vaquitita Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 If you are using ELTL, RLTL, or Wayfarers, would you please share your experience? What do you like? What do you dislike? Have you moved on or are you sticking with it? I've looked at this on and off, but have always ended up going a different route for various reasons. Recently I found myself looking at it again and really liking what I see. I started by looking at ELTL and plan to start level 3 next year. For the rest of this year I bought the level 2 workbook and am just giving my son the cursive copy work. Haha, for the first time copy work is consistently getting done! I wanted to teach my 8yo cursive and remembered I have HLTL. All of this led me to look at RLTL again. Maybe I've just looked at O-G programs enough times now that it made sense this time. Lol. So I've begun a combo of HLTL and RLTL 1 with my daughter. And now I want to start my oldest, so level 2 is on its way to me. It looks so much more doable for me than AAS has been. It's taken us four years to get through levels 1-3. Lol. And in between we do nothing. I feel bad for my son, I'm sure he'd be more comfortable writing if I hadn't slacked so much in the spelling/writing department. Right now I'm wishing I'd tried ELTL and RLTL sooner. They look so good. If I can just manage to stick with them, I can relax knowing everything will be covered. Looking at ELTL, etc led me to look at wayfarers again. I started with just looking at how ELTL and RLTL were scheduled, but now I'm thinking about using wayfarers. The book selections look good. Instead of scouring every known book lists and putting together massive lists we never get through, I could just follow this. Sure I'll probably tweak a little, but if I'm tired I can just fall back on this outline and know we're doing good enough. I've been thinking of using beautiful feet going forwards, but wayfarers looks so much more doable for a large family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Lake Mom Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 I don't have any feedback yet,but I recently just discovered Wayfarers, ELTL ... I immediately fell in love! This is the closest thing I've seen to a Charlotte Mason curriculum. She even schedules composers to study, and her living books lists are awesome! I just purchased Wayfarers year 1term 1, ELTL 2, and RLTL 1 so I can dive in more. I'm looking to use Wayfarers in the fall, but I'll start ELTL and RLTL soon. I look forward to hearing others experiences, but I have struggled to find reviews. I did recently discover both a yahoo group (that the author is involved with and will answer your questions) and a Facebook group with active users! You might learn more visiting those forums. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 (edited) We are using ELTL this year. I've already purchased books for next year and plan on sticking with it. I think ELTL is amazing for a large family. The 3 lessons per week are much more do-able than daily lessons. You can combine your DC in the picture studies, and sometimes my oldest two work on sentence diagramming together (they are in books 4 & 5 and their sentences to diagram are very similar). I haven't used Wayfarers. If I wasn't happy with our current history, it'd be very tempting! Edited January 29, 2016 by Holly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 (edited) You should also check out their science book called "The Quark Chronicles." FANTASTIC living science books! Edited January 29, 2016 by TheAttachedMama 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Well, I know this doesn't answer the OP's specific curriculum question, but I just wanted to add that 50 States and Where to Find Them is awesome too! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarabellesmom Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 We are really enjoying ELTL 2 and I've checked out Wayfarers for history. I agree it's very tempting. I'm not in a place where I want to combine my kids for history, but if I did, I would totally go that way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Ha, so many people checking it out! We looked at Wayfarers in depth {I printed out the samples for the time frame we'd ahve used} & really debated it last year, but in all fairness I'm happy with that we use & knew there'd be a fair amount in there we wouldn't use {LA for a start..} so I ended up staying put. I remember asking about it back then though.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 We are currently using pretty much every piece of curriculum available from Barefoot Ragamuffins. :-) I'll go through each one individually. RLTL- Oh, do I wish I had used this for my older two! My younger two boys are thriving with it. My 7 year old is flourishing as a reader and his spelling skills surprise me just about every day. Spelling could just be a skill he has so I can't necessarily credit RLTL for that until my 5 year old gets a little bit further in to the program. I love the flexibility of the program. My 5 year old is not ready to be writing words yet, so I am able to use the phonogram tiles (a free download on Lulu) and then I write the words for him after he spells it out. All of my kids are also memorizing the spelling rules so that when they do make mistakes I can make sure they understand why the spelling isn't correct. Our family originally started using WRTR, but by the time I figured it out my older two were already having issues with spelling. I recommend RLTL to everyone I know. ELTL- We have loved this program from the beginning. It is so gentle, but it is also very thorough. Memorizing the grammar definitions has been a huge help for my older kids. As I wrote in another thread, my older kids use ELTL below grade level so we have supplemented the writing portion. We are, however, getting to the point that all of the writing is overwhelming, so this summer I need to make some decisions about writing. I'll probably just stick with the ELTL writing and maybe supplement some creative writing on Fridays. We have no intention of ever using anything else for language arts. Wayfarers- We are currently using year 1 and are having a great year with it. We have read so many wonderful and memorable books this year. Because we also have a homeschool co-op we attend, we do tweak some things as far as the "extras". But the main parts we are using as-is. The Quark Chronicles science books are so good! Not only are they educational, but the vocabulary is rich. We read one chapter a week, a few pages each day during our together time. I'm pretty sure we will be using it next year, but I am a constant suffered of "grass is greener syndrome". Since my oldest will be in junior high next year, I feel like I may need some handholding when it comes to literature discussions. I have been looking into Beautiful Feet as a possibility, at least for history. But, I have also purchased Teaching the Classics, so I'm hoping it makes me more confident in discussing literature and we can stick with Wayfarers because I would hate to leave something that is working so well for us. I love that all of my kids can work on the same time period and we can all read some of the books together. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimicoto Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 (edited) I'm with edeemarie...I LOVE the Barefoot Ragamuffin Curricula. I researched the heck out of everything under the sun last year and kept coming back to this. I have Wayfarers, 2 of the Quark books, ELTL and RLTL. In the interest of full disclosure, I only consistently use ELTL at the moment.....but that has more to do with my own scheduling issues and life happening than anything else. The ONLY thing I don't like about Wayfarers is that if one gets off track with history (like we did last year - hanging around in ancient Rome for too long) it makes it hard to move forward at the same rhythm as the book. So I guess the comment would be that we have found it hard to accommodate rabbit trails as Wayfarers marches along through history at a steady pace...which I suppose would be true of any 'fixed' schedule curricula. Aside from that, I absolutely love everything that comes from BRC....be sure to check out the incredible freebies on offer as well. ALL of the picture study pictures are free; incredibly rich and comprehensive reading lists across all subjects and learning stages also free; there are others to be sure.... Oh, and can I also add that Kathy Jo herself is an amazing resource. She responds very quickly to questions in the BRC Yahoo Group and is flexible and accommodating, often making tweaks to her products to suit the needs and requests of users. Can't say enough good things about her and her family's work! :hurray: Edited January 30, 2016 by Mimicoto 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 (edited) I love ELTL and RLTL. My dd11 used ELTL 5 independently and I think she wouldn't read the grammar lessons very carefully, and really started struggling with the grammar/diagramming. So for now we are skipping the grammar in ELTL and doing R&S 2x/week. But I love it. We will never move on. I know what I like and there's nothing out there that is better, imo. I've looked at wayfarers, but I've never done a program like that. I'm hesitant to throw out what we are using now to homeschool in a completely different way, but I'm inspired to look again. ETA I have my kids read the poetry out loud to me,and sometimes it is over all our heads, but we read it anyway. Edited January 30, 2016 by Heidi 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamindy Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 (edited) I'm with edeemarie...I LOVE the Barefoot Ragamuffin Curricula. I researched the heck out of everything under the sun last year and kept coming back to this. I have Wayfarers, 2 of the Quark books, ELTL and RLTL. In the interest of full disclosure, I only consistently use ELTL at the moment.....but that has more to do with my own scheduling issues and life happening than anything else. The ONLY thing I don't like about Wayfarers is that if one gets off track with history (like we did last year - hanging around in ancient Rome for too long) it makes it hard to move forward at the same rhythm as the book. So I guess the comment would be that we have found it hard to accommodate rabbit trails as Wayfarers marches along through history at a steady pace...which I suppose would be true of any 'fixed' schedule curricula. Aside from that, I absolutely love everything that comes from BRC....be sure to check out the incredible freebies on offer as well. ALL of the picture study pictures are free; incredibly rich and comprehensive reading lists across all subjects and learning stages also free; there are others to be sure.... Oh, and can I also add that Kathy Jo herself is an amazing resource. She responds very quickly to questions in the BRC Yahoo Group and is flexible and accommodating, often making tweaks to her products to suit the needs and requests of users. Can't say enough good things about her and her family's work! :hurray: We're happy users of Barefoot Ragamuffin curricula. Like Erin, I have pieces of all products. I love how everything all comes together and can be tailored to each of your children, while still all staying on the "same page". I wanted to add my comments to the bolded, above. I totally agree Mimicoto, about "scheduled" curricula, and it's what's kept me from ever doing anything like that. HOWEVER, with 5 young children, I thought I'd give this one a try, and we've been using Wayfarers for almost a year. We have DEFINITELY had rabbit trails, and even took a break for a month and a half from the schedule. What we did was continue the progression in our skill areas, chase rabbits when we felt like it, and then just returned to the schedule where we'd left off. (Yes, this resulted in me finishing the year of Wayfarers later than planned, but it didn't matter so long as we progressed/kept momentum in skills areas.) Sometimes I just replaced some of the assigned reading with whatever trail we were on if I really felt the urge to finish the spine, or whatever. Not sure if any of this makes sense…just wanted to share how me managed to blend our desires for a "plan" with the ability to remain fluid and keep learning natural. Edited February 23, 2016 by mamamindy 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 (edited) You should also check out their science book called "The Quark Chronicles." FANTASTIC living science books! I've never heard of this before. What ages is this recommended for, what all is needed, where do you buy it, and anything else you want to tell me? :lol: I know I should just research this on my own, but I'm heading to work in a half an hour and feel I never I have time to sit and look at stuff anymore. Thanks! Edited February 23, 2016 by BatmansWife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn in CA Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 (edited) I like the look of wayfarers. I'm curious how it compares to Tapestry of Grace? Does ToG use a spine? I can't remember... I used 1 semester of ToG with my then-9th grader. It was way too jumpy and took too much prep. Rather than going over all the teacher notes to teach my kids I'd rather just read the kids that info from a living book if that makes sense. Edited February 24, 2016 by Jenn in CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bratsche Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 I've never heard of this before. What ages is this recommended for, what all is needed, where do you buy it, and anything else you want to tell me? :lol: I know I should just research this on my own, but I'm heading to work in a half an hour and feel I never I have time to sit and look at stuff anymore. Thanks! The overview website is here. Books are sold on Lulu.com Wayfarers is a curriculum guide that I'm fairly certain spans K-12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Sorry, I didn't read most of this thread. I've used a bit of Ancients. I think it might have been slightly revised since I used it; I don't know. When it is finished, I think Wayfarers is going to be one the best-selling homeschooling curricula on the market. There is no such thing as a one-sized-fits-all curricula, but the author knows exactly who her audience is and delivers exactly what is promised. She is an in-the-trenches AND prolific writer which is rare. It is almost impossible to produce quality under those circumstances. I am in awe of this author. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 I like the look of wayfarers. I'm curious how it compares to Tapestry of Grace? Does ToG use a spine? I can't remember... I used 1 semester of ToG with my then-9th grader. It was way too jumpy and took too much prep. Rather than going over all the teacher notes to teach my kids I'd rather just read the kids that info from a living book if that makes sense. The copyright restrictions and locked software for the digital TOG made it too difficult for me to use. Wayfarers is a PDF. It is YOURS. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn in CA Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 The copyright restrictions and locked software for the digital TOG made it too difficult for me to use. Wayfarers is a PDF. It is YOURS.Yeah that was difficult. It seems to me TOG didn't use a spine, rather different books on the various events and then you discuss the connections. Is that correct? I didn't enjoy using discussion questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Yeah that was difficult. It seems to me TOG didn't use a spine, rather different books on the various events and then you discuss the connections. Is that correct? I didn't enjoy using discussion questions. I've only used samples and the Writing Aids for TOG and decided not to continue to use it because of the software problems. Sorry. I hope someone else can answer you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hands-on-mama Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Ahhh!!! We are using ELTL right now and plan to stick with it. I love how gentle it is and how nicely everything works. Why did you guys have to put Wayfarers back on my radar though? Just why??? I was all set to go with ECC but this is looking all shiny and new! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smarson Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I'm looking at using ELTL 2 next year with my 2nd grader and I was wondering about the workbook. Is it necessary? Is it helpful? Can I just make my own worksheet based on what I see as the questions/copywork in the manual? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hands-on-mama Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 The workbooks are definitely not necessary. We do use the off workbook though so I don't have to write it out. I'm considering ordering the hard copy workbooks next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I've been making handwriting pages on the Zaner-Bloser website. The only downside is that you can't save it on the free version, so I'll have to do this with each child. I did invest in the workbook for Level 5 since some of the passages were pretty long (and I didn't feel like typing them up or having her write them out). For Level 2, the passages are pretty short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TX Pilgrim Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Hi, We have used ELTL for 3 years and will continue. The workbooks are not necessary but for the price they are very helpful. Basically they provide the model and space for the child to write whatever is assigned for the day. I did half of a year without it but I bought the workbook because it was so much more open and go that way. I love that it has poetry, folktales, maxims, Bible verses, art study and great literature all in one place. I also love that is scheduled 3x a week so it is very flexible. I started my oldest a bit too early so I had to take a year off between level 2 and 3 but he asked to return to this curriculum because he enjoyed it so much. I do use the spelling lists from RLTL and will probably use the full program as designed as I teach my next kiddo to read. It too is a pretty open and go program. I did learn some sayings from other programs to help learn the phonograms like "English words don't end in I, that's why" and "e double ee always says e" which I use with my kids when spelling. But that's not necessary. Wayfarers - well I got myself caught up in 2 coops this year and had to put it aside. That said, everyone in the coop we are doing next year is using this as their base. We will do art, classical music, science, some read alouds and probably her US geography program together. We might be using something slightly different than her science but we haven't decided for sure yet. I also struggle with following someone else's schedule but as more children are added to the mix I think I just need to discipline myself and allow for bunny trails as the poster earlier mentioned. Wayfarers includes lots of read alouds based on geography to help kids learn about different eras and countries. She also includes family read alouds like the Narnia series, Lloyd Alexander books, Madeliene L'engle etc. She schedules in math but does not have her own math curriculum ( Miquon, math u see, Singapore for elementary age). We are actually using Beast Academy this year. She also does not include foreign language. She does have a very good document that outlines her whole philosophy called "A Walk in the Park" that explains the choices she makes. It is a K-12 curriclum broken down loosely into the stages of the trivium. Each day layout includes the reading assigned for all three levels as they work through the same time period. Her online samples are VERY generous and give you a good feel for the curriculum ( booklist, daily lesson format, weekly overview, etc.). There are 4 years that follow the normal breakdown ( Ancients, etc.) and each year is broken down into 3 - 12 week terms. She even has a free booklist for PreK4 and 5 called Pathways for free at lulu and includes a preschool activity a week in the Wayfarers guide ( think simple art and montessori type activities). I have never used Tapestry of Grace but I have looked at it. Wayfarers does not provide comprehension questions or themes or anything like that. She encourages narration. An earlier poster mentioned Teaching Through The Classics workbook and I think that is a great resource to get to help you if you do want to start framing questions, following story archs, etc. It is not necessary but it is helpful. But that one book can carry you through conversations on any book she assigns. Each week she does provide some background material to go with your reading - text, further explanations, paintings, etc. so it is more than just laying out a booklist but not as directed as Tapestry of Grace. I am so glad to have found ELTL so early that I will be able to use it with all of my kids. The diagramming exercises in book 3 are just right for my son and he loves doing it. We'll see if I can train myself to follow a schedule like Wayfarers, she is the only one I would even be willing to try and follow at this point though. She has worked hard and created a fabulous resource. Missy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smarson Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I make free handwriting pages here. And you can save them!!! http://www.handwritingpractice.net/handwriting/index.html It doesn't have many font choices but I figure the cursive is close enough to what we use that it's okay. And I really like the d'Nealien printing, if I ever teach my kids how to write manuscript. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamoose Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Bumping this back up because I have a question about moving from WWE/FLL to the BRC equivalent. How do the levels compare and is there a sub for WWE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 (edited) Bumping this back up because I have a question about moving from WWE/FLL to the BRC equivalent. How do the levels compare and is there a sub for WWE? The level number of ELTL will roughly match up to the same level numbers of a FLL & WWE combination. In general, ELTL starts out more gently in the early years, but by about grade 3, the students are at the same place. (And ELTL starts to ramp up much more quickly.) Here are some more details: 1) ELTL levels 1 and 2 start our MUCH more gently than FLL and WWE. ELTL follows a more 'Charlotte Mason' approach in the early years. Grammar is much lighter in level 1 compared to FLL 1. Copywork selections are roughly the same length as WWE 1. Narration goals are very similar. Grammar is secondary in ELTL in my opinion in those levels. It seems that the author of ELTL purposely left those levels lighter so more focus could be given to learning to read, learning to print and write in cursive, playing, etc. I would go so far as to say that ELTL 1 is purely optional. A child could easily start with ELTL 2 and be fine. 2) By about level 3, the two programs are VERY close to being equal. Dictations are introduced in both programs at this level. Sentence diagramming is introduced in both programs at this level. I think that student will be able to diagram slightly more complicated sentences in ELTL 3 than after completing FLL 3. I also think that ELTL 3 introduces a lot more grammar than FLL 3. Paragraphing is also taught in ELTL, and I don't remember paragraphs ever being "officially" taught in WWE 3. (Correct me if I am wrong!) There are also very "classical" copia and "playing with words" exercises in ELTL 3. WWE seems to do more with summarizing than ELTL 3. 3) ELTL 4 starts to become very different than WWE 4 / FLL 4. WWE 4 seems to be more narrations and VERY (VERY!) long dictation passages. ELTL 4 has long dictation passages too, but they are done more in a CM studied dictation way. Not as cold dictation. ELTL 4 has the child outlining and doing a lot of written narration from a variety of sources (narratives, science, history, etc.) I haven't looked at ELTL 5 and beyond....so I can't give details about those. Edited May 7, 2016 by TheAttachedMama 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamoose Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 So ELTL takes the place of both FLL and WWE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Yes. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamoose Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 So if we finish level 3 in FLL/WWE we should be able to move into ELTL. That's great, thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquitita Posted May 7, 2016 Author Share Posted May 7, 2016 The level number of ELTL will roughly match up to the same level numbers of a FLL & WWE combination. In general, ELTL starts out more gently in the early years, but by about grade 3, the students are at the same place. (And ELTL starts to ramp up much more quickly.) Here are some more details: 1) ELTL levels 1 and 2 start our MUCH more gently than FLL and WWE. ELTL follows a more 'Charlotte Mason' approach in the early years. Grammar is much lighter in level 1 compared to FLL 1. Copywork selections are roughly the same length as WWE 1. Narration goals are very similar. Grammar is secondary in ELTL in my opinion in those levels. It seems that the author of ELTL purposely left those levels lighter so more focus could be given to learning to read, learning to print and write in cursive, playing, etc. I would go so far as to say that ELTL 1 is purely optional. A child could easily start with ELTL 2 and be fine. 2) By about level 3, the two programs are VERY close to being equal. Dictations are introduced in both programs at this level. Sentence diagramming is introduced in both programs at this level. I think that student will be able to diagram slightly more complicated sentences in ELTL 3 than after completing FLL 3. I also think that ELTL 3 introduces a lot more grammar than FLL 3. Paragraphing is also taught in ELTL, and I don't remember paragraphs ever being "officially" taught in WWE 3. (Correct me if I am wrong!) There are also very "classical" copia and "playing with words" exercises in ELTL 3. WWE seems to do more with summarizing than ELTL 3. 3) ELTL 4 starts to become very different than WWE 4 / FLL 4. WWE 4 seems to be more narrations and VERY (VERY!) long dictation passages. ELTL 4 has long dictation passages too, but they are done more in a CM studied dictation way. Not as cold dictation. ELTL 4 has the child outlining and doing a lot of written narration from a variety of sources (narratives, science, history, etc.) I haven't looked at ELTL 5 and beyond....so I can't give details about those. This is a great review. Thank you! I've been debating between levels 3&4 and this was very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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