Tell me about Winter Promise

[Amber in AUS]

I have not had my head buried in the sand but until someone recently posted a link to their site i had not seen their material, not for want of trying. I had googled them but came up with something else, not what people we talking about.

So, what can you tell me about their programs. Some of them look great like Children Around the World and Animals and Their Worlds. If you are using these programs and others offered by WP are you also using their LA program? What else do you have to add? Obviously math.

How is it working for your family?

I have DD and DS 18m apart and am thinking that it might be a nice way to combine them for 2010 which will see DD in 1st and DS in Pre-K. If it works well we would do the same the following year.

I have checked out Sonlight in the past and it just doesn't grab me but WP seems more my style perhaps?? I'm still trying to work the style out.

OK, next question is what do i work on with DD while we are waiting for DS to catch up? I had planned on doing cultural geography this year but will put that off if i go for WP.

[OhElizabeth]

WP is SL with hands-on stuff added. It tends to be really heavy on paper-crafting (AS1, Time Travelers, etc.). You don't have to do their LA (which opinions seem mixed on) to do the cores. You could do their Animal Worlds right now and have a ball. It uses the Eric Carle book, Alphabet Art, and others that would be great with the ages of your kids. We did Alphabet Art when my dd was 3-5, so your kids are right on for it.

[alilac]

WP has a lot of hands on activities. But even though it says pre-K, if I were you, I'd check the books on Amazon and see if they're too old for your children. In my opinion, the prefect age for this is at least K-2nd and actually 1-3rd. But if your child is a voracious reader and loves it, you may be able to get a way with using it for prek-k.

[Penelope]

Conventional wisdom from people who have used Children Around the World says it is ideally for 4th-5th grade. When it first came out I think it said minimum of first grade but then they changed it to 2nd-6th.

I like the idea of the Animal Worlds program and thought about using it for kindergarten. But the One Small Square books I borrowed from the library, which are the base of the program, were a little too much for my son to get a lot out of at that age. So you may want to check out some of the books. I also checked out the craft books, and most of them are animals made from paper towel tubes, or paper plates, that kind of thing, which some kids would absolutely love, but is not really of interest to my kids. So I also recommend checking out the books first-- just like with Sonlight, the only thing the guides really do is coordinate and schedule out the resources for you.

[Tiffani]

So, what can you tell me about their programs. Some of them look great like Children Around the World and Animals and Their Worlds. If you are using these programs and others offered by WP are you also using their LA program? What else do you have to add? Obviously math.

How is it working for your family?

I have DD and DS 18m apart and am thinking that it might be a nice way to combine them for 2010 which will see DD in 1st and DS in Pre-K. If it works well we would do the same the following year.

I have checked out Sonlight in the past and it just doesn't grab me but WP seems more my style perhaps?? I'm still trying to work the style out.

OK, next question is what do i work on with DD while we are waiting for DS to catch up? I had planned on doing cultural geography this year but will put that off if i go for WP.

We are currently using Animals & Their Worlds w/ my younger 2 dss (7 yo & 5yo) We are having the best time! The books are great, very colorful and interesting. We love the art projects. One thing WP is known for is giving you a supply list and telling you to stock an art closet before school starts. So when I open a book and it says to make something, I don't have to scramble for supplies. It's very open-and-go. I am a previous SL user and I much prefer the hands-on method along w/ good literature. I actually am enjoying the books more too. We were not big Usborne fans (no arrows please, it's just a matter of opinion ;)

I am using LA 1 and randomly LA Pre-K (my 5 yo just turned 5 last week). I personally like WP's LA. I've used SL's for years, then tried piecing LA's together myself and to have it all there for me is wonderful. They teach phonics horizontally which means they teach sounds using phonogram cards like SWR. But they also teach word families. After using SWR for several years, I actually like this alternative. I will continue to use their LA's programs. I need someone to tell me what to teach and what books to read.

Now on to my older 2 boys. We are using Quest for the Middle Ages, LA 4 and LA 7. After using SL, then trying TOG, then going back to Mystery of History I was thrilled to find WP. I love having read-alouds that coincide w/ what we're reading in history and I need a schedule! I don't have time w/ 4 boys to put everything together myself. I've done it, but I don't like it. When I saw that WP used MOH for their spine, I knew this was for me. I like having a text as a spine and then add all the wonderful books on top. I also have always preferred how MOH starts the Ancients.

You said WP looks more like your style. That was me! SL didn't have enough variety for my taste. TOG-oh how I love the books, but I need it all spelled out for me. I even tried My Father's World one year. Again, I couldn't get my hands around it.

You asked about combining. Here's what I'm doing. My younger 2 are 2 1/2 yrs apart. My youngest has not shown much interest in school this year so I MAY do AW again next year w/ him and fold in my 3rd ds w/ the older 2. Next year I'm doing Adventures in Sea & Sky. There is an older learner's guide (for my 9th grader) and a younger learner's guide (for my 3rd grader). So that's what will work for us. Then the year after that I will use the American Crossing for older 2 and American Story w/ my younger 2.

I have found that WP is easy to combined. There are people better at scheduling here than I (i.e, Siloam) But what I may do w/ a 1st and Pre-K is Animals and Their Worlds first. Then go to the next program (which ever one you choose, there's HIH or CW--I've not used either one of them), but when your youngest is ready, fold him into that program.

Both my older 2 boys and younger 2 boys are about 2 years apart, and I've never had a problem combining them.

One last note (and then I'll stop this book). I won't be using the LA's next year w/ my older 2 boys only because I am using Progeny Press's Lit. units and find that trying to do both is too much. We also use IEW for writing so I'm trimming back by not using WP's LA. I would recommend using it for the younger years.

Sorry if I missed anything. Let me know if you have any more questions!

BTW, it usually takes a long time to find your style, as you can tell from my use of material, so jump in, try stuff and don't worry about you liking it or not. If you don't like something (and you think it works for everyone so it must work for you) who cares. Dump it and find what works for your family!

Enjoy the journey!

[chaik76]

WP is SL with hands-on stuff added. It tends to be really heavy on paper-crafting (AS1, Time Travelers, etc.). You don't have to do their LA (which opinions seem mixed on) to do the cores. You could do their Animal Worlds right now and have a ball. It uses the Eric Carle book, Alphabet Art, and others that would be great with the ages of your kids. We did Alphabet Art when my dd was 3-5, so your kids are right on for it.
The one other big difference from SL is that they use a lot more books with lots and lots of pictures in them.

[siloam]

AW worked great here, but we just finished it a year ago. I am not sure I would do it with kids your children's ages for a year or two yet. Why? Well most of the crafts are pretty involved and unless your kids can handle cutting cardboard, glue, drawing or tracing a pattern you make, ect... then you are going to have to help them through every step. I love the books, but the Encyclopedia in particular is for older kids. My oldest would have been up to it but it bored the rest to no end, so I ended up doing a lot of paraphrasing of that one, or just read the main paragraph and left all the details to look at the pictures. My ds didn't participate at all, and my 3rd dd came and went. She would occasional listen to the instructional part, rarely listened to the RA's, but often participated in the crafts. She would have been 6.5 when we finished, so she was 5.5 when we started. I don't think it would have gone as well if she had been the oldest child using the program.

Right now the World Around Me might be a good fit or Journeys of Imagination. I know a lot of people love the I'm Ready to Learn program, but I never could have done something that hands on with my kids. Too many "helping" hands. ;)

Heather

[Amber in AUS]

Thanks for all your responses, especially about checking out the books first. Being in Australia i wont have that opportunity for some of them, i'll just have to check them on Amazon and see (if i can) what they are like.

I quite like the total emersion, that the readers will be in the same topics as we are studying. Currently we are doing FIAR so i think they would quite enjoy the picture books.

Please keep your responses coming.

[Lovedtodeath]

Did you order a WP catalog? I love looking through it. I agree that I would wait on World Culture. If you are already doing FIAR then you have gotten the best part. My first grader is really enjoying Disney Learning's Our World, which is used in CATW. I got Around the World Art and Activities from a recommendation on the WP forums (http://www.winterpromise-forum.com/index.php). Have you asked about these programs there? Lots of posters love to help plan combining.

I noticed someone comparing SL... WP has less reading than SL and their selections are not as emotional, in addition to hands-on activities, a wider range of LA should you choose to use it, and pictures.

[Mandy in TN]

This year we are using WP Animals and Their Worlds. My ds turned 6 in Oct. He absolutely loves the One Small Square books. He also really, really likes the Animal Encyclopedia, but I only read the main paragraph. The rest of the information I only read if he demands it and that is happening more and more often as the year goes by.

We are using the WP AW PreK-1st grade package, but we have eliminated Alphabet Art and the Animal Alphabet Coloring Book. I had wanted to use WP LA, but couldn't figure out a good fit. We ended up using CLE LA.

Next year I wanted to do a 1-year US history, so we will be leaving WP for HOD Bigger. However, the following year we plan to come back and use CATW, so I understand the attraction. I do agree wit the other poster that this core should be used later, but I really want my little guy and my middle ds to do this together for my middle guys last year at home.

Oh, and this year my middle ds is using WP S&S. S&S is another wonderful program that is best as written for 4th-6th.

HTH-
Mandy