JoyinIndo Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 SO, I am think I am leaning towards using MFW RTR next year with my children that will be 5th, 4th, and 2nd (with tagalong preschool twins). Since I live overseas, I need to be deciding what to use fairly soon, so as to be able to order it in time for next fall. I see that it uses SOTW 2 which I'm excited about (because my other option is to do SOTW 2 with AG). If you used this program, can you give me some pros and cons? What did you love and what did you dislike? What did you add? Did you use different science or use what they had already integrated? Thanks for your help, and for being eyes and ears for me! Blessings, JoyinIndo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoyinIndo Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 Bumping myself. :) JoyinIndo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkhs Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Have you been to the MFW forums? They are very helpful. I just lurk. Bumping again for you. :) Blessings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaMinNC Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 I haven't used RTR, but if you don't get enough responses here, you could try posting this on the MFW msg board. Just go to the General-Main board. :) Melissa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy7 Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Well, what can I say? We *LOVE*MFW!!! The only thing I add is extra read alouds, chosen from their list in the back of the TM...and sometimes I get ideas from Veritas Press. We did RtR last year. I pretty much did it as is...the only thing I would say that I didn't like is the book they use in science where you have to cut a bunch of paper diagrams of parts of the body. It would be great in the right situation. However, I found myself getting aggravated with having to help 3 of the 4 I was teaching with the cutting process. Too much. We dropped it. But, everything else was wonderful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca M Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 :bigear: I've been looking at this too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssexton Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Well, I loved MFW RtR, but have you taken a look through the books it uses? The first 12-13 weeks use Augustus Caesar's World as a spine for the study of Rome. My 6th grade ds and I loved, loved, loved it! But, my 5th grade dd really didn't enjoy it much. With some of your dc on the younger side, and due to the length of time devoted to this resource, I'd look it over carefully and see if it would be a good fit for your family. I agree with the pp about the science book being a lot of cutting if your dc aren't fairly independent. But we did have fun with it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 (edited) If you used this program, can you give me some pros and cons? What did you love and what did you dislike? What did you add? Did you use different science or use what they had already integrated? Hi over there across the seas! I did RTR when my ds was in 5th grade, and we finished in 6th. It was a very chaotic year for our family, and the MFW grid helped my brain see everything that "should" be done in a week, all at a glance, and make my choices (what to skip, what to do later, etc) without forgetting anything important. As for the human body model, I absolutely loved that science study. Other books were added for short experiments with your own body etc. But I had cut out a lot of it during the summer and my mother-in-law did the rest, so I was fortunate. And as far as Augustus Caesar's World, I do think it was a "step up" in reading. MFW tends to have one book like that each year. But I think it was valuable for my son to learn about one world leader in such depth -- how he gained power and lost power, how he interacted with other historical people and events, how different things are going on at the same time. But I think I skimmed over one chapter on battles... Since it's been a few years, I'm going to be lazy and copy-paste a review I wrote over on the MFW board: We finished weeks 1-18 of RTR this year and I wanted to share our wonderful experience with those considering RTR for next year. I was committed to study history chronologically, but I must admit -- Roman gladiators, knights with swords -- I didn't expect it to be a lady's cup of tea. But of course I knew that my 5th grade ds would enjoy it! My oldest daughter had previously studied middle history and I had spent mountains of time researching -- I so wanted to add in some of the events of the Bible and the amazing early Christians (now that excites me!). With her, it took me days to locate all the Roman leaders mentioned in the Bible and identify who each of them was. But it was worth it to see how the Bible history was an accurate telling of world history at the time. Imagine my delight to find that RTR ties in all the Biblical history right where it belongs. You study How the Bible Came to Us (a book I've had for a long time but never known how to use), the conversion and travels of Paul (right from the Bible, not a retelling), the early Christian martyrs & heroes (Trial & Triumph), alongside a look at the world leaders and culture that Jesus lived in. So much of this history is often just erased from history books today. RTR also covers the rest of the world very thoroughly, including detailing how Islam developed and what Muslim beliefs are, all the while praying specifically for their needs (using Voices of the Martyrs materials). What an essential study for the world ds is growing up in! As I look ahead in my teacher's manual, I see that later in RTR, we will re-visit other major world religions and how they existed alongside a growing Christianity -- resolving any questions about other religions before they are even asked. We always enjoy the variety of books in MFW, ranging from textbook to Usborne book, and RTR has been no exception. The Genevieve Foster books, taking a sweeping look all around the world, have always seemed a good idea. The first chapters of The World of Augustus Caesar I admit we did skim a bit (battle details), but after that we were fully into the life of Octavian. Ds now knows the history of the Roman empire inside & out, and lately notices things in our modern culture which have roots in the past. After Caesar, we found Story of the World a breezy change of pace. Galen was a very *readable* biography of a scientist, which even mother-in-law enjoyed reading :o) And as someone else already mentioned, God and the History of Art gave a lot of cultural detail to flesh out our "picture" of history. Ds loves the RTR read-alouds so far -- Bronze Bow, set at the time of Jesus, and Twice Freed, at the time of Paul. At the end of Twice Freed, we took the extra step & read the complete (short) book of Philemon in the Bible; we will never overlook the book of Philemon again! Our science study of the human body was something that *mom* felt was very educational & important, especially with medical issues in the family this year. And the "facts of life" portion at the end was perfect. What a thorough and well-rounded science study using all the different books! We look forward to starting the Astronomy study next. Finally, I wanted to mention that this year I realized how much hands-on makes a difference in retention. As I posted earlier, we made the little matchbox bookshelf and ds totally changed from never remembering the sections of the Bible, to knowing them out-of-hand. He enjoyed easy, little things like the arch experiment with pennies and the Roman feast (which we did in an absolutely simple, basic fashion). And it has all been totally do-able even during a hectic year for our family. I love how the teacher's manual always has ideas for simplifying, if need be. And the grid points out each segment necessary in a well-rounded education, so I don't neglect pieces here or there. The first 18 weeks of RTR have been rich! Julie Edited January 20, 2011 by Julie in MN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoyinIndo Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 Thank you for your thoughtful responses. I appreciate the info so very much. I understand about AC World since this year we are using Abraham Lincoln's World as one of our spines. I do have to do some explaining to my 1st grader, so that it something to keep in mind for next year. Thanks again for the help! Blessings, JoyinIndo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy7 Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 MFW also suggests copying specific pages of AC's World so that your dc can color while you are reading. Even my oldest dd enjoyed that. Just a thought. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 SO, I am think I am leaning towards using MFW RTR next year with my children that will be 5th, 4th, and 2nd (with tagalong preschool twins). Since I live overseas, I need to be deciding what to use fairly soon, so as to be able to order it in time for next fall. I see that it uses SOTW 2 which I'm excited about (because my other option is to do SOTW 2 with AG). If you used this program, can you give me some pros and cons? What did you love and what did you dislike? What did you add? Did you use different science or use what they had already integrated? Thanks for your help, and for being eyes and ears for me! Blessings, JoyinIndo I saw your post on MFW's board. I was wondering if you might ask some of those questions over here and get real opinions about the supplies needed and how easy/hard that will be for you in your country? book basket - yeah, buy some of the asterisked books. but supplies and such? will you have access to a copier for the Body Book science kits can be purchased for the Astronomy book. I can some send overseas... I don't know... sometimes it might be adapt and improvise or skip it. and that will be ok.... but you might get a few more opinions about the practical side of that. I don't remember seeing a lot of answers on that over there. -crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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