MFW K or 1st, SL, LHTH, R&S, TOG, BJU, or Weaver for K???

[Melissa in CA]

Just to add some confusion :D - have you considered Winterpromise? It is a literature-based complete program that is completely scheduled for you. It might be something to consider.

 

I have not read all the posts, nor did I vote. I used Abeka for K-1st, SL for 2-4th, Winter Promise for 5th, and I now use TOG & BJU. My thought while reading some of the posts was...."Hey, what about Winter Promise!?" ;)

 

Knowing what I now know, and having used the curriculum I have used, if I had a K'er I would most definitely look at WP's Animals and Their Worlds. WP uses very colorful 'living' books of high interest for the child. They incorporate lots of hands-on activities that SL will NOT provide. SL is reading, reading, reading. We very much enjoyed SL's Cores, but did not know what we were missing until we tried WP.....colorful, HIGH interest, very enjoyable books. I would use WP for grades k-4th in a heartbeat.

 

I now use TOG and very much love it. It, too, provides hands-on activities and great books on level for the child. It appears very overwhelming to some teaching at the younger levels because most of the bulk/meat of the program is geared towards 5-12th grades (Dialectic and Rhetoric levels). It is also not quite as open-and-go as WP. But each year of TOG provides Classical instruction for every grade level. So if you start with TOG now, you will only have to buy 4 year plans to cover all 12 years of your childs (and any upcoming children's) schooling education. It's a win-win if you ask me. :D

 

I switched to TOG for various reasons, mainly for the worksheets, questions, evaluations, and Teacher's Notes....items not needed in younger elementary grades, but something I truly felt was needed for jr. high/high school. I am glad I made the switch. I used SL in the jr.high/ high school for my older boys and VERY much regret it. :tongue_smilie:

 

So, long story short, if I were to do it all again I would choose TOG first and foremost, but for open-and-go ease of use I would pick WP.

 

My personal thoughts, experience, and opinion....so take it for the 2 cents it's worth. ;)

[jewel7123]

I just wanted to add that I read your initial post again and saw that your daughter already knows how to read. In that case, you could drop the Phonics program and add the Emerging Readers set to Little Hearts for His Glory. It's a very flexible program....you aren't tied down to using this or that, and can modify it to suit your child and his/her needs.

[Tiffani]

I voted for SL K ONLY b/c I felt out of your choices, that was the best one. *MY* first choice would have been WP's LA K and AW. If we're talking LA, I'd prefer WP. SL K is good, just not my first pick.

[MitchellMom]

Age is just one factor to look at, but Little Hearts starts with age 5, so it should be fine for your daughter? I plan on using it myself for K, as I am doing LHTH right now for PreK. Leaving her age out of it, where does she place using the placement chart?

 

I would check out the Heart of Dakota message board....the ladies there are very friendly and more than willing to help you figure out the perfect placement for your child. Carrie, the author, might even chime in herself, or you can email her directly any questions you have!

 

Aside from age, my dd would be in Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory: Finishing phonics, an emerging reader, or reading independently; Knows how to form uppercase/lowercase letters; able to copy sentences; can study and copy spelling words; Has had a formal introduction to basic math and is ready for new concepts with hands-on activities (3 times a week).

 

I really like the idea of my dd starting with World History, or even geography, before American History, though.

[jewel7123]

Aside from age, my dd would be in Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory: Finishing phonics, an emerging reader, or reading independently; Knows how to form uppercase/lowercase letters; able to copy sentences; can study and copy spelling words; Has had a formal introduction to basic math and is ready for new concepts with hands-on activities (3 times a week).

 

I really like the idea of my dd starting with World History, or even geography, before American History, though.

 

Well I just wanted to let you know that it is flexible and you are welcome to switch things around to suit your daughter's needs....people do it all the time, as you'll see if you check out the HOD message board, lol! Good luck with finding something that works perfectly for you. :)

[Susie in MS]

I am also going to suggest that you look at Little Hearts for His Glory closer. You had two concerns: not enough reading and World Hx. There is a lot more reading in Little Hearts than Little Hands that you were looking at. And Little Hearts does a tour of World Hx as apposed to Beyond which starts Am. Hx. It would not hurt your dd to do Little Hearts even if she places in Beyond, just incase that is a concern. It is possible (I really don't know though) that you could let your little guy sit in on Little Hearts.

[kindermommy]

 

I thought I wanted to start with World History first too - in fact I had purchased Galloping the Globe for Kinder and purchased the CD, text and AG for SOTW Vol 1 to use for next year (1st grade). I even began listening to SOTW 1 on cd to verse myself on the topics, etc for next year, and it was good, but it just didn't seem like the perfect fit. I thought initially that it would just take some getting used to, but then I read Carrie Austin's (HOD author) reasons for American first as well as the essays by the Beautiful Feet author Rea Berg found here:

 

http://www.bfbooks.com/s.nl/it.I/id.2/.f

and

http://www.bfbooks.com/s.nl/it.I/id.35/.f

 

 

Now keep in mind, I haven't actually begun History formally (will start in 1st grade) and I guess I could change my mind again once we start, but for right now, the plan for American History first just makes sense for me. We still plan to do the classical cycle at least 2 times but the long range plan is not to begin it until the Upper Grammar stage.

 

Not saying you will have the same epiphany I had, and many many people start with World first in lower Grammar and it works fabulous for them, but it's worth a read to see the other perspective and possibly consider HOD further.

 

I definitely wish I had found HOD at the beginning of Kinder (and I also would have started in Beyond) That would have been a great, easy, fun, pulled together Kinder year (along with my own Math - Right Start - and Phonics - WRTR) :) Instead I spent the first semester in total angst and disorganization because I thought I could piece it all together successfully (and work part time). Having HOD (or MFW - something truly complete like that) would have made my research for other things more peaceful - not like I needed to HURRY and find something because I was so unhappy - I was trying to make Kinder *perfect* instead of just *fun* and *easy*!

 

I hope that makes sense :) :)

[MitchellMom]

I thought I wanted to start with World History first too - in fact I had purchased Galloping the Globe for Kinder and purchased the CD, text and AG for SOTW Vol 1 to use for next year (1st grade). I even began listening to SOTW 1 on cd to verse myself on the topics, etc for next year, and it was good, but it just didn't seem like the perfect fit. I thought initially that it would just take some getting used to, but then I read Carrie Austin's (HOD author) reasons for American first as well as the essays by the Beautiful Feet author Rea Berg found here:

 

http://www.bfbooks.com/s.nl/it.I/id.2/.f

and

http://www.bfbooks.com/s.nl/it.I/id.35/.f

 

 

Now keep in mind, I haven't actually begun History formally (will start in 1st grade) and I guess I could change my mind again once we start, but for right now, the plan for American History first just makes sense for me. We still plan to do the classical cycle at least 2 times but the long range plan is not to begin it until the Upper Grammar stage.

 

Not saying you will have the same epiphany I had, and many many people start with World first in lower Grammar and it works fabulous for them, but it's worth a read to see the other perspective and possibly consider HOD further.

 

I definitely wish I had found HOD at the beginning of Kinder (and I also would have started in Beyond) That would have been a great, easy, fun, pulled together Kinder year (along with my own Math - Right Start - and Phonics - WRTR) :) Instead I spent the first semester in total angst and disorganization because I thought I could piece it all together successfully (and work part time). Having HOD (or MFW - something truly complete like that) would have made my research for other things more peaceful - not like I needed to HURRY and find something because I was so unhappy - I was trying to make Kinder *perfect* instead of just *fun* and *easy*!

 

I hope that makes sense :) :)

 

 

It does make sense. Excellent post. I'm afraid I'm going to have to create a new poll.... Will you all throw tomatoes at me?