cricket1178 Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 We have done the previous years and wondering if year 4 is worth the cost? Thanks, Kristin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cricket1178 Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 Sorry for the double post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 My oldest is doing that year currently. We started a little earlier than August this year. most of the cost is for Econ in a Box. We're doing the US2 (mfw year 4 high school) in switched order. So we're doing 2nd semseter now, and then first semester later. I know this much... when I look at it on the website, I think "blah"... then I got in person and thought... this is a lot more in the content than I realized. I think the Bible credit is good. It's a little different from other years in that first semester it is very guided, and then 2nd semester, you're on your own to continue with same framework but personalized. Geography .25 credit to combine with the .25 credit from WHL.... student does some map work, and then, the cultural/prayer aspect is from Operation World and current events readings. I figure I'm ok with the course credit as written, but I feel better about it knowing we can grab other stuff from ECC (which youngest is doing) for food, etc... to make it a little more fun. not more hours, just more fun. History - that's finishing out the BJU stuff. so that's planned. there's a list of movies and such.. to go along with it... English credit.... reading 9 novels (from the list, but there's flexiblity and MFW isn't selling the books... grab from library). and student will write guided novel review and personal reactions to the literature. Research Paper... and then 2nd semester the English is "speech writing and practice". my cover school demanded that we do "more Brit lit".... so during the speech semester (which is now for us), we added in LLATL's reading list for Brit Lit to make cover school happy. most of the price is in the Econ course I think... that price is not set by mfw.. We're liking this course so far (week 3). I like in some ways that some of the planning is left to the students. I'm glad I'm using it. is the price worth it? probably. I do wish Econ in a Box were a lot cheaper. keep asking... but I have to log off in this thunderstorm before lights go out again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjand6more Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 We have used year1-3, but I have opted not to use year 4. It did not look like much at all. I chose to use an online Econ class. I will finish out BJU US history on a homemade schedule. We will probably do second semester Brit Lit. He is taking a graded book study/comp class online first semester. I am not sure about bible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cricket1178 Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 Thanks for such an in depth reply crystal. What do you think of the speech component? Janet, I was thinking of doing separate econ and English because dd has already finished the history. Not sure how to do the english though. Ideas are welcome. :-) Thanks again, ladies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 I have year 4. It does feel different, but it goes along with my rising senior venturing out a little already, and doing less at home. I think some of the things will help us get topics done more efficiently. For instance, if he took dual credit econ, he'd have to take at LEAST a semester (1 year high school credit) and most schools seem to have separate micro & macro, so 2 years of high school credit, and we don't need that much econ! Even if we only use it for 1 semester of each subject, it's worth it to me to have not only the materials but daily plans and good role models/spiritual emphasis/support at keeping Biblical learning central. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Is it possible to pull the US Government/Civics and Economics out of the jr & sr years? I don't want to do more Am. History with my son, but I love MFW and would love to continue to use it for these two components. We'd probably also use the Bible part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Is it possible to pull the US Government/Civics and Economics out of the jr & sr years? I don't want to do more Am. History with my son, but I love MFW and would love to continue to use it for these two components. We'd probably also use the Bible part. You can definitely pull out the Econ. MFW sells that separately as an elective. I think Crystal said that the scheduling is all in the box and not in the manual (I have my US2 but haven't really went over it yet). The gov. is scheduled in the US1 manual. It would be easiest to do with the manual. If you want the Bible, then US1 Bible (worldview studies) is a good one to get in, so maybe you'll want the manual anyways. There's a bit of worldview study in the English, as well -- not sure if you're considering that, but thought I'd mention it. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 Kristin, so far I'm liking the speech part of the English credit. In my mind, it's not a "speech course" but part of English class. (transcript stuff...) We haven't done any kind of speechh/debate club or anthing like that. So, this is nice to have. That part of the course starts with reading Do Hard Things.... mostly to give encouragement that they can do bigger stuff, and that might include having to talk in public, and staying faithful on doing "everyday" stuff. They read that quickly and think about maybe something that is of value and signficance to them that might be something that they'd want to take action about. Then, the rest of the speech part is working from Secrets of Great Communicators. watch dvd to learn some "secrets" and hear quick lectures on preparing for public speaking. Then, they read from workbook. Write 3 speeches and practice those. Additonally, in hte US2 lesson planner, MFW schedules impromptu 5 minute speeches on current event topics. In the history part of the class, when they read primary source documents. those documents are speeches and the student is encouraged to read them out loud... "to gently prepare" for speech 2nd semester.. but I don't see that as part of the English credit as much as it is across the curriculum. I'm glad that part of the English course is in there. I'm glad it's light enough for 2nd semester (even if I'm doing them backwards) so that we can add in the Brit Lit to make cover school happy. cost? you could buy the Secrets of Great Communicators kit and do it. Do Hard Things is part of "speech" or "english credit reading" the 12 days before you start Secrets of Great Comm. (there's some think about it questions in the lesson planner for that book), the info and eval guidelines for impromptu are in the mfw planner and not part of Secrets book or dvd.. I found it easy to do my own grading sheet for that part of English class. I was surprised MFW didn't have a little more detail in the planner on that, (not suprised because it shows on the sample.. but just head tilt.. if you went to detail on history, why not this part?) but it was easy to use the guidelines in the Secrets workbook to grade, so maybe it was a redundant thing. I'm raising my hand...question... what do you do for the second semester of US History? I know in US1 (mfw year 3), it has the history for one semester.. just curious? (finish bju on your own? or other... it's fun hearing how people do stuff) I didn't mention much on the Bible in my first post.... From looking at it, I like what they did. ... let me start new answer and copy over from another forum where I have more details.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 more details on the year 4 Bible. on another forum a few weeks ago... I answered this way to the question of "what would I miss if in the mfw lesson planner if I got just the books listed for Bible" and I got very long winded... wow... 1st semester the disciplines are taught in the books. then 2nd semester you are to make your own plans to do those on life daily basis. (you can do your own, or it's ok to use pre made stuff, but the student is encouraged to personalize the 2nd semester) it is more than just read this today, do that.. there are study sheets in the student appendix for some of the books, and additional readings/notes in the daily notes next to grid. what would you miss if you didn't have the manual when it comes to Bible lessons specifically: 1. study guide for My Heart Christ's Home. that booklet is a very short read (20 pages?) and is an allegory. The study guide in the US lesson planner has personal application questions to turn the booklet from extended metaphor into personal application and action plan to have it make sense. without that, you'd have to take some time and stop at each section and make sure you have a way to make it not just quick read. so it becomes a week long study instead of a 10 minute read. 2. Are there "assignments" and directions/explanations of how to apply what is read in The Hour that Changes the World yes. those are some of the daily notes (but not on the specific weeks mfw has on sample). and one page in the student appendix is a copy of a page in the book, but another Hour That Changes the World reference sheet is not part of the book. that's a reference of specific verses to apply to the chapters to be able to turn scripture into a prayer or praise of who God is. used for several chapters... quite thorough and I'm glad I don't have to make a quick list or ask my kid to do that. 3. .are there particular Scriptures assigned with Scripture Memory Made Easy and is there accountability built into the lesson plans accountability is with simple check point with parent. and make your own cards... which scriptures: options are given.. use what is in the book, or do something more personal. a few extra helps or hints for little things to do to help with memory work. if you didn't have those, it wouldn't be major issue. 4.The Bible description says there is instruction in in-depth Bible study. Is that primarily through one of the books or through notes in the lesson plans? lesson plans notes. so.. overall.. I'm doing the US2 program in switched order semesters, so we haven't done the Bible yet (long story.. don't ask yet... it's weird)... but from flipping through it, i can say, I would want the lesson planner to have the best impact of using the resources instead of coming up with stuff on my own especially for My Heart Christ's Home, and Hour that Changes the World. and the line by line in depth research notes... oh wait... on God Owns My Business - that's in Bible.. but no extra notes on that.. the book must be enough on its own.. and Loving God is part of bible credit... that's scheduled, and the only extra notes are the ones on sample week 14. so that book has to be self contained I guess with its own study guide in the book.. then in 2nd semester... they do get you a framework to build your own. you buy prayer guide from YWAM separately, as a recommended way to have a reading plan and prayer plan... a few notes in week 19 to help with some fine tuning on that. wow.. thanks for the opportunity to go through the lesson planner in more detail like this... I just sold myself on that semester.. I totally understand why US2 looks bland on the samples.. but, the more I go through this thing this month subject by subject, my eyes are opening up going,.. wow.. ok.. there's more here than I thought. I know the value, but it took me doing this exercise with you to see it myself. what? cbollin not sure she paid for value? not anymore. wow.. ok. .I'm with it for Us2. I'm sold. look out internet. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOl you didn't ask this on this thread, because this was "shed light on the details of the bible credit"... there are a few things that I wish Marie at MFW had done a little different... like a more detailed grading guide for Speech.. but I found that easy to make for myself last week.. ************** anyway... I copied all of that over here to have more of my thoughts in one place... they are scattered thoughts today.... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 You can definitely pull out the Econ. MFW sells that separately as an elective. I think Crystal said that the scheduling is all in the box and not in the manual (I have my US2 but haven't really went over it yet). Julie Julie's memory is good on that. and hugs to you this week. ((hugs)) you and the family are in my heart and prayers today. but back to school talk.. yes, the Econ in a Box scheduling is all in the box. It can be total stand alone elective. I wish it were cheaper.. When I asked MFW they said they wish it were too. I also asked if they thought it would be good prep for CLEP.. They did not see it as such. So, if you're looking for that kind of course to prep, that's good to know. Since I was looking for high school econ overview, I was good with it. Scheduling of read this/read that, do these pages in workbook is easy to follow. Since we're doing it in a non group non co-op, we'll feeling free to skip the group activities unless I get a wild notion to find an easier way. My 12th grader is reading the materials on her own... I am reading/teaching the material to my upcoming 9th grader. and we're getting Econ done for both of them. my 9th grader needs a little more help on the comprehension.. (she has some mild learning issues)... we read it togther and answer workbook as we go along.... She's liking the course. I'm enjoying the teaching too. very pro free market point of view. has this "think tank" feel to the course. course combines video segments and articles written by economists. includes some books... We're finishing Penny Candy this week. we're in week 3 of 16. The gov't credit in US1 is in the middle of the work..... you could pull it out. The idea is that you do early american history... then, when the point in history comes along that there is the US Constitution... then you study gov't (with Never Before in HIstory book and Under God)..... finish that up, and back to chronological history. if you're done with US history, you could rearrange the plans a bit... I agree with Julie that it's going to be easier to do the course if you have the US1 lesson planner. I haven't seen how the Under God book changed when new edition was released this spring. from what I understand (although, I'd strongly encourage you to call MFW office and ask Bret or someone to explain it more).... when Under God went to new edition this spring, MFW saw the price of the test book would be too high, so there are new things in the US1 lesson planner to help with projects and such. So... you'll want to have the current lesson planner with current book to be able to get that aspect of the course. The lesson planner that Julie and I used didn't have those... we had a test booklet with multiple choice tests... and other crazy way publishers of books change just 1 year too late for my benefit.. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cricket1178 Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 Thanks cbollin for so much information! Wow! Really causing me to think hard about purchasing the US2. Still concerned about the cost and also the amount of time involved with it. Really wanting dd to have more time to do some of the things she wants to do this year such as her music.:-) Also appreciate your help julie. Any other information is appreciated. This may not be allowed, but what kind of literature selections are suggested? Not looking for a full list just is it more americanlit or british or mixed? Thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 MFW shows a few of the titles... so.. I guess it's okay to at least mention those... They have about 18 possible titles... recommend about 9 (they suggest 1 or 2 during certain weeks to match the US history.) or it could be less if you really dont' want to do that many. I think it's mostly American authors, except of course 1984. They list a few of the titles on the "details" page.. here... scroll down mid way or so for 5 of the titles.. They list it as "classics" and "biographies"... and one on there that I"m hoping my oldest will like is Christy (Catherine Marshall), even if they don't show that specific on website it's suggested. https://www.mfwbooks.com/products/M50/50/20/0/1#details I know the feeling.... meeting final requirements mixed with personal interests..... I know for me the decision was easier because the cover school and her first college choice both want Econ, and I know we wanted schedule on finishing history (just easier on us).. and the speech was good... We struggled with whether or not to do another science, or what else??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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