mamabear2three Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 I know I am over thinking things but I am concerned that I will need to take a year off of HOD before I hit Preparing, and was wondering what others who did that chose to do for that extra year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 We're taking a year off right now before we hit Preparing. We are studying world geography and animals/habitats using a combination of resources, but mainly Expedition Earth and Sassafras Zoology. I have lesson plans up on my blog which is linked below. I plan on slipping a Native American unit study in as well before we finish up a few units in Bigger and then start Preparing. I was sad that Bigger didn't give more time to Native peoples so I'm doing it myself. :thumbup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monarch Room Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 What guide are you currently doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamabear2three Posted April 16, 2013 Author Share Posted April 16, 2013 I'm currently in Little Hearts, and it is a perfect fit for my ODD (she just turned 5 and we are finishing unit 4 this week). We were doing Five in a Row until we had baby number 3 at the end of January. We took February off and I needed something with less prep than FIAR so we went ahead and started LHFHG. We both love it! But I also know that we can't just follow the school schedule without DD going nuts because she loves school and can only handle so much time off before she begs to do school again. I am still looking at it but it seems like with 4 days a week for LHFHG, Beyond and Bigger, I will need 4-5 months to fill in before we move to preparing. (like I said, I know I'm over thinking it, I just was trying to get some ideas in my bookmarks to start thinking about it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monarch Room Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 I tend to think pretty far ahead as well. :) I think it's good to know where you're headed. We love HOD too :) I combined my 7 year old and my 10 year old in Bigger this year. It's been awesome, but I know I can't move my youngest forward into Preparing yet. It is such an awesome guide, and I want him to experience it fully. Also, in looking at CtC very thoroughly I think it takes a maturity I'm pretty sure a 3rd grader wouldn't have (or at least I don't know where mine will be at that stage.) If I moved him into Preparing in 2nd, then he would be in CtC in 3rd. I'm not comfortable with that. I am moving my oldest 5th grader into CtC, but was struggling to figure out what to do with my youngest. I decided to back into Beyond instead of moving into Preparing (adding science and LA to make it age appropriate.) That still leaves me with one year to fill. I'm going to see how this year goes, but if I still feel he needs time before Preparing I may make a little detour into MFW. I started planning 2 years in Simply Charlotte Mason, but I realized how much I would need to plan to add the fun factor that HOD offers. I like your plan of doing school 4 days a week and making your guides last longer. If I were earlier in the guides and hadn't already done Bigger I would consider that a great option :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 I'm currently in Little Hearts, and it is a perfect fit for my ODD (she just turned 5 and we are finishing unit 4 this week). We were doing Five in a Row until we had baby number 3 at the end of January. We took February off and I needed something with less prep than FIAR so we went ahead and started LHFHG. We both love it! But I also know that we can't just follow the school schedule without DD going nuts because she loves school and can only handle so much time off before she begs to do school again. I am still looking at it but it seems like with 4 days a week for LHFHG, Beyond and Bigger, I will need 4-5 months to fill in before we move to preparing. (like I said, I know I'm over thinking it, I just was trying to get some ideas in my bookmarks to start thinking about it) Not trying to be snarky or rude, but in response to the bolded....why? Why do you have to wait 4-5 months to start? As for my personal opinion, I would have Bigger take longer. It is a VERY full guide. I would stretch it out to fill in those 4-5 months if that was an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamabear2three Posted April 16, 2013 Author Share Posted April 16, 2013 There really is no good reason to need 4-5 months more, I just hate starting something in the middle of the school year...and not finishing it at the end, and in my head there's this arbitrary Sept. 1 start date. It's a throwback to my public school teaching days I'm sure, and exacerbated by Sunday School promotions every September. And who knows, I may get over it since I won't be able to get the next few guides to line up "correctly" with the school year either. You should have seen me agonize over starting LHFHG in March instead of waiting until the end of summer... I finally got over it, though, and I may get over this issue too... Ok so I guess the bottom line is, now that you have helped me think out my question more... what awesome resources do you use to stretch the guides with? Anything super fun that works well with them and can help keep you busy if you don't do the guides full speed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monarch Room Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 I completely understand wanting to start and finish something each year That's why the whole "half speed" thing annoys me. I like seeing that I have 34 or 35 weeks to complete, and seeing my book dwindle. I get that :) There is a missing guide in HOD, and a lot of people end up in this situation because of it. You could start and finish your math and LA just as you would normally each year. You could add a fun science for those 4 or 5 months. Have you seen Elemental Science Sassafras? That would fill in some of that time. Maybe a few unit studies on something your little one is really interested in?. Maybe you can fill in that 4 or 5 months now instead of wait until the end to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 There really is no good reason to need 4-5 months more, I just hate starting something in the middle of the school year...and not finishing it at the end, and in my head there's this arbitrary Sept. 1 start date. It's a throwback to my public school teaching days I'm sure, and exacerbated by Sunday School promotions every September. And who knows, I may get over it since I won't be able to get the next few guides to line up "correctly" with the school year either. You should have seen me agonize over starting LHFHG in March instead of waiting until the end of summer... I finally got over it, though, and I may get over this issue too... Ok so I guess the bottom line is, now that you have helped me think out my question more... what awesome resources do you use to stretch the guides with? Anything super fun that works well with them and can help keep you busy if you don't do the guides full speed? I'm a former ps teacher as well so I get it! :) We've started schooling with the calendar year (start in January end in November, take December off) which I've actually enjoyed. I promote my kids to the next grade when we promote at church. It just makes things easier since their skill levels are all over the place anyway. What I plan on using to stretch Bigger the next time around is adding in an American artist study and state study during the first year one year and an American folk song study and the Geography guide from Beautiful Feet the next. Since my next is a girl I plan on studying the appropriate American girl books when they fit into the history as well. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamabear2three Posted April 16, 2013 Author Share Posted April 16, 2013 Thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joyfulhomeschooler Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 We may have to take a year off from HOD with my daughter. She would be nine when we hit CtC and I am not sure how well taht would go. If we do take a year off we will do a fun relaxed year of homemaking skills. Cooking, baking, sewing, crafting, meal planning, etc. Basically all that fun stuff we never get time for. :) We would continue our normal math and LA of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer2911mom Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 We stretched Beyond over two years by adding in Sonlight Core K. We did half of Core K in 1st grade, then half of Beyond, then did the rest of Core K the fall of this year (2nd grade), and are finishing up Beyond this spring. It worked out well for us and I plan to do it again with my younger dd. I liked my dd taking some time to learn about the rest of the world and missions at these ages. The Core K books were good for these grades, too. HTH, Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MolleenCarie Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 We are a MFW family, and my plan was to take a year off the MFW cycle to do Preparing. (I didn't want to do ECC twice since I'd heard so many people say it got tedious by the end of the year.) Well, life happened and now we have ended up combining Preparing and ECC... But I digress. My point is, I think Preparing is a perfect break year for a MFW family, and ECC is a perfect break year for a HOD family. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna A. Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 We are a MFW family, and my plan was to take a year off the MFW cycle to do Preparing. (I didn't want to do ECC twice since I'd heard so many people say it got tedious by the end of the year.) Well, life happened and now we have ended up combining Preparing and ECC... But I digress. My point is, I think Preparing is a perfect break year for a MFW family, and ECC is a perfect break year for a HOD family. HTH. Ditto! They can complement one another very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monarch Room Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 We are a MFW family, and my plan was to take a year off the MFW cycle to do Preparing. (I didn't want to do ECC twice since I'd heard so many people say it got tedious by the end of the year.) Well, life happened and now we have ended up combining Preparing and ECC... But I digress. My point is, I think Preparing is a perfect break year for a MFW family, and ECC is a perfect break year for a HOD family. I have never heard anyone actually say this, but I so agree :) I plan to do ECC the year after this to fill a year before I get to the Preparing guide. I think ECC will be nice detour before heading into world history :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 I am using ECC for year in between :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acsnmama Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 Ok, I'm now looking at MFW... I see ECC includes Hero Tales, which is one of the Preparing books... So for those who use it as a filler, are you using it as a filler after Bigger? So, it would be Bigger, MFW ECC, then Preparing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joyfulhomeschooler Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 Ok, I'm now looking at MFW... I see ECC includes Hero Tales, which is one of the Preparing books... So for those who use it as a filler, are you using it as a filler after Bigger? So, it would be Bigger, MFW ECC, then Preparing? We did ECC, Bigger, and will be doing Preparing. I can't wait to read Hero Tales again! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raceNzanesmom Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 Not taking a year off, but I'm spreading Bigger and Preparing over 3 years. This allows us time for outside the home interests (field trips, 4-H, music lessons, time with grandparents, gym days, days spent watching creation videos, etc). It'll also keep him from hitting CTC too soon. ETA: We still do reading, math and devotions everyday. I just spread out the other stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamabear2three Posted April 20, 2013 Author Share Posted April 20, 2013 nice, I will keep ECC in mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monarch Room Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 Ok, I'm now looking at MFW... I see ECC includes Hero Tales, which is one of the Preparing books... So for those who use it as a filler, are you using it as a filler after Bigger? So, it would be Bigger, MFW ECC, then Preparing? My plan is a little weird, but I'm doing Bigger now, then Beyond, ECC, and then Preparing. I have a friend who is doing Beyond with me next year (yay!), then ECC, and Preparing. I hear Hero Tales is an awesome book. I'm sure we will enjoy reading it again :) I think that's the only duplicate between ECC and Preparing. They are very different programs other than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna A. Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 I hear Hero Tales is an awesome book. I'm sure we will enjoy reading it again :) I think that's the only duplicate between ECC and Preparing. They are very different programs other than that. Duplicates between ECC and Preparing, yes. Several of the Preparing books come up in the history years of MFW, but if you're not going to use any other MFW programs, then it's not an issue. May I mention the book that MFW sells in their ECC package called Kingdom Tales? It's *wonderful*. It'll make you cry both happy and sad tears. Well, it did us, anyway. ;) You'll laugh, and you'll have to think about the message. My oldest has read it independently at least three times, and we've read it together as a family twice. It's actually a series of three books by the original author, which you can find from other retailers out there, but the version MFW sells includes all three books bound together as one and has discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyh Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 For LHFHG I added in Beautiful Feet's Early American History books - just the books, not the curriculum. For Beyond/Bigger I plan to add in Winter Promise's American Story 1 and part of 2. I intend to teach Beyond as it is and add to it. Bigger I may stretch out - we'll see. Former teacher here as well... It could be hard to NOT complete a full year's worth of curriculum within the traditional school year for me, even though I know my own reasoning... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monarch Room Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 Duplicates between ECC and Preparing, yes. Several of the Preparing books come up in the history years of MFW, but if you're not going to use any other MFW programs, then it's not an issue. May I mention the book that MFW sells in their ECC package called Kingdom Tales? It's *wonderful*. It'll make you cry both happy and sad tears. Well, it did us, anyway. ;) You'll laugh, and you'll have to think about the message. My oldest has read it independently at least three times, and we've read it together as a family twice. It's actually a series of three books by the original author, which you can find from other retailers out there, but the version MFW sells includes all three books bound together as one and has discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Kingdom Tales is one of the reasons I am excited to use ECC! I love how they repackaged it, and hear it is incredible. I'm looking forward to reading that for 3rd grade. I had considered doing ECC this year, but decided against it. It seemed like the general consensus from the MFW folks at conference was that Kingdom Tales is better read to a slightly older child for them to get the most of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acsnmama Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 I don't want to end up confusing myself! LOL. After looking at ECC, it seems it would flow very well, leading up to Preparing! Hmmm. I've not looked into MFW much... now I'd like to check out some MFW blogs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embracing Grace Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 This might be off topic- but those of you who stretch the guides out, how do you do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raceNzanesmom Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 This might be off topic- but those of you who stretch the guides out, how do you do it? For us, it depends on the day. Some days we only do reading, math, devotional (currently Jesus Calling) and whatever other activity we have going on (Friday it was the ballet). Other times, we do history and rotating box one day; science, l/a, poetry and hymn the next. And, some days we do everything. I turn the page when the day is complete. We review his verse everyday (usually a few times as it's on the whiteboard in the kitchen), DH or I read storytime before bed. We should finish unit 24 of Bigger by the end of May. Then we'll finish Bigger in the fall. I'll spread Preparing out in a similar way except I'll add the extensions as read alouds. hth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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