Placement - Animal Train vs Voyage of Discovery

[manyblessings]

We are new to homeschooling! We began with our oldest, AJ, last school year. We have been blessed by the MFW curriculum. We are using K and Gr 1 this year for our two oldest.

My question is about the 2 preschool options. I'm not necessarily a big believer in starting formal school at a young age. However, my 1 and 3 year old want to "do school." I like having a 10-15 min one-on-one time with all my kids. So, I'm thinking I may want to purchase one of the preschool programs for next year, but I'm not sure which one best fits what I'm looking for.

I want 10-15 min daily lesson plans that I can do with both a 2 and 4 year old (ages of my kids next school year). I know VOD is set up for longer lessons, but I would be likely spreading this out over 2 years anyway as I'm also juggling a baby in this mix
Any thoughts/suggestions for this busy mom?

You can definitely call the MFW office and get a recommendation. My 2 cents, VOD is a perfect program for a 4-year-old. My daughter is enjoying it so much (and so am I!) As for combining with a 2 year old, I think you would want to get the program that fits your 4 year old (VOD) and let the 2 year old tag along and do as much as she is interested in. Then they can move up together in the cycle each year. So, they would be ages 2/4 and 3/5 for VOD spread over 2 years, and ages 4 and 6 for Kindergarten. I think that Animal Train wouldn't hold your 4 year old's interest spread out over 2 years nor would it prepare him to start Kindergarten the following year.

[allgrace]

I used part of animal train with a 2 year old. I think it's too young for a four year old.

I am using vod with a 3 1/2 year old, going slow through it. It is good for her age and I think it will be great when she is 4 also. I think a 2 year old could tag along if they like to sit and listen to stories. They could do the activities also. It probably would work great to combine them in vod

[vkrussell]

Thanks, ladies! I think I'm going to go with Voyage of Discovery and just go at my own pace while tweaking it where necessary for my 2 year old.