A.J. at J.A. Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 Forgive me if I repeat a bit from another post (we were considering SL but have excluded it from our options)- we're evaluating whether or not ToG is working for my older son. We had an epic fail in ToG for him this year (finishing his 9th grade) - mostly due to my inability to retain the info from the teacher's notes and then have a coherent and meaningful discussion with him, plus I about killed him the first several months by assigning many supplemental reading assignments which delayed our progress. There - I'm embarrassed to admit it, but it is what it is. So, DH and I are working hard to try to find another quality program that will fit our needs and still provide our DSs with solid instruction. We are learning more about MFW, but since we are already one year down for my oldest in regards to high school and he does not want to do Ancients - is it possible to jump right into WHL? He will be completing IEW Elegant Essay in a co-op, so I'm not worried about losing any writing instruction from AHL and will probably leave that out in WHL as well. One main concern we have is that MWF/Notgrass covers WW I and WWII in a total of 2 weeks, but covers Ancient Rome for 8 weeks. We did ancients ad nauseam when they were younger, so he is solid enough on that where we feel we could "steal" some of those weeks and supplement our WWI and WWII instruction from our ToG materials. What do you think? Main questions... * Any red flags I should know about before considering MFW for high school? * Would it be ok to jump into WHL with my 10th greater and not do AHL? * Would it be ok to spend less time on Ancient Rome and more time on WWI and WWII with supplemental resources from ToG? Thanks so much for your feedback! I have benefited from this board for our entire homeschool journey - going on 10 years now!! Blessings, Angela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 I'm bias and like MFW. oldest did all 4 years for her high school Yes, you can start with WHL in 10th especially since you've done a lot of ancients this year in TOG. Notgrass will feel "light" to you. Part of the weeks in Rome also introduce some of church history and you're doing a research paper (which elegant essay doesn't really cover). I'd think you'd want to do some of the writing from WHL instead of leaving it out completely. Lots of different types of writing and they connect with history lessons. if you speed through Rome to review and all of that, it's going to be ok. curriculum is a tool not a master. Doing more in 20th century with WW1 and 2 should be doable. In addition to the TOG that you have to glean resources, be sure to look at the video list in the back of the WHL lesson planner, and the optional readings. (Those readings might be lighter than some high school books, but should be at level to add info and keep interested in reading.) and if at all possible, try to find someone who remembers what it was to grow up during WWII to do the writing assignment that week. The assignment was to interview and then write it up. We were especially honored to interview a lady who was one of my group fitness customers. She is German and we listened to her stories from what it was like as a child during WWII and how even to this day when the tornado sirens go off in our city, she jumps. some differences in the set up of programs: mfw doesn't include the same way of discussion that TOG does. I was fine using questions and answers in the books and then just asking basic "tell me more" or "so what do you think on this.." even if I didn't have a script. When the literature analysis seemed lighter than I was expecting in WHL, I kept in mind the overall goal of the year and other 3 years of MFW so it all balanced out. She still rocked the ACT in reading and english sections, so it worked for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. at J.A. Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 Thanks, Crystal! I might have been unclear - we didn't do ancients last year (we were in Year 3), but we did do it very intensely during elementary years. I greatly appreciate your feedback!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 oh ok.. TOG year 3 last year.. heavy ancients before that... you'll still be fine in my opinion if you start WHL in 10th even though mfw would say do Ancients because of reading the entire old testament and the other stuff. . It does make me wonder about plans for 11th and 12th... but one year at a time :) While I'm hoping my coffee pot will somehow work this morning, I did want to say that my oldest did mfw's CTG in 8th and then did AHL in 9th and it was all good too. I guess I'm going to have to go out and buy a new coffee pot, which has nothing to do with this thread.. it just is real time thinking out loud. 3 days in a row of forcing it to work.. yep.. ok.. oh well, sorry.. But yea, my oldest did Creation to the Greeks in 8th and then AHL in 9th. She didn't mind the repeat of info (it just made it a breeze to get through the Notgrass stuff) but did enjoy the challenge of reading the entire old testament that year. anyway, that's the other thinking point in the decision: in terms of Bible worldview coverage.. what goals do you have and would it be better to do AHL for that reason, even if you skip and tiptoe lightly through ancient history part? Then doing the writiing in the The Elegant Essay should be a complement to the AHL writing as the main writing focus is all about argumentative essay. TEE in co-op, in my opinion, is a nice course to finish before or during a year like AHL to help with grading and getting expectations up there on writing. The first week of AHL is basically the "15 day boot camp schedule" of TEE but done in a week's time instead of 15 ish days. coffee pot almost got done.. hmm. (such rich people problems. LOL) but I have a friend whose son is graduated college now and working in his field. That son began homeschooling in middle of 10th grade with AHL and apparently worked double time to get it done in a semester and summer. So, that's another weird idea in case the Bible reading and worldview development is appealing to you for high school planning and you don't want to deal with ancients, but could review it in fast past. thought I'd just toss in the mix other thinking point options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. at J.A. Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 Crystal, Greatly appreciate your input and your coffee commentary brought a smile to my morning! :) We are not worried about him studying Old Testament (although I know they put a really big emphasis on that) - we've done Bible study thoroughly over the years, and while the AHL approach sounds appealing, we really don't see how to add it in to an already overflowing schedule of activities. (His schoolwork of course, plus track, cross country, church activities, etc.) DH was planning on doing a pretty intensive Apologetics with him this year or the next. Thanks for the info about the first week of AHL - maybe I'll see if I can borrow my friends copy to look at, for information. I can write well enough for my purposes, but do not feel qualified to grade or teach it - hence the co-op. I'm so thankful the teacher is IEW certified and comes highly recommended. So, right now once we get history settled, we'll have next year "figured out" and I can polish up what I'll be doing for my 7th grader. PHEW!! Have a great day and enjoy your coffee!! Angela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 I am a SL and TOG dropout. We actually did TOG 4 and TOG 1 in the last two years. I am severely burned out. My boys didn't like to read a few pages from here and there. I was never good at the discussion. Just last week when I tried to plan TOG 2, I was so overwhelmed that I put it away. I have MFW for high school in mind. Even though I know TOG is great for high school, if it doesn't get done, no benefits will come out of it. So I would also like something that will be more likely to be done. I hope you find your journey to MFW worthwhile and I will wait to hear your and your dc's feedback. Right now I have a 7th grader and a 5th grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. at J.A. Posted July 6, 2014 Author Share Posted July 6, 2014 I am a SL and TOG dropout. We actually did TOG 4 and TOG 1 in the last two years. I am severely burned out. My boys didn't like to read a few pages from here and there. I was never good at the discussion. Just last week when I tried to plan TOG 2, I was so overwhelmed that I put it away. I have MFW for high school in mind. Even though I know TOG is great for high school, if it doesn't get done, no benefits will come out of it. So I would also like something that will be more likely to be done. I hope you find your journey to MFW worthwhile and I will wait to hear your and your dc's feedback. Right now I have a 7th grader and a 5th grader. I will be sure to let you know! Thank you for your kind words! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 I am a SL and TOG dropout. We actually did TOG 4 and TOG 1 in the last two years. I am severely burned out. My boys didn't like to read a few pages from here and there. I was never good at the discussion. Just last week when I tried to plan TOG 2, I was so overwhelmed that I put it away. I have MFW for high school in mind. Even though I know TOG is great for high school, if it doesn't get done, no benefits will come out of it. So I would also like something that will be more likely to be done. I hope you find your journey to MFW worthwhile and I will wait to hear your and your dc's feedback. Right now I have a 7th grader and a 5th grader. I am about right there with you. We have now gone through all 4 years plus Y1 again and the thought of pulling out Y2 makes me want to cry. The few pages here and there are what really made it hard for dd15 last year. I think she needs something more straightforward, but I have a hard time letting it go since I've already paid for it. If I continue with TOG it will be extremely pared down. If I go with something else, it will likely be History of the Medieval World with the study worksheets. I have heard great things about MFW, but just don't have the heart (or money) to dive into a new curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Susan in TN, How about SWB for HS history and MOH combined with SOTW for youger crowd? I am seriously considering k12 HO or MOH for my 7th and 5th graders. The unavailability of many TOG 2 books in public libraries just broke my will to continue with TOG. I borrowed a lady's TOG 1 year plan and quite a few books to make do with Ancient. I doubt that i would have been able to pull it without her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 OP, how about Diana Waring history? It looks very streamlined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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