Free Indeed Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 (edited) I have 4 children- 12yo ds, 10yo dd, 8yo dd, and 5 yo dd (she is using FIAR). I have used Adv. MFW and MFW ECC, but then decided I can better match books for my family and so this year I did MOH/SOTW combo. It went ok except retention was rather low. My 10yodd and 8yodd would like some hands on stuff while my 12yo would rather just read. We did a few history related read alouds this year, but most were related to our nature study theme or a Patricia st. John book. So now it is time to decide for next year (which actually begins in May for us) and I do not know what to do. When I was using MFW I always thought that yes they did a good job (although they made book choices I found a little dry sometimes), but it wasn't anything I could not do myself- and save money. Now, I am overwhelmed with the amount of really good books for this time period that I don't want to miss, but also don't want to get bogged down in. :banghead: We were also going to study Astronomy using Apologia and MFW does that as well in RTR. So, all ye wise women (and men :D ) tell me what you would do in my situation. Edited February 6, 2009 by Free Indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna A. Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Well, considering that you were planning to use Apologia Astronomy anyway, and MFW schedules SOTW as one of its spines (once it gets past Ancient Rome during the first 13 weeks), why not just go with RTR? I like MOH, but MOH is a lot "simpler" than MFW in that the lessons are really just short summaries of a topic and then you have to find and add all your own resources. Yes, MOH gives suggestions for those, but you still end up having to decide which of those resources you need/want and put together your own stuff. If that's what you prefer, that's great, but I like having the lesson plans and books all included for me in MFW. Then if I choose to tweak some portion of it, I can. To ME, that's easier than having to figure it out and pull it all together myself and then not know if I got everything I really "need". I've done that before, and ended up frustrated because we'd get into a lesson or topic and then realize I was missing something. I feel like MFW really is "complete" without being overwhelming.... and retention hasn't been a problem here. ;) I *like* MOH, and in fact I have MOH volumes 1 and 3, and vol. 2 on CD, but they all seem very light to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna A. Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 P.S. May I suggest going to the MFW website and print off all the sample lessons for RTR (since that's where you be jumping back in) through 1850-Modern. Then read through them in order so that you can "see" where it's going, and how each year builds upon the previous year. Make sure to take a look at the Bible component, too. That's a really important part of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Indeed Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Make sure to take a look at the Bible component, too. That's a really important part of it. I agree. That is the most important part for our family. I just am trying to figure it all out. Thank you for your input, I appreciate you taking the time to help "lift the fog" that I am in. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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