Does anyone like/use Winterpromise American Story 1?

[MissKNG]

Opinions?

[Annabel Lee]

I own it and don't use it much anymore; only some of the books. I switched to using mostly (with my tweaking) the American History at guesthollow.com. I substitute and change things around to fit our schedule, but I like that it is chronological and not disjointed. I know some other people love WP AS, but I found myself asking "What does this topic have to do with this other topic?", regarding 2 things scheduled together in the same week, or books that have nothing to do w/ the topic, or that entire things don't actually go together at all. The Native American focus is just an extra thing added on, it never meshes with the history study except that it is part of American history too. Same goes for the Bible study. It didn't help that I don't even like their choice of spine.

 

OK, off my soapbox now. It could be fine and even fun to use if you're not Type-A picky like me, and if your kids like doing cutting/pasting for maps and other notebook pages. My guys didn't like having to cut & paste just for the map and then also for whatever craft(s), too. They like hands-on, but not paper crafts so much.

[Guest aquiverfull]

We used it a couple of years ago, so it was the older version that used the Dk Children's Encyclopedia as the spine. It was great. Both my dd and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The paper crafts were a huge hit around here because they are super easy and get done. My dd has always liked that kind of thing though. I will say that we were doing almost all of them and did get a little burnt out by the end of the year on the crafts.

 

I do think it is a bit disjointed and I didn't care for the amount of repetition in the books, they had quite a few dead internet links in the guide and that got to be annoying. Plus I had to deal with some customer service issues. At first I thought there must be better curriculum out there....However, after seeing many other curriculum I've come to realize that WP isn't bad at all. I would possibly consider it again in the future.

[Annabel Lee]

That's funny, Kelli, because I went out & bought the DK Children's Encyclopedia of American (or US... this isn't the official title) History to help it flow better. WP should switch back to it!

 

And, to WP's credit, I agree w/ what you said about other curricula aren't perfect, either. Until, of course, SWB writes an American History course with optional Christian history that ties in chronologically. :) One can dream.

[Guest TheBugsMom]

I own it and don't use it much anymore; only some of the books. I switched to using mostly (with my tweaking) the American History at guesthollow.com. I substitute and change things around to fit our schedule, but I like that it is chronological and not disjointed. I know some other people love WP AS, but I found myself asking "What does this topic have to do with this other topic?", regarding 2 things scheduled together in the same week, or books that have nothing to do w/ the topic, or that entire things don't actually go together at all. The Native American focus is just an extra thing added on, it never meshes with the history study except that it is part of American history too. Same goes for the Bible study. It didn't help that I don't even like their choice of spine.

:iagree:

It just never flowed. I even tried using it as a supplemental addition to another History and it was more work then necessary. The American Story book at first glance looks great, but when we actually started using it, I kept wondering why they picked this story or that person to discuss when there were more important events/people for my child to learn about. As the poster I quoted mentioned, the indian study was just too much. It overpowered the other history. The notebooking pages for both the American study and the Indian study left a lot to be desired. I know they changed some of the pages, but still not worth the money at all.

This is my second attempt at trying WP and both times I was not satisfied. There will not be a third.

[HootOwl]

I drooled over the catalog for 2 years planning the time I would use it, bouought the whole kit-n-kaboodle and even tried the language arts with my 2nd grader. I was constantly frustrated with the lack of continuity and "flow" through the schedule. We ended up using our materials in a unit-study format, combining several weeks of "schedules" together and rearranging things to flow better. I spent so much time rearranging the schedule, that I could have written my own schedule, just using their books. Even the crafts and activities (which were the major reason I chose the curriculum) became tedious for my kids after a while.

 

I so much WANTED to love WP, but I couldn't justify buying it another year with all the work I had to do to make it work for us.

 

I will admit that I am a type-A perfectionist and that I have struggled with almost every curriculum I have ever tried since we left the preschool stage!

 

Lisa

[jentancalann]

We are currently using and liking it. I don't feel like I have to do everything scheduled, in fact, we don't do the Bible portion at all. We rarely even read the More than Moccasins, and skip The American Story when I don't think it adds anything. I haven't felt the need to rearrange anything. I know that my son will eventually get more in depth w/ American history and that this is just an intro. I can see why others may not like it, but it works well for us. I do agree on the notebooking pages, though. There just isn't much to them so far. We're on week 11.

[SnowWhite]

Because I am admittedly a WP Groupie (LOL), I have both versions of AS1- with the DK Ency and with American Story: 100 True Tales. I used the latter with my second grader, and two friends have used the former with older children.

 

I think it is a FABULOUS way to do lit based Amer History with some hands on if you want it scheduled for you. If you're a Type A, want-it-my-way or not at all person, you'd do better scheduling your own study or using a textbook based program.

 

I LOVE the readers that correspond with the study. We also really enjoyed the creative writing prompts in the LA guide.

[DragonflyAcademy]

I drooled over the catalog for 2 years planning the time I would use it, bouought the whole kit-n-kaboodle and even tried the language arts with my 2nd grader. I was constantly frustrated with the lack of continuity and "flow" through the schedule.

 

 

Bolding is mine and exactly what happened with us.. I was so convinced this would be great.. and after 2 weeks I bagged it..

[Homeschooling6]

We liked WP AS1 it was fun. The book choices were great. We didn't do the notebook pages. I picked which crafts to do and admit I made some myself. I purchased miniature plastic cowboy and Indians and the kiddos like displaying their wigwams and such. In fact we still have a few around.

The disjointed thing doesn't bother me and the children didn't notice. It was just fun. We loved the books.

[MissKNG]

Thank you for all your responses! I decided to pass on WP!! :D

[crl]

I drooled over the catalog for 2 years planning the time I would use it,.......... I was constantly frustrated with the lack of continuity and "flow" through the schedule.

 

:iagree:

 

We moved on to HOD's Bigger and it seems to flow better (though we add to the science). And DD likes hearing the stories of all the famous people not just tons of facts about events, places, and people.