MFW ECC with 4th & 2nd or with 3rd & 1st tagging along?

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Do you think it would be better to do MFW ECC with a 3rd grader and have the 1st grader tag along or to do MFW ECC with a 4th and 2nd grader?

 

The MFW customer service lady said that she thought it would be better to do it with a 3rd and 1st grader because then the 3rd grader would be on target with the geography when hitting the higher grades.

 

Any thoughts would really help me at this point I am having a very hard time deciding between doing MFW ECC or a mixture of SL 1 and SOTW 1. I have asked a similar question before but didn't get much response. So, sorry if you have already answered me :) Your advice was appreciated but I am still needing some feedback.

__________________

[....]

I would do ECC with the 3rd grader and MFW 1st with the 1st grader. Then, the 1st grader can start the Ancients next year with the 3rd grader (well, they would be 4th and 2nd grade at that time). The 1st grader can still do ECC in a later grade (after you get thru the 4 year cycle).

 

That's what I would do...

[julikins]

I'm doing MFW ECC this year with a 4th and 1st grader. That's not exactly your situation, but I wasn't willing to do two separate programs. So, I opted for having my 4th grader on track for the cycle, and then my 1st grader can just enjoy the ride, participate in what he likes and do it again later on. I'll still be doing all the 1st grader stuff he needs but he can join in on the fun of ECC with his older sister. I don't know if that helps you think it through, but that's what I'm doing on this end. Have you been on the Forum at http://www.mfwbooks.com? It's really good and after reading many archived threads and praying lots, the Lord led me to this decision. Maybe you can find more information there. Hope this helps!

[mom&nana]

Sorry you are having a hard time deciding. I've been there. :grouphug:

If you plan on sticking with MFW for their cycle then it could look like this:

 

3rd/1st: ECC

4th/2nd: CTG

5th/3rd: RTR

6th/4th: Exp-1850

7th/5th: 1850-Mod

8th/6th: ??

 

What will you do in 8th/6th? You could do ECC again, or have a year for your oldest to choose something of interest to study before hitting highschool. You could cover CTG again but then your 8th grader would be going into Ancients again in MFW highschool, and then what would you do with your 6th grader?

 

Or it could look like this:

3rd/1st: SL or SOTW

4th/2nd: ECC

5th/3rd: CTG

6th/4th: RTR

7th/5th: Exp-1850

8th/6th: 1850- mod

 

Then your 9th grader can go into MFW Ancients and your 6th grader could start CTG again and they'd both roughly be studying the same time periods.

 

I'm sure you've thought of all the options but if not, hopefully that helps you think through it a little.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I am doing it this year. I have a K, 1st (those two tagging along, we have some Sonlight core A books to make it a bit more age appropriate for them) 4th grader and 8th grader.

 

 

I love the fact that my 8th grader is doing this just before 9th grade. I wish my 4th grader would do it 1 more time, but she won't. My boys will get it again so I am not to concerned about them. I would do it this year personally to ensure that your 3rd grader gets it again and is able to build off of this year, kwim? I wish we would have done it last year but I found them in Jan and was NOT about to switch mid year. I do like however that all 4 kids will be on the same time period (1 child will be a year "behind in it, in that he will start ancients in 2nd but oh well")

 

So after all that rambling :001_smile: I would go with 1st and 3rd if I were you. BUT if you think your dc will not need a 2nd year starting in 4th will put them on track for 2 complete history cycles before high school is up.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Sorry you are having a hard time deciding. I've been there. :grouphug:

If you plan on sticking with MFW for their cycle then it could look like this:

 

3rd/1st: ECC

4th/2nd: CTG

5th/3rd: RTR

6th/4th: Exp-1850

7th/5th: 1850-Mod

8th/6th: ??

 

What will you do in 8th/6th? You could do ECC again, or have a year for your oldest to choose something of interest to study before hitting highschool. You could cover CTG again but then your 8th grader would be going into Ancients again in MFW highschool, and then what would you do with your 6th grader?

 

Or it could look like this:

3rd/1st: SL or SOTW

4th/2nd: ECC

5th/3rd: CTG

6th/4th: RTR

7th/5th: Exp-1850

8th/6th: 1850- mod

 

Then your 9th grader can go into MFW Ancients and your 6th grader could start CTG again and they'd both roughly be studying the same time periods.

 

I'm sure you've thought of all the options but if not, hopefully that helps you think through it a little.

 

 

With option A she would re-do MFW adding in the 7th-8th grade supplement package. This would also be nice because dc would get the geography year just before high school again! This program is so rich kids get SO much out of it a 2nd time going through it!

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Sorry you are having a hard time deciding. I've been there. :grouphug:

If you plan on sticking with MFW for their cycle then it could look like this:

 

3rd/1st: ECC

4th/2nd: CTG

5th/3rd: RTR

6th/4th: Exp-1850

7th/5th: 1850-Mod

8th/6th: ??

 

What will you do in 8th/6th? You could do ECC again, or have a year for your oldest to choose something of interest to study before hitting highschool. You could cover CTG again but then your 8th grader would be going into Ancients again in MFW highschool, and then what would you do with your 6th grader?

 

Or it could look like this:

3rd/1st: SL or SOTW

4th/2nd: ECC

5th/3rd: CTG

6th/4th: RTR

7th/5th: Exp-1850

8th/6th: 1850- mod

 

Then your 9th grader can go into MFW Ancients and your 6th grader could start CTG again and they'd both roughly be studying the same time periods.

 

I'm sure you've thought of all the options but if not, hopefully that helps you think through it a little.

Oh my goodness! This helped SO much! I had sat with the catalog and figured where they would be, but hadn't realized they would be studying the same thing if we did it the 2nd way when the oldest hits highschool. That does make a difference in my choice.

Thanks!

[joyfulhomeschooler]

I am doing it this year. I have a K, 1st (those two tagging along, we have some Sonlight core A books to make it a bit more age appropriate for them) 4th grader and 8th grader.

 

 

I love the fact that my 8th grader is doing this just before 9th grade. I wish my 4th grader would do it 1 more time, but she won't. My boys will get it again so I am not to concerned about them. I would do it this year personally to ensure that your 3rd grader gets it again and is able to build off of this year, kwim? I wish we would have done it last year but I found them in Jan and was NOT about to switch mid year. I do like however that all 4 kids will be on the same time period (1 child will be a year "behind in it, in that he will start ancients in 2nd but oh well")

 

So after all that rambling :001_smile: I would go with 1st and 3rd if I were you. BUT if you think your dc will not need a 2nd year starting in 4th will put them on track for 2 complete history cycles before high school is up.

 

Hmmm, this helps too! This is exactly what the customer service lady at MFW said.

[coffeefreak]

Sorry you are having a hard time deciding. I've been there. :grouphug:

If you plan on sticking with MFW for their cycle then it could look like this:

 

3rd/1st: ECC

4th/2nd: CTG

5th/3rd: RTR

6th/4th: Exp-1850

7th/5th: 1850-Mod

8th/6th: ??

 

What will you do in 8th/6th? You could do ECC again, or have a year for your oldest to choose something of interest to study before hitting highschool. You could cover CTG again but then your 8th grader would be going into Ancients again in MFW highschool, and then what would you do with your 6th grader?

 

 

This is the track we're on except it's flipped:lol:. My youngest will go through the cycle correctly, but my oldest will not. My oldest's cycle looks like what your youngest will do. Clear as mud?

 

We started MFW 2 years ago when oldest was in 4th so we did Exp-1850. Last year we did 1850-Mod in 5th and now, in 6th, we're doing ECC. I went back and forth trying to decide which child should be "on schedule." I finally decided my youngest was the one to get on track. My oldest had covered all the other time periods and geography using other curriculum so we started in the middle.

 

My vote is for you to start this year, and go through the cycle correctly with your oldest. Then, for your youngest, look at either of these options:

 

6th - ECC

7th - CTC

8th - RTR

9th - High School

 

or

6th - ECC

7th - Sonlight World History part 1 (used to be core 6)

8th - Sonlight World History part 2 (used to be core 7)

 

These are the two options we're looking at. I agree with repeating ECC. I see a WORLD of difference between what my oldest is getting out of it and what my youngest is retaining. Plus, you could probably use the 7th/8th grade supplements with your youngest when she gets to ECC again. We're using them and they're perfect for beefing it up.

 

Of course, you have several years between now and then so you will probably have more options. And, Sonlight will have probably revamped all their cores by then:lol:! I'd rather go through the cycle and then try to review world history in 2 years than try to find something for this year and try and figure out the cycle.

 

HTH!

Dorinda

[Mommy22alyns]

Is there a reason you don't want to do Adventures? That's what I'm doing with my 3rd and 1st graders, and then they'll do ECC in 4th/2nd. A lot depends on where your 1st grader is with phonics/reading/writing too. MFW 1st might be more appropriate. Sylvia is doing Adventures too because she reads and writes pretty well.

[AngelBee]

Do you think it would be better to do MFW ECC with a 3rd grader and have the 1st grader tag along or to do MFW ECC with a 4th and 2nd grader?

 

The MFW customer service lady said that she thought it would be better to do it with a 3rd and 1st grader because then the 3rd grader would be on target with the geography when hitting the higher grades.

 

Any thoughts would really help me at this point I am having a very hard time deciding between doing MFW ECC or a mixture of SL 1 and SOTW 1. I have asked a similar question before but didn't get much response. So, sorry if you have already answered me :) Your advice was appreciated but I am still needing some feedback.

__________________

I would do ECC and SOTW. :) Sub SL books as needed/wanted in book basket.

 

ECC looks simply nummy! I LOVE SOTW and would NOT skip it though. Even if you use it as a read aloud and don't get the AG.

 

SL.....easy to add in as you feel led.

[cbollin]

The MFW customer service lady said that she thought it would be better to do it with a 3rd and 1st grader because then the 3rd grader would be on target with the geography when hitting the higher grades.

 

with all due respect to the mfw staffer.... that answer makes no sense. ;)

sorry.

 

You will still be on target if you start ECC in 4th. I do wonder what that person meant. :confused:

 

Yes, ECC can be done with 3rd grader who has done Adventures the year before. Your first grader will still need to focus more on 3Rs in whatever program you like (mfw or something else) and then all of the fun, games, cooking, crafts, prayers from ECC will be "gravy".

 

If you decide to wait a year and do something else, you will still be "on target" to get oldest all the way through the cycle with mfw.

 

-crystal

[cbollin]

ps on my answer...

 

Did you do ADV already? If not, then the standard MFW path is to not do ECC in 3rd. If they did ADV in 2nd, then go ahead to ECC.

 

-crystal

[mom&nana]

Oh my goodness! This helped SO much! I had sat with the catalog and figured where they would be, but hadn't realized they would be studying the same thing if we did it the 2nd way when the oldest hits highschool. That does make a difference in my choice.

Thanks!

 

Well, I'm glad that I could help. :)

You could still use the first choice and do:

8th/6th: ECC again

9th/7th: AHL and CtG

10th/8th: WHL and RtR

11th/9th: US history-1877, ? Would you start AHL with your 9th grader or could you put him in US History with your 11th grader? I have no idea what MFW recommends here though? Is US history-1877 too advanced for 9th graders? Does MFW recommend combining in high school? Or you could have your 9th grader doing Ex-1850 beefing it up maybe?? I'm not sure.

12th/10th- 1877-mod, ? (1850-mod ?)

 

I love thinking up this stuff. I've done all this kind of stuff with my own crew and never stick to it...lol. So you just never know where life will lead you. It's helpful to have a plan but know that it can and probably will change. ;) I hope you get it all figured out soon.

[cbollin]

11th/9th: US history-1877, ? Would you start AHL with your 9th grader or could you put him in US History with your 11th grader? I have no idea what MFW recommends here though? Is US history-1877 too advanced for 9th graders? Does MFW recommend combining in high school? Or you could have your 9th grader doing Ex-1850 beefing it up maybe?? I'm not sure.

12th/10th- 1877-mod, ? (1850-mod ?)

 

 

No. MFW does not recommend combining in high school in the vast majority of cases. a 9th grader wouldn't do US1. And I don't see beefing up EX1850 for 9th grade, high school credit working well either.

 

In most cases, once they hit high school, MFW has written the programs to be easier to have each student work from his/her own lesson plans and start chronological history at ancients. Also, in that AHL year, the 9th grader will get English and writing skills for high school started. WHL after that. And in US1 it's kinda assumed the student is in 11th or 12th grade for English, and having read the entire Bible and studied at rhetoric level.

 

So, no.. at high school, you don't worry about keeping the students connected to history themes. You think high school credits, graduation and life prep.

 

-crystal

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Is there a reason you don't want to do Adventures? That's what I'm doing with my 3rd and 1st graders, and then they'll do ECC in 4th/2nd. A lot depends on where your 1st grader is with phonics/reading/writing too. MFW 1st might be more appropriate. Sylvia is doing Adventures too because she reads and writes pretty well.

The first grader is doing MFW 1st. She is about 1/4 of the way through it. We started a while ago because she was so excited. She would just be tagging along in ECC in what she wanted to. We did Adventures last year and LOVED it. She (1st) participated in ALL of it except the writing stuff.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

ps on my answer...

 

Did you do ADV already? If not, then the standard MFW path is to not do ECC in 3rd. If they did ADV in 2nd, then go ahead to ECC.

 

-crystal

Crystal, yes we did ADV last year and am so happy we did. They both got so much out of it. Yes, the 1st grader will be doing MFW 1st for her 3R's. I think the MFW staff meant that the oldest if doing ECC in 3rd would be able to hit it again in 8th and that is ideal to keep them on target for geography. Does that make more sense? I think those were her words exaclty.

[mom&nana]

Thank you for letting us know Crystal. I have no experience with MFW, because I only tried ECC a few weeks. I have considered MFW since then and also might use it for high school, so it's nice to know MFW recommendations. I wondered about how the highschool programs would work with combining so thanks for explaining. Also if you don't think EXP-1850 could be beefed up then I'm sure you are right. So that's something for the OP to consider.

 

Well with all that in mind, I don't think you could go wrong with either plan. Since you'd have to separate them in highschool anyway, I guess it really doesn't matter what you do. I guess it depends on whether you want to repeat ECC or not.

[cbollin]

Crystal, yes we did ADV last year and am so happy we did. They both got so much out of it. Yes, the 1st grader will be doing MFW 1st for her 3R's. I think the MFW staff meant that the oldest if doing ECC in 3rd would be able to hit it again in 8th and that is ideal to keep them on target for geography. Does that make more sense?

 

ooh.. I'm glad you liked ADV. Fun year. ECC manual is written to multi age so don't get too thrown off from the differences in ADV. anyway...

 

I guess it makes some sense. well, at least I feel like that is what I should say out loud, and just say, hmm.. oh, ok...but deep inside I"m thinking...

If a student starts MFW ECC in 4th, it really is ok that he doesn’t get to repeat ECC in 8th. However, for the student who starts in ECC in 3rd, it is a nice perk to do it again later.

 

Given all of that, I think you’ll be fine in ECC in 3rd and 1st. Sometimes I’ve heard moms on forum get to thinking a bit how the younger sibling in 1st grade will remember ECC or is it worth it. Well, I think it is worth it. As a family, and as a teacher, you will have the ECC information more fresh in your mind and easier to review and refer to maps and and pray again.

 

I found in my own teaching that as I folded my middle child into the program at 2nd grade, it was more natural for me to discuss geography and cultures along the way even though she hadn’t done ECC as a full program yet. She did it when she was 4th grade and is currently in EX1850 as a 7th grader. But I can remember one year (when oldest daughter was 5th grade and in EX1850 and middle gal was 2nd and in EX1850) that there were some weeks that I made notes “middle gal skip SOTW and do a ECC style week on Russiaâ€.

 

So yes, overall, I think if you go to ECC next, it’ll be fine for the whole family. You’ll skip advanced assignments and focus more on crafts, praying, food, fun, character, maps, games, etc.

 

-crystal

[Mommy22alyns]

The first grader is doing MFW 1st. She is about 1/4 of the way through it. We started a while ago because she was so excited. She would just be tagging along in ECC in what she wanted to. We did Adventures last year and LOVED it. She (1st) participated in ALL of it except the writing stuff.

 

 

Awesome! I would do ECC with them this year then. We're going into week 3 of Adv. and loving it so far.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Thanks all for your help! I am still a little undecided, but feel confident that with prayer the decision can be made. I just keep going back to the fact that we have SOTW 1 and SL already and I hate to waste stuff. I am going ahead and getting the other stuff I need for ECC just so that I can look through everything all together. I figure it is worth it since we will either do it this year or next. I am leaning more towards doing it this year, but then I start thinking about all that wasted curriculum that I had planned on using. Oh wow... lots of prayer :)