Anyone tried Learning Adventures unit studies?

[5sweeties]

I'm in my 2nd year of homeschooling my 5 dc. I'm feeling a "little" worn out this year, and am trying to figure out what to do for next year. I've tried and tried to simplify a classical approach for fall 2008, but am coming up with more confusion, and more and more programs to squish into each day. I have a friend who has been using A World of Adventure this year, for her son, and really enjoys it. I'm just wondering if this is something that would be possible to use with my 4 youngest dc...who will be 10, 8, 7 and 6? How are the academics in AWOA and the other volumes? (My friend is not as worried about this as I am, so I really don't know if I can take her advice on this or not.) My greatest fear is that we will try something like this, only to have them fall behind academically. Right now, I'd say they are all average or above average in all subjects. I don't want to loose the momentum that classical homeschooling has given us, but I'm afraid, at this point, if I continue like this, we will wind-up with them all back in school sooner than later.

We tried TOG for a couple months, this fall, but the religious content was not what I was looking for. Also, I would have prefered something that was more all-inclusive. I felt like it was just the "hard way" to do history, as that was all we used it for. When we stopped using it, I simply replaced it with SOTW, and didn't have any other gaps to fill.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[Deb in NZ]

It was the first year I had all 3dc HS/ing. We really enjoyed AWOA & it helped us to get into a routine that worked for us. Some pros & cons of using AWOA with a wide range of ages:

Pros
Bible: The short bible study at the beginning of each day really helped us to focus on what was really important.
Literature: There is only 1-2 "required" books each unit & they are to be read aloud.
English: The grammar & writing assignments were well organized & meshed well with the topics studied.
The Arts: All 3 of my dc really enjoyed our hands-on projects & have a "treasure box" full of their creations from that year.

Cons
Science: Science was very light.
Geography: SOTW AGs was much better

How we used AWOA
I planned to complete one AWOA unit each 10-week term. This had us completing 3 AWOA days in a week. We also worked through SOTW 1&2 during that time, using the AGs. Our day's routine was 3Rs (math, reading, phonics, etc.), & either AWOA or SOTW. I didn't try to fit AWOA & SOTW together, but simply worked through each in order, completing 3 AWOA lessons & 1-2 SOTW chapters each week. I would pick & choose which projects to do from both AWOA & SOTW. For mapping we used the SOTW AGs. My 11yod completed the writing portion of the AWOA lessons. My dd & 9yos worked through the grammar assignments. My 5yos enjoyed the RA literature & the hand-on projects.

AWOA was right for us during that season. It took us 2 years to complete, but was great for transitioning from PS to HS as a family. AWOA is not designed for independent study & requires (IMHO) a lot of teacher time to be done well. But AWOA can be great for a family that likes learning together. AWOA does not need much prep time as it is an "open & go" curriculum, complete with shopping list at the beginning of each unit. I would suggest getting the student pages as they enabled my 9yos to work on the grammar pages.

Blessings,