mothergooseof4 Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Why is it that I am so drawn to the Winter Promise catalog? It is so beautiful. But, I know from past experience that it just doesn't fit. I owned AS1 and 2 at one time, and I found the same issues that others have mentioned with their programs. Yet, Sea and Sky looks so great for the future. Is there anything out there that is similar in content? Honestly, I wish companies like MFW would put out theme-based programs. History is just not what I want our school to be centered on anymore. Studied, yes, but not the focus. I know there are unit studies out there, but so far all I find are ones that are mostly paper crafts and dry facts. Something literature based with hands-on choices would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 What age? You could look at some MBtP units? FWIW, my middle ds did WP S&S and it was his best homeschool year ever. ;) Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansmama Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 I second MBtP units- they are exactly what we were looking for. And I completely agree that most unit studies involve endless paper crafts, which my boys are not into at all. Because we are literature-based, MBtP is great for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 Can I ask what didn't fit about the programmes? I'm asking because I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but some of those themes have had major makeovers. Sea & Sky is one that was recently updated.. as in this year. We'll be using it next year with one of our boys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I'm curious, too. My rising fifth grader is all set for doing Further Up and Further In (Narnia based) this coming year, but Adventures in the Sea and Sky looks like something he'd love. It seems every time I've looked at Sea and Sky seriously another one of those horrible WP experience threads pops up. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I'm curious, too. My rising fifth grader is all set for doing Further Up and Further In (Narnia based) this coming year, but Adventures in the Sea and Sky looks like something he'd love. It seems every time I've looked at Sea and Sky seriously another one of those horrible WP experience threads pops up. :tongue_smilie: You know, I thinks, personally, it doesn't matter WHAT curriculum you use there are lots & lots of negatives out there. I know the first time I tried WP I'd heard negatives too, but I didn't have any poor experiences & I'm so glad I tried it. Sea & Sky will be our fourth or so major theme with them & my boy can't wait to dig in. Have you looked at the samples to get an idea of what's included? Are you more worried about the negatives you've heard in regards to their CS? I must say that anytime something didn't happen as I'd anticipated I contacted them & things were dealt with straight away. Not that I've had to do that very much. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mothergooseof4 Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 Can I ask what didn't fit about the programmes? I'm asking because I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but some of those themes have had major makeovers. Sea & Sky is one that was recently updated.. as in this year. We'll be using it next year with one of our boys They typical complaints: disjointed, no commentary or discussion questions. Some of the books were over their heads and some babyish. Many were just boring, but I always find spines boring. When I tried AS1, and owned AS2, I had just left Sonlight after many years. The primary reason I left was that I had done the elementary cores and was not looking forward to doing them again. I just don't like to repeat the same materials because I need something new. Anyway, WP just didn't seem to flow like SL. I wish I could order it and look through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I have looked closely at the samples, and I've been doing this long enough to know how to tweak things to suit us. The CS threads make it very undesirable to even try ordering from them, and there isn't much of a used market for them. *shrug* Maybe after this coming school year is well under way I'll see about drafting something up for '14-'15 myself. FUFI and his homemade architecture study will keep DS plenty busy this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Having used both here's my take on WP & SL.. I see WP in a very Charlotte Mason light & SL in a very Classical light. Now, please don't stone me for those of you who are 100% either way, it's just the light I see each curriculum in. I think the reason for no discussion questions in WP is that you use the Narration Cards. Then after a reading the child uses one of those cards to tell back what they learned. For our family we end up so engrossed in the books that we end up discussing them like old friends anyway so that's been a non-plus type issue for us. In fact it left me feeling a wee bit guilty when we did use SL because I didn't use that portion of the IG all the time. We haven't had any issues with things being disjointed though. They've all flowed together really well. All though if I remember correctly with All American 1 we did skip Westward Ho & just read a few pertant readings. We were up to the Oregon Trail & that book was used to discuss some of the exploration of the west but because it's scheduled from the start it covered explorers & times we'd all ready used/done. So we just read a few stories my kids had wanted more details about & then laid the book aside. It was one of our all time favourite years so I suppose that makes me very biased! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I have looked closely at the samples, and I've been doing this long enough to know how to tweak things to suit us. The CS threads make it very undesirable to even try ordering from them, and there isn't much of a used market for them. *shrug* Maybe after this coming school year is well under way I'll see about drafting something up for '14-'15 myself. FUFI and his homemade architecture study will keep DS plenty busy this year. Oh, that's true about the used market, but that's because they've requested, in the past, for people not to sell their items. They've changed that this year on non-digital items. I'd love to hear what you think of FUFI. That's been on my "wish list" forever, but I've always chickened out! I think I was looking for the well laid out schedule, but man I was such a narnia freak growing up that it's one of those things that I really drool over when I see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mothergooseof4 Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 I have looked closely at the samples, and I've been doing this long enough to know how to tweak things to suit us. The CS threads make it very undesirable to even try ordering from them, and there isn't much of a used market for them. *shrug* Maybe after this coming school year is well under way I'll see about drafting something up for '14-'15 myself. FUFI and his homemade architecture study will keep DS plenty busy this year. Yes, the resale policy is a big thing for me. I would only order their exclusive items from them and find everything else myself. But, to not be able to resale the guide is a biggy. I count on being able to recoup some of my money for future hs purchases. I've done some looking around at unit studies on these topics, but still end up with lots of paper crafts. My ds would balk at those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teeniebeenie6 Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Yes, the resale policy is a big thing for me. I would only order their exclusive items from them and find everything else myself. But, to not be able to resale the guide is a biggy. I count on being able to recoup some of my money for future hs purchases. They are allowing their items from this year on to be resold. I personally buy older guides as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 We have used WP AW, S&S, and CATW. They were all good. We attempted Quest for the Middle Ages, and it bombed. I was trying to keep a first and tenth grader on the same page. It bombed for both of them. lol That probably wasn't a fault with the program. I spent untold hours tweaking it for both of them. Then, I ditched it. :p We also used SL. We used SL D with The History of US instead of Landmark with other books from SL 100 added in for my oldest. The next year we used the second half of SL100 over a year with books from added from SL E. We also used SL F and SL200. SL was fabulous for my oldest. The book choices never worked for my middle. WP S&S was great for my middle. My little man has used WP AW and CATW. I tweaked both SL and WP to meet our needs, but I didn't have to tweak one more than the other. My youngest has also used several units from MBtP. MBtP works better for him than SL or WP. One book at a time with more output. My oldest would have wanted more books than MBtP. My middle liked S&S, because the subject matter really interested him. Both of my big boys would have balked at the amount of output MBtP requires each day. Different kids do better with different programs. HTH- Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 I was more concerned with finding a cheap, used copy when I'm ready to start next year's planning than I was with resale. ;) FUFI doesn't have handy little grid schedules, but if you read ahead for books and supplies needed it can be open and go. Read the Narnia chapter, and chase the rabbit trails that interest you for that chapter. Four times a week. I've already read through it and penciled gobs of notes in the margins. I have a lengthy blog post about it. This could be a good option for boys well suited to Sea and Sky IMO. My fifth grade DS and third grade DD will do this together for '13-'14, and I expect the older kids to jump into the fun projects too. I ordered the Moving Beyond the Page catalog. That website is busy. :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Homeschool Legacy has some shorter units that sound more boy friendly, though none of them are on ships and aircraft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mothergooseof4 Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 They are allowing their items from this year on to be resold. I personally buy older guides as well. Ah, I didn't know that. I may very well consider S&S for fall 2014. Homeschool Legacy has some shorter units that sound more boy friendly, though none of them are on ships and aircraft. These look GREAT! Thanks! For my younger kids, I have Konos level 2 coming so I can dig through it. I would really love to go into more of a unit study approach for them until high school. If Konos doesn't work out, we may consider S&S for one year. Then, we may just pick unit studies on whatever interests us at the time and focus more on skills until high school. We have already planned to use BF Early American for this year, with some of their Geography thrown in along with extra hands-on stuff. Another thing that I am concerned about with WP is in high school. I have been researching MFW, and all of the talk is about how it teaches a Biblical worldview and really takes every reading back to compare it to the Word. I don't see that in WP. What about lit. analysis, is that in their LA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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