MommyInTraining Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 (edited) Well, I am leaning towards MFW ECC, but don't want to miss out on some of the elements that have drawn me to WP. So, could you all help me brainstorm and figure out how I can add the things I like from WP into MFW? I want to incorporate pieces from CAW and AW into ECC. Which resources do you think I could easily fit into ECC without much tweaking? I love WP's exclusives so I want to use them where I can in ECC. I am not very familiar with ECC. For incorporating AW, does ECC already focus on the animals for a particular region? One of the things the children really wanted to do from WP was the HIH. They were drawn to the construction of the hideaways. I see in WP's AW they have a book about animal habitats. Do you know if it actually consists of building habitats that could satisfy the need to construct something to play inside of? So, for those of you familiar with both companies, can you help me decide which parts of WP I can fit into ECC? This would be for a 10yo, 8yo, 6yo, and 4yo. Thanks so much! Edited April 10, 2009 by MommyInTraining Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in AUS Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I am putting together my own thing, kind of like what you are after. This is aimed at a 1st grader but could be extended for olders. Here are my rough plans if it helps at all. VERY much a work in progress. Day 1 Intro the country – picture or reference book from library or home selection Where is the country on the map? What is their flag like? Colour map & flag Day 2 Geography A – Z Do they have any specific/unusual landforms? Maps & Globes activity Day 3 Children Just like Me and/or Children Around the World Celebrate reading Material World What are their people like? What do they eat? Any cultural festivities? Day 4 Global Art What art do they do? Colouring page Possibly cook a national dish Day 5 Wild Places reading What habitats/biomes? What specific flora & fauna? National flora & fauna symbols Day 6 How does that flora & fauna interact with its habitat/biome? Why does it live there? What specific adaptation does the flora or fauna have? Any relevant experiments? If not then relevant flora, fauna or biome study Books 1. Children Just Like Me (already have) 2. Children Around the World Celebrate (already have) 3. Jacaranda Primary Atlas (already have) 4. DK Animals a Children’s Encyclopedia (already have) 5. Usborne Wild Places (Book Dep) 6. Geography A-Z (Book Dep) 7. Usborne science activities Vol 1 (Book Dep) 8. Maps & globes (Fishpond) 9. Material world – a global family portrait (Book Dep) 10. Around the World Colouring Book (Book Dep) 11. Global Art (Fishpond) 12. The Ultimate Flag Sticker Book (Book Dep) We will make a passport and travel to the various countries marking it on a map too. I looked at AW and ECC and I could not justify the expense nor could I deal with the level of christian content. Whilst I am a christian I really prefer to keep school secular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1shortmomto4 Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 In answer to your question about building the habitats that the kids could play in - the answer is probably no. I did AW last year (or was it the year before) and the habitats book talks about the various habitats that the animal lives in and what they need to survive. If my memory serves me, projects for the kids to create these habitats would be a birdhouse or bird bath or creating a garden/vegetation friendly environment in your yard that would welcome wildlife in so you can more closely observe. Definitely not the gladiator walls or submarines that you'll find in HIH. I think my 1st grader would love HIH but I'm finding it hard to figure out when I'd build this stuff. My teen son has offered to help but I have to figure out if that would really happen. I do love many of the WP programs because they offer something different. As for the CAW and ECC - I've been having the same discussion myself. I'd be using CAW for a 4th and 8th grader so I like the ideas of the new improvements with ECC but also don't think my dd would enjoy writing reports each week on a country. I grew up overseas in Africa and Asia and really want my kids to have a better understanding of the world outside the US - not just the different geographical settings but the comparison of what they have here in the US and what others don't have to make life easier - right down to a Christian faith. I like some of the WP books because I think that might achieve that goal but I'm not likely to cook and hold feasts each week from different countries. I still haven't found the right program that wouldn't require a lot of tweaking.... Heidi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z2_mom Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 This is my debate right now. I am thinking of combining AW with GTG. My dd really wants to learn about animals, so we are going with that. But I want her to learn more than just about the animals habitats. I would like her to learn about the countries, the people, the culture of the places where the animals live. With my eldest child we were able to travel much more---so she learned these things from life experiences. We went to the rain forests, etc. This child has experienced none of that. I need to bring that to her. I have to figure out how I am going to do that exactly. Lynda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jkiddhaven Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Wow! This is just the debate going on in my own mind! I have five to homeschool this year from twins who'll be in first grade up to a daughter going into tenth grade and I was trying to figure out how to use CAW or ECC over a large age span without spending a fortune. I may just have to put something together myself! I was really leaning toward Winter Promise because I like their emphasis on the plight of the children, but unless I can find it used it really is pricey when I add stuff for the older kids and math. So far, this is what I've come up with....I'm planning it with the older kids in mind and will adjust it for the little ones Trail guide to World Geography as the geography spine Geography from A-Z to dovetail for the little ones. This will give us direction as to what country/biome to focus on. I also plan on using the "make your own travel diary" from WP for some hands on fun. We'll use children of many lands, our world and material world to go along with this. Properties of Ecosystems for science. I'll take this and mix the chapters up to match our geography study. For my older children I've added Apologia's Earth Science. We'll also study the animals of each biome using Usborne's Animals of the world (because the animals are divided up by continent) and Animal Atlas for the little guys. For reading, I'll probably use the same adventure readers from CAW, just in the order of our geography study, maybe throw in a few from Sonlight's list too. Older kids are doing Hewitt Homeschooling's Lightning Literature World lit. program and the younger kids will do Winter Promise language arts. We'll also have math and French, so that should round us out. I think if I do it this way, it will be much more economical and more inclusive for my age ranges. I just have to get through the planning part...(my downfall - I always do better with an instruction guide to keep me on track!) If anyone else has any ideas, please let me know! Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyInTraining Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share Posted April 10, 2009 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 You have already seen samples of Cultures and Creatures geography right? I wish it was done. Well, maybe you wouldn't want it anyway, since it is secular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyInTraining Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share Posted April 10, 2009 Carmen, Can you send me the information again? I am swimming in all of this right now :001_smile:. Did you use resources from WP in it? I am really wanting to incorporate some of WP resources into whatever I use. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z2_mom Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 no I have not seen the Cultures and Creatures geography. I tried to google it but could not seem to find it. Could you post a link, please? Lynda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Well, I am leaning towards MFW ECC, but don't want to miss out on some of the elements that have drawn me to WP. So, could you all help me brainstorm and figure out how I can add the things I like from WP into MFW? It really won't be as hard as you are thinking. If you go to the sample of ECC and scroll down to the table of contents, you will see the focus on each continent, country, and biome http://www.mfwbooks.com/pdf/eccsample.pdf There is already time built into the ECC schedule for book basket, so any books you want to add can easily go there. There is also time built in for a lighter Friday and unstructured afternoons (at least if you are organized and get going in the morning). During those times, things like cooking & nature walks are scheduled, and other things are suggested (stamp collection, hymn study). You can switch it up for the things your kids most want to do. If they want to build habitats, why not read about the biome first and then let them brainstorm as to what they'd like to build? I think younger kids just get frustrated with specific directions and would prefer doing their own thing -- even if it doesn't look as "pretty" as what us adults would like. ECC provides the structure. It reminds you to include everything from music to art to praying for countries. It doesn't over-do any one thing so you are pinched into anything. You will be able to enjoy it! Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kisa in CA Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I agree with Julie, it will be easy to incorporate a few WP resources to ECC. I've used AW and ECC and think the best route is to use ECC as your spine, copy all the grid schedules and then go through and schedule out your WP resources at the beginning of the year on your copies. I then keep my current week on a 'working clipboard' that has everything written on it. I can then check things off and have it always handy with any supplemental sheets under my main weekly schedule. I did this with Children Just Like Me because I think it is the most incredible book to add to ECC. Your kids are at a perfect age for ECC. I hope you love it as much as we did. When we did AW we got tired of studying animals for a whole year. We only made it half way through. Here are my favorite resources from it: Children Just Like Me (You gotta get this one!) All the One Small Square books Alphabet Art The Animal Behavior Books (We got these from the library. I wouldn't buy them) The Kid's Wildlife Book Ed Emberly's Drawing book. Hope that helps! You are so ambitious. I'm tired just reading all that you want to do, but at the same time I admire you! Be careful not to plan too much! :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 (edited) no I have not seen the Cultures and Creatures geography. I tried to google it but could not seem to find it. Could you post a link, please? Lynda You probably haven't seen it because I shared it with the OP privately. :o Terri, it might help you with the combining of animals in with the cultures, but I wouldn't think you could use it alone since you want something more put together, and you are drooling over the WP resources. ;) There are projects for animals in Around the World Art and Activities. (Camels, Crocs, Snakes, Turtles, Lions, and a few more but that is off the top of my head.) Here is a link. http://www.homeschoolslikeus.com/user_blog.php 4CedarsClassicalSchool it is not nearly complete. I just now put it in from my Word file. Let's see... The bottom three entries are complete for first grade. Africa and parts of Asia are what we actually did in our homeschool, so they are scheduled appropriately (and have samples from what we did) but not complete. The rest is a combination of resources, some appropriate for 1st grade and others for 4th or 5th.:lol: I have plans to make several versions. Two (one that relies on Amazon and one that relies on the library) for K-2nd, two for 3rd-5th. I am working on other stuff right now, but I hope to have it half done by January. (Crazy I know.) I am not sure what I will make available for free and what I will plan to charge for at this point. Edited April 10, 2009 by Lovedtodeath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I was just thinking... Creating Clever Castles and Cars is available at my library. Maybe you could take a look at it and see if you could work it in. You could build a castle for Germany or England, Colusseom for Italy, car for Germany, a hut structure for Tanzania.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyInTraining Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share Posted April 10, 2009 I was just thinking... Creating Clever Castles and Cars is available at my library. Maybe you could take a look at it and see if you could work it in. You could build a castle for Germany or England, Colusseom for Italy, car for Germany, a hut structure for Tanzania.... Oooohhh! You are right Carmen, I didn't think of doing it that way! My library does have it. We have an awesome library system! Thanks so much for the suggestion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyInTraining Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share Posted April 10, 2009 (edited) ECC provides the structure. It reminds you to include everything from music to art to praying for countries. It doesn't over-do any one thing so you are pinched into anything. You will be able to enjoy it! Julie One of the things that WP uses in AW's is the One Small Square books. Do you think those could easily be incorporated into ECC? Thank you all so much for the suggestions!!! Woohoo!!!:hurray: Edited April 10, 2009 by MommyInTraining Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 One of the things that WP uses in AW's is the One Small Square books. Do you think those could easily be incorporated into ECC It should work out perfectly fine. Just pencil them into your ECC book basket list, or onto the grid under science for the books you have. ECC does recommend the Tundra one I think. And they recommend one of the Zoobooks. And one of practically every kind of book. They just don't overwhelm with all of everything! But when my ds took an interest in a certain type of book in ECC, we ordered all we could find from the library. It was a fun year for us. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z2_mom Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Thank you for the link. I know that I was not the original poster but you all have helped me. I to know that I can combine everything and it is doable! Off to start shopping---- thanks so much! lynda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I am glad it helped! I just added an outline of South America with the original resources scheduled (Kingfisher Atlas and Matertal World) before it was adapted for 1st grade. For this version you really need the library. The picture books scheduled are pricey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Carmen....do you still have any of the information you shared here? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Yes. I was trying to switch out the spine and never finished it. :P Here is a sample (a week for each section): Africa 1. Identify on globe. 2. Identify the countries that are to be studied. 3. Complete Draw Write Now II page 28 “Draw a map of Africa†4. DWN II: 10-26, I 14-17 5. Usborne Living World Encyclopedia :Read about Grasslands, picking out information as it applies to the African Savanna pages 38-48, Mountains page 79, Rainforests 96, 104 6. Around the World Art and Activities p. 62; The Biography of Coffee 7. Complete Note-booking Page for Africa, putting animal stickers, and books read in appropriate areas. Do a separate page with detailed information about one favorite animal. Egypt i. Look in your Atlas or Encyclopedia if you wish ii. In an Egyptian City Khaled Eldesh iii. Nile River j962 CUM j916.2 KRE iv. Around the World Art and Activities p. 63 The Great Pyramid v. Complete a note-booking page on Egypt Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mali i. Atlas 62 ii. MW 28 iii. Anthology +* page 369: The Goat Well iv. Zomo the Rabbit v. Bintou’s Braids by Sylvaine Diouf vi. Elizabeti’s Doll vii. Mama Elizabeti viii. I lost my tooth in Africa ix. Count your way through Africa J 916 HAS x. Add to your note-booking page on Africa Congo/ Cameroon i. Atlas 65 ii. Material World 144 iii. Monkey for Sale by Sanna Stanley iv. Madoulina: A Girl who wanted to go to school by Joel Eboueme Bognomo v. Vacation in the Village by Pierre Yves Njeng vi. The Village of Round and Square Houses vii. Oh, no, Toto! Katrin Hyman Tchna viii. Complete a note-booking page on The Congo with pictures and descriptions of favorite books. and I can email you my MSWord files. They were taken down from lulu. I was supposed to convert them. Just let me know if you want them now, or after I plug in all of the new spines (The atlas was one of them). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) and I can email you my MSWord files. They were taken down from lulu. I was supposed to convert them. ... after I plug in all of the new spines (The atlas was one of them).Done. Will your facebook email work? I will send it as soon as I know you are looking for it. :) You can see examples of some of our projects and notebook pages here: Geography Edited February 1, 2012 by Lovedtodeath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I am enjoying this thread. I have been using my time mushing together SL Eastern Hemisphere, Christan Cottage Unit Study Vol2, and things I have on my shelf. This past week I decided to bring in some of WP CATW. Now I need to look at more stuff! I am starting to feel like by the time I have exactly what I am wanting I will be a little crazy and a little broke! Carmen do you feel like books along the lines of The History of Coffee and those used in WP CATW's cultural experiences set add significantly to the understanding of a region? (my son will be in 4th grade) Thanks- Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I am enjoying this thread. I have been using my time mushing together SL Eastern Hemisphere, Christan Cottage Unit Study Vol2, and things I have on my shelf. This past week I decided to bring in some of WP CATW. Now I need to look at more stuff! I am starting to feel like by the time I have exactly what I am wanting I will be a little crazy and a little broke! Carmen do you feel like books along the lines of The History of Coffee and those used in WP CATW's cultural experiences set add significantly to the understanding of a region? (my son will be in 4th grade) Thanks- Mandy Yes and no. The information about the industries really adds a lot of understanding of the culture, but they were way too advanced for 2nd grade... 4th grade is really a toss-up. I would not require him to read it all, as each page is really full of information. I would definitely feel comfortable using them in 6th grade. I plan to use them again when DD is in 7th, along with the WP language arts for that program. My library had most of them, hopefully you can check them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Yes and no. The information about the industries really adds a lot of understanding of the culture, but they were way too advanced for 2nd grade... 4th grade is really a toss-up. I would not require him to read it all, as each page is really full of information. I would definitely feel comfortable using them in 6th grade. I plan to use them again when DD is in 7th, along with the WP language arts for that program. My library had most of them, hopefully you can check them out. Thanks! Will do- Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I'm using Expedition Earth along with ECC when we do our next round (next year). The EE has an animal study incorporated with it and I believe it will be very easy to use with ECC. (I'm creating my own curricula, using parts of Galloping the Globe, ECC, Expedition Earth, and Journey into Africa). There is already a lot of overlap with the resources used, so it won't be as mind-boggling as it sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrightmom Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I'm using Expedition Earth along with ECC when we do our next round (next year). The EE has an animal study incorporated with it and I believe it will be very easy to use with ECC. (I'm creating my own curricula, using parts of Galloping the Globe, ECC, Expedition Earth, and Journey into Africa). There is already a lot of overlap with the resources used, so it won't be as mind-boggling as it sounds. Do you have a basic idea of how this will work? I am working on a similar plan although I don't have Journey into Africa. After looking through samples at CBD I love it! There aren't enough years to study with my kids.... Please share any details if you don't mind. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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