High school decisions and questions

[Excelsior! Academy]

Dh and I have finally determined on a history plan for our dd(s). We are going to do a hybrid of mfw, omnibus, and WTM. If one is good, three must be better.:D. I know the risk of overkill which I will avoid like the plague. Omnibus is mainly going to be a reference for me. Likely my kiddos will rarely see it, if ever. So now that you know I have truly lost my mind I have a question. Everything I read says not to do mfw ahl with someone younger than 14. Dd will be 13. Should I really not do it with her? When I look at Omnibus and how vp says it is geared toward 7th graders then I compare it with mfw, I can't see why it shouldn't be done earlier. What says the hive?

[SkateLeft]

Everything I read says not to do mfw ahl with someone younger than 14. Dd will be 13. Should I really not do it with her?

 

I'm not familiar with AHL, but at least I'll give you a bump here! I don't believe in using age cutoffs for any curriculum. I have a 15 year old full-time college student, so age means very little to me in terms of ability to handle work and mature content.

 

If you feel she's ready for it, then I'd ignore whatever other people say and just go for it. You can always back off if it proves to be too much. :D

[shanvan]

I'm not familiar with AHL, but at least I'll give you a bump here! I don't believe in using age cutoffs for any curriculum. I have a 15 year old full-time college student, so age means very little to me in terms of ability to handle work and mature content.

 

If you feel she's ready for it, then I'd ignore whatever other people say and just go for it. You can always back off if it proves to be too much. :D

 

:iagree: But, I know very little about MFW. Many people suggested Starting Points would not be suitable for Ds until age 14. listened, and Ds could have handled it sooner. He doesn't fit the typical mold, and I wish we had started it earlier.

 

I've also looked at Where the Brook and River Meet as an Anne of Green Gables study for Dd. After looking at samples I think the publisher is correct about not using it with the average child of 10 or 11. And, I know my Dd could not handle it. But, I've looked at samples and considered my Dd's abilities.

 

You know your child. If you have looked at the curriculum and you think she can handle it, you are probably right.

[MommyThrice]

I haven't used MFW, either, but I used the Notgrass Exploring America (the core of MFW) last year with a 15,13 and 11yo. It is harder than their world history, but we survived. I did give up on their tests because they were so trivia-laden. We mostly just talked through the chapter questions to see what the kids remembered. Sometimes if they missed something important, I sent them back to the book to find the answer. They were required to take notes from their reading.

 

And I also use Omnibus as mostly a resource for me along with WTM and the Notgrass spines. My 14yo has a little more trouble with literature, so I am giving him the Omnibus book for a few works (right now it's a Tale of Two Cities) and we work through them exactly as it's laid out in the text.

[Excelsior! Academy]

You all are confirming my choice. I am going to pray and talk to my older dd to get her opinion. Anyone else?:bigear:

[MommyMelissa]

I have never used MFW AHL, but know someone who is using it with her 13yo 7th/8th grade dd. She is advanced and they wanted something to challenge her and they were on Ancient History so they bought and are using it and they love it. I think it should be fine. :001_smile:

[Julie in MN]

Here are a few past threads on the topic:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284196

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=10520

 

The thing I hear most often is that younger kids aren't always ready to delve into the apologetics side of AHL. They may understand it, but they aren't questioning for themselves yet.

 

I know that at our house in 8th, we finished up modern history (1850MOD) and then had a semester to go back to geography again (ECC). It was a good year, modern history was very interesting to ds, we delved into some more modern composers and artists, added some "in his lifetime" stuff like national debt and current stock market, just generally time for an interest-led focus. And mom liked that we had some time for solid skill-building (extra time for writing, grammar, algebra 1, science vocab). We also did some "final" field trips and shop type things that we wouldn't have time for in high school.

 

Julie

[cbollin]

The thing I hear most often is that younger kids aren't always ready to delve into the apologetics side of AHL. They may understand it, but they aren't questioning for themselves yet.

 

Julie

 

from using AHL, :iagree:

 

It can be done academically and of course everyone knows their own children and all of that. I'm glad I waited with my oldest, academically advanced child. Mature kid. I know in retrospect, waiting a year on AHL was the right decision for my daughter and for our family's needs.

If it was "just notgrass", it wouldn't be an issue at all.

 

not sure that helps any for OP. it's just my story for my life.

 

-crystal

[Excelsior! Academy]

Thank you. After talking to dh and both dds we've decided to wait a bit for our 12yo dd. She's currently doing vp history cards and stow. We might include her on some readings and discussions, but not the full mfw program. She has done an about face and she doesn't think she's ready for the high school program.