Moving Beyond the Page

[JuliQ]

Does anyone out there have any experience with this?

 

It seems very expensive and fluffy to me, but my SIL is starting to think about homeschooling my 7yo niece, and she found it during her own research, and wanted some feedback.

 

I wouldn't mind having a few of their curriculum books to look at ideas, but I shy away from pre-packaged curricula that come with a big heap of books I can get out of the library. Ka-ching!

[ssavings]

We're using 5-7 and enjoy it.

And you can buy the teacher and student guides separate from the reading books, if you want. They have a lot of options for how you can buy things (each concept is sold individually, either with or without the books).

[Mandy in TN]

I did one unit 3 years ago and just purchased an entire concept that should arrive today.

 

What I like about it is that the activities and questions move beyond basic recall into high order thinking skills. If you look at the sample of their guide for The Hobbit and samples from some other companies, you can see what I mean.

 

What gets me (why I can not use it) is that, although the skills build, the topics are not sequential. My son absolutely wouldn't mind, but I don't think I would like it. So, I have never considered using it for our main curriculum for a full year.

 

We will see how it goes, but I am cautiously excited about using a concept during our summer break from our school year products.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[SuperDad]

And you can buy the teacher and student guides separate from the reading books, if you want. They have a lot of options for how you can buy things (each concept is sold individually, either with or without the books).

Yes, we've done this.

 

We use their products as fun supplements, not as a full program.

 

We like them, but I don't think that the concepts are specifically for gifted children. The company says that they are, but as a parent of six children ranging from highly to precociously gifted, I personally don't think that the concepts are all that different from just regular old designed-for-average-kids programs.

[In the Rain]

What I like about it is that the activities and questions move beyond basic recall into high order thinking skills. If you look at the sample of their guide for The Hobbit and samples from some other companies, you can see what I mean.

 

:iagree: This is what I love about MBTP. I really haven't found a better choice for their kind of questions. Oak Meadow 5 has some similarities, so we may go that route next year. The cost of MBTP is high, but I lucked out in finding almost a whole year of the curriculum at the resale shop.

[Mandy in TN]

Yes, we've done this.

 

We use their products as fun supplements, not as a full program.

 

We like them, but I don't think that the concepts are specifically for gifted children. The company says that they are, but as a parent of six children ranging from highly to precociously gifted, I personally don't think that the concepts are all that different from just regular old designed-for-average-kids programs.

It is difficult to design products for gifted children. I mean very few kids are mildly but globally gifted at about 1 to 1.5 years acceleration. When I look at MbtP, this is what I feel is their target child. That said, their products do require more than the basic recall that is required in typical products for young children.

 

As I said though, I couldn't use a whole year and we'll see how this one concept goes.

Mandy

Edited April 9, 2012 by Mandy in TN

[JuliQ]

So, you're the Julianna who was already using my name when I got here!

 

It's not a common name. Good to meet you!

 

And thanks everyone for the insight. I really like the idea of a summer supplement. That might be just what will work for my niece (they're still on the fence)

 

I'll keep digging!

[EKS]

I think it is an interesting idea. However, I bought one of their literature units and found it to be workbook-y rather than inspired. And the workbook pages weren't even of high quality. Not impressed here.

[JessieC]

We use it and love it. You can just buy the teacher and student books and get the trade books out of the library. Honestly MBTP is what makes me want to keep homeschooling--we've had so much fun with the activities. So many are hands-on, yet require little planning, and the kids are always engaged--no busy work. If you want to try it, you can just buy one concept (about 9 weeks of work). It's very affordable if you get the books elsewhere, and I don't see it as fluffy at all.

[Lily_Grace]

We've used just the lit guides as our reading this year. They have been fun, interesting, and have a variety of projects that make the books come alive. I honestly didn't think my son would be into researching falcons but by the time we got to the topic in the guide he was rearing to go. It's been the same experience with every book we've done this year.

 

The one complaint that I've heard about the program is that the format can be too similar for all the subjects. If so, it might lead to burn out. For one or two, it can be great, though.

 

 

We like them, but I don't think that the concepts are specifically for gifted children. The company says that they are, but as a parent of six children ranging from highly to precociously gifted, I personally don't think that the concepts are all that different from just regular old designed-for-average-kids programs.

 

Neither do I. The concepts are designed to have plenty of options for activities and be open ended in the way of difficulty/depth, which makes it more ideal for gifted children than a regular textbook. However, my absolutely ordinary, doesn't-like-to-write child does fine with them and they do bring out his creative side.

[scooby-do]

We have used bits and pieces of it through the years and have really enjoyed it.

[jar7709]

We are having success with the early levels of MBTP. I agree with a PP that said it isn't always great for a very profoundly gifted child, but both my gifteds are doing well with it. Yes, sometimes it can seem fluffy or too easy, but sometimes that's ok. My very gifted but reluctant writer older son (age 7) is doing the 5-7 with his more moderately but globally gifted little sister (age 5.5). The 5-7 is at a perfect level for my 5yo, and even though the concepts in the 5-7 are very basic for the 7 yo, they are easy to modify upwards in difficulty and are still engaging. The 7yo usually enjoys working with his sister, so since he finds it fun he doesn't mind or notice stretching himself in the difficult areas, and the MBTP is helping him to gently practice skills like writing that don't come as easily for him as the "facts". He's a little sponge for information and an avid reader, so most of his learning of new stuff is from the other things we do and his own reading. And that's ok with me. No packaged curric is going to be a perfect fit for him anyway. One thing I'd note for your friend--the curriculum should work for you and not the other way around, so don't feel like you need to do every single suggested activity in a lesson and don't be afraid to modify a little as you go.

 

I've blogged about MBTP a few times which you can read here if you are interested. :001_smile:

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

So, you're the Julianna who was already using my name when I got here!

 

It's not a common name. Good to meet you!

 

And thanks everyone for the insight. I really like the idea of a summer supplement. That might be just what will work for my niece (they're still on the fence)

 

I'll keep digging!

 

:iagree: I think if they are on the fence, being able to just do a 9 week trial is a great idea!

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

I think it is an interesting idea. However, I bought one of their literature units and found it to be workbook-y rather than inspired. And the workbook pages weren't even of high quality. Not impressed here.

 

Which age range(s) have you used?

[Tanyali]

It's good to hear all of this feedback. I have been looking at this on and off since last year. I just took the plunge and bought the 8-10 last week. We started useing sonlight core B and I ended up barely following the schedule and using SOTW. My DD enjoyed more hands-on activities. That being said, I think MBTP would be a good fit for us with her. She will be 8 in October. She is writting paragraphs and completed her 1st book report last week. We will not be starting till the end of July. So I think she should be ok on this level. Any thoughts or advice?

[maizeydaizey]

We have been using the 5-7 MBTP curriculum along side our other curricula. I really enjoy the building concepts and final project works, the culmination words very well for my daughter. I don't however use this as our only curriculum, it is next to. I am very happy with it and hope to add the next set in with our following year.

[sewingmama]

We just started using the 5-7 age group. Yes some of it seems basic and easy but I use MBTP as a springboard for further study so it works for us. I love that it is highly adaptable so you can delve as deep as you like.

 

My DD is almost 6 and doing well with it. I don't think it is too easy for her -yes she already knows a lot of the information but the projects where she uses the information are the right amount of challenge for her.

 

I like for my kids to use the information they have learned -not just know it KWIM and that is why I like MBTP - the content is really just a base you use as a starting point to encourage children to use higher thinking skills.

 

I like to tweak as well and MBP is highly tweakable - I like that it is easy to add in extra go along activities if I wish. That way I can tailor it to uniquely fit my kids.

 

I am not sure what you mean by fluffy - I guess some of the activities can seem so. My DD did make a paper caterpiller one time but I consider that to be development of fine motor skills and the activity doesn't require you to just make a craft and be done with it. My DD had to make this and then write a little card describing what she knew about caterpillars and then tell a family member about it - so a bit of fluff but still a worthwhile activity. My DD loves fluff activities anyway so I try to include them when I can just because it makes her happy ;)

 

We like MBTP here and it suits our purposes well. It's one of those curriculums where first glance is decieving and doesn't tell the whole story KWIM.

 

When I first started using it I was :glare: but the more I use it the more I like it - I'm hoping by the end of the full year curriculum I bought I will :001_wub: it - my DD is happy with it at the present anyway and it suits her learning style very well.

 

 

As a final plug - they have excellent customer service. They recently rewrote and updated their 5-7 curriculum and added in 10 new books. I emailed them and I asked if I could swap my curriculum for the new one. Within 24 hours they responded to me and swapped the curriculum over for me to the new updated one (we are using the online curriculum - they updated that). They also restarted the timer on the Unit I had already started using back to the beginning so I got more time to use it. They are fabulous and very responsive - ultimately they want the people who are using their curriculum to be able to use it successfully and they are very helpful and responsive with any questions you have.

Edited April 9, 2012 by sewingmama

[mskelly]

We are using it for the summer also. I bought one concept at a convention last year just to try it out. Shortly after the convention, I read TWTM and fell in love! So, MBtP sat on the shelf. Now that we finished all the 1st grade stuff I got for TWTM, I decided to change it up a little before starting 2nd grade. We are going to do the MBtP concept for the summer and we'll be ready for 2nd grade in August. Well, with the exception of SOTW. DS insists on continuing that. He absolutely loves that book!