Faline Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Has anyone used this? I saw it in their catalog and fell in love, but I would love to hear some opinions of it. Does it teach a lot of geography, or more "cultures"? I am thinking of using it next year for 5th, 3rd, 1st, and preschool. Thanks, Faline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Heather Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 There is one for sale on the sale/swap board. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna T. Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 I believe that the general consensus on the WinterPromise message board and Yahoo group, is that it is more culture than geography but enough geography for the recommended ages. I believe the focus is on the weekly cultural experiences that you plan for and with your children. I haven't used CAW but am using another WP program. WP is very easy to teach. There is some planning ahead since there are crafts and lots of activities, but not overwhelming if you enjoy that sort of thing. My sister has used a year of WP. She has been very happy with it. Be sure to send your questions to the message board on their web site or the yahoo group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Has anyone used this? I saw it in their catalog and fell in love, but I would love to hear some opinions of it. Does it teach a lot of geography, or more "cultures"? I am thinking of using it next year for 5th, 3rd, 1st, and preschool. I've used it. There's a good balance of cultural and political geography, IMO. There really isn't any physical geography at all. Much depends upon which activities you choose to do. CATW is packed full of potential projects, so you can choose which to emphasize. You could do the geography drill cards and map work religiously every week, entirely skipping the "cultural gatherings," to emphasize geography. Some common complaints: The Draw Your World book was difficult to impossible to use for most of the fourth to ninth graders we heard from. The ink on the large wall map tends to come off on your hands with the lightest touch. Many of us solved this problem by laminating it, which helped later when we discovered that all of the stickers do not fit, so lots of peeling off and replacing is necessary. My 7yo simply puts the excess stickers in the oceans and draws long lines in marker linking each to its home nation. There are research topic suggestions, but no weblinks already found for you, so your kids or you have to go crawling the netz. The content in the "Plight of the Children" package includes information about sex workers and one iffy page suggests that teenagers working for piddlings at McDonalds are being exploited. Our favorite parts are: The gatherings are truly planned all out for you, with supply lists and activities to do each day to prepare. It holds your hand every step of the way. The "cultural experiences" package brings home the concepts of global economics even to preschoolers. The "adventure reads" are exciting. I love that I can tell my kid, "look up ___ subject online," without having to read the books he's reading first in order to think of a research subject. (Others dislike this; see below.) The notebooking! My kiddo has gotten in the habit of looking through all our books for info on a nation, then making a notebook page and sticking it in his binder. I wouldn't recommend buying the used one for sale on the swap boards because this was the first year the program was out, and there were flaws in it that I understand WP is working to correct in next year's edition. Also, WP will not extend customer service to resold products -- original owners only. If you have any other questions, I'd be glad to answer them. Also, here are the blogs of some moms using it this year: http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschooling6 Linda is combining it with MFW ECC. http://homeschoolblogger.com/bevg Bev is doing it over the course of two years, using WP's AS1 as well. http://momunscripted.wordpress.com/ Kim is doing it with her two fifth graders. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LaMereAcademy Becky was displeased with the program but appears to still be using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faline Posted February 21, 2008 Author Share Posted February 21, 2008 Thank you all so much! I can't seem to get on the WP forums for some reason, so can't check it out there at the moment, and I don't know where to find the yahoo groups. What is your opinion of the Make Your Own World Diary? Could the program be done without Draw Your World? It says it is a necessary resource, but it doesn't sound like my 5th grader would like it. So basically you learn about a country and then make a meal? I'm not sure I would want to make meals all year long. I wish I could see a picture of the large map and figures. I couldn't find anything on the website. Do you feel this worth $40? So as you learn of a country you put corresponding stickers on the map? It sounds so nice, but... We like some activities but not tooo much hands on. I'm not sure if this would fit the bill for us? Hmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Thank you all so much! I can't seem to get on the WP forums for some reason, so can't check it out there at the moment, and I don't know where to find the yahoo groups. Look here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WinterPromiseFamilies/ The forums seem to be down today. Try again in a few days. What is your opinion of the Make Your Own World Diary? It's a quality resource. We don't do every part every time, so it retains some interest for us. If you did do every part of the page every time, it'd probably get boring. The pages for each country are the same format. Could the program be done without Draw Your World? It says it is a necessary resource, but it doesn't sound like my 5th grader would like it. Yes, it could. That's the main source of political geography, though. So basically you learn about a country and then make a meal? I'm not sure I would want to make meals all year long. You read about the country in several different books, do research projects, add pictures, drawn or found, to your Travel Diary, fill in the Travel Diary pages, fill in maps, put stickers on the large map, fill out flashcards, drill with them, color in Dover coloring book pages, make a culturally specific meal, play national games, and/or imitate national holidays. You can pick one of those activities, or two or three, or different ones each week. I wish I could see a picture of the large map and figures. I couldn't find anything on the website. Do you feel this worth $40? So as you learn of a country you put corresponding stickers on the map? It sounds so nice, but... No, I would have used the wall map I already have is I'd realized WP's wasn't actually scaled to the stickers. Although, now that I think of it, the stickers aren't sold separately, and they're definitely worth the $40. You'd spend that much in ink and sticker paper to print them yourself. Okay, so, the map alone, not worth $40, but the map and stickers, definitely worth $40. For pictures, look through Kim's photostream: We like some activities but not tooo much hands on. I'm not sure if this would fit the bill for us? Hmmm... I think it might, unless you're an obsessive box checker. If you feel a compulsive need to do everything on the schedule for the day, this will be too crafty for you. If you like coordinated suggestions and are okay with choosing between options, you will have everything at your disposal to do whichever type of craft you decide you feel up to that day, or, none at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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