Can anyone stand yet another MFW question?

[sclisa]

Arrgh...it's driving me a bit batty (but, then, I don't have far to go). First a brief reminder of my ds. He was hs'd until this year, now he's in ps. Next year, he'll be coming back home. I'll consider him 3rd/4th grade. 4th grade by age (he'll be 9) and some subjects, but other subjects he'll definitely be only in the 3rd.

Wonderfully kind, helpful people here have given me enough info. to make me fairly certain that I want to use CTG with him next year. He's very hands-on, and I think this will be an excellent fit for him. We'll be adding SOTW to the book basket.

*However*, after perusing the MFW site, I'm uncertain whether it will be a problem that he won't be doing Adventures. He hasn't yet had a year where we focused on the 50 states, etc. This year in ps, they've effectively done no history or social studies whatsoever. Soooo, I'm wondering whether I need to get Adventures and do it over 1 or 2 summers. I'm thinking it will be way too light for our main "school year", but I'm wondering whether he needs to get this information.

Should I try to cover the info. in Adventures now or in the summer, or will it be fine to just start with CTG? Thanks for any & all opinions.

Lisa

[profmom]

I think it will be fine to go with CtG next year without doing Adventures. MFW created Adventures to be used with the oldest child in the family between their 1st grade program and ECC -- all younger children join in the history cycle at wherever the family is when they finish 1st grade. (So, lots of dc don't do Adventures at all.) Plus, your dc will have the more thorough American history with years 3 & 4.

[sclisa]

That was the info. I was looking for. I'll continue on with my original plan.

Have a great day!

Lisa

[Ferdie]

Hi Lisa,

I read your post and am so curious about your ps experience. Two of my children really, really want to go to public school next year. They would be going into 3rd and 4th grade and we are praying about it.

I would love to hear about your experience.

[cbollin]

That was the info. I was looking for. I'll continue on with my original plan.

Have a great day!

Lisa

Lisa,

Just wanted to make sure you know about this information since you live in South Carolina. David Hazell of MFW is giving a conference this coming weekend. Here's a quick link to the information in case it is in your part of SC
info on that conference (http://www.mfwbooks.com/pdf/NC_Conference_Feb_8_2008.pdf)

I don't get over here on this forum as much anymore, but am curious why you are skipping ECC.

[sclisa]

cbollin, Thanks for the information. I wasn't aware of this event at all, so I'm glad that you clued me in. I'll be printing the info. & discussing it with dh. It would be great to hear Mr. Hazell (sp) speak. Ummm...regarding ECC, I don't have a really good answer for that. CTG really resonates with me. It seems as if it will be the right "fit" for ds. It will also put me in the 4-year rotation that I'd like to continue. I've looked at the sample lessons for ECC and CTG, and CTG seems as if it would be the more interesting (for ds) of the two. I also planned to add in SOTW I which was what I was going to use exclusively until I looked at MFW. Ds is quite interested in the ancients, so I thought it would be a good fit.

I'm really interested in hearing your thoughts, though. Do you feel that I would be doing a disservice to ds by skipping it?

To Ferdie... Sure! I'd be happy to share our ps experience. There are pros & cons of course. This year, our dd is in ps as a freshman, our other dd is in ps 6th grade & ds is in ps 2nd grade. Ummm...the pros would mainly be social and the ease with which extra opportunities are available. I'll just focus on ds' experiences since you asked about the elementary age. If you want to know more about the other grades, just let me know.

Having various extracurricular activities available has been fabulous. He can participate in a "Mad Science" program and also a "KidsArt" program. That's been nice. He also had a Spanish program that was available, but due to scheduling & cost, we did not participate. Another extra was having swimming lessons as part of his PE program. That was also pretty nifty. He has had some in-depth field trips (some cultural, some more "exploratory") which I felt were beneficial. Of course, none of these things are things we couldn't do as hs'ers...it's just that doing them through the school made them much more affordable.

The school offers some wonderful programs as part of their regular curriculum as well. One is an advanced vocabulary study. A special teacher comes in and works with the children, and they do really neat word comparisons and activities that relate to building vocabulary. I've witnessed the program and it is truly wonderful. The problem is with funding. They are only able to offer it once a week, so it doesn't have the impact that it could.

My list of cons starts with: poor communication -- I can get the teacher to communicate, but only through persistant prodding :^); we get information late; administration doesn't really seem to know what's happening with their own school; banning parents from volunteering if they have children younger than school age (I don't have anyone who can watch my youngest during the school day & I choose not to use a daycare-type setting).

Another con would be something that is often the case with ps: inability to cater a subject to an individual child. No child is "average." So, it's difficult to see some children struggle while others are bored in a given subject. No one seems to "fit" the average pace. This is usually because there is only one teacher and there are 20 kids. Bottom line...this is part of why many of us choose to hs. :)

There are many more pros/cons that I could share. Please ask if you have questions that I didn't address.

Have a great day!

Lisa

[cbollin]

Lisa,

I think ECC is a great year that has a lot of fun stuff covered. It helped us to learn how to picture ourselves in other parts of the world when we would read stories about other places. It was great to learn not just about the history of the world, but also to learn about those places and people now.

You could always do ECC after CTG and before RTR if you wanted. He'd still be able to do the full cycle before high school if I understand his grade level right (4th in the fall?)

[sclisa]

Yes, he'll be 4th in the fall (even though he's in ps 2nd...that is a very long & ridiculous story). Would you be willing to give me a few more details about ECC? To be honest, it didn't interest me much when I looked at it on the website. It seemed a bit 'young.' But, perhaps it's not that way at all since you mentioned that I could still do it *after* CTG? It's *so* hard to get a feel for things without seeing it in its entirety. Maybe I'm missing something. If so, please feel free to enlighten me. I'm always willing to keep an open mind. :D

Thanks!

Lisa

[cbollin]

Well, I am very pressed for time right now. Here is a post on MFW’s message board by Julie in MN that explains a lot about ECC. She said it better than I could.
more about ECC (http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?p=26531&highlight=#26531)

Sorry to be so brief I just saw the time. The way this board bumps messages I might not find this thread again easily tomorrow, so I at least wanted to answer a tiny bit.

-crystal

[sclisa]

This gives me something to think & pray about. I should probably wander over to MFW's forum and do some reading. We've done some studies about various countries/cultures, but that was in his first grade year at home, *and* we didn't focus much on the Biblical aspect during those studies. At that time, we were doing a separate Bible program. I suppose I just need to pray and research a bit more before making a final decision. Thanks for your questions, which made me think, and your helpful answers to mine. :)

Have a great day!

Lisa