Tell me about Winter Promise

[Pip]

The good, the bad and the ugly.

 

thanks,

Ann

[SnowWhite]

I was thrilled to find WinterPromise during the second half of our K year. I had just had the epiphany that we were *not* going to go the "worktext" route. (CLE was what I had in mind).

 

WinterPromise appeals to me because:

 

1) It targets a wide variety of learning styles

2) It includes high quality lit but also visually appealing books

3) Combining children for history, science, Bible, literature, arts and crafts is encouraged and possible

4) Themes are not aimed at specific grade levels exclusively, so they are interchangeable in sequence which makes planning flexible.

5) It offers DVD and website suggestions.

6) Timeline use is scheduled and ready-made supplies offered.

7) No library trips are required, except for Hideaways if you want to use the "You Wouldn't Want To" series.

8) The language arts program is traditional workbook based, gentle yet thorough.

9) Readers and creative writing are theme-related (integrated).

10) The instructor guide is user friendly. It's "just the facts", without a lot of superfluous extra notes for me to wade through (one page per week for the theme schedule, which can lie opposite the one page for one grade level of LA).

11) It's a four day schedule.

12) The pace is manageable.

13) The different subjects are mostly separate, so you can be ahead in science or behind in spelling and it won't make a big difference, not a bunch of flipping around in the guide.

14) The Brooks, the family who writes the guides and pretty much singlehandedly runs the business are sweet and helpful.

 

Bad and ugly: Some folks don't like the resale policy (WP "exclusives" including the instructor guide are requested not to be resold). I can see wisdom in this because most of it is looseleaf and way too easy for folks to pirate.

 

Occasionally there are tech issues, backorders, or communication problems because the company is SO small. On the bright side, I can still get Don Brooks (father of the family, author of some programs) almost every time I call. So he does his best to solve these kinds of issues in his kind-hearted way. (I've personally never had these issues, but have heard of some customers who did).

Edited May 1, 2009 by SnowWhite

[siloam]

:iagree: with Jennifer!

 

Heather

[Mandy in TN]

I was thrilled to find WinterPromise during the second half of our K year. I had just had the epiphany that we were *not* going to go the "worktext" route. (CLE was what I had in mind).

 

WinterPromise appeals to me because:

 

1) It targets a wide variety of learning styles

2) It includes high quality lit but also visually appealing books

3) Combining children for history, science, Bible, literature, arts and crafts is encouraged and possible

4) Themes are not aimed at specific grade levels exclusively, so they are interchangeable in sequence which makes planning flexible.

5) It offers DVD and website suggestions.

6) Timeline use is scheduled and ready-made supplies offered.

7) No library trips are required, except for Hideaways if you want to use the "You Wouldn't Want To" series.

8) The language arts program is traditional workbook based, gentle yet thorough.

9) Readers and creative writing are theme-related (integrated).

10) The instructor guide is user friendly. It's "just the facts", without a lot of superfluous extra notes for me to wade through (one page per week for the theme schedule, which can lie opposite the one page for one grade level of LA).

11) It's a four day schedule.

12) The pace is manageable.

13) The different subjects are mostly separate, so you can be ahead in science or behind in spelling and it won't make a big difference, not a bunch of flipping around in the guide.

14) The Brooks, the family who writes the guides and pretty much singlehandedly runs the business are sweet and helpful.

 

Bad and ugly: Some folks don't like the resale policy (WP "exclusives" including the instructor guide are requested not to be resold). I can see wisdom in this because most of it is looseleaf and way too easy for folks to pirate.

 

Occasionally there are tech issues, backorders, or communication problems because the company is SO small. On the bright side, I can still get Don Brooks (father of the family, author of some programs) almost every time I call. So he does his best to solve these kinds of issues in his kind-hearted way. (I've personally never had these issues, but have heard of a some custoers who did).

:iagree: I can't think of anything to add! Mandy

[PeterPan]

For which core? Good, bad, and ugly?

 

Good:

-the materials meld into any other approach you might decide to jump to, because they are inherently good

-the money you spend resolves once and for all any secret longings you had to buy it

-it's an approach to fall back on when you get tired of planning it yourself

-you might actually learn a few things about other ways to plan your day, schedule your materials, etc.

 

Bad

-small-time business that is rather disjointed in service. When I order something, I actually want to receive it, and promptly, and without calling to tell them I indeed wanted it sent before summer.

-the books for the cores are not classic and go out of print rather quickly, meaning they can't provide you with complete cores consistently

-heavily paper-driven

-low in writing of the WTM style, but then I guess it never claimed to be a WTM-type approach

-a lot and yet not necessarily what you want to do, meaning you then feel guilty about skipping stuff

-skips academic stuff you might consider foundational (mapping the explorers was skipped, etc.). I'm not saying there's no academic work, but it isn't exactly HO and full of it and careful to include it either.

 

Ugly?

-you have to decide how you feel about their request not to resell stuff.

 

The worst part is that the materials feel just thrown together, like a lot of pages scheduled without that special magic that comes from a mom who has USED them. And I'm not the only person to say that. It's easy to see in WP AC1. I have no clue what all they used. Maybe they used and beta-tested every single core and the real issue is just a difference in style? I don't know. I'm just saying for me it feels like they didn't actually teach the materials to a dc the way it's written. Some people take the materials and turn them into magic. For some people it falls apart. You don't feel like you're using someone else's magic when you do WP, at least I don't. You feel like you're using someone else's plans, no better than plans I could have taken the time to draw up myself. Personally, I want plans that are BETTER than what I could have drawn up myself, plans that reflect an insight into the materials, something they add to it, not just dividing up a bunch of pages.

 

Everybody has expectations and what fits them. We had a lot of fun with WP AC for a while in my post-partum time when I was too tired and crazy to do more. My dd started to hate TT, so it fell apart for us. There's really not much left to AC if you toss TT, lol. If you want it and can find it used, buy it, get it out of your system. There's such a learning curve to programs anyway. You can't really know how it will work for you and your dc till you buy it.

[luvnlattes]

This is our first year with WP and it's been great for us. I have a 2nd grader, 4th grader, and 5th grader.

 

We used Sonlight for 2 years. It was o.k. Some of the books we loved while there were others we barely made it through. I felt like we did soooo much reading but I wanted my kids to spend some time experiencing what we were learning. I did add in some hands on activities but I didn't like having to search out and order additional items. I also used their LA program and my kids didn't retain a lot of it.

 

I stumbled upon WinterPromise last summer and it has been a blessing for us.

 

We are using AS2 and really enjoying it. I added in the Middler Pack for the 5th grader. The read alouds have been hard to put down. I've only had complaints about one of the readers so far. I like that there are so many options for activities but I can pick and choose the ones that are a good fit for us. I also like the pace. I don't feel rushed if we get off on a tangent somewhere and I like that I can shuffle things around if I need to.

 

We're in WWII so in our reading today for example, we learned all about the goods America produced for the war. We learned about how families and individuals were leaving rural areas for cities. We watched a video online about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Then 2 of my boys played an online game finding "Top Secret Files" and answering the questions held inside in order to keep the Ninja Headquarters from re-writing history about WWII. The kids had a great time and got to experience the time period in a variety of forms.

 

As for the bad, I'm not crazy about the LA. I prefer it to Sonlight but we will be doing other things for LA next year. Items are often backordered so you may receive your package in 2 or more shipments. And lastly, you should preview the IG a week or two in advance because things don't always line up. Last week we were supposed to listen to FDR's speech to Congress about the bombing of Pearl Harbor but we weren't actually reading about that until this week.

 

I don't know if that helps you in any way but that's been our experience.

[Pip]

I am looking at Quest for the Ancient World 4/6. It looks intriguing and I like the book list. I feel confident enought to adjust as needed as well as deal with service issues.

 

Thanks!

Ann