Combining ECC and younger child learning to read

[my3boys]

Can I do ECC with a 4th grader & 2nd grader?

Hi, I am new to this board. I have been looking at MFW for the past 2-3 months now. And am thinking of purchasing ECC for dd(9) and ds(7). Ds(7) is still in the 'learning to read' stage. He's progressing, but he is not a fluid reader yet. Dd(9) on the other hand is a voracious reader. Anyway, I'm looking for something I can do with both of them beginning in January (maybe sooner), and thought ECC might be a good fit. I'm still a little uncertain how it all works.

I'm also hoping that this program will put spark/twinkle in ds' eye. I think he needs a little more hands-on, but also I think he just needs more variety in learning. Where dd(9) is quite happy learning from reading aloud or to herself with some hands-on, ds I think needs more interaction. I would love to hear some of your experiences, and some advice. :)

I have boys that age. We are using ECC and K. My 7yo is just beginning to read, so he is doing K. I had originally thought that the 7yo would be involved with ECC as well. He joins in on the science, missionary read-alouds, art activities, music, picture books and the cultural food of course - but the actual geography stuff is over his head. My 9yo is at a good level for ECC. You could add MFW First to do alongside ECC to give your 7yo phonics and math at his level. I don't think it matters when you start or finish - that's the beauty of homeschooling.

We are enjoying ECC very much - even more so as the year goes on, as there was a bit of a learning curve at the beginning because it was a new style for us. We are also doing MFWK and it is wonderful - I am adding read-alouds with it.

[kellybell]

Our first year homeschooling we did ECC with a young 2nd and a young 4th grader. It went fine. I had to help the 2nd grader some (like writing the definition on her geography term cards and she did the picture). At the same time I was teaching K and chasing a wild toddler

Very doable.

[Blessed]

Hi, thank you for responding. I like your idea of having the younger join in on the activities and read-alouds. And I like your suggestion of adding MFW First to do alongside ECC.

I just took a look at MFW First and it looks wonderful. Some of the the phonics he already has, but some he doesn't (at least the samples they were showing, he had yet to know. Example aw, au as in 'saw', 'naughty' etc.). I also really loved the Bible copywork book, etc. WoW.

I wish I had known about this program earlier.

[HSmommi2mine]

It is a multilevel program so yes, you can use it with both of them. Just be prepared to help out your younger on since he isn't reading on his own yet.

I did ECC last year with a 5th grader and a first grader who was reading well. It was a ton of fun!

[BHelf]

Next year I'll have 5 kids in school: 7th, 5th, 4th, 1st, and K. (I also have a very busy and into-things 2yo, and come January I'll have a newborn. But I'm focusing on the school kids right now schedule-wise. Don't want my head to COMPLETELY explode. )

We'll be using ECC, MFW 1st, and MFW K. I won't be doing the science in 1st, I'll have him sit in with the Ker and do her science with her (we have never used MFW K before, so it will be new to him too). How much time will this take me - JUST the strictly MFW stuff that I would do with them (so not including LA and math)? I'm thinking 2 hours for ECC, an hour each for the 1st and K, and then 30 min. for the science from K? Am I overestimating? Underestimating? Any suggestions?

Okay, keep in mind that I am only teaching one at the moment (my youngest 2 are only 2 and 3 years old so only have one school age right now). However, my plan when they are old enough to be in school is to do the phonics, math and bible time for the younger programs and have them sit in on the rest with whatever program the oldest is doing at the time. I may switch it up a bit and sometimes do science from the younger programs or whatever. But that is my plan. I'm thinking maybe that won't take up quite as much time and create more family learning time together.

Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in and give you some real advice!!

[TriciaMR]

Kirsten,

My boys (only 4 last year) LOVED sitting in on ECC's science. Don't over load yourself. They would even say, "Mommy, we want to do a science page." So I would have to type them up science pages and sometimes they would draw something, and other times I would draw and they would color.

-Trish

[cbollin]

I don't think Kindy will take the full 90 minutes in your case. not sure time stuff. I'm hoping those who are more skilled in scheduling will help more. But we did the K program with my autistic kid in less time because we didn't do it as a perfectly full program. 5-10 minutes for math as part of wake up and breakfast routine. 15-20 minutes for phonics/language arts/handwriting. 15 minutes or so for science craft and then a minute here and there throughout the day for review of Bible themes and reading our badges. playing with sisters, reading a book.

I did ECC with 7th and 4th and had a K kid last year. But it's hard for me to separate out time slots for MFW stuff vs. non-mfw stuff. My 7th grader probably had about 4-5 hours of school each day and that included English, writing those country summary sheets in ECC, and apologia, and math.

-crystal

[TriciaMR]

The other thing to consider, having either the 5th or 4th grader do the K science with the younger 2. Or have them alternate or something. I don't know your kids well enough to know if that would work, but that's an option, too.

-Trish

[Keer]

I was looking through 1st grade more in-depth last night, and I'm wondering if it will take us an hour to do the non-science stuff. Granted, I haven't gotten to the point at which he'll start reading in the reader, so maybe that will take longer? But I'm up to like day 32 or something, and I'm betting I could get that stuff done in about 30 minutes, especially since I'd be there with him, so he would be much less likely to dawdle.

I haven't looked in-depth at K, but I'm almost wondering if it will be the same way....

[Jami]

I did K and ADV last year and K did only take about 30 minutes for us. We didn't take a break at all and I had my ADV son do his independant work (math, spelling, english sometimes) first (after Bible) so that my K son could get everything done at once and then scoot. We did science for both programs but combined the ADV science experiments into one day a week or even did two weeks worth in one day, after all other school was done (or volunteered my dh to do it!). My kids love that stuff so I didn't want to leave it out, but I didn't stress about it if I got behind. I also did not have five kids in school either

We are doing ECC and 1st this year with a three year old and one year old tagging along and also a baby due in January. We can do it!

[gressman9]

Combining - I start feeling guilty that I have put so much money into this curriculum and I'm not going to use it but just parts of it here and there.

I did ECC and K last year. I will be doing CTG, 1st, and K this year. I am planning on doing all of CTG (with a 7th and 3rd grader... youngers listening in when they want). Then we will do all of the phonics and math in 1st. Probably the Bible too. We will not do the science in 1st as they could join in on the CTG science and we do a Classical Conversation group one day a week that does science experiments. My K student will just do MFW phonics and math. I might not even get 1st Bible done, except that I believe it is integrated in with the phonics....I haven't had a chance to look at mine much yet....it just came and I've been too busy.

It is REALLY okay to not use every last detail in a curriculum. It is NOT wasteful. Curriculum is a guide or a tool. You are to make it fit your family situation.

:O)
Carylee
crazily busy, but blessed mom2seven

[Mommyto3boys]

I will have 4 in ECC and 1 in MFWK this next fall. What advice would you seasoned users offer to work through both programs at once? Thanks.
Kathryn

I did ECC and K when my dc were in 3rd, K, 3y.o., and baby (about 6 mo. old when we started). I did not do everything in both programs.

The younger ones enjoyed the crafts in ECC. I would read the history/geography during snack time to everyone. Everyone listened in to Windows on the World and RAs (although I did change out some of the books to trailblazers for my younger ones and I added some stories that were placed in a particular country). Even my 3 y.o. would join in on praying for the people of the world. I usually tried to do 1 to 2 activities from the K topic. Since my oldest was only in 3rd, he was the only one who did the geography game and selected pages from the geography book. He will get all the geography again when he is in 8th. For K badges, I used stickers to put on a card that would go in a name holder instead of me trying to draw the pattern of the badge.

We had a fun year.

HTH,

Debbie in NC
Mom to 3 ds (10, 7.5, and 5) and 1 dd (2)
Done MFW Adventures, ECC and K, and CTG
Started RTR and K

[sojen]

I am looking for any suggestions on teaching ECC to an 8 and 9 year old while also teaching the 1st grade curriculum. ECC has a proposed morning schedule which is full and the suggested time for 1st grade is 2 hours. I am not sure how to weave the two together since ECC involves me for the morning and so does the 1st grade curriculum. Does anyone have any ideas to share?

Last year I did Adventures and K together. I worked it out like this: Before lunch was Adventures time and my 5 year old sat in when she wanted to. Other times she played or looked at books. After lunch my older daughter worked quietly finishing any writing or reading assignments, while I did K with my five-year-old. This year my part of ECC can be finished by lunch, but dd has work to do on her own after lunch.

The secret to this working, I've found, is only to allow a certain amount of time for each subject. For instance, we do Math from 10-11. I can finish teaching the Math lesson in about 15-30 minutes (I use Saxon) and then she has whatever time left for that subject to work on the assignment. At 11 she has to stop, finished or not and move on to Geography. Any work she hasn't finished she does in the afternoon. I also have a toddler, so I found that each person needed their own schedule, so they could know what to do when.

Ours goes something like this:
9-9:15- Bible
9:15- 10:00 LA
10-11- Math
11-11:30-Geography
11:30-12- Science
12-12:15 Art or Music
12:15-Lunch
1-2:30-1st grade

Again, this is just what works for us, and I love schedules. Other people probably do things totally different, and it is still successful. You've got to find what works for your family an situation.

Good luck!

[cbollin]

I've done several years where I've had a K or 1st grader as well as having older kid(s) in a 5 year cycle program.

Generally, I've found that I don't spend the full possible time in K and/or 1st with a younger sibling as I would have spent it had I used 1st grade with oldest and done everything. In other words, when using MFW K and/or 1st with younger siblings, you might not spend a full 2 hours each day in that program. Your child will get basics and then join older siblings for other stuff. So they get a full day.
Generally, I start with my K/1st kid and get some basics done. Let that child go play. Spend time with olders. when 1st grader is ready for next thing, the older kids can do book basket or reading or something independent or even a 15 minute break.
Generally, I've found that I can set aside about three 15 minute time slots to work on basics from the K/1st programs and then my youngest kid can be invited to join older siblings for extra stuff and fun stuff.
Generally, I can do a pre breakfast time with 1st grader, mid morning time, and then after lunch or early evening if needed.

I use MFW recommended products for language arts and math to keep it moving along for the day. but, it's that time of day where I need to move along in the day

-crystal

[NJCheryl]

First let me say hello. I am in my second year of using MFW, but this is my first time posting. I have a 4th grader in ECC and a 1st grader using MFW 1st, as well as a 3 year old.

I kind of keep our schedule flexible every day. I have a white board that I write what each child has to accomplish that day. We usually begin with Bible that we do together (I include both Bible lessons because you can never have too much Bible). I will then let my 4th grader do independent things such as handwriting and general reading, while I do the phonics work with my 1st grader. He is a very strong reader, so this does not take long and he can complete the sheets and the math work independently while I work on Geography, science and english in EEC. Sometimes he will be done his work before we are and he just gets to take a little break while he waits for us. Then they both do book basket together. We do read aloud, music and art together. Usually after lunch I finish up with math for my 4th grader. It seems to work for us

Cheryl

[705emily]

Hello and Welcome!!

I am teaching ECC and the second half of 1st this year to my 8 and 6 yo. Usually we start out our day with BIble, Hero Tales, and (sometimes) Kingdom Tales all together. After that I will either start my 1st grader on copying his verse for the week or send him off to play while I work with dd on Math and LA. While she is doing her LA I do math with ds and he reads to me. We summarize the story together and I write it out for him on a white board. He then copies it independently. He will either draw his own picture--or sometimes I copy the picture from the Bible Reader and paste it into the Bible Notebook for him to color. While he is doing this--I work with dd on the geography portion and spelling. While she does BB and German, I finish up with him. (We ususally have a snack somewhere in there too!!) We do the science, art and music parts together. In Nov. ds will be done with MFW 1st, and then I will start PLL and Spelling with him.

Don't know if this helps--but it does work for us. It has taken a few weeks to 'get in the groove' though!

Blessings!

[RachelT]

Hello! We are also doing ECC and 1st grade this year, but I am really limiting what we do in the 1st grade curriculum because it was our main program just two years ago and even though my dd was a PreK'er at the time, she did all of the science, music, art, Bible read alouds with us at that time. If you are needing to do the same subject from both programs you could do both Bible readings together, both science lessons, etc. But, I think a lot of families choose one science or art instead of doing both of everything. Right now we are not doing the Proverbs in 1st grade because my dd is doing the ECC Bible and those verses and that is enough. When we get into more of the 1st grade Bible stories for the Bible reader I may add those into the morning Bible or do them with her during her 1st grade time, I'm not sure, yet. If you combine as much as you can, it may take less time than you think.

We also began using workboxes for independent work this year, but we don't use workboxes for our group work. They have helped me to keep each child busy while I am working with the other child and it also helps me to rotate what they are doing each day and add a little variety. (Workboxes are not in the MFW curriculum and they are not my idea, they are something from Sue Patrick, a homeschooling mom.)

This is just what is working for us, it will not work for everyone. So here is how our day works:

Bible/Hero Tales at breakfast
finish morning chores
Morning meeting - I have a list written on our white board of things to do including calendar, 100 chart, exercises, pledge to the flag, memory verse and they do some of it individually, then we do the rest together
Box 1 - handwriting
Math - then we go into boxes for Math U See, math drill, or fun math activities or a combination of those things in 2-3 boxes (Usually I go back and forth between working with one child and the other one working on their own)
ECC - we do geography together (sometimes we do it during or after our snack or in the afternoon if it is just reading aloud, we tend to move this block around some days)
snack/break to play outside
1st grade with dd, ds is working on 2-3 workboxes (like educational computer software or activities that I assign to him, usually something more "fun")
Barton reading/spelling and PLL with ds, dd does her more "fun" 2-3 boxes
lunch - we may listen to our Wee Sing cd's
walk the puppy and dog
Science (if it is a nature walk, we can combine it with walking the dogs)
Read alouds (Kingdom Tales or library books if we didn't get to read something for ECC in the morning, we might do it here)
Book basket - might be at lunch or while the other sibling is practicing their instrument
Music - kids have instruments to practice each day

Our schedule on Fridays is a little different. I am trying to move Art to Fridays, unless we have to have a 4 day week and then we can have more time for those projects than on Tuesdays.

I hope something here helps you!
Rachel

Posted Thu May 06, 2010 10:41 pm by RachelT
I think I've posted this somewhere else, but don't remember where? We began using workboxes this year and it's helped the children to get more work done, with me nearby, but more on their own. We don't use them for every single thing and I decided that 8 were enough for each child because I don't use them for subjects that we do together like science, read-alouds, etc.

We read our Bible assignment at the breakfast table.
I have a short list on the white board for them to do while I fill the boxes. Usually it is calendar, 5 min. of stretching or exercises (mini-trampoline, etc.), practice memory verse.
Then they go to the boxes.

1. Handwriting Without Tears/ or copywork
2. Logic/critical thinking workbook page
3. practice Tae Kwon Do words
4. Math U See
5. Quarter mile math, math game with mom, Math mat, etc.
6. ECC worksheet
7. Typing practice/ music theory workbook/or educational computer game (while I do reading and language arts with the other child)
8. Musical instrument practice

They can be used in so many ways. This is just what has worked this year.

Rachel

[lauramb]

Do you teach the kids all separately and how do you schedule it all out? I am doing CtG with a fifth grader and First with two children. I am having a hard time figuring out how to schedule out the day with together learning times and seperate learning times - they are all really at their own level.

Well, I'm not an ol' pro at this and we've only done all three of the kids for two days! AND the little ones are really not doing all of what is scheduled each day because my Kindergartner knows his ABC's backwards and forwards and upside down.

This is what I've been doing. First thing in the morning (after chores, breakfast) I sit down and do ECC Bible with 5th grader. I had thought that I could do this with all the kids, but quickly discovered that I wanted to talk on a 5th grader level and so have let the 3 littler ones have "freetime". After Bible time with ECC, DS and I start looking at Geography and/or Science--if it requires independent work (worksheet, exercise, assignment, etc.). So we take a good hour probably in the morning with Bible and then with Science and Geography. Then I let him go to do ALL independent work. This includes copywork, Bible assignments (memory verse for example), Grammar, Writing Strands (on the two days it is scheduled), Math (if it is not a new lesson--which we do together on Monday), any Geography map work, worksheet, and Science worksheet or assignment. He works on this independently for the next hour to hour and 1/2. He is also supposed to practice cello during this time.

During that time I sit down with the K (if we haven't already done his lessons EARLY in the morning ). Right now we're doing Bible and Math--since the rest of MFW K is letter review during the intro. This takes about 20-25 minutes.

Then I get with 1st grader. We do Bible, Math and any activities that are assigned (i.e., pottery jar). This takes about 20-25 minutes. We will not do any 1st grade science or art this year.

Then I get back with my 5th grader. I check his work and then we do Spelling. We will also do anything else that didn't require independent work that particular day. And we will do art if there is time before lunch. We put art crafts after lunch if we run out of time.

Reading aloud is during lunch time. And book basket is during R&R time (I call it Rest and Rest time. This is a carry over from naptime. I require all four of my kids to find a quiet spot--usually their beds. They take a book from the book basket and another book of their choosing. They rest and read for 1 hour. They spend time in the books and then rest. My 5th grader will take several books from book basket each day and reads the entire hour and literally reads through them all by the time they are due at the library!)

The only things I have done together is some Geography (when we were doing basic map skills), all the Art so far from ECC, we LOVE the WE SING songs and sing those all day long (we've listened to the entire CD already and no many of the songs by heart already!), and some Science that we have done with ECC. When K starts doing Science things and Bible, I'll include my 1st grader and 4yo in that.

This probably sounds really complicated all right here in a jumble.

All of this could change, though, as we get deeper into the curriculum, esp. in regards with K and 1st! So maybe I should come back with an update in a couple of weeks!

[mamacastle2]

We may use ECC with her older brother and sister. How much could the first grader be involved in this?

Depends on how much the 1st grader can read/write. My young 1st grade ds (turned 6 in December) has been doing ECC with us all year. I don't make him do the Bible verse material (he does Bible with MFW 1st), but we read all the Bible passages, Window on the World, and Hero Tales stuff together. We read science together, and I typically fill out the notebook forms verbally for both of them. When there is a science map (for oceans, mountains, etc.) I let them both do their own. 1st grade ds does map activities, but I help him write names in the countries as needed. And we read all geography stuff, including book basket books, together.

It has worked out great for us, but I don't have a squiggly 1st grader. I have a pretty advanced reading/writing/sitting still ds. He does his own math, LA, reader, handwriting and MFW 1st Bible.

The recommendations from Marie are as follows:

• Teach MFW-1 to your 1st grader but only Bible, reading (and writing), and math.
  Note: If you are also teaching a 3rd-8th grader, do not use Adventures. Instead, let your 2nd grader join his older siblings in the five-year cycle. (A younger sibling does not begin with Year 1, Exploring Countries and Cultures; he joins his siblings in whichever year they are currently doing.)

I forgot to mention the cooking and crafts. My 1st grade ds loves it all, and my 3yo dd does, too. Also, for geography game, ds plays his own board and gets a few "hints" from me to keep him on the same level as his sister. He knows probably half of the countries in each continent, more in North America, less in Africa. But I think that's pretty good for a 6yo. I know I didn't know that much as a 16yo!!

Posted Sun May 09, 2010 5:58 am by mamacastle2
We did ECC & 1st this year. For 1st, we did the phonics, math and Bible reader. We also added handwriting, and after January another reading program. (I added in another reading program just to stretch out his independent work time to fit our personal schedule needs. It definitely isn't necessary.) All in all, I spent 1/2 hour with him on these subjects, and he would either finish then or spend 15 minutes to 1/2 hour finishing up on his own. He participated fully in ECC Bible (except I didn't make him do the verse writing or memorizing), science, geography, art/music, and read-alouds. My oldest was only an 8yo 3rd grader, so the science and geography were tailored to the younger set (meaning we didn't do all the pages in the World Geography book, and we toned down the early reading for the Properties of Ecosystems book and focused instead on the ecosystems later on and the Complete Book of Animals workbook and the Usborne maze book).

It is very, very doable because you would do separate phonics and math with your 1st grader anyway, so you just use MFW for that. And the Bible info is short, like 15 minutes a day so it was no biggie to add and was just the perfect level for a 1st grader and the Bible notebook is a wonderful keepsake that you will cherish forever. Plus the copywork and narration are important for 1st graders. I highly, highly recommend doing both programs together. As we end this year, my 1st grader knows about 3/4 of the countries on most continents, and is very familiar with Bible stories from both old and new testaments, knows a lot about ecosystems and animals on every continent, and sings most of the songs from the Wee Sing CD. His reading and math skills are great, and I am overall pleased as can be with our school year. It was awesome!!!

[doubleportion]

Having just finished ECC with only a 3rd grader, these are just opinions. My middle guy is 3 yrs.

But I think it would be easy to incorporate the 1st grader into the science, cooking projects, Bible reading and prayer time, (the Window on the World may be over their head but they may catch some of it). My 3 yr old loved doing the music with his sister and learned many of the songs and places (we added in Geography Songs CD) while sitting and singing along. Of course we always included him for the plane ride, he had his own passport, and we had a great time doing the art projects together for each country. There is so much in ECC that is very accessible for a 1st grader. I also would print out separate flag pages, etc for him to color while dd did her Geography pages and other writing assignments. Your 1st grader could also do the Geography Game with assistance (maybe you are their partner?) I know she will have plenty of writing and coloring with her 1st grade program so just watch not to over load her there, just my opinion there.

I am looking forward to doing ECC again and my littlest guy will be in 1st that year while the others will be 8th and 3rd. So I will be watching this topic myself for ideas to use in the future.


Edie

[Fenni]

I am currently using ECC with my 3rd grader and I also have a 1st grader. My first grader has enjoyed doing a few of the art projects. (We haven't done much of the art.) He sometimes wants a coloring page like the 3rd grader so I get something off the internet or from the Trip Around the World books. He has listened in on the read-alouds, Window on the World, Hero Tales, Bible, music. He likes discussing the map and globe, and helping me play the Geography game. He has retained quite a bit. We tend to use library books to cover science and he enjoys those. We also dropped the atlas books.

[sojen]

This is our first year with My Father's World and we are doing ECC. My daughter is 10 and in the 4th grade and my son is 6 and in K.They will be 5th and 1st. My son had 2 years of preschool and reads and writes really well. I felt like we needed to start with ECC for my daughter and I want him to join in.

I'm going to take your questions piece by piece. I'm responding because next week is our last week off ECC and this year I had a 4th dd and 1stdd.

what should I expect him to do and what should I expect to be able to leave out for him?

My dd6 jumped in all she could, but my goal for this year was to improve her reading. If she was making progress in LA than I was happy and I never set expectations that she should complete assignments in science and geography. There were times that she didn't even want to look at ECC stuff and that was fine with me. Except for reading I put very little pressure on her. However, most of the time she loved joining in with us. MFW makes it fun, and even my 2 year old would get involved in art projects and hand-on stuff.

I assume that he will not do the trip around the world books or the world geography book, and do I just leave the pages in that my daughter does or tear them out?

Trip around the World has about one activity page every two weeks and I always made a copy for my dd6. That book is more ideas for hands on and info on the country. If she couldn't actually do the sheet I just let her color it. The World Geography book is way above a 6 year old's head, so I didn't do it with her. My older daughter just tore out pages. You can leave them in the book or make copies (I think) but we liked putting completed pages in our notebook.

should my daughter be writing everything in cursive or manuscript on some things?

We did cursive Mondays around here. She had to write all assignments in cursive on Monday and then she could print the rest of the week. If you think cursive is extremely important I would do more than that. One day a week was only enough to remember the skill, not to improve it. I want her to know cursive, but I am of the camp that believes computers are taking over the world so cursive is not as important as it was 30 years ago. Mondays worked out good because she had to copy her memory verse and do dictation in LA. I planned it that way so she would get extra practice.

Do you tear the pages out and hole punch? And what about student sheets, do you hole punch those as well and put them in a binder?

On of my favorite things about MFW is the TM. I love that it is spiral bound and I can keep it easily opened to the week we are on. It lays flat and is easy to understand. I wouldn't take it apart. You can organize your student sheets however you want, I know some ladies on this board had quite elaborate systems. I left mine right in the box they came in and the next sheet was always ready on top for me to grab.

If your ds6 is joining in I wonder if you bought extra student sheets. If you did, he will have extras that will be over his head. The main sheet my dd6 used from the students sheets was the flag page, and so I actually didn't buy extra sheets. Instead I just made a copy from A Trip around the World, the flags in that book are reproducible but the student sheets are not. I also made up my own "lab sheet" for science. She just drew a picture of the experiment, and towards the end of this year I made her write a sentence or two about it underneath. Again, there was never any pressure for her to do this, it was just a way to include her. The only other thing in the student sheets would be the Geography game, but when she wanted to play, which was rarely, I just let her use mine. There is one in the teacher supplement.

There just seems to be so much to notebook and file and organize. Is it just in the beginning that there is all the organizing and then it all just starts to fall in to place? I am hoping!

This made me chuckle a little because before I used MFW I did all the planning myself. Oh my goodness, it would take hours and hours per week to get my lesson plans in order. I have been given the precious gift of time by using this awesome curriculum. I will say it is overwhelming when you get your box to know what will be used when. But it is already all planned out for you. ECC was kind of a big adjustment for us after using Adventures, but after a month it all made sense. Take a deep breath and you'll do great! If you do get in a pinch, this message board is an invaluable resource for encouragement.

Have fun!

[doubleportion]

I think sojen probably answered your question thoroughly, but I thought I would chime in, for what it's worth.

We just finished ECC with a 3rd grader and a 3 yr old tagging along. I think it would be easy to incorporate a 1st grader on the "plane" ride, passports and whatever else you do for that ( we did allot of imagining and pretending- customs, hotels, banks, restaurants etc), crafts, music time, bible, Geography game, flag sticker book, listen in on science, and Window on the World. I personally would not have my 1st grader listen in on all of the biographies (content varies). Like Gladys, Nate & Amy might be a little intense for a 1st grader. They might enjoy Cameron Townsend and George Muller.

I blogged my ECC highlights if you want to see a few pics of that year. http://quietlyrunningtheracehomeschooling.blogspot.com/
Maybe it will give you an idea of what you might want to do or not do with your 1st grader.


Edie

[Julie in MN]

Are there any posted on this website? Wondering how to schedule it all in... I also have an older who will be using the 7-8th grade supplement for ECC.

Oooh, a link challenge
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6727
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3807
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2713 (1st and an older program -- 2 pages full)

I'm listening! We are going to be using ECC and 1st and have two toddlers!

And for Jessie,
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3671
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1336
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1161

Whew, that should keep you busy while waiting for current folks to share their strategies. Maybe something in there will look like your house?!
Julie

[Samantha]

Hi.

We are wrapping up our school year in which we used the 1st grade curriculum and ECC with my 1st and 3rd graders. Here is what I found worked for us. We had Bible time in the A.M. using ECC's Window on the World and Hero Tales as listed on the schedule. We skipped the study of Matthew from ECC. Instead, we used the 1st grade Bible lessons and memorization of the Proverbs. Some days Bible time was long because so many rich conversations blossomed. I loved the Proverbs from the 1st grade curriculum and felt my 3rd grader would be blessed. We also added a weekly hymn and often listened to it during this time. AFter Bible, I gave my 3rd grader her English lesson for the day from the Emma Serl Primer to work on independently while I worked on the phonics lesson with my 1st grader (he). While he finished up and then moved on to his Bible notebook, mostly independantly, I did Spelling Power with my 3rd grader. They usually finished up about the same time. Then we moved on to do the geography and science lessons together and then took a short break. When we resumed, I sent one to book basket time while getting the other started on the daily math lesson. Then we switched. After that, we added lunch, art, music, poetry, and vocab for the 3rd grader, depending on the day of the week. It has all been very doable. I have let the 1st grader off on a lot of the geography assignments and pushed my 3rd grader more. I also purchased a beginning geography and map activities book from Rand McNally Schoolhouse for him to use because sometimes he got frustrated during geography and science from ECC. The terms and vocabulary often were over his head. Often, when we did Living World, I would have him pick his favorite picture on the topic to draw and color with pencils for science while my 3rd grader did the more advances worksheets from the Properties of Ecosystems book. The geography workbook in ECC was pretty advanced for a 3rd grader. She was able to do several of the pages but I let a lot of them go by. We usually did our read alouds in the late afternoon, before dinner prep, or in the evenings and on the weekends.

One more thing, our home school community had an elementary aged geography club that met once a month. Each month featured a different continent. The students chose a country or a subject unique to that continent to present to the other clubbers. It worked out great for us to be a part of, especially when the club continent for the month was the same as the continent we were studying. Sometimes it wasn't and we worked a little harder to prepare that month (or skipped).

Hopefully, some of these experiences will give you ideas on how to proceed with your year. You can do it and will have a great time.

Samantha