Alright, who is revamping curriculum after the first 12 weeks?

[Samiam]

Since we're all airing our dirty laundry, here goes:

 

-Dropped Apologia Physical science, and pulled DS13 from a massive flop co-op class (and even sold the book!)....then they put in a new teacher....so putting him back in the class, borrowing a book from a friend, and going at it again. But now's he's four modules behind so need to do those between now and January.:001_huh:

 

-Dropped BJU Spanish 1 after pulling him from another flop class (not co-op), attempted to do it on our own. Going to start another Spanish in January.

 

-Dropped PLL for DS8. Boring for us both. Going to go with Queen's in January.

 

-On the verge of dropping Elemental Science: Biology for DS8 and DS5. I'm bored of animals! Going to add another science in January.

 

Here's my biggie though: Overall, not impressed with MFW ECC. We pretty much ONLY use it for the Geography/Culture part, and frankly, now that I see it, I could have done alot of this myself. Hmm, pick a country, find some books on it, study the map of it, color the flag, color the map, add in a some crafts and recipes (which are all online, btw). I'll probably continue it...but I'm fighting myself on whether I should just sell it and do our own thing. Frankly, they picked a some odd countries that I would not have chosen, and left out some that I think are more important.

Edited November 16, 2011 by Samiam

[chepyl]

I changed English Grammar after one day....since then It has been smooth sailing. I am going to add Lollipops Logic in Dec, for fun. DS has done really well with the CPW books, they contain a few logic problems and he loves them!

 

I have changed my focus a little. We give more time to history than I had planned, because he absolutely loves it! I need to get some more reading supplements. :) I dropped copywork and added cursive. We print for dictation instead of adding copywork. It was just too much writing for him.

[LunaLee]

Not too much revamping this year...I think it's the first time in like 5 years where I've not had to changed a lot of things. The only thing I changed this year so far was grammar. I dropped the Prentice Hall textbook and made peace with R&S and started using it despite the fact that it's way more "religious" that I'm comfortable with.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

Massive changes here. The whole family is switching to TOG. We're on our second week and having a great time! I'm using ILL and my own nearly-complete SL collection to make it work for now. If we want to keep on with TOG I'll have to start selling off SL cores to buy the books. (sob)

 

Sonlight + WTM + Memoria Press was sooooo perfect for #1 son. The rest of these people just don't care that much about book learning! If I want to insist on Latin, Greek, and Spanish for them, I'll have to streamline the rest.

 

I thought just Sonlight could be the answer for the middle two boys, especially since I already own it! I have to finally admit that SL goes in one ear and out the other for one, and the other wants hands-on activities. TOG has more reinforcement work and suggestions for activities. The youngest also loves TOG so far. He likes being included with everyone else for some parts of our day.

 

(What does that say about how I homeschooled #1 son, that only doing TOG feels simple and streamlined? Whew.)

[sbgrace]

I'm rethinking math again. I can't call it a revamp at 12 weeks because we've never really settled this year.

[FO4UR]

Shhh...don't tell Spycar...but I'm trying out CLE math with ds8.:tongue_smilie: My youngers are still doing Miquon/Singapore/etc...and we have Get a Grip too.

 

Grammar is being whittled down to memorizing what needs memorized from FLL on mommy's time-table, using SchoolHouseRocks videos and spare moments in the car. For the 3rd grader, we use his copywork to extend grammar lessons.

 

We are taking a break from Apples & Pears Spelling. The amount of writing was burning ds8 out.

 

I'm about to simply call this a "Nov/Dec Schedule" of math, copywork, reading. We can't take a BREAK break, but we need a break.

[Zoo Keeper]

Shhh...don't tell Spycar...but I'm trying out CLE math with ds8.:tongue_smilie: My youngers are still doing Miquon/Singapore/etc...and we have Get a Grip too.

 

Grammar is being whittled down to memorizing what needs memorized from FLL on mommy's time-table, using SchoolHouseRocks videos and spare moments in the car. For the 3rd grader, we use his copywork to extend grammar lessons.

 

We are taking a break from Apples & Pears Spelling. The amount of writing was burning ds8 out.

 

I'm about to simply call this a "Nov/Dec Schedule" of math, copywork, reading. We can't take a BREAK break, but we need a break.

 

Have you been to my house today, Paula? We need a break too, but it ain't happenin'....

 

Scheduling is my thing that is being changed around--my four year old is taking off in reading and needs more time; the six year old wants more history, but he needs more phonics than he is getting.

 

I need to figure out how to be two people. Other than that, all is well. :lol:

 

 

Oh, I won't tell Bill about CLE...;) I know that you'll still use the c-rods and all will be well.

[OregonNative]

Yep-me. We started out with MFW ECC and have dropped all of it. My kids are both doing BJU English/Grammar. I also tried WWE for my 4th grader (again:001_huh:). We have stuck with TT for my 4th grader, but switched from Singapore(again) to Mammoth Math. We went from MFW Geo. to Expedition Earth created by Confessions of a Homeschooler. It's a lovely program, but my 4th grader tunes out during the reading. Now I have ordered Little Passports for Geo and am praying it works. We also started SOTW 2 which my 2nd grader loves, but my 4th grader hates. :confused: Science may just get a complete pass this year. The MFW ECC science was not a good fit for us. I just have no clue where to go with the subject. BTW-we aren't even 8 weeks in:willy_nilly:

 

My 4th grader would like to do everything independently so that she doesn't have to listen to the reading aloud.

[my2boysteacher]

Surprisingly, I've only made a couple minor changes. :D

I've decided we need to supplement MM because my guys just aren't challenged enough. Also, I went into the year without a clear picture of our writing progression. We tried WWS, but I think my guys just aren't ready for that. We are going to try Writers Jungle for a while and see how that goes. So far, so good.

[aprilsblessings]

At first it was fun to bounce around and try out all the different colorful curriculum choices. I'm at the point now where I'm like, okay, I'm done bouncing around. Let's find a fit already.

 

I felt the same way!!! I "think":001_huh: I am good for the moment (maybe not math) until next year. I am already thinking about next year because I don't want to do this bouncing again!

 

I'm just glad that I am not the only one.:lol:

[learningmama]

I was just thinking about changes tonight! Things have gone well, but looking ahead to the second half of Horizons math for my dd, I don't think she is quite ready for what is coming up soon. BUT, I think we will revisit RightStart C between Horizon workbooks and think it will work out great!

[nukeswife]

We'll we're only on week 7, but there are a few minor thing I've tweaked or changed. My dd was supposed to be doing WWE but we never started it, so I'll add that in next week. I flipped and flopped in my head only about IEW or WWS, and my son finally helped me settle on WWS. It's more challenging for him, but he enjoys it. I had bout PAL but after setting up all the folder games I decided to just wait for AAR 1, my youngest loves AARpre-1 so we're just doing the craft sheets we didn't do before and playing a lot of the Ziggy games. We never started history or science, so those are on the agenda. I also decided that after spending the last two years trying to get through early modern times, the kids just want to move on, so I did a quick run through of after the American Revolution to the Goldrush and we'll start SOTW 4 in the next day or so. We haven't started Latin and I'll wait until Jan to bring that in.

 

Ok I guess it wasn't so minor, but at least this year I haven't tweaked or changed math, grammar, or spelling. :hurray: for me. :lol:

[vontinney]

I thought it was just me! LOL! Sonlight 2 just wasn't happening for DD...lots of the books she doesn't like, etc. Going with R&S Language and Abeka for history and having her read the books from SL 2 & 3 that she is interested in. Sticking with SL Science though. Fred books and Horizons for Math seem to be working... DS is so easy...he's good with SL7 (so far)...

[sassenach]

Math and Language Arts is tried and true for us. No changes there.

 

MFW, however, is being tweaked up one side and down the other. I am not loving ECC. I am continuing with the planned themes (for example, we are currently studying Brazil and Rainforests), but I'm using a fraction of what they have scheduled. The only part I'm really getting my money's worth is the book basket list. It's a real bummer, because I have absolutely adored MFW up to this point. I thought we were always going to use it, but now I wonder if I'll continue with it next year. On the other hand, I have learned just how capable I am of pulling my own thing together. I feel more confident than ever about stepping out of the box curriculum box and into my own thing.

 

I will keep doing what we're doing for this year as it's working out.

[Angel]

I had to change dd's grammar about two weeks ago. My love affair with Rod and Staff grammar was not hers :glare: She has been doing Growing with Grammar for two weeks now and what a HUGE difference. And actually, I'm liking Growing with Grammar...a lot!

 

I could say we are changing up science but we would have had to have started it to begin with :tongue_smilie: After Thanksgiving break we are going to do the Harry Potter unit study that was posted here last month. Plants and creatures will be our science for a while.

 

Everything else is going smooth!

[Bloggermom]

We have already dropped 2 online classes my son was in because he was getting too overwhelmed. We now have 3 online classes that we are keeping. I replaced the other 2 with things done on our own schedule.

[Katiebug_1976]

I think I am getting better at this since I am only "re-vamping" one thing this year (so far...:tongue_smilie:). In a nut shell: we started out using McRuffy Color Math K, Explode the Code book A (other books to follow), and MFW K for everything "fun" other than math & phonics (I thought it would be better for dd to have math & phonics moving at thier own pace and not so tightly tied to everything else). Anyway, McRuffy is not working out (too structured for her, I think). She LOVES the ETC books and often will complete 5+ pages in one sitting! So they are definately staying. But we have yet to get to the MFW activities that we were both so excited about (I think I have gathered the materials/books for lesson 1 five times now only to find that the end of the week comes before we get started).:glare: Anyway, I have ordered the MFW student sheets and they should be here tomorrow (dd's 5th birthday...she is so excited to get her new books on her b'day!). So we will be ditching McRuffy (great program, just not for dd right now), and going with MFW K as written and adding ETC in since she loves it so much. I am hoping that this is the only change we have to make this year.

[LoveBaby]

Math and Language Arts is tried and true for us. No changes there.

 

MFW, however, is being tweaked up one side and down the other. I am not loving ECC. I am continuing with the planned themes (for example, we are currently studying Brazil and Rainforests), but I'm using a fraction of what they have scheduled. The only part I'm really getting my money's worth is the book basket list. It's a real bummer, because I have absolutely adored MFW up to this point. I thought we were always going to use it, but now I wonder if I'll continue with it next year. On the other hand, I have learned just how capable I am of pulling my own thing together. I feel more confident than ever about stepping out of the box curriculum box and into my own thing.

 

I will keep doing what we're doing for this year as it's working out.

 

MFW ECC year is much different than the next 4 years. At least that is what I have heard from many, so it still may work for you next year, mama!

[FairyMom]

I had to change dd's grammar about two weeks ago. My love affair with Rod and Staff grammar was not hers :glare:

 

 

 

:lol: My love affair with curricula isn't necessarily my child's either!!