HSMomof4 wrote:If anyone is still reading this thread.... Can you tell me if you think Adventures is enough to fill a whole year? It seems like I'm hearing a lot of comments about it being good for supplementing the Year 4 and Year 5 unit studies for older kids, which is wonderful, but does it stand well on its own? Would I be better off starting my oldest in EC&C in 2nd grade and using Adventures on the side or as a summer program?
I'm still reading

I'm sure others are too.....
I don't think it is a good idea in most cases to do ECC in 2nd grade when oldest is in 2nd grade. Most newer to homeschooling mom/teachers will over do it and that's not good. and when oldest is in 2nd grade, we are still learning as teachers to adjust. so to jump into a multi level program for 4th-8th graders with a 2nd grader as oldest..... nah...
I did ECC with my oldest in 2nd grade only because ADV hadn't been written yet. So, do ADV.

I would not do ADV as a summer program when your oldest will be 2nd grade age. If you have an oldest who is 4th grade and you have the manual just sitting around... well..... that was a different situation that I was in. I wanted to know what was in the program that we otherwise wouldnt have got to do. So I can say looking back at all of that --- go with ADV.
ADV has 34 weeks of lesson plans, each week is 4 days long with a light and independent Friday. Many things can be supplemented on Friday -- or it can be a day for co-op or dance classes, Park Day, or serving together as a family in community service. It is by design to be a shorter week to recognize the age of the child. You have the oldest in 2nd grade, and many of us will have younger siblings to teach and juggle.
If you do everything that is in the ADV manual (all notebooking, reading, book basket, foreign language, music, art, math, English, Bible, science, copywork, the optional dictations for advanced kids) etc... it can take about 3 hours a day (sometimes a bit more). That is a lot of school time in 2nd grade when you have to still teach a bunch of younger kids and juggle life.
One of MFW strengths is that it uses strong, effective and efficient lessons and resources so that we can get done in a short amount of time. You can add in controlled ways to the program with using more of the internet linked resources in the science book -- that's one way to add without supplementing. Book basket is a part of MFW so that's not extra you are adding.
I think it is a full program for 2nd graders.
You get Bible -- and it's about learning the names of Jesus while developing a Biblical worldview of science (in other words, while you study Jesus is the light of the world, you study light in science.)
You get US History
an overview of the 50 states
reading time
book basket
math
English
spelling
Music
Art
and foreign language is recommended too.
Some people supplement because they don't know what else to do with their kids' unstructured afternoons. Here is a link to a thread with Ideas to Fill Unstructured afternoons with Productive Educational activities.
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1829
As for the year of EX1850,. there is a Younger Sibling Supplement to use. All of it is scheduled in the EX1850MOD. The resources and books for that Supplement are the history portions from the ADV program via the Living books in the ADV program. So, you don't teach from ADV or buy ADV that same year. But some times when people are typing fast they might call it the ADV supplement when they really mean the EX1850 younger sib supplement. It is there to supplement the history so that you can teach multiple ages from one manual when you have lots of kids in grades 2-8. So that's what it means. It could just as easily be called a "young sib reading set" or a "younger sib kit"
Here.... a link is worth a lot more. These are key "living books" from Adventures in My Father’s World, designed specifically for 2nd and 3rd graders, to help make history come alive for younger students. All of these books are conveniently scheduled in your lesson plans for Exploration to 1850. They are great books, and you won’t want to miss any of them.
If you use ADV with oldest in 2nd grade, then you can hang onto the books until later.
on the EX1850 part of the website.
http://www.mfwbooks.com/item/14980/2nd- ... upplement/
then in 1850MOD, year 5, there is another young sib supplement -- but it is different books from ADV. So in year 4 when older kids are in heavier topics in world history in modern times, there is a way to give 3rd and 2nd grader age appropriate history content with the other resources. It's all scheduled in one manual
- Note for 2nd and 3rd Grade: The content of 1850 to Modern Times is difficult for 2nd and 3rd graders. The information is more difficult to understand than in our other history programs; many of the books are written at a higher comprehension level. The history content is often troubling—describing wars and human cruelty—and not suitable for younger students. The author of The Story of the World does not recommend using Volume 4 with 3rd grade or younger, and we agree. However, 2nd and 3rd graders can still join you for Bible, science experiments, science readings (the easier sections), and studying presidents and states. (Remember that 2nd and 3rd graders will have an opportunity to repeat 1850 to Modern Times in 7th or 8th grade, when they will have the maturity needed to fully comprehend the complex information.)
To add history content for 2nd and 3rd graders, you will need the 2nd-3rd Grade Supplement for 1850 to Modern Times. http://www.mfwbooks.com/item/15980/2nd- ... ement-for/
Fascinating literature books as well as two activity books help make history and U.S. geography come alive for younger students. You will find all of these books conveniently scheduled in your lesson plans. They are great books, and you won’t want to miss any of them!
-crystal