When you don't like the curriculum you're in the middle of...

[melissamomof5]

How do you get through the rest of your "year"?

 

We are starting week 16 of MFW ECC today. I know we're about half-through, but I am disliking it so much for our family. My kids and I are not enjoying much about it. I am doing my best to supplement books from the library, but we are just getting through each day, not enjoying it. This is year 4 for us with MFW and I really had planned to use it through 12th grade. I am so sad to have come to this place with it.

 

I am trying to be enthusiastic about finishing this year and looking at blogs and such to find great ideas and be motivated, but it just isn't working well for me.

 

If you have been in this kind of situation, what did you do to make it through the rest of your year without drudging through every day?

 

I'm also open to any suggestions how to improve ECC for the rest of our year.

Edited January 16, 2012 by melissamomof3girls

[julikins]

As a matter of fact, I've been doing that with MFW ECC this year. I just think this year of MFW doesn't fit well with our family. I wish I had known that ahead of time, but I didn't. But I can't afford to change, nor do I have time start over.

 

So, after lots of prayer and trying to figure out what to do, I took all of the weeks of ECC and condensed it to 1 week per country. We're behind (at week 11) , so it worked out well. I also found Exploration Earth (a $15 download from Confessions of a Homeschool Mom) and combined it with ECC. So for each week, I made a spreadsheet that has a column for Bible, one for Geography, one for Science and one for Read-Alouds. I've ditched POE for the most part, and will do only a little bit of the Living World book, not even every week. I took all the activities that I knew we could do every week, that would capture our interest. My main goal is familiarity with geography, not mastery at this point, so my goal is fun exposure for the kids, without overkill!

 

This is my 2nd week with this format and it's really helped. I don't know exactly why I can't deal with ECC as is, but by putting all of the work in its categories, eliminating anything I know we wouldn't like or wouldnt' get done, it seems so much more doable and fun. I'm so relieved. And for the first time this year, the kids and I are enjoying ourselves. HTH

[mama25angels]

I was going to suggest doing what Julie did. Find a way to condense the weeks and just getting through it. I'm so sorry you're not liking it, can you tell us what specifically you're not liking about it? That might help someone to come up with more ideas to help get you through.

[melissamomof5]

Thank you Julie. That idea had never crossed my mind but makes a lot of sense!

 

I will figure out how to make that work for us.

 

I knew this year I needed to switch, but still stuck with MFW in hopes the multi-level cycle would work out for us...but it isn't. I'm also realizing other things that about it that isn't going to work for our family. I have complete peace about my decision, and want to finish what I started this year.

[coffeefreak]

We disliked it so much, we were only in week 8 at the end of last semester! I couldn't take it anymore. I purchased Galloping the Globe for $21 on Amazon, and I'm using all our MFW stuff with that. If you like ECC science, keep doing that, otherwise, I would recommend following the GTG suggestions. I did GTG with my oldest and I'm remembering why I loved it so much. It's easy peasy, you cover more countries, and the books are so much more engaging.

 

HTH!

Dorinda

 

Oh, and I just wanted to say that, in general, if we're slogging through a curriculum that is making us miserable, I ALWAYS dump it mid semester. A Semester is MORE than enough time to try out a curriculum and discover whether it's your cup of tea. :D

[coffeefreak]

How do you get through the rest of your "year"?

 

We are starting week 16 of MFW ECC today. I know we're about half-through, but I am disliking it so much for our family. My kids and I are not enjoying much about it. I am doing my best to supplement books from the library, but we are just getting through each day, not enjoying it. This is year 4 for us with MFW and I really had planned to use it through 12th grade. I am so sad to have come to this place with it.

 

I am trying to be enthusiastic about finishing this year and looking at blogs and such to find great ideas and be motivated, but it just isn't working well for me.

 

If you have been in this kind of situation, what did you do to make it through the rest of your year without drudging through every day?

 

I'm also open to any suggestions how to improve ECC for the rest of our year.

 

I have a question for you if that's OK. :D

 

We've used EX-1850, and 1850-MOD. I dislike ECC so much that I'm considering not using CTG next year. I feel like the same problems we have this year will crop up next year. Have you used it? Did you like it? How was it different/better than ECC?

 

If you'd prefer not to discuss it here, you can always PM me.

Thanks!

Dorinda

[melissamomof5]

Dorinda - Thank you for the suggestion! Off to check it out.

[luvnlattes]

Something similar happened to us with Winter Promise's Children Around the World. We made it to Christmas. When we started back up in January it was :ack2: all the way around.

 

Do you know what you want to use for next year? I knew that I was going to switch to TOG the following year. Instead of waiting, we made the switch in March. I used the month of February to familiarize myself with the program. The kids didn't do any history that month but I was okay with that and it's worked out well for us.

 

If you know what you want to move to, maybe you could make the switch now.

[melissamomof5]

I have a question for you if that's OK. :D

 

We've used EX-1850, and 1850-MOD. I dislike ECC so much that I'm considering not using CTG next year. I feel like the same problems we have this year will crop up next year. Have you used it? Did you like it? How was it different/better than ECC?

 

If you'd prefer not to discuss it here, you can always PM me.

Thanks!

Dorinda

 

No worries. :) No I haven't used it yet. We have used K, 1st, Adv, and now ECC. CTG was next for us, but after pouring over samples, books, etc, I just don't think we will use it. My dh and I are not interested in using many of the books they've selected at this time with our children. I really really wanted to do CTG to study the history and feasts, but I don't think we'd be able to stand the rest of it.

 

We are switching this fall to HOD and will see how that goes for us. There's always the chance we'll return to MFW, but I'm trying to look at it year by year now. I've learned that lesson the hard way. :tongue_smilie:

[melissamomof5]

Something similar happened to us with Winter Promise's Children Around the World. We made it to Christmas. When we started back up in January it was :ack2: all the way around.

 

Do you know what you want to use for next year? I knew that I was going to switch to TOG the following year. Instead of waiting, we made the switch in March. I used the month of February to familiarize myself with the program. The kids didn't do any history that month but I was okay with that and it's worked out well for us.

 

If you know what you want to move to, maybe you could make the switch now.

 

I thought about switching now, but I think I'd rather wait. I am switching to HOD next. :D

[coffeefreak]

No worries. :) No I haven't used it yet. We have used K, 1st, Adv, and now ECC. CTG was next for us, but after pouring over samples, books, etc, I just don't think we will use it. My dh and I are not interested in using many of the books they've selected at this time with our children. I really really wanted to do CTG to study the history and feasts, but I don't think we'd be able to stand the rest of it.

 

We are switching this fall to HOD and will see how that goes for us. There's always the chance we'll return to MFW, but I'm trying to look at it year by year now. I've learned that lesson the hard way. :tongue_smilie:

 

Thanks Melissa!

That's my thought too. My oldest will be doing Veritas Press' online classes, so she's out of the picture, and I don't think the books are age appropriate for my 4th grader. It's too bad, because I really enjoyed the other years we used. I think we're going to use MOH, but we'll see :) Like you said, year by year.

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

[applesing]

We have done MFW K, 1st, Adventures, ECC and now CtG. We liked all of those years, but ECC was my least favorite year, and I think it was because I missed the narrative of history woven throughout the program. You get bits and pieces of history in ECC, to be sure, but it is different from studying a time period for an entire year. We are doing CtG now, though, and I can really see the fruit of our ECC work as we study ancient history. My dc learned so much about geography and cultures during ECC, and that has been helpful as we study history chronologically again. I personally am enjoying CtG more than ECC, but my dc liked both.

 

I'm sorry that you are not liking it, and I'm just sharing this as an encouragement -- that there may be some good knowledge you all can glean from the program. I like the pps' suggestions to condense the material and use it in the way that best fits your family.

 

FWIW, my dc really benefitted from playing the ECC Geography Game. I let them use Skittles as markers, and they learned a lot. They are better at locating countries than my dh and me. :)

[melissamomof5]

We have done MFW K, 1st, Adventures, ECC and now CtG. We liked all of those years, but ECC was my least favorite year, and I think it was because I missed the narrative of history woven throughout the program. You get bits and pieces of history in ECC, to be sure, but it is different from studying a time period for an entire year. We are doing CtG now, though, and I can really see the fruit of our ECC work as we study ancient history. My dc learned so much about geography and cultures during ECC, and that has been helpful as we study history chronologically again. I personally am enjoying CtG more than ECC, but my dc liked both.

 

I'm sorry that you are not liking it, and I'm just sharing this as an encouragement -- that there may be some good knowledge you all can glean from the program. I like the pps' suggestions to condense the material and use it in the way that best fits your family.

 

FWIW, my dc really benefitted from playing the ECC Geography Game. I let them use Skittles as markers, and they learned a lot. They are better at locating countries than my dh and me. :)

 

Thank you. :)

[Dmmetler]

I just recently switched to reading-based Spanish entirely, having gotten to January and discovering that DD had NO retention of the SfC vocab in isolation, but has no trouble reading and translating correctly when you put the same words in sentences. I think I'm going to give up entirely on part-whole language studies for DD.

[Mommy22alyns]

I slogged through. That happened to me with SL cores P 4/5 and B (1). I liked P 4/5 okay, but never liked Core B. I just gritted my teeth and got through it.

[Bloggermom]

Honestly, when this happens to us we condense (cut out fluff) and plow through it as quickly as possible so we can move on to something else. There have been a few things I quit and never finished, but I try to avoid that because I feel like it is wasted money.

[Laura in MI]

Whenever this has happened I switched. I hate those long dreaded school days. Nope, it just doesn't work in my house!

 

Just wondering if your making the switch to HOD why don't you want to use it now?

[Captivated]

We've had some of the same issues with ECC. We LOVED LOVED LOVED Adventures. Best year of my 13 years of homeschooling.

 

Here is what I'm doing to make this bearable:

 

1. We stopped ECC science - doing our own thing

2. Dropped the Usborne books - my kids just don't like Usborne books

3. Focus on making Geography vocab cards. Focus on learning these words well.

4. Geography game and learning the different countries in the world. My 9 year old can find any country in North and South America and is almost done learning Europe. My kiddos LOVE this game b/c I use M&Ms for the game pieces.

5. We have kept up with most of the bible

6. Do only a few of the mostly "lame" notebooking pages.

 

I've done ONE project this year and have felt so guilty. I hate this. I feel like I've wasted so much of this curriculum.

 

I've been looking ahead at CTG next year...unfortunately I don't think it will work for us. The books look dull. I've gotten my hands on them and I don't think they would hold my interest much less my childrens. I've also read that there are even FEWER notebooking pages and I really want more in that area.

 

I love MFW as a company and Adventures was so fun. I may come back to them later but at this point we are barely doing ECC and CTG is out for us. I am looking at Biblioplan. They have redesigned it and it looks really great.

[MyLittleBears]

We've had some of the same issues with ECC. We LOVED LOVED LOVED Adventures. Best year of my 13 years of homeschooling.

 

Here is what I'm doing to make this bearable:

 

1. We stopped ECC science - doing our own thing

2. Dropped the Usborne books - my kids just don't like Usborne books

3. Focus on making Geography vocab cards. Focus on learning these words well.

4. Geography game and learning the different countries in the world. My 9 year old can find any country in North and South America and is almost done learning Europe. My kiddos LOVE this game b/c I use M&Ms for the game pieces.

5. We have kept up with most of the bible

6. Do only a few of the mostly "lame" notebooking pages.

 

I've done ONE project this year and have felt so guilty. I hate this. I feel like I've wasted so much of this curriculum.

 

I've been looking ahead at CTG next year...unfortunately I don't think it will work for us. The books look dull. I've gotten my hands on them and I don't think they would hold my interest much less my childrens. I've also read that there are even FEWER notebooking pages and I really want more in that area.

 

I love MFW as a company and Adventures was so fun. I may come back to them later but at this point we are barely doing ECC and CTG is out for us. I am looking at Biblioplan. They have redesigned it and it looks really great.

 

I agree, I like MFW as a company, but we dropped ECC after week 12. It was less than enjoyable for myself as well as my dc. We sold it and did some american history for the remainder of the year using our library card. This year we are using biblioplan(just the guide) with SOTW1, and are having a blast.

Edited January 17, 2012 by MyLittleBears

[gratitude]

Hi Melissa. Is this the Melissa from the MFW board that led me to English 2 with Rod and Staff? If it is, thank you! :) It has been a wonderful fit for ds8 for this year. We both really like it.

 

We switched to HOD in November and I love it. My children seem so much more relaxed about school. One of my favorite parts is that I have only seen one book in the entire curriculum that I don't want to use. Whereas, in MFW the list was long.

 

We too did MFWK, 1, & ADV. I loved 1, mostly loved K, and had an experience in ADV like you are having in ECC. It felt lighter after MFW1 and I wanted more from the curriculum. I did squish it together, and we ended up finishing it after 6 or 7 months. It wasn't ideal. I still don't feel like I got out of the curriculum what I would want for a year. There is much I love about MFW, but the book choices don't always work for our family. I found this out by getting my hands on a number of the books used in the cycle.

 

Blessings for the rest of your year & thank you for the thread and some reminders. ;)

[Hunter]

I never used MFW, but many times found myself scrambling midyear. The funny thing was that my pieced together stuff often seemed to produce more results than the times we were sticking to a formal curriculum.

 

You might want to complete a family mission statement and see what you end out writing down. FINDING_YOUR_MISSION.pdf

 

And here is the link to the rest of this free one year missions curriculum, in case anyone is interested http://harvestministry.org/twghw

Edited January 17, 2012 by Hunter

[Mallorie]

Thanks for the links, Hunter! I am really enjoying digging into that website.

[Colleen in NS]

How do you get through the rest of your "year"?

 

...but I am disliking it so much for our family. My kids and I are not enjoying much about it. I am doing my best to supplement books from the library, but we are just getting through each day, not enjoying it. ...

 

I am trying to be enthusiastic about finishing this year and looking at blogs and such to find great ideas and be motivated, but it just isn't working well for me.

 

If you have been in this kind of situation, what did you do to make it through the rest of your year without drudging through every day?

 

Are there specific reasons you do not like it? When you look at those reasons, can you find a way out of finishing it this year? If a packaged curriculum is not working, then why finish? Why not just piece together things such as grammar/literature/writing/history from separate sources? It might make managing your remaining school year a lot easier and much more interesting and productive.

[KAM]

I found it kind of scary, given how much money I'd spent, but I recently ditched Sonlight. I'd paid for two Cores and I just wasn't enjoying it anymore. I switched back to more of a Charlotte Mason method, which we'd been doing before.

 

What I did was put the SL readers, science, and history books on a shelf and told the kids to pick a couple at a time to read during independent reading time. And then I bought a couple new spines to use CM style. I tried to convince myself to keep going with my SL plans, but something definitely had to change. I'm much more relaxed since I switched.

[melissamomof5]

Laura, I did think of that, I will have most of the HOD stuff this week but I want to finish what we started. I'm trying to do my best and through this thread, I've re-gained a little motivation.

 

Amy, thank you! That is about what we're doing too. We actually do like looking at the Usborne Living World Encyclopedia. I am trying to draw activities or books from outside sources to make it more interesting! I agree, not a great big fan of the notebooking pages.

 

However, I did find http://www.mamajenn.com/MamaJenn/MFW_ECC.html recently and she has some great pages for copying the memory verses and character traits.

 

gratitude - I don't think I'm the same Melissa? Although I did just buy R&S 2 and start my 3rd grader on it. lol Sounds like we've had similar feelings about MFW. I love the company, what they stand for, and their curriculum is great---just not for me. I really have not enjoyed any of the years a whole lot. I am doing K right now for the 3rd time with my 3rd daughter. It is okay...just always feels like something isn't right for me.

 

Hunter - thank you for the links!!! I will bookmark them and come back them to them later when I can sit longer!!!

 

Colleen - Yes, I am a list-maker! I have made a list and we will be able to finish it...just wish it was more enjoyable...but sometimes it's what we make it. I'm glad I started this thread, because it has helped me to re-evaluate things and push forward.

 

Kam - thank you for sharing your experiences! I am excited to try something new soon too!

[gramlingk]

We felt that way about this way about our science curriculum and decided to make a switch mid-year. It was the best decision I could have made as the new curriculum is fun and interesting and the kids are motivated to do it. I know it is a little scarey and maybe financially impossible, but I would look into it if it meant having to drudge through for another 4 months.