Wee Pip Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Considering My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures (MFW ECC). I've never considered MFW before because it just doesn't seem like my thing:) Their philosophy isn't the same as mine. Ex: I am strongly Christian but I love teaching myths & evolution to my kids at an early age! LOL. However, I asked dd 9 (10 in the fall) what she'd like to learn next year and she said she wants to focus on different cultures from around the world, and she wants to learn to cook foreign recipes. She also wants to study ancient greek and would love to incorporate a study on Greek culture. I'm considering pulling things together myself, but I admit that a boxed curric sounds so appealing to me. I have a (almost) 3yo that wrecks havoc, and a busy lifestyle. I do not have the joy and pleasure of being able to sit for hours at my laptop or library. (Note: I noticed ECC doesn't include Greece, so that one I would have to pull together myself). I'm wondering if we'd enjoy MFW ECC or if I should stop looking at it. 1.) many of the book choices that come in the pkg don't inspire me (we already own Hero Tales and I am just NOT a big missionary kind of person, although my 9yo *might* be). 2.) I already own 2 children's atlases that I like, and MFW would give us yet 2 more. Other questions - could my (will be) 10yo do much of this independently? I'm sure we'd discuss things, and I'd look/plan out what she will do at the beginning of each week - but I need the list-style grunt work to be independent. We would work on cooking/recipes together at dinnertime. Also, would I include my dd (will be) 12 in this? Based upon the 11/12yo's interests, I think we are going to focus on American Girl Doll "Welcome to...so and so's world" books and pull other things in around that. Is MFW gentle enough that we could pull in our own things? The BIGGEST draw for me is the Countries Game from MFW ECC - is there something similar I could make at home, or do they sell this apart from the $100 teacher's guide? (Could I pick up the student packet and find it there?) Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allymom Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 (edited) We've been doing MFW ECC this year and have really enjoyed it! And yes, they have 7/8th grade supplement that you'd probably want to use for your 11, almost 12 year old if you wanted to do this with both girls. And if your 9 yr. old is a solid reader, I imagine they both could do a lot of it independently. I find a lot of the work to be over my girls heads (the advanced portion, we definitely don't do yet) and they are 7 and 8 this year, so I think there would be plenty for an older elementary/middle schooler to enjoy. We really enjoyed the countries game the first half of the year, but I fell off the bandwagon with that since January. I have found that I need to look for other recipes for some countries because the suggestions are not always that good. And of course, there's no Greek study, that comes in the following year of MFW study. I also supplement with netflix and youtube videos as appropriate. I'll admit that I really enjoy the missionary stories, so if you don't, I'm not sure how much it would appeal to you. My girls adore the missionary stories too. ETA: I'm fairly certain the game is included in the parent/teacher supplement, but you would need to get one for each person that would be playing the game or make color copies for each person. Also, the colors coordinate to the Classroom Atlas they include. Edited March 24, 2012 by allymom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joyfulhomeschooler Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 We are doing ECC this year but with the first edition. In this edition I had to make the game myself. Used a copy of the continent being studied glued to the back of a cereal box with pennies for markers Same results but the newer one is prettier than my colored pencil cereal box copy ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Pip Posted March 24, 2012 Author Share Posted March 24, 2012 We are doing ECC this year but with the first edition. In this edition I had to make the game myself. Used a copy of the continent being studied glued to the back of a cereal box with pennies for markers Same results but the newer one is prettier than my colored pencil cereal box copy ;) I figured I could make a game myself, but I don't know what kind of game rules to make. I tried to find a make-your-own game or suggestions for games online, but all of them are internet based (I don't want internet based, I want a paper based game). Picky picky me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyagain Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Have you looked at Expedition Earth? It looks very similar to ECC but much less expensive. I'm not sure what the games are like. I've heard that the "10 Days in ______" series of games is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estelleblue Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 I have not seen the ECC game, and know these games are on the pricey side, so take this with a grain of salt. Have you seen these games: http://www.amazon.com/10-Days-in-Africa-Game/dp/B00008ZCGX/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1332602088&sr=1-1-catcorr If you're not 100% comfortable with MFW philosophy and/or would rather make your own study, maybe these games could offer you some of the structure you're looking for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrightmom Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Another line of Geography games here http://www.amazon.com/Geo-Bingo-World-Toys/dp/B003CQ0LEE My kids love the Geo Puzzles and they have a number of games. I haven't used them yet but I would like to add them to our studies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 I have both EE and ECC, and EE is way more involved. There's a pretty sizeable craft or activity almost every day. I was kind of :001_huh:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Pip Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 I have both EE and ECC, and EE is way more involved. There's a pretty sizeable craft or activity almost every day. I was kind of :001_huh:. Thanks for the feedback on EE, have been looking at that one, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Considering My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures (MFW ECC).I've never considered MFW before because it just doesn't seem like my thing:) Their philosophy isn't the same as mine. Ex: I am strongly Christian but I love teaching myths & evolution to my kids at an early age! LOL. However, I asked dd 9 (10 in the fall) what she'd like to learn next year and she said she wants to focus on different cultures from around the world, and she wants to learn to cook foreign recipes. one tidbit in this... ECC has myths, legends, fables of other cultures. Before MFW worked with Usborne to edit millions of years to "long ago", one of the books had millions. She also wants to study ancient greek and would love to incorporate a study on Greek culture. I'm considering pulling things together myself, but I admit that a boxed curric sounds so appealing to me. I have a (almost) 3yo that wrecks havoc, and a busy lifestyle. I do not have the joy and pleasure of being able to sit for hours at my laptop or library. (Note: I noticed ECC doesn't include Greece, so that one I would have to pull together myself). One idea is on "light and independent Fridays in ECC" to add those books into book basket, and let her read just enough to her liking. There's a section in Window on the World on Greece - maybe you could assign that as a starting point? Then, in the book Another Trip Around the World, do the Greece unit even if it is not assigned! I'm wondering if we'd enjoy MFW ECC or if I should stop looking at it. 1.) many of the book choices that come in the pkg don't inspire me (we already own Hero Tales and I am just NOT a big missionary kind of person, although my 9yo *might* be). 2.) I already own 2 children's atlases that I like, and MFW would give us yet 2 more. it's ok to have extra atlas resources. fun to cross reference and enjoy independent learning that way. Hero Tales is more about the "character traits" and biographies of people vs "missions". You might or might not like the read alouds - those are the missions biography focus. I'm not sure I'm explaining that well. But if your child likes to hear biographies... Hero Tales is nice to get that "people history" with geography. Other questions - could my (will be) 10yo do much of this independently? I'm sure we'd discuss things, and I'd look/plan out what she will do at the beginning of each week - but I need the list-style grunt work to be independent. We would work on cooking/recipes together at dinnertime. Also, would I include my dd (will be) 12 in this? Based upon the 11/12yo's interests, I think we are going to focus on American Girl Doll "Welcome to...so and so's world" books and pull other things in around that. Is MFW gentle enough that we could pull in our own things? there are plenty of parts that can be done independently at different levels from the research, to the vocab pages, to notebooking... crafts... The BIGGEST draw for me is the Countries Game from MFW ECC - is there something similar I could make at home, or do they sell this apart from the $100 teacher's guide? (Could I pick up the student packet and find it there?) Thanks in advance! the others answered parts of that. instructions are in the manual. you could just make your own boards, your own flashcards and do it as a matching game or similar kind of game. 2 variations of the instructions are given. one in week 5, then a new way to play is later... you might like ECC with the planning done and life changes and all of that. -crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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