MBTP

[908874]

For context: son is in K and he is still 5, will be six this summer.

 

I feel like I should love MBTP, but it feels like just worksheets we need to finish. Once in a while my son really enjoys some of the activities. He enjoyed drawing a landscape, the tasty survey (he made us eat sardines) and making a story about another boy with illustrations. That last one was probably his absolute favorite so far and it took us three days (scheduled for one day) but he was so happy doing it slowly and thinking about it before bed about what he would add to his book.

 

Mostly MBTP feels like busy work. I've been skimming through and when I find something my son will like or benefit from we do it...

 

We are focusing more on interest based history and science (stories, shows, library books, brain pop), and of course we consistently do our phonics, reading, short copy work and math.

 

Anyone else using MBTP and is tired of it?

 

 

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[HomeAgain]

We have only used the literature guides a la carte (ages 8+).  For those, we really enjoyed them.  And while I toyed with the idea of getting a full curriculum from them, I'm glad I didn't.  Anything that is a lot of the same is overkill in our house. 

[Syllieann]

We are using the la this year, and I plan to use it again next year. I don't really agree with the whole pedagogical philosophy of mbtp, but in a skill subject it doesn't make any practical difference. For a content subject it makes a huge difference. Most homeschoolers treat science and history as content subjects. Because mbtp is aligned to various state and national standards, its focus for science and history is process-driven. It is exactly this issue (well, this and scattershot vs systematic) that I see as the big split between neo-classical methods and ps methods. I think the process approach is responsible for the busy work feel because (as I'm sure you have noticed) the process is only mildly helpful in mastering the content. Have you read twtm? If not, do it right now! It's usually available in the library, but is worth owning for reference. A new edition will be available in August.

[ondreeuh]

I really like MBTP ... about 75% of it. I agree that there is a lot of "busywork" but the way I look at it is that one kid's busywork is another kid's super fun activity that gets them engaged in learning. Some kids LOVE the crafts and that makes school worth doing. My  8th grader really just wants to be efficient about his work and gets no enjoyment out of crafts, so I skip them. If you do everything they list, you could easily spend 2 hours per subject per day. No thank you. The people who do the full package (LA, Science, SS) tend to have really long days or they stretch the curriculum out longer. I use other publishers for science & history that are straight read/discuss/write a report style.

 

I stick with MBTP for literature because I love their book choices and writing assignments. Although we skip crafts, we do all of the grammar and most of the writing assignments (especially the essays). My oldest has done MBTP LA from 9-11 to 12-14 and I have always been picky about which activities I have him do. I have absolutely no problem skipping stuff that doesn't directly work on a skill or on necessary content. For example, we are just starting The Book Thief. The first lesson has the student do some research on WWII and research on the author Markus Zuzak. Then they have the choice of either making a poster or a radio advertisement for the book. My son knows enough about WWII that I had him just follow the links about the author. I didn't ask him to do either the poster or radio ad because I didn't think either of those would be worth his time.

 

When my  youngest was starting school, I did look at 5-7 and in fact bought a few units. I was really disappointed. It seemed like it moved really slowly with so much "stuff" to cover relatively simple concepts. 6-8 looked like more of the same. We've been working our way through the LA in 7-9 and it has been much better, and I'm glad I waited until that level. I'm looking forward to using 8-10 next year. Anther reason I love MBTP LA is that you can use the units out of order or pick & choose, and you will still cover a LOT of LA because they cycle through skills. It's pretty flexible that way.

[908874]

 

I've listened to an interview with the MBTP "guy" and so on. He made sense. I'm thinking I will check MBTP again when my son is older for the literature units.

 

I have twtm :) I need to read the first grade information soon

 

 

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[FawnsFunnyFarm]

I used to be in love with the whole MBTP package, but it was never in the budget. Then after feeling like I changed at least one portion of language arts on a weekly basis, I bought a lit unit. We all love the language arts, but if we were doing the same style of learning for the content subjects I'm not sure we would love it any more. We plan on sticking with the lit units for a good long while. My kids are working behind level in them because there are books I didn't want them to miss. They are still getting plenty from it.

[Targhee]

I did not feel MBTP was busy work, especially compared to public school and many school-at-home curricula. I used half of 5-7 (for dd4) and one of the 6-8 units, then later used 8-10 (for same dd8) for literature only. I now don't use much for preK through second, except solid math, reading/spelling, and handwriting/copy work. We did these differently for each subsequent child. And science and social studies has varied based on interest and opportunity. If someone wants curriculum I think MBTP is pretty good. I really like their lit units.

 

The MBTP levels for 5-7 through 7-9 are different than the upper levels. So you may give them a look later on.

 

As always, curriculum can be great for certain students at certain times, and then again not great for other students or the same students at different times. So, what exactly are you looking for in a curriculum - what will meet your teaching style and your student's learning style?

[908874]

In part what happens is that we get to a unit (like the patterns) and it's something we have already done. We supplement with stepping stones and mind benders, my son plays with prodigy math and we did Saxon K last year. So most of the work on that particular unit, for example, is overkill. No SS and no Science; which is really what *we* are using MBTP for. A while back I bought FLL for $4, and I prefer it for grammar at my son's stage.

 

My son and I enjoyed all the units that are heavy on social studies. However, it feels a bit constraining when my son decided to obsess over the time traveler Usborne book with my husband, and ask for more info. This was a book they read for bedtime. Not our "official" homeschool. That was more spontaneous and more fun for my child, if you know what I mean.

 

This was our first "real" homeschool year. I'm learning about myself and my child. It's possible that unit studies are not for us. At least not all the time :)

 

 

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[Black-eyed Suzan]

I used the 5-7 level for my son the first year we homeschooled. I found the same to be true. Often the content was below his level and the writing expected was above his level at that time. I realized that we both disliked MBTP. We are much happier picking out different resources at appropriate levels for each subject.

 

FWIW, I kept the books we didn't use, and my younger son uses them as busy work while I am working with my older son. He enjoys them much more.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Black-eyed Suzan

[shinyhappypeople]

In part what happens is that we get to a unit (like the patterns) and it's something we have already done. We supplement with stepping stones and mind benders, my son plays with prodigy math and we did Saxon K last year. So most of the work on that particular unit, for example, is overkill. No SS and no Science; which is really what *we* are using MBTP for. A while back I bought FLL for $4, and I prefer it for grammar at my son's stage.

 

My son and I enjoyed all the units that are heavy on social studies. However, it feels a bit constraining when my son decided to obsess over the time traveler Usborne book with my husband, and ask for more info. This was a book they read for bedtime. Not our "official" homeschool. That was more spontaneous and more fun for my child, if you know what I mean.

 

This was our first "real" homeschool year. I'm learning about myself and my child. It's possible that unit studies are not for us. At least not all the time :)

 

 

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You're the boss of the curriculum :)  It sounds like there are parts of it you really like, so perhaps for the rest of the school year focus on using it in a way that works for you.  It's perfectly acceptable to skip entire units, ditch the Language Arts units, just do the Social Studies units, hit the pause button while he explores a rabbit trail and then pick things up where you left off.