Jun. 9, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by umanjoelle

Thanks so much for doing these reviews. As a new homeschooler, I really appreciate reading things like these. They are very helpful in deciding, or consolidating my decisions as to what curriculum to get as I progress in my homeschooling.

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Jun. 9, 2009 - very helpful

Posted by HisPoiema

thanks so much! This is a great place for me to start. I didn't know that MFW only goes up through 10th grade right now. Although mine are much younger than that. Blessings, Jennifer

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Jun. 9, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Vickie

I'm a huge fan of My Father's World. I incorporate all of my grade levels in this program and I do reuse it with more indepth study as the kids get older, like TOG. Loved this comparison, I thought the same thing about comparing the two curriculums after last week's comparison. Thank you for taking the time to do these. God's Blessings

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Jun. 9, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by HiddenJewel

You're not helping my curriculum junkie status. I am going to relook at MFW though. Thanks for the comparison.

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Jun. 9, 2009 - I disagree with a few things

Posted by Anonymous

(1)MFW can be reused by the same student for more than one year. They begin the 5 year cycle in 2nd or 3rd grade and then repeat until they reach 9th grade and enter into the high school curriculum. My 7 and 4 year olds will each repeat two levels of the 5 year cycle before they move on to high school. My 7yo will do Exploring Countries and Cultures, Creation to Greeks, Rome to Reformation, Reformation to 1850, 1850 to Modern and then start over with ECC and CTG for 7th and 8th grades. MFW includes lesson plans for the 7th and 8th graders so she'll be doing the same content at a different level for those two years. My 4yo won't start in the 5 year cycle until 2nd grade when my (current) 7yo is doing Ref to 1850s. 4yo will do Ref to 1850, 1850 to Modern, ECC, CTG, RTR and then start over with Ref to 1850 and 1850 to Modern when she is a 7th and 8th grader. (2) While it's true that MFW does only go up to 10th grade, they will be test-piloting the 11th grade program next year and are currently writing the 12th grade year. I just don't want it to seem like there are no plans in the works for 11th and 12th grade. They are in the works and will be tested for 1 year before they are available for sale. MFW does an excellent job of working out the kinks before releasing the programs. (3) MFW does include a very few non-Christian world view books, but they do not use any book that they have not first read. The TM actually includes notes on the books that tell you what non-Christian ideas may be presented and suggests either skipping it (for the younger kids) or discussing it with the older ones. I have used 1st grade and Adventures (the 2nd/3rd grade program) and we haven't had any issues with these books. Next year we are moving on to ECC and it all looks GREAT to me. I hope that didn't muddy the waters when I was actually trying to clear up a few things.

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Jun. 9, 2009 - Thanks for clarifying

Posted by kristenph

I didn't mean to imply that MFW isn't doing high school. I said they were developing high school plans with 9th and 10th currently available. Also thanks for clarifying about reusing the curriculum. It's hard to be clear in a small table. You are correct of course, if a younger student goes through the beginning of the curriculum at a younger age because they have an older sibling, then they could conceivably use the same program again using the modifications for 7th and 8th grades. I was trying to highlight the difference in TOG and MFW in that area. From my examination, MFW is designed on about the equivalent level of Upper Grammar or Dialectic in TOG. There are suggestions for using the program for slightly older or slightly younger students, but the base program is the same. TOG on the other hand has 4 completely different tracks contained in each year plan. So when the student is doing the program again using TOG, they're not using any of the same resources. That's the difference I was trying to highlight.

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Jun. 9, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by LittleFarmMama

Thanks for those clarifications :) This has been our first year of homeschooling, I had 2 in K and we used MFW K. One reason I chose it is because I can reuse it again for my 2 younger daughters later on and only have to purchase the consumable worksheets for them. I have heard many great things about TOG and was glad to see this comparison here, thanks for the work you put into it for all of us!

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Jun. 9, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by keepingPursuer

This is my third year homeschooling, but officially, it was our first using anything formally (the two previous years, pre-K and K, we had stapled packets to grab from those jumbo books you can get at WalMart). Is the pricing on both MFW and TOG modest, in your opinions? I mean, for the subjects you have included in each curriculum, is it a good investment? I have heard many good things about TOG, but I've heard some say it was "awfully expensive." It doesn't seem that way to me when I see that it is used many times for the same child. But I would love to hear some more experienced Mom's opinions about the cost-to-use ratio. Thank you in advance for any help anyone has to offer!

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Jun. 9, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Teacher/Mom

I have a post on my blog that answers the question of cost. Here is a link to it: http://larsonchsa.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-i-used-tog-this-year.html. I'll give you a snippit though. I bought TOG Yr1 DE when it came out in January at the introductory price. Since I plan to use this with all four of my children, I will have used it for a total of 42 grades. If I divide that by the cost, that means that I will have paid about $3.96 per year per child. Makes it sound a whole lot more affordable doesn't it?! As for all the extras and the books, the state I live in has a very good inter-library loan system. I was able to get most of the books I needed. There were a few I already owned, a few I wanted to buy anyway, and a few I just swapped out with another book if I couldn't get it through the library. The initial expense may be bigger than some, but the return is so worth it - and when spread out over the years and the kids it really is affordable. Blessings.

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