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Comparing Beautiful Feet and SCM history
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Hi, just wondering if anyone has used both of these curriculums and could fill me in on the differences between them. I know that SCM includes Bible, but other than that… Does one take more time than the other? Are the books interesting (specifically to boys)? How easy are they to do with multiple ages? What about cost of books or availability at the library?
My younger children are boys. I’m wanting to do my 8th, 6th, 4th and maybe 2nd grader together next year. I also will have an 11th grade DD but not sure if she’ll want to join us or not. Plus there will be 1 and 4 year old boys hanging around. Any insite into what would be interesting for the boys and doable in a busy household would be appreciated. I’m thinking of doing either middle ages or early American time periods.
Thanks for listening!
Having chosen to do Beautiful Feet this year, I can honestly say that BF takes a lot of time. The readings in the guide are quite lengthy and do not allow time for mulling over and reflection. There is a lot of reading scheduled and it’s pretty hard to keep up, unless you plan on stretching a time period over more than a school year. You could always take OUT some of the readings scheduled and customize it.
I’ll be using SCM’s schedule next year. For sure. I appreciate the scheduled readings for ALL grades and the readings are short enough where the children aren’t bogged down. I wish I had gone with SCM this year. Oh well. Live and learn. 😉
(I have and 11 [almost 12] year old, 8.5 yo, nearly 7yo)
Thank you, that’s helpful to know. I thought I heard somewhere that it’s hard to do BF in the three days a week that’s scheduled and some do it everyday so the readings are shorter. I’m scared to use a planned curriculum because I hate the feeling of checking boxes and being behind! I do have the feeling that SCM would be more manageable, though.
We did BF American History for grades k-3 and we all loved it. Mine were ages 5 & 7 then. It was not too much each lesson for that guide. But for multiple ages, you would need multiple BF guides. I liked the character focus of BF. But we moved right into SCM and liked it too. We really liked the spine Stories of America with SCM. Both guides use a lot of the d’Aulaire books for the little ones. We liked these books.
Oh dear. I really like the books scheduled in Beautiful Feet and was hoping it would be a good fit for us for many years to come. I am planning to use the California guide next year, but had planned to spread that over the whole year (they list it as being for one semester).
I wanted to add that I’ve found SCM very easy to substitute books into. I was drawn to a few Bethlehem Books from the Middle Ages time period. Instead of doing all the Louise Vernon biographies, I’ve replaced a few of them with some Bethlehem Books. Maybe you could add in a couple of the Beautiful Feet books that catch your eye? It would still give you the lighter load of SCM’s history.
I am using BF primary American History with my kids (they are young – DS6 & DS4). We have really enjoyed it this year. I don’t really follow the schedule or use the questions in the guide, but I still find it helpful to have it because there are some nice quotes and photos. There is also a free downloadable picture packet on the BF website that we have enjoyed. The recommended books have been wonderful and my son has really developed his narration skills with the good living books.
All that said, I have decided to slow down as we approach Western Expansion and the Oregon Trail. We live in the west so I really want to savor this period in history and dig into it deeper. I am going to do the BF recommended books next year, but add a bunch more and maybe some picture books to stretch it out over a year. Love the flexibility of homeschool!
Anna
Thanks everyone! I guess whatever I chose I need to be ok with adjusting if needed. Both programs seem to have great living literature and that’s what is most important. I just need to not be a slave to the schedule. I was burnt out on checking boxes and have done my own thing the last 2 years because of it. Now I’m cautious about pre-planned things. Trying to decide if I should buy the plan or Make my own with the SCM scheduling book and DVD…
If you are comfortable with making your own, then do that. I am getting farther away from guides and doing more of my own plan. But it takes time to plan it out. I find there is always one or two books that are not the right fit for us when someone else has planned it out. But I have a tendency to overschedule too many books when I plan it. Too many books and so little time.
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