Question for those of you who have done Moving Beyond the Page

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I am considering getting ages 6-8 concept 3 (culture) and ages 7-9 concept 3 (cycles) for ds's. I wonder if anyone has done these and if so what what your thoughts on them were (are)?? TIA

[Targhee]

I have but did not use two of the 6-8 concepts. We used one 7-9 Lit portion from cycles. (also used some 5-7 books).

 

My thoughts -

 

Pros:

- its nice to have things there and spelled out for you

- it's nice to have differentiation of some of the activities

- there isn't drill and kill on anything, so good for those kids who catch on quickly

- it is a lot more interesting to my kids than when each thing is treated separately (here ips our grammar, here is our writing, here is spelling and vocab, etc)

- the concept-based study is thought provoking (more so, in terms of inherent relationships, than say unit studies or linear studies)

 

Cons:

- some activities were uninteresting to kids

- there is a lot of writing required, which my DD hates, so we did a lot orally

- some people are turned off y the line art/hand written layout (not an issue for us though)

 

I wish I could give you more insight. Perhaps if you and specific questions I could answer them?

[tsavoie11]

We've used MBTP 6-8 Community unit 1 and 7-9 Environment, some of Change and 2 units of Cycles. I like the community unit from 6-8. It gave a lot of information about towns & countries, goods and services, and even voting. We didn't continue with any other units though because it just wasn't the right fit for my daughter. My oldest daughter worked through some of the 7-9 this year. She loved most of the books. She loves to read. However, there is so much writing! We skipped so many of the assignments because they were just too much. (For the record, we were not intending this for her whole curriculum)

 

In the Cycles units, since those are what you're asking about, there are some great comprehension questions. The book Poppy was a favorite and there were even some cute craft type projects to do. We did most of the stuff orally though because they were asking for paragraphs! I used Charlotte's Web as a read aloud with both girls so I just used the unit for the comprehension questions. And we haven't gotten to the last book yet. I plan to edit the plans the same as the rest though. There's just too much writing! If you are wanting to dive deep into a book, this is the curriculum for you! And, if you have a creative child, there are many projects that they would really like!

 

Hope that helps!

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

No, I don't really have specific questions. Just kinda tossing around ideas for something new. Not sure alot of writing would work well though with ds's.

[patriciahe]

Hi there,

 

We are currently doing MBTP 6-8 concept on Culture with my 6 yr-old son. So far, we have really liked this. It is an enjoyable and instructive study of geography and people from around the world. It includes hands-on activities, reading usually very beautiful books, and quite a bit of writing. There is usually a regular and advanced option, if your child is not much into writing for many activities. Or you can always modify the writing assignment. We just finished a guidebook for South America yesterday and he used the computer to do a power point presentation instead of writing in his workbook. It worked like a charm. If you like, you can take a look at my blog: http://www.raisingaselfreliantchild.com/. I try to document as much as I can, though not every lesson is in there, it might give you an idea of how it goes. Hope it helps :-)

Edited May 25, 2012 by patriciahe

[Random]

Hi there,

 

We are currently doing MBTP 6-8 concept on Culture with my 6 yr-old son. So far, we have really liked this. It is an enjoyable and instructive study of geography and people from around the world. It includes hands-on activities, reading usually very beautiful books, and quite a bit of writing. There is usually a regular and advanced option, if your child is not much into writing for many activities. Or you can always modify the writing assignment. We just finished a guidebook for South America yesterday and he used the computer to do a power point presentation instead of writing in his workbook. It worked like a charm. If you like, you can take a look at my blog: http://www.raisingaselfreliantchild.com/. I try to document as much as I can, though not every lesson is in there, it might give you an idea of how it goes. Hope it helps :-)

 

 

Thanks for posting. Your blog was very helpful.

 

Does anyone else have any input? I'm also curious about MBtP.

 

:bigear:

[....]

Thanks for posting. Your blog was very helpful.

 

Does anyone else have any input? I'm also curious about MBtP.

 

:bigear:

 

Hi, I use MBtP off and on. We've used most of Ages 6-8 and some of Ages 8-10. This fall, I plan to buy several of the science concepts for Ages 9-11 (Living Seas, Inventions, Biomes).

 

Here's my opinion (and it really is just my opinion - feel free to disagree)... MBtP is not a complete curriculum - you have to add to it. For us, it's a fun supplement we do on the side. Also, it can be expensive for what it is. There is a LOT of writing (this can be good and bad). There are a lot of worksheet-type activities.

 

However...(I have good opinions about it, too - LOL) There is a lot of writing and my kids really need to write...to write. YKWIM? Ages 6-8 Measurement and Matter and Movement Concepts are REALLY neat. There are lots of exercises involving weights, a scale, Base 10 Blocks, measuring things, charting, graphing, clocks, calendars, etc. It shows a couple of different ways to add/subtract. There is a project where you make paper...you make an edible rock... For a certain type of learner, this stuff really makes a difference.

 

We've also used some of the literature concepts (Ages 8-10) and those are basically unit studies based on a book. There's some researching that the kids have to do (like we had to go online and research Native American tribes in Maine and fill out a worksheet). There are some projects at the end of the lit concepts that were a blast. My son ended up making a movie poster and a stop-motion photography movie at the end of the Sign of the Beaver concept. He really had a great time. My son actually asked if we could do more of the concepts -that's why I'm going to fit some of the science concepts in this fall.

 

Anyway, I hope that helped you. Let me know if you have any specific questions. My biggest complaint about this curriculum is the price. :glare:

[PhotoGal]

We've used a few lit units from mbtp. We've enjoyed most of them and I appreciate having discussion questions and activities to go along with the books. I also wish the price of the full curriculum was lower. Even used, the price is usually almost as high as new. (Though thinking about this, I suppose you could buy a year's curriculum and sell it afterwards and end up not spending too much. It is a bit of a gamble to do this though I guess.).

 

I appreciate the connection the discussion questions make to a larger theme. So the questions aren't just checking if they remember things, but also connecting to the larger picture. My biggest complaint (other than the price) is that often there is not much room to write on the worksheets/charts. Ds actually writes less than he would have if he had a bit more space or ends up writing up along the side of the page or trying to squish his words in.

 

We don't write everytime it says to write something. It is usually pretty obvious what the main writing for that lesson is. Sometimes we discuss instead of writing or skip it. I also skip a few projects where I don't think much learning is going to happen. (For example, in Charlotte's Web it asks the child to draw the seasons - I feel like ds already knows the seasons and what they would look like. If he enjoyed drawing more, maybe we would do it for fun.).

 

We have used these lit guides (from the 7-9 set):

 

Tornado - This was a great choice for ds and a good way to start his year.

Who is Helen Keller? - Ds didn't like this one, though I know other kids have enjoyed it. We actually had to take a break from the book and come back to it a few weeks later.

Poppy - This is our favorite so far I think. We had several good discussions related to the book.

Charlotte's Web - We are working on this one right now. It is going well, but I wish the guide/questions went a little more deeply like the "Poppy" guide did. I'm hoping to have a big discussion at the end of the book as described in "Deconstructing Penguins" to take it a bit deeper.

[Slipper]

We used MBTP and I think for some kids it would be a good fit. For mine, it wasn't. I really tried to like it (especially since it cost a LOT). It was too much writing for her. My daughter struggles with writing and I needed her writing to be 'quality' if that makes sense. I also saw several typos which got on my nerves over time, including one math typo(2+3=6).

[sewingmama]

We are currently using 5-7 age. I still don't know whether I like it or not. We are only on the second unit though so I will reserve my opinion till the end of the year and see if I buy it again. ;)

 

I don't mind the hand drawn worksheets - I think they are just fine and quality enough.

 

I like the books they choose. I like that it is easy to tweak and add to.

 

The owners are very, very helpful and lenient. When the new 5-7 curriculum was released a few months ago I emailed and asked if I could swap the old for the new and they did it free of charge and within 24 hours (we use the online option).

 

The only thing I don't like about the online option is that it times out after you use it and you have to rebuy it for every kid you use it for. Well that is what you are supposed to do anyway ;)

 

It can be really repetitive - we just start skipping when it asks the same question every day and I know my kids have got the concept already.

 

There are a lot of activities and writing BUT it is not expected you will do ALL of the activities -a lot of people pick and choose those that suit their kids best and what they have time to so.

 

We use it as a supplement. I don't like their way of teaching handwriting -it isn't enough in my opinion and the huge lines they use were to difficult for my DD to manage -so we skip those worksheets (they are few and far between anyway). We just use it as our science and social studies curric. for now.

[JessieC]

My dd has completed 6-8 Measurement and we are on the first unit of Culture now. I really like this curriculum, and she does too. We do most of the activities as written and have had a lot of fun with them.

 

I bought 7-9 for next year (used) and have been reading it over slowly. It's true there is a lot of writing. If writing is as laborious for her next year as it is now, I think I'll have her dictate a lot to me. I plan to have her do the daily writing, like journal entries about the book, herself, but then the special writing assignments, like writing a persuasive letter, she can dictate to me. The curriculum actually suggests this as an option. Hopefully we'll find a good balance!

 

I think it's a good idea to buy one concept for each kid and see how it goes. People complain about the price, but considering what you get it's not that expensive imo, especially if you buy used or just buy the teacher and student books and get the rest of the books from the library. Let me know if you have any questions I can help you with!

[StephanieF]

I agree about buying one concept at a time. I really like the lit units and we have just completed the BFG in level 8-10. However I don't want to be doing one all the time, I need a little break in between. I think that the same applies to the non lit aspects. I'm just going to do them bit by bit.

Stephanie