Talk me down! I'm tempted to drop MFW ECC....

[jojomojo]

We are in week 4 of ECC and I am just not thrilled with it. My dd is in 5th grade and this is our first full year to homeschool (pulled her out last Feb). She could definitely use help in the area of geography (...a lot of help) and what has been scheduled so far just doesn't feel right.

 

The Bible portion feels disjointed from the other material so far (although, I'm really enjoying Window on the World and Hero Tales). The geography moves a little slow it seems, even with the "advanced" suggestions. I don't use the science portion (we use Apologia).

 

I really wanted to like this. What appealed to me so much was how much the reviews say after going through MFW, it really gives kids a solid Christian worldview. I want that! So, talk me into sticking with ECC. How does the program change as you move through the years? Does it get a little more exciting? Is the Bible better incorporated?

 

I asked my dd about it. She said she'd prefer to go back to what we started for the end of last year - Around the World in 180 Days (she really liked the creative aspect, making our own maps and such). I am leaning towards trying SOTW/KHE for history as suggested in TWTM.

[cbollin]

I'll try.

 

I'm doing ECC for the 2nd time. Did it 5 years ago and went through the whole cycle. We're in week 9 right now.

 

Bible in ECC: You're doing several things this year that are interwoven in the midst of it all. You will study the book of Matthew and discuss that as a family. It is the "go into the world" gospel, so that is why it was chosen. Also, you'll learn lots of solid character building in Matthew (beatitudes, sermon on the mount, etc.) and while doing that, there will be times to enjoy Hero Tales books to see real lives of real people who were living out their faith, and the different character issues. So, you spend some time with copywork and reading to work on having those character traits.

 

Window on the World is another part of the Bible time. While you are studying a continent and focused on one country at a time, you learn about other people groups in that same continent, even if they are in another country. even though it is scheduled on Mondays, we enjoy praying together each night at supper for them. Again -- it's tied in with the "go into the world" theme.

 

You haven't hit on the Read Alouds yet with the missionary biographies. I think the Cam Townsend book moves a little slower in details than all of the other YWAM books I've read. So, I sometimes paraphrase a paragraph or too so that we don't get bogged down in which car they were in. It is a great story about the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators and I think shouldn't be missed.

 

So, you are building that worldview as you go along to really begin to see all of these things that God did. That Cam Townsend book is worth it. Some of the events that happened in there were awesome!!!

 

 

Pace of the Geography --- are you using the World Geography book for the research materials?

 

What about book basket to enjoy reading time?? How's that going for you?

 

 

In further years in MFW -- how is Bible? I have 2 long answers on that on the MFW forum in this thread.

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?t=3149

 

IN the thread that I link tells how the Bible in the years really touched my life. Oh my goodness, there were seeds planted in ECC that we had no idea what God would do in our lives. My children are interested in other parts of the world. Oldest wants to go to Russia. Middle says she's going to China someday. And we think about how to serve in little ways. So much of that came from ECC -- Hero Tales, and those missionary biographies. And then from book basket to see how the rest of the world looks.

 

We've been enjoying so much fun in ECC this year (my 2nd time teaching it). We've made lots of fun crafts (scaled back for my real life). This week the girls made Carnival costumes for their stuffed animals. And we're growing a "tropical rain forest" plant in a small fish tank.

 

oh... I want to encourage you to not completely skip the science in ECC. Even if you don't have Living World Encyclopedia and Wild Places because you decided to use something else for science --- grab library books for science book basket. Those will really add a special touch to learning about the climate, habitats and biomes of the places you are learning in ECC.

 

 

-crystal

[cbollin]

Hero Tales books to see real lives of real people who were living out their faith, and the different character issues. So, you spend some time with copywork and reading to work on having those character traits.

 

 

Wanted to add this.... the week where we studied in Hero Tales about Wm Booth --- I thought the timing of it was great to match the verses in Matthew that we were reading. We were memorizing Mt 5:11 at the time and reading that section and seeing how things happened to William Booth where that verse would really apply.

 

and again on the Science --- you're leaving out some of the geography when you just substitute it completely. Grab some picture books about the biomes, grab some Schesslinger DVD's on habitats. Watch some videos about Families of the World. (my library has all of those). We're enjoying doing our notebooking and fun stuff with light hands on.

 

Enjoy the crafts, play and be silly with the music.. Take the time to have more foods from the area.

 

ECC was a fun year.

 

oh, and btw....MFW uses SOTW in RTR, EX1850, 1850MOD

 

-crystal

[dhudson]

Have you gotten to making the meals of the country that you're in? That was one of our favorite parts. I don't think that you've hit the Geography game yet either. It's a blast and my son loved it.

 

I agree that the first part may seem a little boring but I think it gets better as go further in. Also it lays a great foundation for the rest of the MFW cycle.

 

As for the Bible, that was one of the years that stands out in my mind as it gave my children a heart for the world. They truly began to see that the world needs Jesus and that they could tell the world about the love of God. Not someone else, but ordinary people that chose to obey God and do extraordinary things just like them. Since then we have gone on a family missions trip, are going on another in a couple of months and they (on their own) regularly hatch plans to support foreign missionaries, help fund Bible translations and send extra money to our Compassion child. I can honestly say that most of these activities have been child directed and that they learned how to love the world from ECC. My little girl who listened in on her big brothers lessons fell in love with India and Amy Carmicheal and reads everything she can get her hands on about both and plans to be a missionary to India. This was three years ago.

 

ECC is not my favorite year of MFW but I can see the benefit even after several years. Add stuff to it if you need but I think more "fun" things are coming. Just my opinion of course - others may feel differently;)

[bethben]

We are in week 6 of ECC. I started with the 2 week introduction and skipped over to China when the Olympics were going on so I have a good idea about the middle of the program (we are reading the missionary stories, tasting the food, doing the crafts...). I am finding (aside from the read alouds), that I can fit two weeks of geography into 1. For example, ds wants to study Israel after Saudi Arabia. I figured out that putting all the geography into 1 week for Saudi Arabia won't really make our workload that much greater. I am having ds do extra stuff already. This past week was so light (we were finished with our whole school day a few days in less than 2 1/2 hours and that included Latin, math, language arts, and extra stuff I have ds do) DH wondered if we need to be considering a curriculum change. I think we'll stick with ECC because ds does enjoy it, but I am finding that it's like a cream puff without the cream - pretty tasty, but not much to it.

 

Just a side note- we did Adventures last year and had the same feeling. It does a good job of teaching the material, but there's a richness (and fullness) that seems to be lacking. I know a lot of people really love this program as a whole, this is just one person's opinion.

 

Beth

[Lori in MS]

We enjoyed ECC but my children were young, 2nd grade and younger. I checked out tons of library books on the animals and biomes of each country which they loved.

 

IMHO though each year with MFW gets better and better. CTG was a great year with the Biblical history and Jewish feasts. We loved RTR too. Now we are in EX1850 and it is working well.

 

I wouldn't give up on it. I am looking forward to doing ECC again with the 7th-8th grade supplement.

[jojomojo]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! I think I will give this more time. More than anything my kids get from homeschooling, I want them to have a solid foundation in Christ and the passion to do His work. It sounds like this will be a great curriculum once we find our groove.

 

oh... I want to encourage you to not completely skip the science in ECC. Even if you don't have Living World Encyclopedia and Wild Places because you decided to use something else for science --- grab library books for science book basket. Those will really add a special touch to learning about the climate, habitats and biomes of the places you are learning in ECC.

 

I have both :D I went with the deluxe package. I didn't even think about how much leaving the science portion off might take away from rounding out a lesson. I will definitely try working in the reading for these books.