lea_lpz Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Seeing the recent post on POAG, I was thinking it would be nice to have people chime in on, if you were going to chose to do one of these with a 3rd grade girl, which would you chose. Now I actually will not be doing either for quite sometime. My dd is in MFW K right now, and I would like to do either PP or POAG for her 3rd grade year after doing Adventures and before starting the 5 year family cycle with my 2nd grader ds and 4th grade dd. However, this is a bit of an obsession seeing as how much I enjoyed both series as a girl myself. If you have experience with either, please chime in, but especially if you have experience using both, which one did you enjoy the most and why? Or what were the best, not so great aspects of the programs? How was prep time? How much time did you spend on the program as your core a day? (Assume that I will be adding grammer, cursive, spelling, and math) Could a younger child, son, be incorporated into it and still be interested (let's see, my ds would a 1st grader), or is it really girly. For that matter, my dd isn't all that much of a girly-girl anyway. Which is why the PP looks like something she might get into, with the pig bladder and gun saftey parts and all. Now I could do both, if I decide to not do Adventures for 2nd grade. But, ahh, that looks awesome, too. Any MFW users use PP or POAG? Would you be willing to nix Adventures for the ability to do both programs? Again, long ways off, but, ever so interested in knowing more about both programs. Yeah, I've seen the samples online of both, both from christianbook.com, rainbowresource.com, and PP from their actual website. So, I've seen that content, but would like to hear more of the ins and outs from someone who's used the program :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruthie in MS Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 :bigear: I finished Adventures with my two last year and thinking about this for next year after we finish countries and cultures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaCoop04 Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 (edited) We used PP for 4th grade and loved it! It did include some prep work, like pre reading the chapters (comprehension questions did not have answers included), gathering additional materials and resources and just planning out exactly what you wanted to do b/c there is so much to do for each chapter. We did not do additional science or history b/c I thought there was enough, and we did delve further into the areas already introduced (rented Bill Nye video's, read books on historical topics introduced, etc). We had so much fun with PP, I would definitely recommend it. I was planning on using POAG for 5th but found it too light and that I would have to supplement more than I anticipated so we just ended up going a different direction entirely. I love the concept and ideas, but I really didn't want to put the effort into making it complete for *us* for 5th grade. If I were you, I'd try and find a copy of POAG somewhere and really page through to get a good feel for it and if it fits with what you desire for that grade. POAG would be a good jumping point if you don't mind supplementing. HTH. Let me know if you have more questions. Oh, and to answer your questions, we did use PP for our core in the afternoon, usually 1-2 hours depending on what we did. That included her reading chapters on her own, comprehension q's, and any activity. We did spelling, grammar, handwriting and math in the am. Boys would enjoy it, if there was a girly activity, there was a boyish activity. I loved that all the ideas were ready for me, I just had to pick and choose which to do and not to do b/c there were so many good ones. Edited August 7, 2012 by MamaCoop04 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallorie Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Can I ask what the highest grades for these two curriculums are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 Prarie Primer is recommended for 3-6 Portraits of American Girlhood is recommended 2-6 I've heard it is more geared towards 4th graders but that you can modify it for younger or older girls based on the activities you chose and the depth you go into them. I haven't done it myself though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Oh, and to answer your questions, we did use PP for our core in the afternoon, usually 1-2 hours depending on what we did. That included her reading chapters on her own, comprehension q's, and any activity. WOW! You guys are fast! Between reading the LH book, reading the unit assigned book, the questions, and any projects we took a min of 2 hours, but more like 3 or more. We didn't do all of the projects either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfamilygal Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Ask me in 9 months :) We're doing PP this year. Looking through it, I am psyched. It looks like it will be right up my kids' alley. We did ECC a few years ago and are going to do a repeat in one year - except with all different countries. I'm working on gathering supplies and planning now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 If you have experience with either, please chime in, but especially if you have experience using both, which one did you enjoy the most and why? Or what were the best, not so great aspects of the programs? How was prep time? How much time did you spend on the program as your core a day? (Assume that I will be adding grammer, cursive, spelling, and math) Could a younger child, son, be incorporated into it and still be interested (let's see, my ds would a 1st grader), or is it really girly. For that matter, my dd isn't all that much of a girly-girl anyway. Which is why the PP looks like something she might get into, with the pig bladder and gun saftey parts and all. Now I could do both, if I decide to not do Adventures for 2nd grade. But, ahh, that looks awesome, too. Any MFW users use PP or POAG? Would you be willing to nix Adventures for the ability to do both programs? :bigear: If my scanner worked I would send you better samples of both. They are both excellent in my humble opinion (and we all have one ;) ). As I mentioned in the other thread POAG has more writing and PP has more reading. Another thing to consider is the writing in POAG gives details and very good samples of how it is done. So for someone who doesn't want to have to refer to another source for the mechanics this one will cover it. PP has background info at the beginning of each unit POAG doesn't. This info is very good and can add a lot to your studies if you choose to use it. Having used 1 unit in PP (read the rest) and read POAG I can't say that I would enjoy anyone more than the other. They are both good just in different ways. Anytime a craft project is mentioned in either you will need some basic knowledge or a supplementary resource that will give you guidance. There is a PP loop with a gigantic files section with many links. If you choose to use it be prepared to spend some time there, but it is a valuable resource. Looking at them both I can spend more time preparing for PP than for POAG. That is the main reason I dropped PP for now. Plus the amount of reading required was just too much for my 7 yo dd (Margie- PP author- warned me of this). I believe a younger child can follow along, but they will not get out of either program what an older child will. I can't say that I would nix Adventures because I have not used it or owned it. I don't know how it compares. I will try to give you a sample of what each of these units is like. PP ~Each unit is 4 weeks long. ~Projects and readings (called General Activities) to be worked on during the entire unit. Example: ***Prairie Unit assigns: Memorize Psalm 8, Study simple machines, Indian bio ~Each week has additional assignments. One day would be like: ***Read LH chapter(s), answer questions, do activities ***Sample of activities from one day would be * research your family and writing a bio account of one ancestor. * Trace trail of the Ingalls' journey. *Read Mark 7:1-23 and Matt 5:27-30. *Study about mustangs. *Define ford. * Concordance reference. ((Remember you are also reading from the bio and working on memorization and simple machines each day too)) You will have to choose or take 2 years to do PP. POAG ~Each unit is 6 week long ~Every day you read from a AG book and Welcome to (or history book). ~4 units have 1 or 2 bios assigned to be read over a period of time. Over the 6 weeks of the Kristin unit you will cover : ~Pioneers and the Westward Expansion ~Nature Journaling ~Tornadoes ~Suffixes ~Story Elements ~Using Formal Tone When Appropriate ~Quotations Marks ~Poetry Memorization ~Creative Writing in the form of posters, diamond poems, bio poems, charts, journal entries ~Great Plains Region and Prairie Life and Plant Life ~Travels from Europe ~Map skills ~Honesty and Friendship It is kinda hard to compare these two because I obviously can't list everything that is in the guide for an entire unit of PP. It is just too much to list. This is what 1 week can look like with POAG: Day 1 Read AG and Welcome. Set up Nature Journal and Character Journal. Ideas given. Pages included for copy if desired. Learn about drying flowers. Day 2: Read AG and Welcome Decide what you would take on your trip to America (print out available) Day 3 Read AG and Welcome Half page character journal entry using descriptive words. (print out) Day 4 Read AG and Welcome Go on a nature walk and choose object to sketch and enter into journal (print out) Day 5 Read AG and Welcome Mapping skills with assigned questions to be answered Print outs given for all projects are optional but quite handy. If you have any other questions I can try to answer them. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 I'm thinking by looking at what both include, if either would work with a 3rd grader or second grader. Maybe I am wrong, because my dd is still in K, but it seems like both would be a lot of work for a 3rd grader, and really too much for a 2nd grader. It's also a lot of activities. Of course I could easily only do a couple, but I could easily see the program can be spread over 2 years if you wanted to really try it all! Ah, decisions, decisions, decisions. At least I don't have to make one anytime soon. But, the thing about doing it in 3rd is it would allow me to try out PP or POAG while still being able to complete the MFW 5 year cycle with both of my kids. If your oldest child is a 2nd / 3rd grader, would POAG or PP still work or would you end up not getting as much out of it? I personally remember having read both series in 3rd grade and loving both series. But I was an older third grader, so 9 when I read the entire LH series and AG series. Devoured them. So, potentially doing PP or POAG with a 3rd grader and 1st grader as core and (possibly) 2nd and K'er as core. I plan to let my younger child do MFWK / 1st for phonics / math / Bible and coin my dd with PP or POAG as core. Would likely do MFW suggestions for math and language in 2nd / 3rd grade, i.e., Singapore Math and Primary Language Lessons, Spelling by Sound and Structure, Spelling Power, Cursive Connections. hmmm...so opinions again. Would it work for a 2nd / 3rd grader? Anyone done it with the oldest in 2nd / 3rd? It does sort of seem like maybe POAG might be more realistically done with a 2nd grader. I think, (because it been a long time) that I remember the AG series being easier reads then the LH books. Maybe I'm wrong? Oh. And the reading for LH books and AG books. It's read aloud right? Thanks for all the great info. Susie! You've definitly helped me get a better feel of what a week / unit will be like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 If your oldest child is a 2nd / 3rd grader, would POAG or PP still work or would you end up not getting as much out of it? I personally remember having read both series in 3rd grade and loving both series. But I was an older third grader, so 9 when I read the entire LH series and AG series. Devoured them. So, potentially doing PP or POAG with a 3rd grader and 1st grader as core and (possibly) 2nd and K'er as core. I plan to let my younger child do MFWK / 1st for phonics / math / Bible and coin my dd with PP or POAG as core. Would likely do MFW suggestions for math and language in 2nd / 3rd grade, i.e., Singapore Math and Primary Language Lessons, Spelling by Sound and Structure, Spelling Power, Cursive Connections. hmmm...so opinions again. Would it work for a 2nd / 3rd grader? Anyone done it with the oldest in 2nd / 3rd? It does sort of seem like maybe POAG might be more realistically done with a 2nd grader. I think, (because it been a long time) that I remember the AG series being easier reads then the LH books. Maybe I'm wrong? Oh. And the reading for LH books and AG books. It's read aloud right? Thanks for all the great info. Susie! You've definitly helped me get a better feel of what a week / unit will be like. My dd is in 2nd now and 7 yo. I would have to take PP over 2 years for her to be able to handle it. She zones out before we get near finished reading. She likes the LH books for the most part, but when we get to parts where Laura is describing how to make something (a door and leather hinge for example) my little girl gets lost. In a couple of years I can see her eating it up though. I think at this age she would devour the AG books, but she has not worked up to handling as much writing as is assigned in POAG. She may be able to swing the first unit as it is one of the lighter ones, but even that one has design a sign and write a recipe in the first week alone. So far she is up to 2-3 lines of copywork. We're getting there. I agree that AG books are easier reads. I don't remember if they are assigned as read alouds or not. I just make them that way regardless. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 (edited) Yeah, I was thinking from the outline, PP & POAG might be better for 3rd grade / 4th grade maybe. Hmmm....I wonder if I could do MFW Adventures for 2nd, MFW ECC for 3rd, and PP or POAG for 4th then do rest of MFW cycle (CTG, RTR, Ex to 1850, 1850 to Mod). Or does that sound too complicated? LOL ;)! I think I need to take a break from thinking about this and wait until we get there.... What would you say the optimum age or grade to do either would be? Edited August 9, 2012 by lea_lpz Clarification Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfamilygal Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 I'd do PP or the other for 3rd and do ECC for 4th. We did it for 1st and 3rd and a lot was over their heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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