That's a good point, JennNC. I think I saw some of that this year, even in R to R.  My older two have enjoyed the history/stories, but my younger two simply endured. I actually moved them on to other activities for most of our history readings. I think it was encouraging their tendency to not give attention to my reading. They did sit in on the historical fiction(Bronze Bow, Twice Freed, Door in the Wall) but much of it went over their heads.

I've looked through the plan for Exploration to 1850 and see several books down in the 2-3rd supplement that my younger ones will enjoy.  I'll check PaperbackSwap for those, buy George Washington's World/The World of William Penn, and pull some of the Beautiful Feet books we have on our shelves already. 

I see more and more that while I like many of their "Deluxe" suggestions, there's too much in the "Basic" package that I want to weed out/substitute. Having said that, I'll admit that if I had not found this site/the Organizer, I most likely would have bought the MFW all-in-one again.  Mainly for the security that I felt having a TM on my shelf, I guess.

We were very long time MFW users. We left because as we got toward the end of the 5 year cycle, there were less and less engaging living books on the listening level of the majority of my children. My oldest would have been fine with it, but I have many more kids than just my oldest to think about and plan for...

We are currently using their Rome to Reformation plan. Overall, I've been pretty happy with MFW. This is our third year. We were SL users before that. While I've enjoyed many aspects of MFW and we have a great MFW co-op here in town, I'm planning to do my own planning next year. I love the SCM Organizer and I would much prefer to have that then the MFW Teacher's Manual. (same price really) Plus there were always books I wasn't thrilled with, and wished I had bought others.

csmamma - my DD, almost 14 will be doing MFW's 1st year of high school this coming fall...Ancient History and Literature...we printed the 'sample' off for her...and she's super excited (good sample!)

I am not planning on using MFW. :) I just can't handle an all-in-one curriculum. I want to be able to choose things for myself.

You can check my blog to see what we use. It is just a big 'ol mix of things :)

 

Oh, Amanda!  I've had to try most of them so I have thoroughly made sure there was no way I could have missed an "all-in-one" that might work.  I just don't work that way either, and I have had to learn it the hard way.

Kathi,

I am not planning on using MFW. :) I just can't handle an all-in-one curriculum. I want to be able to choose things for myself.

You can check my blog to see what we use. It is just a big 'ol mix of things :)

http://teachthemdiligently-amanda.blogspot.com/

My 15yo ds really wants to do MFW highschool next year. We're going to check it out a local convention later this month. The younger guides look much like when we did Sonlight curriculum years ago. We'll see...

We are doing Adventures this year for American History and State Study (only using the history portion).  The girls are loving it, and it is right for us at this season.  We needed something to fill in a gap before we start something else this fall.  We aren't going to continue with MFW after Adventures, but I have to admit, it's a lovely program as well.  

we are still doing MFW..... but I did just order TQ History guides today.  Guess we will see where that leads us :)  

I just wanted to pop in here, and, like Amanda, apologize for my 'bad mouthing' of MFW. We did walk away from the curriculum for a few months, but I found myself floundering through our planning. These books from that list, those books from this list...I quickly did miss my Teacher's Manual (just the 'author's notes'...was I having a bad day or what?).

I think you really do need to get to the place in your homeschooling journey where the curriculum becomes your tool...instead of 'chains.' We don't use MFW like anyone else that I know of...but the last few months, when we've had freedom from planning...have been the best couple of months of homeschooling we've ever had in our 3 yr HSing journey.

Heather - I've heard many people compare MFW and HOD...they must be very similar. I agree with you...History and Science are my biggies...everything else just flows.

Amanda - I'm curious (after a few months to think about it)...are you going to try CtG next year?

And, Debbie - did you leave MFW? Funny, after we've been back with it for a while, my DD, 13, said, "I missed MFW!" I guess it was me who wanted to ditch, and not really the kids...makes me wonder about all the worrying I do with school...are they learning? are they having fun? do they like it? (and if I just have 'grass is greener' syndrome...or just wanna try to the newest curriculum...or so and so's Mom loves this!...)

sigh...I really hope this is it for us. (Oh, and SCM's and AO's booklists, of course!)

Kathi

Do you mean a scope and sequence for My Father's World or Simply Charlotte Mason?

MFW: this is a link to their site MFW 5 year cycle

SCM: this is a link to the SCM Curriculum Guide

I really should not have "bad mouthed" MFW in my previous post. I apologize for that. It is a good program, and like all "boxed" curricula, it has to be adjusted to fit your family. I do like the fact that it is all planned out for me. I just get frustrated easily when I have to re-adjust things more than one time. But, after thinking about it, re-adjusting is better than never ending planning IMHO! :)

Where can I find scope and sequence? I have seen it referred to more than once. It sounds like a valuable resource.

I had posted about a week ago about MFW and wondering what curriculum to choose.  I finally decided against MFW and SCM for the most part.  I've felt constricted by the guides from Heart of Dakota that we use now (similar to MFW) and began to despise and resent it for the same reasons I loved it to begin with (as previous post experienced).

I am thankful that we've decided upon TruthQuest for History and Answers in Genesis for Science...then stick with our own Bible, Math and L.A., read alouds.   We'll have the freedom to choose everything else based upon our needs/interests rather than being told what to do daily by our convenient all-inclusive guide.  I will say I'm thankful for the experience that HOD has given me because now I really do feel confident enough to step forward with my own children's interests in mind with minimal hand holding.  For me, as long as I know I have a good dependable History and Science plan, everything is as easy as pie:)

I am not really unhappy with the teacher's guide, but I do not feel that my children are learning as much as they could with ECC. We have had to leave out some of the resources that they suggest because of different reasons, and thus I feel that I have bare bones learning going on. I have been pulling in as many library books in as possible, but there is only so much out there on different countries for children to read.

I do not like the science at all. I have had to pull out some old Abeka text books to try and explain some of the concepts in the ECC science to my children (like classification and forests) The book Properties of Ecosystems is way over their heads. The Living Science Encyclopedia is just a jumbled up mess of information on each page.

I chose this for this year so that I could stop worrying about planning for a time and figure things out for the future myself. However, I have had to do so much changing and tweaking that I may as well have planned this year too. ;(

I don't know if I will continue with Creation to the Greeks next year or not. I have a feeling that I will not....but I have no idea what I will do. 

We haven't actually left MFW yet but I am considering it.  I have a 7th grader who likes it a lot, 3rd grader who is ok with it and a 1st grader who is not using MFW at all.  

We have used MFW for quite a few years but for the same reason I loved it, I also despise it.  I feel so trapped by the schedule and that feeling has gotten old. I also am not so sure I like the "textbookish" feel to some of the books.  I am considering letting my 7th grader continue with the history readings in MFW if he wishes and probably combine my 1st and 3rd graders together with more read alouds, living books and just generally CM.

All my children love the read aloud time and my 7th grader has expressed doing that only but I am not sure about ditching the history spine just yet.  Overall, I just feel we need a change.  

Debbie