it out.

 

Thanks for your input!

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Elizabeth,

 

Please let us know how the lit unit goes after you give it a try. I'd love to hear your feedback once you have gone through it. Also, I can relate to your analytical side. I never seem to get the underlying meaning and symbolism, I tend to see the obvious and miss the subtleties. :001_rolleyes:

 

Thanks!

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Just to update you a little bit, we've been doing the lesson1 of the Poppy guide today. The layout issues of the guide that bugged me initially aren't an issue when you actually sit down to USE it. Sure it could be better laid out, but it's easy enough to skip the clutter. The activities themselves seem to be right on. I let dd read the book this morning and now we're working through the lesson 1 activities, which are meant to be more a preview to the book. She's currently researching the deer mouse and great horned owl. We did the grunt work (writing out the vocab, listing elements of fantasy, etc.) together, anything that had to be written or was tedious. That didn't thrill her, no surprise, but she's very interested in the open-ended and research stuff. That's of course why I left that to LAST, lol! We did the web search for interviews of Avi, and that was mildly interesting to her. She's convinced she doesn't like to write, but his story (dyslexia, not taking off with writing till later) did nothing to move her. Oh well. After she finishes her research, she'll draw forest animals onto a picture (lame, but she seems to think it's interesting), and make a map of the setting.

 

So so far, so good. She saw the personification and power struggles and thought the whole thing was hilarious. If I could get a HISTORY program that does this, that would be a happy thing, oh my. She'd ADORE that. I think you'd get burnt out to try to sustain this type of diversified, research-based learning over too many subjects. Textbooks and spines can be a good thing, lol! I also don't see the wisdom in making your coverage of every topic haphazard or contextualized. Systematic study has its place. But the activities are good and she's enjoying it.

 

I'm looking through the instructions in the manual, and their suggestions on how you actually use the modules to create an entire program is rather vague. They list their modules, suggested time spent, then they list this teach/reteach time slot. Seems to me they're allowing for the need for more direct, systematic instruction? In any case, it wouldn't satisfy me as a complete curriculum. For portions, it seems fun enough. I can definitely see where you could get burnt out doing too much of it. I also think there are limits. Like we couldn't do this much intensity for history *and* lit. Something would have to give or at least you'd have to alternate days. It's basically going to take 3 hours to do the activities of one "lesson" in this lit guide. So if you spend that long, where is your time left for everything else for the day? (latin, science, history, etc.) Maybe they're meaning you to spread a lesson out over a week and do a bit from each of their three modules each day? Like I said, that's too crazy for me. We can do one thing fun or over the top in life, but everything else needs to be sequential, do-the-next-thing. And with 13 lessons in the Poppy guide, that seems like more than enough days on one book, personal opinion, otherwise it could get too long.

 

I'll post back with the following days. We probably won't get any done Friday, so that would just be Tues-Thurs, lessons 2-4. Then Mon we could pick up with lesson 5.

 

To me, the other thing I wrangle with is that what I do for a supplement or a flick, a change of pace, ISN'T what I pick for my spine instruction in key worldview subjects. It's that constant balance of worldview and approach. Sure I wish I had a history curriculum that was totally cool, exploratory, and engaging for history, but the VIEWPOINT and spin of the program is more important to me than the approach. (just rambling in my own philosophical bubble here)

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Well guests came over and she didn't get to finish her projects. I'm realizing the research worksheets would go more quickly if I guided her. She either wasn't finding the answers or didn't know how to know she had them, not sure which. Tomorrow I'll go over those two worksheets (researching the deer mouse and great horned owl) and get her through them. She didn't get to the mapping. She spent a good long time on it though, so I'm not sure how realistic doing ALL the activities for one lesson will turn out to be. She did seem to really enjoy it and engage with the approach. Of course it helps that she adores the book and recognizes others by the author. If the book were boring or old hat to her, it would flop.

 

The MBP author (Kim Howe) taught g&t in a school setting, meaning she only knows what she has seen there. And not to be snarky, but teaching g&t doesn't mean your kids will be in order to lend you any experience there. That was my major impression with the whole thing, that some of her experiences were very helpful and others just weren't in line with what you expect or what happens when you keep those same dc home. The tm keeps saying "tell" your kids this or that, and it just cracks me up. Why would I tell her things if I could ASK her? Oh well, that didn't flow. In any case, many precocious 9 yo's at home could do more advanced writing, etc. than what she's calling for. On the other hand, what she has is good and dd is enjoying it. It's a nice change of pace.

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Elizabeth,

Thanks for the update. It sounds like so far so good. I'll be interested to hear how the rest of it goes.

 

 

Renai,

Yes, please do share with us how it goes once you get into the unit. I would definitely love to hear your experience.

 

Thanks!

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We're awaiting the delivery of our first MBTP unit, the 5-7 Similarities and Differences. So I can give you a review of it after we get it and start to use it. We are previewing this unit to se if it will be a good fit for us next year.

 

The things that attracted me to it were differentiated curriculum (which attempts to address the different levels of learning and asynchronous development of gifted kids), projects to demonstrate understanding, concept-based (as opposed to unit/theme based), and it isn't entirely (as I see it) in-a-box. We have done phonics/reading and math independently.

 

I'll be happy to post a review in a few weeks when we've got a taste for it.

 

Shannon

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Hi Country Girl, just letting you know we got off our schedule the last couple days of these week but should be on-track for Monday. Dd started the mapping activity but wants to add to it as she reads through the book again. The forest animals activity (drawing them onto a page) was silly to her, as we live surrounded by woods. We see buzzards, possums, skunks, snakes, foxes, and coyotes just by looking out our windows! And of course deer, don't forget the resident deer, lol.

 

So anyways, for tomorrow it's more mundane, not SO many activities like there were for the first/introductory lesson. It's sentence combining (we'll do that orally), comprehension questions (you have this every time), a comparison paragraph (we'll see how that flies, thought I'd discuss it with her first and then tell her to write, jolt), and making puppets (should go over big, she'll do this her own way). So it's a lot lighter for tomorrow.

 

I'll try to report in later and tell you how it goes. I've been busy revamping my science life to get to the new Colors program from Rainbow science by this fall... :)

 

PS. I just went to check out the 8-10 stuff from MBP, and turns out they have lit guides for books for american history, the very thing we'll be covering next year. They have the student doing 2-3 paragraphs and even give the graphic organizers. I'm thinking we'll probably use some of them. I'm liking what I see here better than VP and the other lit guides I've tried. It's what I think a lit study OUGHT to be (drawing in skills, variety of learning modalities). I'm not saying I'd use MBP solely, as that would be too light on systematic history, etc. for us. But for what it is and what we're taking from it, it's good. So far it's engaging her, and the guides are more practical than I thought. I just had to get over my initial annoyance with them visually. I'm bad about that, lol.

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Elizabeth,

 

I keep going back to the website, looking through the sample pages over and over, but can't quite come to a conclusion on what I'm feeling and thinking. Your posts are really helping me work through my thoughts on this program and I really appreciate the time you are taking to update us as your dd works through it! However, don't stress yourself too much trying to update me, I know you have lots of other things going on (don't we all:D).

 

I think the lit guides are still high on my list of possibilities for next year. I am considering these as well as the ones from William and Mary, which also look very good. However, the choice of books that MBP offers looks a little better for us. Some of the WM books that I think would work well for us have a higher suggested level then I probably want. While my ds could handle the actual reading, I'm not sure he could handle the output required by the unit. I know that love2read posted in another thread saying that the WM units are rated pretty correctly, so a book listed as a 3-5 would actually be appropriate for a gifted 3-5 grader. Unlike so many other things, where a level 3-5 would be no problem, I'm thinking for the WM units I should probably stick closer to those rated 2-3 since he will be a 2nd grader this fall. WM doesn't have many that fall in this category but I may try the few that they do have.

 

I never thought trying to hs an accelerated child would be so tough. I thought it would make my job easier because then I wouldn't have to worry about the dreaded "being behind" scenario. Instead, trying to challenge my ds and help him live up to his potential is challenging me!:willy_nilly:

 

 

Thanks again!

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Well Country Girl, I'm back with a quick update. We finally finished lesson#2 of Poppy! It was good, but we managed to drag it out all week, what with errands and stuff. So much for a fast pace! I liked the activities. One of the things that has struck me is that I never noticed the lack of such a guide earlier. I think this level is nice, but I'm not sure how much I'd fiddle with the lower levels. I like this because it's bringing basic writing assignments (paragraphs) into the picture with meaningful assignments. You wouldn't have that at the lower levels, I don't think. But maybe they'd still be valuable? I say stick to the basics, have fun, and don't stress. If doing one of the guides with your ds looks like it will be fun, go ahead and try one. At that age we read aloud a lot and let our fun stuff come from history activities and her freetime stuff (mainly art).

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  • 4 weeks later...

Sorry this review couldn't have been done sooner - for various reasons it took 5 weeks from the time I ordered to the time I received my materials. Not MBTP's fault.

 

Anyway... We've begun using the Similarities and Differences Concept (Age 5-7). We're a little over a week in and, so far, I think it is a fine curriculum. More than OK, but not excellent. Here's a breakdown of the pros and cons I see so far

 

Pros

-Prepared curriculum (I don't have to try to make up or heavily adapt!)

-Content includes breadth and depth

-Activities are differentiated (this is great for DD whose handwriting skills are below her verbal and thinking skills)

-More creativity and abstract thinking required than most grammar stage curricula*

-Final projects require synthesis and application (as per last comment), although we haven't done one yet so I can only judge by overviewing the material

 

Cons

-Lots of activity sheet output (these are better than mindless worksheets, but we just aren't used to having a "product" each day)

-No reference/resource/primary source use (at least that I can see, although there may be some in other concetps

-Some, but not enough, literature incorporated/used

 

These pros and cons are pretty narrow, in that they address the things I am looking for. Our school year is winding down, so I think we'll finish this unit, take a 4 week break, and start up again in August with the rest (three units total in the concept).

 

I think what I appreciate most about the curriculum is that it is a starting point for me. Having prepared lessons makes it easier to explore topics in depth and move things in the direction my student is ready for and interested in. It has also given me motivation and confidence to try creating some of my own curriculum.

 

*One problem I find with WTM and what I know of classical education is that the stages of learning aren't always in synch with my asynchronous child. I agree that primarily learning is observation and memorization of fact. However, I disagree with some content that is suggested for grammar stage. Particularly in science.

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Shannon,

 

Sorry, I just saw your response. Thank you so much for taking the time to give me an update on how this is going! I really appreciate all of the feedback I have gotten on this program. I keep thinking I've ruled out MBTP but then for some reason I keep getting drawn back in and go back and pour over the website over and over. Having a program all laid out that is designed to be used cohesively is kind of appealing since I've been starting to get a little nervous about the piecing together I've been doing. The price is one of the scariest things about the whole program;) (that and not getting to really see it in person).

 

One other thing I was wondering if you could address is how grammar and writing instruction is handled in this program. Or is there writing "instruction" or does it just give writing assignments? I plan on ordering at least one lit unit to get an idea for myself but I'd love to hear your input before I do.

 

Thanks!

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Country Girl --

 

I have the Community concept for ages 6-8 that you can borrow if you would like to look through it. :) Just PM me your address and I'll send it your way.

 

I also have four of the Lit Guides for ages 7-9 that we will be incorporating into this school year (not doing any of the concepts, our plate is already full for this year). There is definitely more writing involved in this level than in the 6-8, such as keeping a journal, writing multiple sentences in assignment, how to write a "hamburger paragraph", etc.

 

I really like the program. I do! :) I spent a LOT of time at the booth last year talking to Kim, and honestly if I didn't already have a path in mind for DS's education, and if I didn't have 5 kids, and if I had discovered it early enough to start at the beginning, I would seriously consider using MBTP for our main curriculum.

 

I hesitate to recommend it to people though, because the style of it ISN'T for everyone. It does require a lot of one-on-one time. It does cover things by jumping around (which appeals to me, but is NOT classical ed in any way! ha ha). Kim had a workshop this weekend at convention, and a friend of mine who attended it HATED it, HATED her approach to teaching gifted kids, can't believe she's selling a whole curriculum, etc. Yet later in the day I stopped by her booth and it was filled with several families who loved everything she said in the workshop and were ready to jump in with both feet.

 

I took time to look through the age 8-10 books that are out now.... I have to say I am impressed with what is covered in it. I can see that if someone used the entire program, it DOES cover what some would consider to be a full education (but not those who think that history should be studied every year... or that science needs to be studied systematically!).

 

So I'm not really recommending this program or recommending against it. You just need to look through it and decide if it is something that would work in your family or not.

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Country Girl --

 

I have the Community concept for ages 6-8 that you can borrow if you would like to look through it. :) Just PM me your address and I'll send it your way.

Colleen,

I'm not even sure what to say, your generosity in this offer is amazing! :Angel_anim: I'm going to pray about it and talk it over with dh and see what he thinks. I don't want you to go to the trouble of sending it if I can rule it out. I'll send you a pm if I decide to take you up on your offer.

 

Also, thanks again for the extra information. I really appreciate your honesty in stressing that this isn't for everyone. You have been a real blessing to me in your post and I thank you for it.

 

Take Care!

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Country Girl, I'm really proud of you (sounding like the almost 50 year old mother that I am I guess). Over the years many of us have jumped in and grabbed this product or that book as soon as it appealed to us. You have a lot of control. Good for you!!

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Country Girl, We did a couple weeks of the Poppy guide, paused for a major family event and our current 4 week break, then we'll get back to it. I like it well enough that I think you should at least try it. Take up Colleen's offer, or just go ahead and buy one guide that you particularly thought looked interesting! It's at least a nice supplement. I think the only place to go wrong would be leaping and concluding you're going to do it as your ONLY way of homeschooling. That might fit some people and not others. But I think to do some of it, at least as a supplement, would be pleasant to many people. Each guide stands by itself, so you could just pick one, do it for a month, and then decide how it fits into your scheme of things.

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Country Girl, I'm really proud of you (sounding like the almost 50 year old mother that I am I guess). Over the years many of us have jumped in and grabbed this product or that book as soon as it appealed to us. You have a lot of control. Good for you!!

 

Thanks for the compliment but I don't know if it is self control or, more likely, extreme indecision :D.

 

Take Care!

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Country Girl, We did a couple weeks of the Poppy guide, paused for a major family event and our current 4 week break, then we'll get back to it. I like it well enough that I think you should at least try it. Take up Colleen's offer, or just go ahead and buy one guide that you particularly thought looked interesting! It's at least a nice supplement. I think the only place to go wrong would be leaping and concluding you're going to do it as your ONLY way of homeschooling. That might fit some people and not others. But I think to do some of it, at least as a supplement, would be pleasant to many people. Each guide stands by itself, so you could just pick one, do it for a month, and then decide how it fits into your scheme of things.

 

 

Elizabeth,

 

This is good advice. I have decided I definitely want to give a lit unit a try but I'm still wondering if it would be worth it to try an entire concept to get a full picture of how the program works. I guess I'll keep praying and thinking about it.

 

Thanks!

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  • 7 months later...

Hi!

 

I've read all the posts with interest. I'm from the UK and my kids are nearly 8 and 6. I also have a 3 year old and one on the way. My kids are at school but i'm thinking of taking them out. I really like mbp because it looks very complete and ready for me to delve into with both kids. Having said that I would be spending over a thousand dollars on both so want to think this through carefully. Plus being in the UK there will be heavy shipping costs.

 

Would this be too time consuming? Being from the UK means we don't have access to multiple curriculum. I would appreciate little planning on my part whilst I get use to homeschooling. I guess i'm looking for a helping hand to start off with. Would you recommend this?

 

tia x

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Hi!

 

I've read all the posts with interest. I'm from the UK and my kids are nearly 8 and 6. I also have a 3 year old and one on the way. My kids are at school but i'm thinking of taking them out. I really like mbp because it looks very complete and ready for me to delve into with both kids. Having said that I would be spending over a thousand dollars on both so want to think this through carefully. Plus being in the UK there will be heavy shipping costs.

 

Would this be too time consuming? Being from the UK means we don't have access to multiple curriculum. I would appreciate little planning on my part whilst I get use to homeschooling. I guess i'm looking for a helping hand to start off with. Would you recommend this?

 

tia x

 

 

We're using 5-7 and it doesn't take much time - usually 30-45 minutes a day. I have heard that the 8-10 level is quite time consuming, though, if you do the full program. If you prefer to do lots of outside activities, you might want to use MBTP as a supplement, or do something else, but if you would rather stay home, or don't mind taking longer than the stated 36 weeks, you could easily do it and enjoy any "rabbit trails" that come up. The upper levels do encourage the student to work more independently, so I assume (we're not at that stage yet, obviously) you would be required to do less teaching and hand-holding than with the 5-7 or 6-8 levels.

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Tia, I suggest you buy *1* of the units/books from MBP and start there. That's way too much money to plunk out on something you've never tried before! It might not even work out for you. Your 8 yo may find even their uppermost materials too simple, like my dd did. (I liked it, she found it busywork.) So I suggest you start with just one of the books and see what happens. Do you have a copy of WTM yet? You also might search the board here for posts by Laura in China. She's no longer in China but back in the UK somewhere. (with a new username, Laura Corin?) She has some wishlists on amazon as well. She got people around here hooked on Galore Park materials, which ironically enough are from the UK. So you're trying to buy american stuff and we're trying to buy UK stuff. Guess if it comes from somewhere else, but must be "better" right? ;)

 

With the ages of your dc, I'd be more likely to do a quality math program, CHOW or SOTW for history, and some really fun science. Then just use a book of MBP as a lit study or one component of your day if you want. That way it doesn't get too repetitious with everything being the same style/approach.

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Hi

 

I have the Galore Park Maths and English books through Laura's recommendations. I like them but they are to 'dry' for me.... I can see that I'm not going to be able to follow Classical exclusively and also that I don't need MBP in order to do so. But, I really want to start off with minimal pre-planning - I have no idea what it's going to be like with a new baby and no idea what it's like to homeschool.

 

I've been thinking that if the curriculum looks challenging enough it could be something I spread over two years and use SOTW along with it. Alternatively I could pick certain concepts, add right start maths, FLL/WWE, plus a science programme and go with that - but tell me, is this pieced together curriculum as pick up and go as a boxed one? Can it all flow together?

 

thanks xx

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Well I used RightStart math and FLL, so I can say those things are very pick up and go. I have an almost 4 month old, so I understand your concern about how the new baby will add to the mix! You're going to want some things the dc can just plain do (workbook math pages, spelling workbook, handwriting workbook) and some things that you do with her like read alouds. You want to have the basics (language arts and math stuff) so easy to implement that you can do them, or at least the bare bones version of them, even when you don't feel like doing much. The last month of my pregnancy and the first 2-3 months after the birth were pretty much a waste for us. We've been homeschooling for 5 years now and my dd is a 4th grader, old enough that you would think she could do a lot independently. Even so, a lot of the time I was too tired, needed help, was irritable (that last month!), etc. I don't see how MBP is very practical during that time, just my personal opinion. Sonlight would be MUCH easier to accomplish then. You could do SL with SOTW and use Horizons for math. That would be very practical and easy to implement. It would give you readers, read alouds, and a workbook for math. For language arts, you could do FLL with your younger and WT1 with your older.

 

That's what I'd suggest.

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Well I used RightStart math and FLL, so I can say those things are very pick up and go. I have an almost 4 month old, so I understand your concern about how the new baby will add to the mix! You're going to want some things the dc can just plain do (workbook math pages, spelling workbook, handwriting workbook) and some things that you do with her like read alouds. You want to have the basics (language arts and math stuff) so easy to implement that you can do them, or at least the bare bones version of them, even when you don't feel like doing much. The last month of my pregnancy and the first 2-3 months after the birth were pretty much a waste for us. We've been homeschooling for 5 years now and my dd is a 4th grader, old enough that you would think she could do a lot independently. Even so, a lot of the time I was too tired, needed help, was irritable (that last month!), etc. I don't see how MBP is very practical during that time, just my personal opinion. Sonlight would be MUCH easier to accomplish then. You could do SL with SOTW and use Horizons for math. That would be very practical and easy to implement. It would give you readers, read alouds, and a workbook for math. For language arts, you could do FLL with your younger and WT1 with your older.

 

That's what I'd suggest.

 

Thanks for your suggestions, they have been very helpful. I've not looked at Sonlight because it's christian based and I'd rather have something secular, although I don't mind if there is religious content that I could tweak to adapt to our religion. Hope that makes sense.

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:confused::confused::confused: this is sooooooo difficult! :001_smile::001_smile:

 

I love Sonlight, though I've never tried MBTP. Anyway, you'll get so many different opinions, I've found as my hsing journey has unfolded, that I've had to see and try things to narrow down what works for us. There are samples at Sonlight's website and some at MBTP's website. I always check Amazon, Christianbook.com, and Rainbow Resource for samples too.

 

I will say that SL is very planned out with it's IG, and comes with everything you need, so might be pretty easy with a baby in the mix. But it really comes down to personal preference and learning styles.

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:confused::confused::confused: this is sooooooo difficult! :001_smile::001_smile:

 

 

I tried to use Sonlight secularly, but I felt like I was leaving out so much stuff that I paid a ton of money for because a lot of the content wasn't secular. It was a waste of money for me. MBTP was exactly what I was looking for. When I purchase the next level, I will be making it last for 2 years because I plan on buying quite a few extra things to complement it.

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Thank you all. I have 2 options that I'm considering.

 

How does this look:

 

 

 

for dd age 8

 

If I go for MBP: 8-10 years to spread over year and half to 2 years

FLL

WWE

SOTW - I understand that this requires your own planning so I would use this as a supplement to MBP until I feel ready to do my own planning (if ever!)

Right start maths/singapore/ not sure

 

OR

 

FLL

WWE

Sonlight Core Curriculum (in which case do I need FLL and WWE)

or

Sonlight History, Geography and science

Right start maths/singapore/not sure

 

Basically I just want a huge helping hand where the planning is done for me to get into homeschooling. I will then review a year later and drop whatever doesn't feel right.

 

can anyone seen anything odd in the above and make suggestions please?

 

thanks xx

Edited by ummof3
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Forgot to add that my ds will be 6 - I would love a history/geography programme (maybe even some aspects of science) that I could combine for both him and dd 8 - all with daily lesson plans :001_smile:.

 

The idea is to get all my curriculum together and put it in my own box just to satisfy myself that I have a complete curriculum lol!

 

x

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