tuckabella Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 For next year I planned on doing MFW ECC (since we are doing MFW Adventures this year). I keep looking at Expedition Earth by Confessions of a Homeschooler. Any opinions on Expedition Earth? I know that there will likely be plenty to print out (as I have done a good portion of her K4 curriculum). I am subsrcibed to Erica's blog, so I got all the countries last year when she did it with her kids. Just wondering if anyone else was considering the same thing and what choice they made and why. If you are willing to share. Also, does Expedition Earth have a Bible component? While we aren't doing the scripture as a memory verse in Adventures, we do like it tied in to what the overall study is doing. Also, we would not do the science in ECC next year, as we are planning on doing RSO Life. It seems that both ECC and Expedition Earth might get monotonous, is that true (anyone who has done Expedition Earth, can you chime in here)? I know for MFW ECC that is a common complaint. I already own MFW ECC deluxe package, so I have it all ready to go, but something keeps calling me to Expedition Earth. :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckabella Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 good morning...anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentlemommy Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I have ECC too, got it used last year...I was planning on using it throughout the summer as a world geography study before we start with Ancients. It was costly, even used, because there are a TON of books with it...EE would be much less, and you would have some freedom in choosing the extra books, but it would be more legwork on your part...that's all I have right now, I'm actually wondering about ECC myself since I haven't had the chance to really go through it. :lurk5: For more opinions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I haven't used Expedition Earth. I've used ECC twice. When it got "boring", I never felt like a slave to the manual. Yes, some topics will repeat. I changed it up. It's like getting bored in your own house -- you move the furniture around or something. you don't go and buy a new house or tons or new stuff. But, I'd eat more from the country, or grab some music. or get silly and have the children try to speak in the language of that place. We'd do more from Window on the World. so I found it easy to adjust when winter blues set in. If you plan to not use a lot of ECC, like doing my own science... then you might miss part of ECC. The Science in ECC is different from ADV. It's connected to the places you are studying. Ecosystems, habitats, etc. So, if you're preferring to build your own stuff and all of that.... look at which program allows for that to be easier. I'm bias and really enjoyed our ECC years both times. -crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckabella Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 thanks ladies for your thoughts. Anyone else want to chime in??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaMinNC Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Sorry, I'm not at all familiar with Expedition Earth. We finished ECC in Nov (Dec?), and I thought it was really great. Whenever it started to feel monotonous (to me, I don't think it ever did to the kids), I would try to assess why. Usually, I realized I had been skipping the fun stuff - the cooking, the art projects, the geography game, whatever. That's the stuff that makes that program so fun, and I would have to keep reminding myself to keep doing those things. Especially with younger kids (as opposed to middle schoolers), the hands-on stuff is just as educational, and maybe even more important to keep up with than the worksheets or whatever. We were very blessed by ECC, we really, really enjoyed so many aspects of it - I was very nervous that CtG wouldn't live up to it, but so far we're really enjoying that too. So, my vote is to do the thing that you already have, but I'm totally biased toward ECC because we liked it so much, and as I said, I'm completely unfamiliar with Expedition Earth, so ymmv. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extrafor6 Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I'm interested too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virg Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 We are most of the way through MFW ECC and the kids just love it. It has been much easier for me than our previous curricula. While the kids never got bored, I have once and so we just did a lapbook for that country. I also let each child (I have three participating) choose a country to add in and a science subject. I added that week into the continent their country was on. One chose England and big cats, one chose Israel and frogs, and the last chose Nigeria and dinosaurs. They spent the whole time eagerly wanting to get to "their" country and that really spiced things up too. When we got to Europe we did England for one week after Norway. Then Nigeria after Kenya and Israel after Saudi Arabia. We did field trips to Brazilian restaurant, Mexican store, Roman Catholic Church for mass, and an Eastern Orthodox church for mass and that has really made it interesting too. I can't speak for the other curriculum you asked about but I vote MFW based on our experience! (And my kids don't even like the cooking or art projects so we haven't done much of them. I cook a traditional meal for each country as a family dinner but they just rush through the crafts since they hate doing that type of thing.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaMinNC Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 We are most of the way through MFW ECC and the kids just love it. It has been much easier for me than our previous curricula. While the kids never got bored, I have once and so we just did a lapbook for that country. I also let each child (I have three participating) choose a country to add in and a science subject. I added that week into the continent their country was on. One chose England and big cats, one chose Israel and frogs, and the last chose Nigeria and dinosaurs. They spent the whole time eagerly wanting to get to "their" country and that really spiced things up too. When we got to Europe we did England for one week after Norway. Then Nigeria after Kenya and Israel after Saudi Arabia. We did field trips to Brazilian restaurant, Mexican store, Roman Catholic Church for mass, and an Eastern Orthodox church for mass and that has really made it interesting too. I can't speak for the other curriculum you asked about but I vote MFW based on our experience! (And my kids don't even like the cooking or art projects so we haven't done much of them. I cook a traditional meal for each country as a family dinner but they just rush through the crafts since they hate doing that type of thing.) That sounds awesome. These ideas actually make me excited to do ECC again...even though we won't get back around to it for 5 years or so. :) I love hearing all the ways the same curriculum looks different in different families. Great ideas, thank you for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I will be blending ECC with EE. I will use ECC for the meatier information and biblical tie ins and then EE for the basic daily information and simple lapbooking. I also downloaded the Galloping the Globe lapbook from currclick if we wanted more lapbooking ideas. There is a lot of overlap with EE and GTG, so it should be easy enough to use without the GTG curricula. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckabella Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 I will be blending ECC with EE. I will use ECC for the meatier information and biblical tie ins and then EE for the basic daily information and simple lapbooking. I also downloaded the Galloping the Globe lapbook from currclick if we wanted more lapbooking ideas. There is a lot of overlap with EE and GTG, so it should be easy enough to use without the GTG curricula. Ooh, I like this idea! I need to look more into this and see if I would like to get GTG and EE to spice up MFW ECC. Not sure if I would need the GTG book for the GTG lapbook on currclick. Also, I think I would need to make lists of the countries that each one of these covers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckabella Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 I will be blending ECC with EE. I will use ECC for the meatier information and biblical tie ins and then EE for the basic daily information and simple lapbooking. I also downloaded the Galloping the Globe lapbook from currclick if we wanted more lapbooking ideas. There is a lot of overlap with EE and GTG, so it should be easy enough to use without the GTG curricula. Wow, just compared the countries in GTG and EE and never realized that she did the same countries, just added a couple! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I am a HUGE MFW fan, but ECC has been disappointing. Here is a thread that I posted on that breaks down some of the issues with ECC. On that thread are also posts from people who loved it, so you'll get the pros, too. I have no experience with Expedition Earth, so no comment there. To be honest, other than adding some missionary stories, I am getting most of my ideas from this website. I need to buy the next level of Phonics Road and am probably selling ECC. I just don't need it to finish off our year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Ooh, I like this idea! I need to look more into this and see if I would like to get GTG and EE to spice up MFW ECC. Not sure if I would need the GTG book for the GTG lapbook on currclick.Also, I think I would need to make lists of the countries that each one of these covers. I have GTG as well, but I really don't think you need it if you do EE. GTG has a few puzzles in it that I may use and it lists books and resources, which are pretty much the same ones that EE and ECC use. I've been scrounging around on CurrClick and they have some cool lapbooks (some are pretty pricey, but they do frequent sales) for each continent or for animals that live on each continent. That's how I'm beefing up the science and getting more for my crafty daughter to do. I could spend wayyyy too much time and money on geography studies (puzzles, games, books), but I'm a traveller (or at least I was prior to parenthood). :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I'm a 1st time poster here, but I'm interested in what everyone has to say (we're on the path to do MFW ECC in a couple of years). I have no experience with Expedition Earth, but I've looked at the possibility of adding parts of WinterPromise Children Around the World with ECC. Not to threadjack, but just curious if anyone has tried that? (not the whole CATW pkg. b/c it's rather pricey, but just a few tidbits to add to ECC) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I had considered it, but after researching it and reading reviews, I decided against it. It didn't seem to generate rave reviews or get me very excited. Most of the reviewers seemed to be pretty...meh...about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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