Have you ever gone back to something that didn't work the first time?

[acablue]

And actually liked it the second time around?

 

We had two "flops" last year, and they've both somehow ended up on my "maybe" list for the fall. :glare:

 

Nathan couldn't stand WWE1 (don't hate me!), but the more writing programs I look at, the more I think WWE is what he actually needs. And, after using 100 Easy Lessons successfully with Nathan, James never got past lesson 19. We put it away for the year, but I'm looking at it again for both him and Molly this year.

 

If you did like something the second (or third) time you tried it, did you change something to make it work? Just accept that it's the best thing you're going to find? Or, you can tell me that we'll hate them just as much this year and to move on. :tongue_smilie:

[jar7709]

MBtP did not work the first time we tried it. We were in the wrong headspace and I didn't have the confidence to tweak it yet. I had jumped straight from PS into it and that was the wrong thing to do. So we tried online stuff for several months until that became deadly boring and out of necessity to find something for both kids one day, I pulled MBtP out again, with more confidence on my part and the kids more receptive and ready. And we've been using it happily for the last six months with plans to continue for next year.

 

And DS hated RightStart, but I'm considering it for DD. He hated the handholding and song-singing, but she might really engage with it. So that door is remaining open, around here.

 

I'd probably recommend trying to figure out what wasn't working about the given thing before trying it again. But different things work for different kids--there's a reason why we have all these options. :001_smile:

[ezrabean2005]

SOTW and FLL did not work for us the first time around. It was painful and dull. I let my youngest mature for another year and tried again. Now we love both of them. It wasn't the program, my son just wasn't ready yet.

[unity]

Tapestry of Grace 1 was a bomb here a few years ago. I gave Tapestry another shot again this year (different year plan) and this time I love it. I tweaked how I approach it and also I think I just don't like Year 1, but basically I'm so glad I gave the program another shot. I think in my case it was how I approached the curriculum, not really anything to do with the kids.

[boscopup]

R&S Spelling. We tried grade 2 in 1st grade, but it just seemed pointless at that level (the list had no rhyme or reason). I tried again with grade 3 the following year for a little while, set it aside, and now we're back to it and plan to stick with it.

 

That's the same child. I haven't re-used anything with second child yet, since he's not at the level where we started homeschooling DS1.

[kandty]

Yes, more times than I wish to share. :tongue_smilie: Situation change, kids change, and sometimes you change. I usually just don't understand the program at first or I can't see where it is going. Sitting it aside for a while and I have time to figure that out. I will be going back to Righstart this year. It was so different than our previous math program that I could not figure it out! Now I figured it out and it is exactly what my kids need. There was a grammar program that I have been trying off and on for 4 years and I just finally got it two months ago and now I am made at myself for not sticking with it . . . . it is so good! :lol:

[tuzor]

STOW vol 1, at the beginning of the year just did not work. Gathering materials for additional activities and coordinating library visits was wearing me down. So I ordered another pre packaged program and while parts of the program worked great I didn't like the resources used. So I came back to STOW and decided to just read the chapters and a few extra books. I only do and occasional craft. But we do a timeline and that has been great.

 

This experience taught me something about myself. I operate best when I have what I need already here. So it helps If I order extra literature or science with the science kit, because gathering supplies the week before is too hectic for me.

[swellmomma]

Yes. We had dropped R&S grammar to do MCT. While the kids enjoyed MCT they did not retain the way they did with R&S. While at conference ds13 actually chose R&S grammar for next year again. Biggest difference is that I bought the workbooks for them to record their answers in so that they have less writing out of responses which is what made them dislike it in the first place.

[LittleIzumi]

Hmmm. Well, I have two categories of things I try and put back: things that we do not like, and things that don't fit right now. I have never been able to go back to things we don't like (OPGTR, FLL, Mudpies to Magnets). I have, however, been able to pick up things that just weren't right at the time and use them when it is a better time, like Miquon, MEP, BFSU, AAS. There's a different feel to it, like it should work but that slot is mentally full now, come back later. Those work later. SOTW is in that slot.

[nansk]

In our short experience with home learning, so far it is only Math Mammoth that we have gone back to.

The first year, dd didn't like it because of the busy layout and too many problems. We shelved it and did MEP Y1, parts of CSMP Y 1,2 and Miquon Orange and Red (enjoyed all).

 

This year, I tried MM again and surprisingly, dd tolerates it (she rarely enjoys MM - only the few hands-on measurement activities). I do have to mix in other maths supplements (CSMP and Scholastic Algebra Readiness) for variety.

[Hunter]

And actually liked it the second time around?

 

We had two "flops" last year, and they've both somehow ended up on my "maybe" list for the fall. :glare:

 

Nathan couldn't stand WWE1 (don't hate me!), but the more writing programs I look at, the more I think WWE is what he actually needs. And, after using 100 Easy Lessons successfully with Nathan, James never got past lesson 19. We put it away for the year, but I'm looking at it again for both him and Molly this year.

 

If you did like something the second (or third) time you tried it, did you change something to make it work? Just accept that it's the best thing you're going to find? Or, you can tell me that we'll hate them just as much this year and to move on. :tongue_smilie:

 

All of the above, several times. LOL

 

This is why I do NOT sell my curricula. EVER. Curricula are tools. You never know what tool you will need when.

 

And no tools ever work effortlessly. Adam had his weeds and tares. We are cursed with inefficient curricula. It's just the way it is. It's going to be hard work, that goes in circles and up and down and is messy. Often the harder we try it seems the less we accomplish. When I get tired to the bone, I read Ecclesiastes, which tells me it all doesn't matter :-)

[Donna]

I had started AoPS Pre-Alg with my dd back in the fall and it was a huge flop. She didn't even get through the first chapter. She just was not ready to "think" the way the curriculum required. I put it away...almost sold it and we did something else this year. About 3 weeks ago, I took out AoPS again and dd is working through it happily.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[Hedgehogs4]

And actually liked it the second time around?

 

We had two "flops" last year, and they've both somehow ended up on my "maybe" list for the fall. :glare:

 

Nathan couldn't stand WWE1 (don't hate me!), but the more writing programs I look at, the more I think WWE is what he actually needs. And, after using 100 Easy Lessons successfully with Nathan, James never got past lesson 19. We put it away for the year, but I'm looking at it again for both him and Molly this year.

 

If you did like something the second (or third) time you tried it, did you change something to make it work? Just accept that it's the best thing you're going to find? Or, you can tell me that we'll hate them just as much this year and to move on. :tongue_smilie:

 

OPGTR was like that for us. My DD would cry every time I brought it out and so I put it away for a year and brought it back out and now she loves it. Go figure.

[Aurelia]

I did that with AAS and Math Mammoth. I also bought, sold, then bought WWE2 again. For us, it was a readiness issue. Ariel wasn't ready for the things when I first bought them, and we used other things, but when those other things weren't working, I went back to my original plan. It works now! Other things we've tried, but haven't gone back to because they just don't work here. It's really something you have to look at and decide for yourself whether it will work for you and your child or not. Is the issue that he wasn't ready (say, he still struggled with handwriting), or is it, for example, he just doesn't like the font of the worksheet pages?

[Violet Crown]

TOPS science units. Great Girl couldn't handle having anything not work perfectly the first time, and wasn't great at fine motor control (i.e. a little clumsy), which are not good attributes for a curriculum based on home-made experiments.

 

Middle Girl has the patience of Job and will keep working at something until she's satisfied, and even be okay with something not coming out perfectly. She's eating up the TOPS units, having great fun, and learning a lot of science.

[honeymommy4]

yes, it seems like when you know what to expect, coming at it from a different angle later it is easier to plan and accomodate into our schedules.

 

However I have done this twice with HOD. From a distance it looks cute and fun for us, but when we get into it we get so bored!! We need to branch out.

[sarahv]

Tapestry of Grace 1 was a bomb here a few years ago. I gave Tapestry another shot again this year (different year plan) and this time I love it. I tweaked how I approach it and also I think I just don't like Year 1, but basically I'm so glad I gave the program another shot. I think in my case it was how I approached the curriculum, not really anything to do with the kids.

 

:iagree: Except for me it was Right Start Math. I've learned alot about teaching in the last few years, and so I find myself going back to my original curriculum choices with more confidence.

 

I've come full circle on a few choices: Right Start Math and OPGTR

 

Unity, I'm so glad you said what you did about TOG. I'd love to look at it again after these couple of years. I loved the idea a couple of years ago, maybe I'm ready for it finally? :)

[acablue]

It's so interesting to see whether things have worked again and how often it's just a readiness issue. I think that's the case with 100 Easy Lessons, but it's harder to say with WWE.

 

Yes, I have bought and sold and bought a second time. Most times there is something about a curriculum that *I* like that makes me take another look (nothing to do with the kids). After the repurchase, I usually remember why we dumped it. :)

 

If it is a particularly well-done and slick catalog that is tempting you, throw it out. :tongue_smilie:

It's not! I still have 100 Easy Lessons and Molly is bugging me to start it, so it would make sense to have James try it out again. I'm thinking you're right about WWE though. I really like the idea of it, but I'd have to either change it up a bit or change the way I teach it to avoid the problems we had with it.

[sarahv]

It's so interesting to see whether things have worked again and how often it's just a readiness issue.

 

That is interesting. For us it was a mix between a readiness issue on the part of my oldest, and a readiness issue for me as a teacher. *I* wasn't ready for Rightstart. My kid wasn't ready for OPGTR. Now we're back doing both, and it's working great **3 years later**. Time and experience made all the difference in the world for us.

 

I think alot of times it might be that we just have to jump into the homeschooling journey and work out the kinks to find out where we belong. I feel badly that I've thumbed up or thumbed down a curriculum in the past, just to change my mind about it two months later. Oops. It's taught me to keep my mouth shut and just let experience lead me where we're meant to go! :tongue_smilie:

[boscopup]

I feel badly that I've thumbed up or thumbed down a curriculum in the past, just to change my mind about it two months later. Oops. It's taught me to keep my mouth shut and just let experience lead me where we're meant to go! :tongue_smilie:

 

Have you ever googled a curriculum on here, read a bunch of raves, then noticed in the person's sig that they're not using that curriculum anymore? I know I've seen my own posts like that. :lol:

 

Honestly, I look at people's raves as what's working for them at that time, not what they're going to use forevermore. And without those people raving, many people might not even know about the curriculum. So it's good to get it out there and talk about, give the pros and cons, even if those pros and cons change for US at some point. :)

[mhaddon]

We started the first few months with RS and it was a disaster! We are finishing up the book this week :) Going so much more smoothly. Part of the problem is how teacher intensive it is and how much we had going on and my youngest wouldn't let us do school at all. It resulted in tears and me upset with my other children. They now all have "school" to do while I work with him and I fold the older three in and they are learning time as well, so that's made it much easier on me.

 

Things can change a lot in a year! Even more so with a lot of younger kids in the house :lol: