Winter Promise

[BalanceSeeker]

I just can't decide on curriculum. I've spent at least 50 hours researching all the options. It is my first year, and I have a 4 yo, 1st grader, and 3rd grader. (3rd grader did 2 years at Classical school already). I like Classical, but I do want a Christian worldview built in, and I want some "heart" in it, if that makes sense. Even the Classical Christian school my daughter went to was rather dry, and lacked some joy - like it was all about the philosophy of Classical and it took away from some of the joy of being a kid, if that makes sense.

 

I'm attracted to Winter Promise, Well-Trained Mind stuff, Sonlight (for it's completeness and Christian viewpoint built-in), and also just doing a mish-mash of things. I think I prefer a curriculum for my first year, except I'm okay with choosing my own math/science/LA. My weaknesses are history and geography, so that's my big concern.

 

Thoughts on WP? Is it really doable for my 4-6-8 year olds to stay with the same spine each and every year?

 

Any other curricula I should look into? My head hurts so bad. I feel so behind, as school should be starting soon and I still have no clue what to do.

 

Christa

[Allison TX]

Hi Christa. You also might want to check out Heart of Dakota and My Father's World. Both have great programs for the ages of your dc.

 

I may be wrong, but with WP, the only program where you could combine the three of them easily would be Animal Worlds. The only problem I see with that would be what you would use the following year that would be age appropriate for all kids.

 

With MFW, you could put your 3rd and 1st graders into Adventures, with different LA and Math, and your 4 year old can listen in or do their K program.

 

With Heart of Dakota, you could place your 3rd grader into Bigger Hearts, and your 1st and 4 year old into Little Hearts.

 

I understand not being able to make up your mind. :tongue_smilie:

 

Good luck with your decision! You really can't go wrong with any of them- they are all good choices, just different.:001_smile:

 

Allison

[dragons in the flower bed]

Thoughts on WP? Is it really doable for my 4-6-8 year olds to stay with the same spine each and every year?

 

Any other curricula I should look into?

 

Yes, you really can do WinterPromise's American Story 1, or Children Around the World, or Hideaways in History with all three kids at once. I did AS1 when my kids were the same age as yours and it worked just fine. As another poster mentioned, Animal Worlds would work, too, but you're not looking for science.

 

You may also want to look into My Father's World. My understanding is that it has fewer activities, and less hand-holding for the parent. WP is very well scheduled, "open and go," and has many activity choices every week.

[dragons in the flower bed]

I just can't decide on curriculum. I've spent at least 50 hours researching all the options. It is my first year, and I have a 4 yo, 1st grader, and 3rd grader. . . My head hurts so bad. I feel so behind, as school should be starting soon and I still have no clue what to do.

 

 

Oh, and don't worry about this. It's normal to spend that much time investigating curricula each year, until you settle into a method that works for you.

[TracyR]

We've used Sonlight in the past and we really did enjoy it. Just couldn't continue due to lack of money..sigh.

 

Anyways it is an excellent curriculum and you could easily combine your 4-6 and 8yr old with the Sonlight K and just modify the reading and math as needed. Even though Sonlight doesn't include 8yr olds in with their K in their catalog. You could definitley use this with an 8yr old.

 

I'm not sure how much combining you can do with Winterpromise after a certain level. I know there is a Winterpromise group on yahoo and maybe you can ask the ladies there how or if you can continue to combine with Winterpromise.

 

Either way you really can't go wrong. They are both very similar in approaches. You use real books to teach.

[dragons in the flower bed]

I'm not sure how much combining you can do with Winterpromise after a certain level.

 

Hm . . . well, the kids are 4, 6 & 8 this year, so you could do . . .

 

4, 6, 8 Hideaways in History

5, 7, 9 Sea and Sky Young Learner's Guide

6, 8, 10 Children Around the World

7, 9, 11 American Story 1

8, 10, 12 American Story 2

9, 11, 13 Quest for Ancient Worlds

10, 12, 14 Quest for the Middle Ages

11, 13, 15 Quest for Royals and Revolutions

12, 14, 16 the high school modern history program WP is currently working on

 

So you could combine them at least until the eldest two are in high school, at which point you might want to have them on separate tracks anyway.

[Rebecca]

Winterpromise is a VERY different flavor from a "traditional" classical program. I would keep that in mind as you make your choice.

 

Another curriculum that we greatly enjoyed last year was Living Books Curriculum. This is a Charlotte Mason approach- but also has some elements reflective of classical: chronological history, latin rec. in fourth grade, etc.

It was not as planned though as a program like Winterpromise or Sonlight.

You can look at it at http://www.livingbookscurriculum.com. There was definitely a lot of "joy" and "interest" in our school with this program. It was great!

 

I would consider how integral and 'deep' you want your Christian worldview to be- coming from your curriculum. I agree that Heart of Dakota or My Father's World would have more of that flavor than other programs.

 

Finally, there are organized, classical schedules combining a variety of resources at Easyclassical.com.

 

Hope this helps,

Rebecca

[BalanceSeeker]

Hm . . . well, the kids are 4, 6 & 8 this year, so you could do . . .

 

4, 6, 8 Hideaways in History

5, 7, 9 Sea and Sky Young Learner's Guide

6, 8, 10 Children Around the World

7, 9, 11 American Story 1

8, 10, 12 American Story 2

9, 11, 13 Quest for Ancient Worlds

10, 12, 14 Quest for the Middle Ages

11, 13, 15 Quest for Royals and Revolutions

12, 14, 16 the high school modern history program WP is currently working on

 

So you could combine them at least until the eldest two are in high school, at which point you might want to have them on separate tracks anyway.

 

Okay, this is really helpful to get an actual breakdown of how one particular curriculum would work long-term.

 

Hideaways in History for 4, 6, 8...really? It just seemed like not enough meat/too young for my older dc?

 

Thanks for your help!

Christa

[dragons in the flower bed]

Okay, this is really helpful to get an actual breakdown of how one particular curriculum would work long-term.

 

Hideaways in History for 4, 6, 8...really? It just seemed like not enough meat/too young for my older dc?

 

Thanks for your help!

Christa

 

You're welcome! Constructing a Hideaway is a project that a 4yo could not do independently. An 8yo could really learn a lot by figuring out what to put in it. Think of it as a giant diorama. Also, the books used, Story of the World, are recommended for kids up to junior high. There's nothing light about reading through that whole series in a year.

[asher]

I vote MFW. :) It's been very enjoyable for us.

[lorilou]

I hear you about spending hours trying to decide on a program! This will be my first year of homeschooling my kids (4, 6, and 7.5) I finally decided on WP's AS1. I love the books included, the schedule, and the hands-on activities. I think it will be a program will be enjoyed by all of us. Good luck deciding!

[Homeschooling6]

WP is a great curriculum, especially with trying to combine. The Brooks have really worked hard with trying to have your 1st grader through high schooler all learning the same time in history.

 

You can combine them all in Animal Worlds or AS1. Some might say the it would be to light for the 3rd grader, but you have also add in that they will be doing th 3R's too. You can always require more from your 3rd grader if using AW.

 

AS1 would work to. WP books are great because they have pictures:D.

 

Then there is their new program Hidaways which I think can be beefed up since The Story of World books are being used. Again other's would think not. My take on this is History/Science don't have to be waaaay challenging for them to learn. Keep it fun in these younger years. Not easy but enjoyable.

 

HTH,

 

Blessings,

[NewHomeSchoolMarm]

My personal vote is for MFW too:iagree:--we used Winterpromise last year, but are going back to MFW. Both curriculums have MANY similarities, however I find MFW to be more organized and with shorter concise lessons (something important to me!).

 

NHSM

[BalanceSeeker]

My personal vote is for MFW too:iagree:--we used Winterpromise last year, but are going back to MFW. Both curriculums have MANY similarities, however I find MFW to be more organized and with shorter concise lessons (something important to me!).

 

NHSM

 

Can you (and anyone else with experience with both programs) expand on your experiences with both MFW and WP? How do you compare the two LA programs? WP seems so much better, and integrated well? :bigear:

 

Christa

[at the beach]

How about amblesideonline.org? It's a free Charlotte Mason curriculum, and IMHO, it's wonderful. There is a lot of support available as well through Yahoo groups and the website itself.

 

Anita

[BalanceSeeker]

How about amblesideonline.org? It's a free Charlotte Mason curriculum, and IMHO, it's wonderful. There is a lot of support available as well through Yahoo groups and the website itself.

 

Anita

 

Oh boy, free sure sounds good!

 

But, I'm a nurse and I work 12 hours every Friday, so I need as much packaged for me for the time-being. My shifts wipe me out, so I don't want to spend my weekends compiling things for the week, and I'm pretty sure that's what I'd have to do with Ambleside?

 

Christa

[SnowWhite]

I use WinterPromise. As another poster mentioned, if traditional rigorous LA is a priority for you, WP will edge out MFW in that component.

 

I like the sequence Rose made for you. I am thinking *this week* of using Hideaways for my third grader next year. The other spine book besides Story of the World (which they whiz through at light speed... 4 volumes in one year) is the Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History. Certainly nothing lacking for a third grader there, IMHO. It's just whether you want a quick overview of all of world history, with hideaways, crafts and narration, or a slower WTM approach to SOTW which would take 4 years to cover those texts.

 

If you're drawn to American History now, there's no reason your 4yo would need to join you. You can visit Amer History again for American Crossings, like this, if you would like:

 

6, 8- Amer Story 1

7, 9- Amer Story 2

6, 8, 10- Sea and Sky with Young Learner Guide

7, 9, 11- Children Around the World

8, 10, 12- Quest for the Ancient World

9, 11, 13- Quest for the Middle Ages

10, 12, 14- American Crossing 1

11, 13, 15- American Crossing 2

12, 14, 16- Quest for Royals and Revolution

13, 15, 17- Quest for the Modern Age

 

The nice thing about WP's themes is that they are sort of interchangeable. There's supposed to be another one year overview of world history "from yet another angle" mentioned on the WinterPromise FAQ page. I have 3 different themes I could choose for next year for my third grader, depending on the progress of my 4yo. Some days I think he will read at 4.5, other days I think he might be 7. :confused::D

[Kisa in CA]

I have used both programs and liked both. MFW uses more variety IMHO. For instance, their read alouds are not necessarily history related. They balance interesting science or just plain old great literature. This keeps you from getting burned out on everything being the same. When we used Animal Worlds we could only handle half a year. We just got so tired of reading about animals. Yet WP Sea and Sky integrates science AND history and it looks fantastic. Wish we could work it into our schedule, but I don't think it will for our oldest since he will finish the MFW 5 year cycle in 8th and then it's high school. But I digress....

 

As far as LA goes, I have not used MFW suggestions for LA. I have used WP pre-k and will use their 1st this year. I really like it for that age.

 

Hope that helps! We're doing MFW Creation to the Greeks this year.

 

Kisa

[Lovedtodeath]

I would definitely go with WP because I have heard great things about their LA. If I were you I would do HIH first because: The readers for HIH are at a 3rd-4th grade level. You will not get another chance to do HIH and your kids will really have fun with it. From what I have heard about Children Around the World and Sea and Sky it is best to put these programs off for as long as possible. So I have a different schedule for you:

 

4, 6, 8 Hideaways in History

5, 7, 9 American Story 1

6, 8, 10 American Story 2

7, 9, 11 Sea and Sky Young Learner's Guide

8, 10, 12 Children Around the World

9, 11, 13 Quest for Ancient Worlds

10, 12, 14 Quest for the Middle Ages

11, 13, 15 Quest for Royals and Revolutions

12, 14, 16 the high school modern history program WP is currently working on

 

The only reason to change this is if you want more emphasis on American History, but you could still start off this way and add more American History in later grades.

[BalanceSeeker]

As far as LA goes, I have not used MFW suggestions for LA. I have used WP pre-k and will use their 1st this year. I really like it for that age.

 

Hope that helps! We're doing MFW Creation to the Greeks this year.

 

Kisa

 

Kisa,

 

How do you do WP LA with MFW since they are tailor made to their themes?

 

Christa

[BalanceSeeker]

I would definitely go with WP because I have heard great things about their LA. If I were you I would do HIH first because: The readers for HIH are at a 3rd-4th grade level. You will not get another chance to do HIH and your kids will really have fun with it. From what I have heard about Children Around the World and Sea and Sky it is best to put these programs off for as long as possible. So I have a different schedule for you:

 

4, 6, 8 Hideaways in History

5, 7, 9 American Story 1

6, 8, 10 American Story 2

7, 9, 11 Sea and Sky Young Learner's Guide

8, 10, 12 Children Around the World

9, 11, 13 Quest for Ancient Worlds

10, 12, 14 Quest for the Middle Ages

11, 13, 15 Quest for Royals and Revolutions

12, 14, 16 the high school modern history program WP is currently working on

 

The only reason to change this is if you want more emphasis on American History, but you could still start off this way and add more American History in later grades.

 

This is a great schedule, too, as are the others :001_smile:. I'm tempted to skip Hideaways for some reason, and I don't know why. Maybe because dd already had Ancent Egypt through Rome and the first half will be a repeat of the last 2 years for her.

 

Can anyone tell me how many hours per day WP takes approx. to get through?

 

You all are great :grouphug:

Christa

[mompotter]

We've used Sonlight in the past and we really did enjoy it. Just couldn't continue due to lack of money..sigh.

 

Anyways it is an excellent curriculum and you could easily combine your 4-6 and 8yr old with the Sonlight K and just modify the reading and math as needed. Even though Sonlight doesn't include 8yr olds in with their K in their catalog. You could definitley use this with an 8yr old.

 

I'm not sure how much combining you can do with Winterpromise after a certain level. I know there is a Winterpromise group on yahoo and maybe you can ask the ladies there how or if you can continue to combine with Winterpromise.

 

Either way you really can't go wrong. They are both very similar in approaches. You use real books to teach.

 

Just to add to this a little.

 

WP has more hands on and activity along with the books. Their cores seem to be a little lighter on the schedule (have used one schedule and own two) than SL. I think the SL books are a little "richer" if that makes sense. They both have some great things about them. The one thing I like about SL for the younger years is the LA has several choices of reading levels. The readers do not go with the core until you hit core 3.

 

There is a great comparison written by a hs mom of the two programs if you are interested I could go searching. The thing about her comparison is, she only has one child. I think that really makes a difference in how someone views things. When you are combining two or three kids it is a whole new ballgame. ;)

[dragons in the flower bed]

Can anyone tell me how many hours per day WP takes approx. to get through?

 

 

It depends on whether you want to do every activity, and how old your kids are. In my experience, it can take two hours to do every single item, if you have little kids who need help, who ask questions, and who want to look things up. That is a maximum figure. You'd get a more well rounded answer on the WinterPromise forums.

[Lovedtodeath]

On the WP group (Jennifer) it was said that the 2nd grade Language Arts takes over an hour, less than an hour and a half. This includes reading, phonics, spelling, grammar, vocab. Each program has several (usually 5) different LA to chose from. It is my understanding that the LA is based on the readers that come in the package, not the full program, so it would be possible to do WP LA with MFW. There is a lot of discussion about WP LA right now. Link to the yahoogroup: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WinterPromiseFamilies/messages?o=1&yguid=222889114

 

Just so you know... HIH only has 7 weeks of ancients, their are 9 for Middle Ages, 9 for changing times, and 11 for modern. I have decided to skip HIH and do AS1 next year, so I'm not trying to "sell" you on it, lol.

[Eva]

I have been HSing for over 11 years. I have said several times that if I ever had to start over I would put my younger children in MFW all the way through their K-8 programs.

 

Eva

[BalanceSeeker]

I have been HSing for over 11 years. I have said several times that if I ever had to start over I would put my younger children in MFW all the way through their K-8 programs.

 

Eva

 

Eva, that's great to know, because I'm leaning toward MFW, (though still having WP moments :glare:).

 

Can you tell me more about why you would do MFW if you had to start over again?

 

Christa :bigear:

[asher]

:lurk5:I'm curious, too.

[Lovedtodeath]

With MFW, you could put your 3rd and 1st graders into Adventures, with different LA and Math, and your 4 year old can listen in or do their K program.

 

Good luck with your decision! You really can't go wrong with any of them- they are all good choices, just different.:001_smile:

 

Allison

 

After reading this back through, I think this sounds like the most sensible for your ages.

[at the beach]

Oh boy, free sure sounds good!

 

But, I'm a nurse and I work 12 hours every Friday, so I need as much packaged for me for the time-being. My shifts wipe me out, so I don't want to spend my weekends compiling things for the week, and I'm pretty sure that's what I'd have to do with Ambleside?

 

Christa

 

Sorry I missed this question! Actually, I think AO is fairly simple to use. There are schedules, and they give you what you need to read over the course of the week. I just check things off as we do them. We did Years 1 and 3 this past year. We are just now finishing up...well, it will take until mid-August I would say. It's gone quite well. It has not been difficult and has involved very little prep time on my part. There is no busy work at all involved with AO. I don't think you'd have to spend much time planning at all, really. I am quite organizationally challenged and I also work so I know what you mean about having to have things pretty much laid out for me.

 

With AO, you would just collect the books you need or print them up. I had the printed up stuff comb bound to make it easy for me to keep together. You would only need to add Phonics or grammar and a math program. Also, foreign language if you are doing that. The rest is reading and narrating orally or written depending on age. Plus, doing copywork and dictation--again, which one depends on age. You don't have to do the extras right away like composer study or artist study. But those are so easy to do! I burned the prints to a cd for next term and took them up to Staples and had them printed up. So, I just put a picture up every two weeks for the kids to look at and think about. We play the classical music of that term's composer in the car. It's really a very easy curriculum to use.

 

Check out the yahoo groups, and even join so you can ask other moms how they use AO. No curriculum is perfect by any means, but AO comes close for us! I still need to get better with nature journaling, art, and geography (locating places we read about on maps!) but one thing at a time I say. :)

 

Best,

Anita

[SnowWhite]

Can anyone tell me how many hours per day WP takes approx. to get through?

 

 

My ds (dawdler) is spending a little over an hour per day on WP LA2.

 

The American Story 1 history is taking us about 4 (now six or more) hours per week, and the World Around Me science is taking us about 2 hours per week. (we're doing them on Mon and Wed mornings with an extra student joining us). I know it would be possible (as Rose stated) to spend a lot longer on this history theme, but since we have only so much time with the little boy who comes those two mornings, we are speeding through and cutting out a few crafts. I have the boys color or craft while I am reading aloud sometimes. (Thanks Heather/Siloam for that suggestion).editing to add: For the life of me I was not able to complete all of weeks 3 and 4 in four hours each. So I will have to revise that estimate to 6 or more hours per week at least some of the time.

 

Last year I spent about an hour per day (4 days/week) on Animals and Their Worlds, sometimes up to 30 minutes more if we spent a long time on a craft. LA1 was shorter than LA2... like maybe 45 min at the most.

[Kris in Wis]

Any other curricula I should look into? My head hurts so bad. I feel so behind, as school should be starting soon and I still have no clue what to do.

 

Christa

 

TruthQuest History: www.truthquesthistory.com

 

Winter Promise's service leaves something to be desired. First, they lost my order. Then they lost my inquiry about my late order! Then, after 2 more inquiries, they finally sent it, but it came in separate shipments, over a period of 2 weeks! And, after 6 weeks, I never got compensation for the poor service!

 

TQ is FABULOUS - service is excellent, there's a Yahoo Group for support, they cover history chronologically from a very strong Christian worldview, and you'll learn things you never read before! We love it!

[Eva]

Well, I have tried or looked at most major curriculum (and a few less well known too I guess). I have used SL, WP, LA, TOG, various unit studies, just to name a few. I used MFW once briefly but left because the grass looked greener. We are using it again this year, but we are on 1850-Mod now and I really wish I had used it from CtoG, going through the entire 4 yr history cycle as well as their year of geography. My oldest two will be too old after this year, but I may still get to go back to CtoG with my daughter and maybe RtoR before moving on into high school. I absolutely love how MFW has done their homework and not only cover the topics so well, but integrate so many fo the subjects together wonderfullly. MFW offers a complete detailed schedule like SL and WP, but with the weekly format like TOG where you can see exactly what you are covering that week, particularly the topics. I always hated how SL did not give subject headings nad show me what topics we would cover each week. WP is my second choice. We thoroughly enjoyed their Ancient program on two levels, but the next year with the Middle Ages, they ruined it in my opinion. NOW this is my opinion and some may not agree, that is fine, I am just giving my personal opinion because I was asked. In the Middle Ages program, they no longer had ONE page for each week, so the child could work independently as much as possible. They started having two pages, one for the student and one for the parent/teacher. We used it for a month or so and left that program. At that point too, the Mystery of History was getting a little "young" for the children. I would have lived with that if they had stayed with a single lesson plan as that is just one book, the core reading. With MFW, I am always pleased with the books they choose. WP is the same way, I feel like I can trust their judgement on the book choices. I can turn a child loose to read tons of books without having to worry about what they might come across in content that I am not aware of. MFW also covers so many little extras that busy moms might not ever get to if you didn't have them planned out for you. i.e excellent art program, excellent music studies, states & capitals, not just an audio, but games and map work. We are going to be doing the states & capitals this year. I love how MFW has a good basic program planned out and then you can add as many or as few books each week as you want and have time for. If you have a very busy week, you can just do the basics and read what you can. On other weeks, your children can read more books. I love hte "book basket" idea, as we have already been doing this for years.

 

I also love that MFW teaches history with a Christian worldview. They are using SOTW in the year we are starting, but blend in other books to balance the worldview. I love how everythign is provided, all the student pages, any pages needed for games, song lyrics, it is all right there.

 

I just think MFW is in the top few programs around. They put together a very thorough, well thought out and coordinated program covering allot of subjects besides just history.

 

Since you are considering WP, I really liked and recommend the ancient year if they are still doing a one page lesson plan. We loved the books, the activities, although we didn't do all of them, they were available. I trusted the books choices for content and if you want every book in teh schedule, like SL does, it is a great choice. I would not say I don't recommend WP, but I didn't like the two page lesson plans they started doing.

 

HTH

Eva

[Eva]

so sorry for all the typos, I meant to spell check and got busy and forgot!

 

sorry

[Eva]

About WP asking people not to resell their items. I think this only applies to their items that they personally publish, which isn't that much. Besides the lesson plans, there are only a few things that I remember, like the notebooking pages and occasionally another book or two.

 

It is not that big of a deal. I would not let that keep me from using it if I liked the program.

 

I actually resold some of my items, but that was the first year before they requested people not to resell.

 

Eva

[Eva]

I have had problems with WP service too, a few times, but they always worked to resolve issues and I tried to overlook the problems as they were just getting started. However, this was about 3 years ago. I don't know if they are still having problems like this.

 

Eva

[Kris in Wis]

I have had problems with WP service too, I don't know if they are still having problems like this.

 

Eva

 

My order was placed May 2008. These problems occurred this year. I didn't order a whole program, just the chess elective, which didn't have a whole lot of components, so should have been easy to pull together and mail. Still, it took 6 weeks and all the hassles I mentioned previously.

 

Again, please look at TruthQuest. It accomodates all ages, from elementary through high school, and you can cycle through again at a deeper, more challenging level each time.

[momof3gifts]

I will put in a vote for Sonlight. We have used Cores 1-5 so far and it has made for enjoyable, successful homeschooling for us. I feel like my kids have a strong Christian worldview, a love for God's world and a strong grasp of history. If expense is an issue then you can look on the used boards.

 

Just my 2 cents. :)

[Karen sn]

I just got turned on to Growing With Grammer and Life of Fred.

They both look promising and I look forward to working with them this year.

[Pata]

I will put in a vote for Sonlight. We have used Cores 1-5 so far and it has made for enjoyable, successful homeschooling for us. I feel like my kids have a strong Christian worldview, a love for God's world and a strong grasp of history. If expense is an issue then you can look on the used boards.

 

Just my 2 cents. :)

 

I would agree, Sonlight has been wonderful for us!