MFW ECC - need to air out my concerns

[abrightmom]

Would you tell me why you didn't love ECC? I think I won't like it or need it but my kids are pressuring me.:D In my world I see ECC as this:

 

Read through Gospel of Matthew and discuss. Copy and memorize verses.

Read about countries in Window on the World. Discuss. Pray.

Read Hero Tales as it fits in and discuss. Copy character traits.

 

Geography entails:

Introduce country. Read about it. Map it. Color a John 3:16 sheet. Passport. Cook or do a craft. Listen to ethnic music. Read lots of library books. Watch a movie about it. Perhaps do a little research and fill out a sheet about the country (for older student). Define geography terms using Geography from A to Z.

 

Science entails:

???

Animals and habitats/biomes. Some interesting concepts from Properties of Ecosystems (which I could easily hand to my 4th grader and ask him to read independently). I'm not sure what else here; perhaps drawing and coloring habitats, animals, etc. Is there more that I'm not seeing?

 

Missionary biographies and Kingdom Tales for read alouds.

 

IS THERE MORE THAN THAT? Honestly, I cannot bring myself to press "buy" because I am afraid I'll get it here and realize that I already know what to do and will feel like I wasted $$.

 

I tend to envision something and then not actually do it so perhaps ECC would keep me focused. The book basket is a bonus for sure (love those) and I think the Geography Game would prove a hit here. I don't think those are enough positives to swing the vote for me. It's an entire school year to live with a curriculum that I feel "meh" about (34 weeks!).

 

I'd rather start Ancients in the new year and let countries/cultures weave in and out through the years :001_smile: but my kids realllllly want ECC. I realllllly don't. We are at war. :D Historically, our best homeschool years have been with MFW but it is true that ECC is not for some folks despite having success with MFW in the early years.

[bethben]

If you think it's boring in the samples, 36 weeks of it get really mind numbing. ECC turned me off of MFW forever because I reasoned that they were formulaic in their curriculum. My ds found it fine, I couldn't stand it, wound up doing two weeks together (and didn't miss much), and finished 36 weeks in 27. There are cheaper ways to do it and free geography games online that my 8 year old finds fun (seterra is one). You could easily replicate the whe thing based on the formula you stated in your post.

 

Beth

[EmmaNadine]

I looked at ECC, and am basically designing my own secular version of it because I figured I could do it better and easier. My little guy is just five, so we're going to use it to introduce map skills, and then work on geography, biology -living v. nonliving, classifying animals from around the world into their major groups, learning about animal adaptations, ecosystem linkages, plants and adaptations, etc. I got an art around the world book, and we'll be reading stories from around the world. And then we'll be focusing on how people live differently around the world, both for cultural and geographical reasons. We'll use books like Giles Laroche's Houses around the World for that. I also have the Habitats book that I got during the Scholastic dollar sale so we'll build animal habitats for different biomes.

 

I also have a bunch of geography puzzles, recipes, music, etc. We have a fantastic library here which makes this fairly easy and inexpensive to do with a little bit of planning.

[Mommy22alyns]

Well, I guess you summed it up. We're loving it, but YMMV.

[Donna A.]

If you think it's boring in the samples, 36 weeks of it get really mind numbing. ECC turned me off of MFW forever because I reasoned that they were formulaic in their curriculum.

 

Sadly, you reasoned incorrectly based on one year's program. :confused: The ECC geography and corresponding science units are rightly guided by space... a country is a country is a country, yet each country has its own unique culture, people groups, primary religion, landscape.... I'm not sure how else you would set it up?

 

History is guided by time. And unlike SOTW by itself, the MFW schedule puts everything in chronological order. (Including the Bible.)

 

Each year has a different "feel" to it, with different goals for that year, and yet with ONE goal throughout the whole program which is a strong biblical worldview weaved throughout, and built upon from year to year.

 

OP, have you spent any time going through the archives on the MFW forums? That might help? http://board.mfwbooks.com/index.php?sid=3c4702f37f5a755537f50824a12d1c4a

 

And this: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4004#p66798

[abrightmom]

Well, I guess you summed it up. We're loving it, but YMMV.

 

:001_smile: Oh, I am GLAD you love it. I do think my KIDS will love it but I have to air out all of my concerns before committing.

 

Will you share some science highlights? Anything would help. :D

 

I think that if I expect to not like it I will end up really liking it. The kids have worn me down to a nub and my husband is in their corner cheering on ECC. :lol:

[abrightmom]

Sadly, you reasoned incorrectly based on one year's program. :confused: The ECC geography and corresponding science units are rightly guided by space... a country is a country is a country, yet each country has its own unique culture, people groups, primary religion, landscape.... I'm not sure how else you would set it up?

 

History is guided by time. And unlike SOTW by itself, the MFW schedule puts everything in chronological order. (Including the Bible.)

 

Each year has a different "feel" to it, with different goals for that year, and yet with ONE goal throughout the whole program which is a strong biblical worldview weaved throughout, and built upon from year to year.

 

OP, have you spent any time going through the archives on the MFW forums? That might help? http://board.mfwbooks.com/index.php?sid=3c4702f37f5a755537f50824a12d1c4a

 

And this: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4004#p66798

:iagree: with Donna re: MFW. ECC is a unique year and is not for everybody. We purchased the CTG program and I think it is fabulous. I am so excited to use it but we are working thru whether or not I am willing to say yes to ECC first. We used Adventures and that was a wonderful school year.

 

Donna, I have played in the archives a lot. Some of the science projects for ECC scare me so I am looking for more detail there. We are limited by a Very Small home and no yard or garage for project space. Larger projects involving pots, dirt, etc. are not doable. Those might be few and far between though. I'd like to hear more about the hands on aspects of science within ECC. :001_smile:

[Mommy22alyns]

:001_smile: Oh, I am GLAD you love it. I do think my KIDS will love it but I have to air out all of my concerns before committing.

 

Will you share some science highlights? Anything would help. :D

 

I think that if I expect to not like it I will end up really liking it. The kids have worn me down to a nub and my husband is in their corner cheering on ECC. :lol:

 

When the Living World encyclopedia comes up, the kids are supposed to make a page. The girls make drawings and color them and write a fact or two they learned. They really love nature walks, even though I don't. :tongue_smilie: They go outside and find feathers, leaves, acorns, shells, and bring them back to put in their nature journals. We've done a celery experiment where I was supposed to remove the xylem. I didn't do a good job, so that one hit the trash. There was a simple illustration of leaf transpiration. We're sprouting radish seeds with and without a saran wrap covering. We don't have a lot of space either. :) We're supposed to plant a potato this week, but I cannot find one with any sprouts! :confused: I'll have to come back to that.

 

Basically, the girls love it all. They love Kingdom Tales, they love the missionary bios, they adore taking the "plane ride" to new countries and getting their passports stamped, and who isn't up for a good craft and some food? I guess there is a pattern, but the pattern is enjoyable for us.

 

 

Here's a few highlights - I haven't added pics for Canada yet, and we just entered Brazil.

 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151068103008929.449545.615543928&type=1

[Donna A.]

Donna, I have played in the archives a lot. Some of the science projects for ECC scare me so I am looking for more detail there. We are limited by a Very Small home and no yard or garage for project space. Larger projects involving pots, dirt, etc. are not doable. Those might be few and far between though. I'd like to hear more about the hands on aspects of science within ECC. :001_smile:

 

Videos from the library and YouTube are very helpful. :) Also, do you have a botanical garden or anything like that around where you live? Science museum? The zoo? I would make good use of field trips to places like that, and do the messy projects that they sometimes offer for kids there. ;)

 

A nature walk is scheduled every week in ECC. I'm not sure if you live inside a busy city or more suburban, but have you ever read A Pocketful of Pinecones by Karen Andreola? She shows through a fictional story about a homeschooling family some very practical ways to implement nature study without it feeling forced, much of which can be done even in a city setting.

 

Another book I highly recommend is The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer. She talks about how she made good use of sketch pads and her very small apartment-sized porch to add beauty to their home, along with what basically amounts to nature study. (And the science in ECC can easily be labeled "nature study"! So maybe try to think of it from that perspective?)

 

You will find plenty of books on the science topics in ECC Book Basket, so for any projects that you can't physically *do*, you can use those books to have the children trace or draw from, or to narrate (either in writing or verbally) what's going on and then notebook it. By doing this, you may even come up with more than what's scheduled in the TM!

 

You may not be able to do everything in the ECC science, but there's a lot you can cover in a variety of ways that don't take up a lot of space. As a matter of fact, there's probably more hands-on projects in CTG that take up space than in ECC! So this is something you'll have to figure out every year in your living situation, anyway. That's one reason Marie suggests so many different options... so that you have choices that work for YOU. It's not "canned", and it's not meant that we must ALL do ALL of it. I haven't even had every child do the same hands-on projects just because of differences in personality and preferences. I have one, for example, who can't stand to get her hands messy (sensitivity issues). I have another who's very impatient, and has difficulty doing anything too detailed because of LDs. I have one who's very artsy and creative, while her sister is content to just label something and be done.

 

Do you have a friend or relative at whose house you can do hands-on projects occasionally? Maybe if you get together with a friend or grandparent to dig for worms, either at their house or at the park....

 

So really, please don't let the hands-on science in ECC scare you away. A lot of it can easily be done through books, videos, field trips, notebooking, and nature walks/study. :001_smile:

[sassenach]

I was not a fan of ECC. I absolutely adored MFW for K, 1st and Adventures, but ECC was so hit or miss, I ended up selling it before the year was finished. I did not like Kingdom Tales at all. Hated the science. The notebooking pages were super lacking. I think you could do a country study very inexpensively on your own. This website saved my year. After I sold ECC, I continued to use this site to finish out our country studies for the year. If you wanted to do a country and cultures study, I would recommend using that site, some missionary biographies (some of them were much better than others), and this science (along with Planet Earth dvds). Oh, and get the play passports, the kids LOVE those.

 

I ended up leaving MFW this year, but we may swing back to it again. I do love the company, but ECC is an overpriced year for what you get.

[Mallorie]

I would wholeheartedly say that ECC is a curriculum that will be as good as you make it. It is well laid out, scheduled for those like me who need a routine to follow. There are lists and helps to advise you on how to round it out. But to make the most of it, you still need to put the effort into utilizing what is there.

:)

Edited October 19, 2012 by Mallorie

[abrightmom]

:willy_nilly:

 

Donna and Mommy22alyns,

 

Thanks for sharing about the hands on and science aspects. Great ideas Donna! Nature Study is a focus for us right now so ECC complements that beautifully.

 

But......

 

Shannon's perspective echoes my reasons for dragging my feet on this one. This is how I see myself feeling about ECC once it is in the house. And, like me, you loved the younger programs. I am going to read in Kingdom Tales tonight. It is here but I haven't cracked it open. I suspect my oldest would love it but, again, not a reason to commit to ECC.

 

Really, I want to start Ancients and weave C&C in here and there. :glare: My kids will revolt if I say NO to ECC and it has been such a hard year for them that I am inclined to inspire cheering and love for learning this year. But, 34 weeks? :svengo:

 

Thanks for shedding light on science and your personal experiences. It helps. :001_smile:

[Samiam]

I did not love ECC. I did love MFW Adventures, and would have loved to love all of MFW. I expected the formulaic outlay of ECC, after all, it is geography. One would expect to go from one country to the next, and kind of approach each country in the same formula, so you come away with the same basic knowledge of each country, right?

 

First, I did not like the all of the countries that ECC did or didn't choose to study. I thought they left out some very important countries, while studying others that weren't as necessary (or interesting IMHO). And really, we had to start in North American? Because our children wouldn't be studying that at any point, right? Ugh. And the first two weeks are just intro work...let's get a move on already!

 

Secondly, I do not feel as if there was enough map work. We colored the country on it's continent, and a page with just that country, but that was it. Not alot of labeling, important features, etc. I'm not expecting to label every river in a country, but perhaps we might want to put a star on Paris while in France, or label the English channel. We did do those things, because I choose to add them in.

 

Thirdly, the book basket is HUGE HUGE HUGE for this year. There's really very little actual literature reading included in the actual program related to the countries. If you don't get the book basket, then you are just reading facts from a pretty encyclopedia. That was an issue for me because my library stinks. Course I wouldn't have known that I couldn't get alot of the book basket books in advance, because of the "secret MFW book list", so no way to purchase prior to starting ECC when I had curriculum funds.

 

The country related arts-n-crafts....could have totally found this stuff on line, for free (which I did btw because I didn't like alot of the projects in the art book that comes with ECC).

 

The recipes....again found ones that were more suited to my family, ie they would actually eat, online for free.

 

Science was lame for us. Ditched it early one for something completely different.

 

I ended up ditching MFW ECC mid-year...still did a world geography study...used Galloping the Globe....it's SUPER cheap and ended up being pretty much the same concept as ECC, without the pretty weekly schedule. But since I was tweaking, adding, removing anyway, I didn't feel so bad since it was so cheap.

 

I personally feel that because a geography study does essentially follow a formula as you go through each country, there's no need to spend $300+ for that.

[edeemarie]

We are using ECC this year, but after about the 5th week I realized we could (and should) do each country in 1 week instead of 2. I was concerned about a full year of geography from the beginning and I wish I would have followed that feeling. Looking back I wish I would have moved into the history cycle and used Friday as a geography day where we could explore a country through books, cooking, mapping, and art projects. I am not in love with the science either (one of the biggest reasons I am putting together my own for next year). My kids enjoy Living World, but not so much Properties of Ecosystems. Now I can understand why people get nervous about combining kids because I think POE is really meant for older (4th grade at the youngest) students. I hope you find a solution that works for you because I felt the same way at the beginning of the year.

[abrightmom]

We are using ECC this year, but after about the 5th week I realized we could (and should) do each country in 1 week instead of 2. I was concerned about a full year of geography from the beginning and I wish I would have followed that feeling. Looking back I wish I would have moved into the history cycle and used Friday as a geography day where we could explore a country through books, cooking, mapping, and art projects. I am not in love with the science either (one of the biggest reasons I am putting together my own for next year). My kids enjoy Living World, but not so much Properties of Ecosystems. Now I can understand why people get nervous about combining kids because I think POE is really meant for older (4th grade at the youngest) students. I hope you find a solution that works for you because I felt the same way at the beginning of the year.

This is what I have been thinking about doing all along.:001_smile: I am sorry it hasn't been better for you.

In the Netherlands we have 3h history and 2h geography per week.

Could you split the geography and divide it about several years?

If you would do every year 6 weeks of geography, could that work?

Then you won't become crazy, and the children would have their geography ;)

 

Yes, this is similar to what I want to do.

 

Samiam,

 

Your review is appreciated. Thanks for the detail. :001_smile:

[Donna A.]

You know, Katrina, here are some more thoughts I wanted to share.... While I personally think there's a lot of fun activities included in ECC in addition to the "routine" (aka "boring" to some folks), I *do* understand the hesitation. It's not "history".... and I'm a history lover, so I get that. ECC is different. ;)

 

But what *I* loved about it is seeing the connections between the Gospel (Matthew), the missionaries and people groups and cultures around the world (reading about how missionaries interacted with the culture in each place in order to bring the Gospel to them), and the different religions, and seeing how all that ties together to fulfill Acts 1:8. IOW, you're studying geography, yes, but.... it's really about the people and their need for Christ.

 

So the success of ECC has a LOT to do with your perspective and your goals for doing the program in the first place. Is it to learn geography... to learn how to draw maps and find places in the world? Nah. There's a ton of resources out there to study geography. Is it to read books about different countries? Nah. You can go to the library and dig those up any ol' time. Is it to study earth science? B-O-R-I-N-G. Animal habitats? Lots of good websites and activities available for that, even interactive ones.

 

It's all of it together that makes ECC what it is: "Seeing the world through God's eyes and living according to that knowledge."

 

Can I pull materials together to do that myself? Or get involved with missions through the local church? Maybe. But I really, really like having it all laid out for me, and then picking and choosing as we go along. ;) CAN I start from scratch and write my own lessons? Sure! I've done that a time or two.... or three. I've also tried combining multiple programs and attempting to use the "best of both". But Every.Single.Time. results in my becoming overwhelmed and realizing that I'm just spending oodles and oodles of hours reinventing the wheel, when it would be SO much easier (for me) to open up the manual, begin at the beginning, and then tweak as we find the need.

 

Now that's just how *I* function best. MFW integrates pretty much everything I want in our homeschool, so I end up just banging my head against the wall and going right back to MFW again when I deviate too far from it. (I have a tendency to either spend so much time planning, writing lesson plans, and looking for resources that I get sick of it before we even get started, or else I make my list waaayyyy too long and -- either I or the kids, or both -- get really overwhelmed in the day-to-day implementation.)

 

The price tag... It's not "just geography", and it's not just for one age group, either. Multiple subjects for multiple ages.

 

Maybe ECC isn't for you, I don't know. But if your kids are excited to try it, then why not? :)

 

We cried in several parts of Kingdom Tales, btw. :D There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter, which led to even more discussion in our family. My oldest has re-read the book three or four times on her own. I just can't imagine anybody not loving Kingdom Tales!

 

Crack it open and start reading. Out loud. ;)

[Amy M]

Hi! I've done extensive research on MFW and plan to use ECC. Like you, I would have rather had just a 4-year repeating history cycle, rather than the awkward 5-year; but so many people seem to love ECC, and I decided just to trust the system. IF you're going to do it, why would you make it up all yourself? Maybe that's the newbie in me speaking, but I'd rather have someone else schedule it all out for me, and then I'm sure I'm covering everything at the right times/amounts. If hubbie and kids want to do it, I say do it, and try to get excited about it. :) I guess you could just get it and spread it out through the other history years, but that seems convoluted to me. I also think the book basket list is a big benefit. Let us know what you decide!

[abrightmom]

Hi! I've done extensive research on MFW and plan to use ECC. Like you, I would have rather had just a 4-year repeating history cycle, rather than the awkward 5-year; but so many people seem to love ECC, and I decided just to trust the system. IF you're going to do it, why would you make it up all yourself? Maybe that's the newbie in me speaking, but I'd rather have someone else schedule it all out for me, and then I'm sure I'm covering everything at the right times/amounts. If hubbie and kids want to do it, I say do it, and try to get excited about it. :) I guess you could just get it and spread it out through the other history years, but that seems convoluted to me. I also think the book basket list is a big benefit. Let us know what you decide!

 

:001_smile: Hi Amy,

 

Don't let my struggles derail you. Many folks love ECC.

 

I am not intending to buy ECC and "spread it out". All I am saying is that I'd rather learn about countries and cultures alongside history studies. My goals with a countries/cultures study are more academic I suppose (the geography parts and reading widely) so perhaps that's why ECC as a whole isn't appealing to me. Much of what is a part of ECC on the spiritual side is already a part of our home life (i.e. the Gospel, missionary stories, seeing the world as God sees it, setting forth our need for a Savior, etc.). When I looked at the sample and many of the books I don't get the "aha" feeling that I need to use the program in order to achieve the goals it sets forth.

 

I'm a little frustrated with home schooling in general and finding a good fit for this family hasn't happened yet. :D I'm looking into all the Usual Suspects right now and airing out all of my grievances with every option.

Edited October 19, 2012 by abrightmom

[abrightmom]

You know, Katrina, here are some more thoughts I wanted to share.... While I personally think there's a lot of fun activities included in ECC in addition to the "routine" (aka "boring" to some folks), I *do* understand the hesitation. It's not "history".... and I'm a history lover, so I get that. ECC is different. ;)

 

But what *I* loved about it is seeing the connections between the Gospel (Matthew), the missionaries and people groups and cultures around the world (reading about how missionaries interacted with the culture in each place in order to bring the Gospel to them), and the different religions, and seeing how all that ties together to fulfill Acts 1:8. IOW, you're studying geography, yes, but.... it's really about the people and their need for Christ.

 

So the success of ECC has a LOT to do with your perspective and your goals for doing the program in the first place. Is it to learn geography... to learn how to draw maps and find places in the world? Nah. There's a ton of resources out there to study geography. Is it to read books about different countries? Nah. You can go to the library and dig those up any ol' time. Is it to study earth science? B-O-R-I-N-G. Animal habitats? Lots of good websites and activities available for that, even interactive ones.

 

It's all of it together that makes ECC what it is: "Seeing the world through God's eyes and living according to that knowledge."

 

Can I pull materials together to do that myself? Or get involved with missions through the local church? Maybe. But I really, really like having it all laid out for me, and then picking and choosing as we go along. ;) CAN I start from scratch and write my own lessons? Sure! I've done that a time or two.... or three. I've also tried combining multiple programs and attempting to use the "best of both". But Every.Single.Time. results in my becoming overwhelmed and realizing that I'm just spending oodles and oodles of hours reinventing the wheel, when it would be SO much easier (for me) to open up the manual, begin at the beginning, and then tweak as we find the need.

 

Now that's just how *I* function best. MFW integrates pretty much everything I want in our homeschool, so I end up just banging my head against the wall and going right back to MFW again when I deviate too far from it. (I have a tendency to either spend so much time planning, writing lesson plans, and looking for resources that I get sick of it before we even get started, or else I make my list waaayyyy too long and -- either I or the kids, or both -- get really overwhelmed in the day-to-day implementation.)

 

The price tag... It's not "just geography", and it's not just for one age group, either. Multiple subjects for multiple ages.

 

Maybe ECC isn't for you, I don't know. But if your kids are excited to try it, then why not? :)

 

We cried in several parts of Kingdom Tales, btw. :D There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter, which led to even more discussion in our family. My oldest has re-read the book three or four times on her own. I just can't imagine anybody not loving Kingdom Tales!

 

Crack it open and start reading. Out loud. ;)

 

Donna,

 

As usual, you communicate eloquently. Your posts are full of wise counsel and great food for thought.

 

Kingdom Tales awaits judgment. I started reading it last night and so far I'm uncertain. :001_smile:

[DianeW88]

I did ECC with two of my kids. I hated it. I felt that it was waaaay too light in content and rigor, especially science, and I had to supplement it so much that I basically rewrote the entire curriculum. IMHO it was a complete waste of my time and money.

 

This year I'm using WP's CAW and find it to be a much better implementation of a geography study.

[coffeefreak]

I am a huge fan of MFW, but not of ECC. We did find it boring, tedious and uninteresting. My oldest was in 6th grade (12) and my youngest was in 3rd grade (9). It was too challenging for my youngest and not challenging enough for my oldest. We purchased the 7th/8th grade supplements, but eventually went a different route with my oldest. As for my youngest, I purchased Galloping the Globe used it for the rest of the year. That's what I would recommend if you want to do a fun geography year. You can use a lot of the same books that you use for MFW and it's a $25 book.

 

As a side note, the one thing we did like about ECC was the science! Which is opposite for us:lol: We didn't like the science for 1850-Mod so, yes, every year is very different. You really cannot compare the years. We decided not to use this year (CTG) because of the book selections and the science, but I'm considering RTR for next year. Even if we don't use RTR next year, we WILL use EX-1850 for my youngest the year after. The last two years of the rotation are FABULOUS IMO, and a great way to teach that time period.

 

HTH!

Blessings!

Dorinda

[coffeefreak]

:001_smile: Hi Amy,

 

Don't let my struggles derail you. Many folks love ECC.

 

I am not intending to buy ECC and "spread it out". All I am saying is that I'd rather learn about countries and cultures alongside history studies. My goals with a countries/cultures study are more academic I suppose (the geography parts and reading widely) so perhaps that's why ECC as a whole isn't appealing to me. Much of what is a part of ECC on the spiritual side is already a part of our home life (i.e. the Gospel, missionary stories, seeing the world as God sees it, setting forth our need for a Savior, etc.). When I looked at the sample and many of the books I don't get the "aha" feeling that I need to use the program in order to achieve the goals it sets forth.

 

I'm a little frustrated with home schooling in general and finding a good fit for this family hasn't happened yet. :D I'm looking into all the Usual Suspects right now and airing out all of my grievances with every option.

 

An idea I have for you is, you could compromise and do CTG with your kids and use Galloping the Globe along side it. It would be easy to do. A couple of weeks of CTG and a week study of a country from GTG. What is really fun is if you make the study of the country coincide with special events. So, for example, last year we studied China the month of the Chinese New Year and had a party with some of our friends. We studied GB and Ireland in March.

 

That's another complaint I had about ECC. It took us 6 weeks to get out of North America, and there was really no way to skip it or hop around according to our year. I feel like it soured us on the curriculum. You really HAVE to follow the curriculum in order which means studying the countries they way they have them mapped out. GTG will give you the freedom to explore countries your children want to explore. We were studying a country last year (Can't remember which one:lol:) and she was so bored that I ended the study. It just wasn't worth it. So we moved on! It's so easy to use.

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

[abrightmom]

An idea I have for you is, you could compromise and do CTG with your kids and use Galloping the Globe along side it. It would be easy to do. A couple of weeks of CTG and a week study of a country from GTG. What is really fun is if you make the study of the country coincide with special events. So, for example, last year we studied China the month of the Chinese New Year and had a party with some of our friends. We studied GB and Ireland in March.

 

That's another complaint I had about ECC. It took us 6 weeks to get out of North America, and there was really no way to skip it or hop around according to our year. I feel like it soured us on the curriculum. You really HAVE to follow the curriculum in order which means studying the countries they way they have them mapped out. GTG will give you the freedom to explore countries your children want to explore. We were studying a country last year (Can't remember which one:lol:) and she was so bored that I ended the study. It just wasn't worth it. So we moved on! It's so easy to use.

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

:grouphug: and you have basically laid out what I'm thinking (folding in the country studies as they fit). I do have GTG and it seems easy enough along with the use of some of the previously linked websites.

 

Dorinda,

 

Your signature line should be mine. :D

[coffeefreak]

:grouphug: and you have basically laid out what I'm thinking (folding in the country studies as they fit). I do have GTG and it seems easy enough along with the use of some of the previously linked websites.

 

Dorinda,

 

Your signature line should be mine. :D

 

I just changed it LOL!!!!!

 

I was looking at it thinking if I commit, maybe it will help. It's just been one of those years!

 

Blessings!

[Donna A.]

:grouphug: and you have basically laid out what I'm thinking (folding in the country studies as they fit). I do have GTG and it seems easy enough along with the use of some of the previously linked websites.

 

 

Yeah, the only thing you'd have to keep in mind doing it this way is that the "rest" of the world wasn't there yet during CTG time period. But as long as you're aware of that and don't mind either skipping those countries or waiting until later, it could be fun! :001_smile:

[Donna A.]

Katrina, do you already have ECC, or just the one book (Kingdom Tales)?

 

If you already have the whole package, you could still do it by "unit" (continent) similar to what's described above, because that's how ECC is set up... by continent. You could either skip the Bible part of it, or at least not worry about trying to make the Bible and geography parts align the way they're scheduled. And if you think you'll like the science part of it, then that could still be your science for the year, too.

 

Just throwing that out there in case you already have the package... If not, then never mind me. :D

[monalisa]

I did not love ECC. I did love MFW Adventures, and would have loved to love all of MFW. I expected the formulaic outlay of ECC, after all, it is geography. One would expect to go from one country to the next, and kind of approach each country in the same formula, so you come away with the same basic knowledge of each country, right?

 

First, I did not like the all of the countries that ECC did or didn't choose to study. I thought they left out some very important countries, while studying others that weren't as necessary (or interesting IMHO). And really, we had to start in North American? Because our children wouldn't be studying that at any point, right? Ugh. And the first two weeks are just intro work...let's get a move on already!

 

Secondly, I do not feel as if there was enough map work. We colored the country on it's continent, and a page with just that country, but that was it. Not alot of labeling, important features, etc. I'm not expecting to label every river in a country, but perhaps we might want to put a star on Paris while in France, or label the English channel. We did do those things, because I choose to add them in.

 

Thirdly, the book basket is HUGE HUGE HUGE for this year. There's really very little actual literature reading included in the actual program related to the countries. If you don't get the book basket, then you are just reading facts from a pretty encyclopedia. That was an issue for me because my library stinks. Course I wouldn't have known that I couldn't get alot of the book basket books in advance, because of the "secret MFW book list", so no way to purchase prior to starting ECC when I had curriculum funds.

 

The country related arts-n-crafts....could have totally found this stuff on line, for free (which I did btw because I didn't like alot of the projects in the art book that comes with ECC).

 

The recipes....again found ones that were more suited to my family, ie they would actually eat, online for free.

 

Science was lame for us. Ditched it early one for something completely different.

 

I ended up ditching MFW ECC mid-year...still did a world geography study...used Galloping the Globe....it's SUPER cheap and ended up being pretty much the same concept as ECC, without the pretty weekly schedule. But since I was tweaking, adding, removing anyway, I didn't feel so bad since it was so cheap.

 

I personally feel that because a geography study does essentially follow a formula as you go through each country, there's no need to spend $300+ for that.

:iagree: With almost everything the pp said...we are "doing" ECC this year, but I am really tempted to just sell it now to free myself of the guilt that we aren't really using much of it (esp. considering how much I spent on it), and continue with GTG which I just bought (along with Eat Your Way Around the World and Geography through Art). Most of the ECC work is beyond my dd9's capability/interest, and frankly I realize I really dislike following a grid schedule. The YWAM read alouds are torturous for me (the writing, not the subject matter); my dd likes them, so I've decided to let her read them herself. The book basket is more stressful than helpful to me in some ways, because I have a hard time finding time to sit at the computer and search for/reserve the books so end up spending too much time on the Saturday before the upcoming week physically at the library myself. I have been using the free Homeschool Creations resources. I would say this was my biggest $ homeschool purchase mistake to date (shhh...don't tell my DH!;)). I loved the IDEA of a geography year, but GTG would have been a better approach for us than the $ I spent on ECC.

 

I forgot to say that we really disliked that ECC started w/ North America. Having done some of MFW Adventures plus other American History last year, it made for a really boring start to ECC. Canada & Mexico were interesting, but it would have been much more interesting to study unknown countries first. I think MFW should have designed this to do NA last instead of first, like it is in A Trip Around the World.

 

I honestly should have done more research into ECC before buying it, so I'll admit that my dislike of it is mostly my own fault for not looking at it more closely before I bought it.

Edited October 19, 2012 by monalisa

[Donna A.]

An idea I have for you is, you could compromise and do CTG with your kids and use Galloping the Globe along side it. It would be easy to do. A couple of weeks of CTG and a week study of a country from GTG. What is really fun is if you make the study of the country coincide with special events. So, for example, last year we studied China the month of the Chinese New Year and had a party with some of our friends. We studied GB and Ireland in March.

 

I've done this with my youngest "rowing" FIAR books. We just plug them in wherever they fit in our history or science studies... it works with both subjects. There's quite a few FIAR books on both the MFW book basket list and in the GtG manual, too. (Yes, I own both GtG and CtC. I've had them since long before I found MFW!) For example, when we studied the Arctic Tundra, we rowed Very Last First Time and studied the country of Canada. When we studied Columbus, we rowed Ferdinand and learned more about the country of Spain. When we studied the American Revolution and the colonies, we rowed Paul Revere's Ride. We rowed The Clown of God when studying the Renaissance, and The Duchess Bakes a Cake when studying the Middle Ages. And of course we row Cranberry Thanksgiving about every other year in November. :)

 

That's another complaint I had about ECC. It took us 6 weeks to get out of North America, and there was really no way to skip it or hop around according to our year.

Just want to clarify for readers why it "takes 6 weeks to get out of North America". ;) The first two weeks of ECC are the Intro (general introduction to geography and maps, etc.), and then yes, six weeks of North America, BUT, that's studying three different countries... two weeks each of Canada, U.S., and Mexico. You also study three different biomes during those 6 weeks.

 

You really HAVE to follow the curriculum in order which means studying the countries they way they have them mapped out.

If you don't want to separate the Bible/readings in Matthew, yes, that's true. Otherwise you could do each continent as a stand-alone unit. You would have to decide when to play the geography game and which parts to add, though, and not rely on Marie to tell you when.

 

GTG will give you the freedom to explore countries your children want to explore. We were studying a country last year (Can't remember which one:lol:) and she was so bored that I ended the study. It just wasn't worth it. So we moved on! It's so easy to use.

Some countries are definitely more interesting than others! :tongue_smilie: