raisingupboys wrote:We started our first week in MFW RtoR this week, and I am torn because of the Timeline we started last year from MOH using Homeschool in the Woods figures. I am ok with repeating some of what we have already covered last year...like all of Rome, for example, but it looks like MFW does things a little differently chronologically. I am mostly struggling with the very small number of timeline figures in the student sheets for the year compared to MOH. If you made the switch, was it tricky to keep the timeline going with the switch to MFW? Did you feel like some of the flow of your timeline was a little choppy after doing the switch or does it all fall into place the same way it would if I would have continued MOH?
To give you an idea of what I am struggling with, So far, MFW has us doing these timeline figures: "The Foundation of Rome," then "Rome Becomes a Republic." Next week, we use the "Julius Caesar" timeline figure. With the MOH, we placed all of these figures in between those: Foundation of Rome, Isaiah, Micah, Israel's Captivity, Hosea, King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, The Ancient Native Americans, The Rise of Athens and Sparta, Mannasseh, The Powers of Mesopotamia, King Josiah, Nahum, Sephaniah, Jeremiah, the Destruction of Nineveh, Habakkuk, Hulda, Judah's Captivity by Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar II, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Daniel, Aesop, Ezekiel, Shadrachm, Meshach, and Abed-nego, Buddha, Pythagoras, Temple of Diana, Confucius, Belshazzar and the Fall of Babylon, Cyrus' Proclamation, Darius I, Return of the Jews, Temple Rebuilt, Haggai and Zechariah, then...The Roman Republic and so many others before we get to Julius Caesar! Whew! This is why I am wondering where all the timeline figures are in MFW?!! There's only about 2 1/2 pages of timeline figures. Do I need to just breathe...will we cover all of the prophets and several of the others still?
If I were to decide to do MOH 2...would it transition ok into MFW Exploration...has anybody done that switch? I really liked the timeline flow of MOH, so I guess I am just panicking with my decision to make the switch.
Any thoughts?
Raisingupboys
Hi RaisingUpBoys,
I don't quite fit your criteria of "for anyone that has also used the Mystery of History and the MFW 5 year cycle," but I've used the 5-year cycle, and I own a MOH-1 manual (that I tried to use with CTG and/or AHL but didn't). And... I've used the Homeschool In The Woods timelines twice (once on my own and once via MFW high school).
Here are some misc. thoughts on the timeline differences:
* MFW separates out Old Testament history and gives it a whole year, so none of it (Isaiah, etc.) really needs to be in RTR since they've been covered and there are so many other things to study in RTR.
* Yes, MFW is generally chronological. However, often times Marie "groups" country studies together, so kids aren't bouncing around constantly. There are lots of ways to study chronological history. Basically, no one attempts to teach what happened in each country each day of history; that would just be too much bouncing from place to place. So folks tend to choose "significant world events" and then place them in chronological order, but other folks might choose other "significant events" and end up with a different order. I mean, it gets complicated. Do you put George Washington's timeline piece at his birth, in the French-Indian War, in the Revolutionary War, or after the Constitution as the first US president? So, MFW
could have included the foundation of Rome back in CTG, where it fits chronologically, but Marie Hazell kind of chose "significant events in early Rome" and grouped them together when you begin to study Rome, so the founding of Rome is studied as a quick "back in time" study at the beginning of RTR (the most significant "event" being that Rome ruled where Jesus was born, of course).
* I'm not sure how much of the Homeschool In The Woods timeline you used with MOH, but their timeline is huge. MFW saves it for high school. I believe there are over 250 timeline pieces just in the ancients set, and that was more than enough for my 9th grader. In 10th grade, MFW uses two of those sets, and thus well over 500 pieces (not every piece was used but over 500, I'm sure). Even if *I* would have thought that was cool in elementary school, I doubt it would have been enjoyed or retained by my particular kids. With my older dd in high school, I used those sets on my own (before MFW high school was written), and I really feel on looking back that I "timelined her to death," but again not sure how MOH uses them. To me the MFW timelines were sufficient in elementary. But It wouldn't be too hard to add the longer timeline to RTR, you could even purchase the MFW 10th grade timeline book.
Does that help at all? Maybe someone who's actually made the transition will chime in, too, since I know there are a few around.
Julie