I'm curious - how many of you combine big ticket history programs ...

[St. Theophan Academy]

such as TOG, Sonlight, WP, MFW etc? I see so many posts on combining programs that are both high $ and time intensive, I wonder how many of you do this. I know lots of people take a program like TOG, then pick and choose books and adapt to meet their needs, that is not what I mean. How many of you invest in multiple "comprehensive" history programs that come with an instructors guide, and has it been worth the time and expense of combining them?

[Guest]

such as TOG, Sonlight, WP, MFW etc? I see so many posts on combining programs that are both high $ and time intensive, I wonder how many of you do this. I know lots of people take a program like TOG, then pick and choose books and adapt to meet their needs, that is not what I mean. How many of you invest in multiple "comprehensive" history programs that come with an instructors guide, and has it been worth the time and expense of combining them?

 

I am combining Tapestry of Grace yr1 and WinterProimse Animals and Their Worlds. I originally started the year with Animals and Their Worlds which my dc and I love. I had been looking at TOG and loved it since before I even decided on WP...but at the time it looked like too much. But I printed off the three free weeks for year one...and spent the last two months going over it all:tongue_smilie:....so I finally became comfortable with TOG's style.

 

I also had started reading the WTM and realized I wanted to do history and science this year. So I went ahead and got TOG too. I have purchased all the recommended books in the TOG TM...I just like being prepared for the year and not out searching for our materials.

 

So we are using TOG for history and WP AW for science. I am modifying WP AW and only using the DK Enyc, One Small Square Books, and Eric Carle's Animals book....I will be picking and choosing what other read alouds I want to do from WP AW. I have condensed the week in the IG down to two days instead of four.

 

I really didn't mean to spend so much $ on curriculum this year...but I already had WP when I decided I wanted TOG as well. I see TOG as a very wise investment because I will be using it for several more years to come.

 

As far as time goes I don't think its that bad....I actually felt maybe I wasn't doing enough:tongue_smilie:. After the three R's are covered in the morning we do TOG M/W/F and WP AW T/T...each program only takes 30-40 minutes max....maybe a little longer if we are doing a craft. My kids are all Lower grammer students so we are only reading the books in TOG and doing the activities...and doing a weekly notebooking page on what they have learned.

[paula j]

Ok, guess I'll be the first to confess.... I'm guilty as charged. I have always used sonlight but have always thought mfw looked so good. This is my ds 8th grade year and I had all my stuff and was ready to start sonlight core 6 but I have been feeling led to try mfw CtG for the past 4 years and this being our last year before high school, I just broke down and decided to go for it. We are doing CtG using the mfw schedule but I am adding in SOTW from sonlight core 6 and having ds read the readers from the first half of core 6 instead of book basket. I am also using the read-alouds from the first half of core 6 for read aloud time.

 

Is it worth the money? Yes, I think so! Of course I purchased both sets used but we are really enjoying it. I love the way mfw sets up their schedules and gives you notes to guide you each week, I love that we are done around noon every day. I love that we still get to read all the awesome sonlight books but that we don't have to read them so fast as we are only doing half a core.

 

I have also used Christian Cottage unit studies in the past to add hands on activities to sonlight cores 4 and 5 and they were a real blessing too.

[Omma]

I combined 2 major curriculums because I already owned one (MFW Adventures) and I had enjoyed WP's AW so much that I decided to go ahead and try WP AS 1. We had a fantastic year combining these two fun intro to Am. History courses, as one of them emphasized a states' study and lots of great picture books on those states (Adventures) while the other went more in-depth on topics like the Revolutionary War and had some really fun craft projects and media resources(WP AS 1). Looking back, I do not regret that I combined both of these. However, I have realized that I cannot really do it again this year, as I need to buckle down on LA for my 3rd grader this year. Thus, we are only doing one history program (WP AS 2).

 

I am pondering combining MFW ECC (which I got used) with purchasing WP's CaTW... probably used if I can find it. I enjoy the biblical application that MFW offers, but I like the set up of the IG's that WP offers. We'll see what happens down the road. What I usually do is buy in advance if I can find good deals for used curriculum, and that's how we afford it.

 

Brenda

[melopher]

I am doing that this year. I am using SL Core 4, WP AS2 as well as SotW4.

 

I bought SL first, then we decided to hs all of my dc instead of just my oldest, and plans changed a bit. So, I am using WP as my base, and I'm really loving their IG. The program is a perfect fit for my 7yo and it's been easy as pie to add things onto. I'm not using the SL schedule. I pre-read most of the SL books, and I'm just assigning them to my boys as we go along. I'm using SotW for my oldest ds to add in the world history aspect.

 

Since SL and SotW are requiring very little parental involvement, it's been very simple. My boys do all the reading themselves. The read-alouds I do are geared more towards my 7yo and 9yo, and I'm not following a pre-made schedule for them. As far as cost goes, it's been worth it to me because of all the great books. I'm a book fiend. Also, I've plans on reusing many of the books again with younger dc. It's worth it to be able to combine all my dc while still using some of my favorite curriculum.

[St. Theophan Academy]

Just a clarification - not condemning anyone for spending the money (that would be very hypocritical of me :) ) I am just curious about the idea of combining big supposedly comprehensive programs and how that goes! So don't be embarrassed, I have spent way more on many programs than I should - and if you really use them, I am all for it!

[magistramom]

We combined SOTW3 and Sonlight 3 for my dd. I chose Sonlight to beef up our American history studies (ordered everything). It was hard work to keep up with the books and everything in the TM - but we did it (and TOG has MORE!!!).

 

Now, after having btdt with the first child, I plan to just enjoy reading the books with my next child, and having our own spontaneous discussions, without the TM.

[teachermom_7]

We are combining SOTW 1 and VP Old Testament and Ancient Egypt. I guess I wanted the best of both worlds. I LOVE the VP being Bible based history, but what I've found is things not explicitly lined out in the Bible (ie, Nomads) aren't covered in VP. SOTW is VERY good as far as historical content, but doesn't have the Bible foundation we wanted, so we combined them.

 

There's a website (I believe I got off another thread from this board) called Paula's Archives where people who have combined these two curriculums did a "flow chart" for how to combine the VP history cards with SOTW textbook. It's FABULOUS!!!!! My kids are having a BLAST!!!!!!