SL to WP or the opposite

[OregonNative]

Has anyone her used SL and then switched to WP? Or done the opposite?

Every year I almost order SL, but end up going with something else. This is based solely on not liking Core 1 five years ago. :blink: I was told to order if for my DD when she was a 1st grader and what she really needed was Core K. Plus it was my first year homeschooling and I had NO idea what I was doing.

 

However, WP looks more "fun" but I have never used it before (looking at AS2 and Amercian Culture), so I have no clue.

 

We are eclectic, so I'm not looking for one specific style of program. And I understand SL and WP are different method wise.

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

BTW-we have tried MFW, HOD, and most of the WTM curriculum.

[ByGrace3]

:bigear: just curious as well! :lol:

[3peasinapod]

I used WP RTL/JOI and then AW. I tweaked them a lot and was irritated by the incohesiveness. I had a SL Core K (now A) used, so I used that for a K'er and 1st grader. It was wonderful for the 1st grader, but just barely registering for the K'er. I thought I wanted more activities and web sites to look at, so I switched to WP again (AS1) but WP's activities were not my style, I skipped about 40% of the books, as many of them were dry and boring to us or the level way to high for our ages. Now I've switched back to SL and did core B (with a 2nd and 3rd grader). We're moving into core C now with a 3rd and 4th grader.

 

I realized what I liked, a good base. With SL, I liked all the books and read them all, but I could add what I liked for activities (in our case SOTW AG, notebooking and some things I find here and there. If I didn't do activities in WP, I would feel bad since I paid so much for the IG, but I hated the activities and found them useless/busywork. Also, the notebooking pages were horrible in AS1. It had a half a page of text with 3 inches of white space for the child to draw something. Yuck. There was nothing for the child to DO on the notebooking pages. I make my own or purchase them from Notebooking Pages.com now.

 

WP was so choppy for me. SL will have overlap of books, such as reading a book a week longer, but moving into a different subject with history. This doesn't bother me, though, as the flow remains. WP would schedule a notebooking page about George Washington and read about him 2 weeks later and things like that. The GW page could have easily been scheduled in the right week, and people would point this out, but nothing would ever be done, as people would complain the next year about the same things.

 

That was our experience. :001_smile:

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I have used SL and WP. As far as instigating each, they are similar to use. Read a few books, discuss, do timeline, map work, that sort of thing. WP has notebook pages to use and web sites to visit. There are also hands on activities with WP. SL has vocabulary and depending on the core, writing exercises. They both use a grid schedule. WP has 2: one for the parent, one for the child.

 

SL uses a spine and historical readers. WP uses mainly non fiction type books with a set of adventure readers.

 

I used WP Sea and Sky and American Culture. SL we used about 9 cores. Between the two I felt WP got the history across better since you read more non fiction you knew what you were focusing on, then it was cemented with a notebook page. SL was more a glorified reading list.

Edited June 19, 2012 by Down_the_Rabbit_Hole

[kolamum]

Me.

 

I used WP last year. Loved it.

 

Moved to SL this year.

 

 

I chose WP last year because it used the HSITW cds. I LOVE HSITW so that was a PERFECT match for our family. We REALLY enjoyed ourselves, but at the end of the year I wasn't sure I could keep up with as many hands on activities all year round. PLUS, I was more keen on the SL books for the second half of US history then the WP ones.

 

So this year we're doing SL. Only.. I went & added the remaining HSITW cds into the core anyway. Had I stuck with WP, they wouldn't have used them, they would have done something else which wasn't quite up my kids alley.

 

Both programmes are similar & even, at times, use the same books.

 

I found it REALLY easy to find my groove with WP. I find it's taking a bit longer with SL. At the same time there are no "extras" with WP, no notes for the books, no vocabulary, no geography for the stories, etc. Thus you just open it up follow the schedule & you're off & running. Easy peasy.

 

With SL you get the schedule which, as you probably know, now has LA, Bible, readers, & of course the history. BUT, you also have the notes in the core for vocab, geography, bible, etc. I think I find my groove quickly when I don't worry about the "extras". Kwim?

 

Anyway, not sure that was helpful, but I did a pretty in depth review of WP for The Curriculum Choice. I plan to do one of SL later this year. In the mean time I'm happy to answer any other questions you have if I can. :)

[3peasinapod]

Me.

 

I used WP last year. Loved it.

 

Moved to SL this year.

 

 

I chose WP last year because it used the HSITW cds. I LOVE HSITW so that was a PERFECT match for our family. We REALLY enjoyed ourselves, but at the end of the year I wasn't sure I could keep up with as many hands on activities all year round. PLUS, I was more keen on the SL books for the second half of US history then the WP ones.

 

So this year we're doing SL. Only.. I went & added the remaining HSITW cds into the core anyway. Had I stuck with WP, they wouldn't have used them, they would have done something else which wasn't quite up my kids alley.

 

Both programmes are similar & even, at times, use the same books.

 

I found it REALLY easy to find my groove with WP. I find it's taking a bit longer with SL. At the same time there are no "extras" with WP, no notes for the books, no vocabulary, no geography for the stories, etc. Thus you just open it up follow the schedule & you're off & running. Easy peasy.

 

With SL you get the schedule which, as you probably know, now has LA, Bible, readers, & of course the history. BUT, you also have the notes in the core for vocab, geography, bible, etc. I think I find my groove quickly when I don't worry about the "extras". Kwim?

 

Anyway, not sure that was helpful, but I did a pretty in depth review of WP for The Curriculum Choice. I plan to do one of SL later this year. In the mean time I'm happy to answer any other questions you have if I can. :)

 

How are you doing the HSITW TT with E? I am planning on doing them with D and E too. I haven't extensively looked into it, as we're just starting Core C. Is it easy to integrate the TT with SL? The HSITW TT is exactly the types of things I already add to the SL cores (well I also add web sites). :001_smile:

[Juliegmom]

Have you considered MFW?

[Mammy5]

what is WP? Thanks

[woolybear]

what is WP? Thanks

 

 

http://winterpromise.com/

[Annie Laurie]

I have used both. I prefer SL, but WP AS 1 was really fun. (I combined that with SL Core 3). They really aren't that different, I like the book selections from SL better, but that's just personal preference. I find SL easier to secularize- the world history cores in WP use MOH which doesn't work for me.

 

I tried IRTL, AW, CAW, and AS1. The only one I really liked was AS1, but I think AW is cute, I just couldn't get it to work for the age range I had at the time. I plan on trying it again when the baby is ready for school.

 

WP has more hands-on in the schedule, but SL has cds now which include internet links and hands-on ideas. Many of the WP links have not worked for me (old, broken links), even when buying a new guide.

 

WP has more non-fiction than SL and it's more visual.

[OregonNative]

Have you considered MFW?

Yes, we used ECC at the beginning of the year. It was not a good fit for us sadly-I know many people love it.

[OregonNative]

Cons of WP

 

Cons of SL

 

you have to support Sarita and her wacko agenda

they give a lot of money you pay them to their weirdo charities

who really needs that insane huge binder of crap? I never look at most of it

did I mention Sarita?

far too many novels, some of which really are not very good

how many dang books about lost dogs do you want to read???

loaded with missionary stuff, esp in core F

Sarita

High school isnt very good academically imo

 

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

I love this! I don't know to much about Sarita's wacko agendas or weirdo charities. Guess I need to look into this.

[OregonNative]

Thank you all for the responses so far! (Why do I only get one notification when there are multiple posts)?

 

Well, I'm not sure where to look for other choices. I need something that comes with a schedule-I tried making my own this year and it's just doesn't work for me. I don't like piecing together materials either. I have tried this for the last couple of years and it was a major fail. I will be doing two separate programs this year even tho my children are close in age.

 

I've tried FIAR, HOD, MFW, SL (years ago), SOTW, WWE, FLL, SWO all in the last two years:001_huh: I was concerned about the cost of SL for 2011-2012 and ended spending way more just by switching:glare:

I just want to stick with something!

[Oakblossoms]

Now that I have been homeschooling for awhile, I think I can share my opinion:tongue_smilie:

 

Those packages are all so pretty and full of promises:lol: But, it just does not take into account the differences in personalities and needs of the in ideal children or MOM.

 

So, I give you permission to let go of the thought that a package of books with instructions and someone else's insights is going to make things work.

 

Pick and choose. Give yourself a monthly amazon budget and enjoy that instead.

[kolamum]

How are you doing the HSITW TT with E? I am planning on doing them with D and E too. I haven't extensively looked into it, as we're just starting Core C. Is it easy to integrate the TT with SL? The HSITW TT is exactly the types of things I already add to the SL cores (well I also add web sites). :001_smile:

 

Yes, i found it easy to work them in. :) Here's how I worked them in for Core E.

 

 

I didn't think that WP was watered down SL. Especially if you don't bother with all the extra stuff in the great big binder of carp. That's not in the WP binder. It's just the schedule. ;) Just my opinion.

 

However, I do think each programme has it's ups & downs. You'll just have to decide for yourself which one you find has more ups then downs I suppose. :)

[In the Rain]

:seeya: I don't know a thing about either- just wanted to say hi! I haven't seen you around for a while.

[kolamum]

Ooo, yes I nearly forgot about the cards! :lol:

 

We didn't use them. :unsure: Or the timeline game. Ha! You're right, they do have their own carp! ;)

[Mom in High Heels]

We used WP's Children Around the World for 2nd grade and loved it. It was a really fun program with some great books and activities. I opted not to go with them again though because many of their other programs are religious (MOH is a spine) and difficult to secularize. Like a pp suggested, I would only buy the exclusives from them and then get the books used on Amazon. It's cheaper that way.

 

We tried SL for 1st, but I shipped it back after about 5 or 6 weeks. I was so underwhelmed by SL. There was so many books to read and little to actually do. I understand they have added more activities now though. I also didn't like that the books didn't mesh with what you were studying in history. We were studying the ancients in history, but the first 2 books we read were Charlotte's Web and Homer Price. Indy (then barely 6) asked what those had to do with the ancients.

[Spetzi]

I used WP Quest for the Middle Ages several years ago. There is just a schedule w/activity suggestions and website suggestions (we liked those). The chronology didn't like up very well in QMA (off by 1,000 years at one point!) It was "fine" but I haven't looked to use it again.

 

 

Now that I use SL I don't use most of what is in the binder. I like knowing it's there and I do use the reader book summaries so I know what the kids have read. Occasionally, I'll ask some of their questions.

 

I found my library had many of the books and I found a lot used/paperback swap so I didn't have to spend $500 on history.

 

Have you considered this? It will take some tweaking, but you can use books you can access and do the activities that interest you. There is plenty here to choose! Oh, and it's FREE.

http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/curriculum.html

[Jennay]

I use SL. (Tried and have a hard time using FIAR. Haven't used WP though)

But to address some of the concerns pp have raised -it is easier for me to add some non-fiction books (kind of like a book basket), hands-on activities (like the Hands and Hearts kits), and field trips (like National Parks, Williamsburg, museums, etc.) to SL than anything else. SL is the base and I can leave the schedule behind for awhile but I can always come back to it. I don't feel like I am floundering. I do substitute some of the missionary and bible books with ones for our own faith. I also haven't used much of SL LA.

I miss the days when John H. was more involved with SL and the public face of the company. Sarita leaves me a bit cold and irritated. I also don't like the new integrated IGs. But I decided not to throw the baby out with the bathwater since in general the SL Cores have worked so well for us. I didn't want to make my HS life more difficult. So I bought old style IGs and will buy most of the books elsewhere.

[Mommamia]

I saw that you used HOD in the past. I started out using HOD(a few yrs ago) and was majorly turned off by it (the author rubbed me wrong & I didn't love the guides we used). That being said, I'm really liking the looks of HOD Preparing Hearts guide. I had been piecing things together which was working fine, but I really want someone to guide and tell me what to do this year. I will probably tweak the guide, but have learned that is fine to do.

 

Maybe look at different levels of the vendors you've already tried. They may surprise you.

HTH.

[OregonNative]

Thank you everyone!! I'm sorry I haven't replied sooner, but I am not getting reply notifications:glare: You have given me a lot to think about. :)