Winter's Promise Peeps....(Animals and their worlds)

[ValiantJoy07]

We are using Heart of Dakota this year. I was thinking I wanted to switch...I like how low pressure HOD is, but I want more read alouds and more science. I was considering doing MFW 2nd grade for next school year. But dd2 isn't there yet (to follow along)... and dd1's reading/writing skills aren't there either. I feel like we'd use nothing but the reading list and the year would be awash.

I saw mention of Winter's promise and looked it up. I was so excited and impressed and the animal and science thing is some thing we could get into.

And then I read the reviews online... albeit many of them were older... is it worth it?? if you're unschooly, was Winter's promise a good fit? Would you recommend it for 5-7 year olds?

[Codi]

I've never used this but I'll give it a :bump for you!

[tazmom]

I haven't done Animals, but I have I'm Ready to Learn, Hideaways in History (the old version), and The World Around Me. I also borrowed American Story 1 from a friend for a few weeks to try it out.

I really really wanted to love Winter Promise. I really like many of their book selections that are not the usual books that everyone uses. I often use their catalog as reference when I want more about a topic.

The programs that I used had definate scheduling issues. Either there was way too much work for the days, or the assignments felt really random and disconnected from each other, or both.

One of the pre-k science books was by Answers in Genesis. I only made it to day 3 before tossing it. The science experiments for the K-1 science program was more simple than what I was already doing, but I'm told I'm much more science-y than most people. ;)

Trying to do their programs is how I learned that I'm really not crafty in any way It's also how I learned that while my kids like the occasional directed craft, they don't want to be told what to create every day.

I know there's another mom here who has done Animals. I seem to recall her saying it was different quite different than the other programs, so hopefully she'll see it and give more specific details.

[Gentle Journey]

I did it. I quit 2/3's through. I just could NOT take any more animals. Everyday all day, all animals.

Something else I disliked about WP was they say hands on, but it wasn't original activities. It was just books that had activities in them and they scheduled it for you.

[MamaMissy]

I used WinterPromise American Story 1 this year with my kindergartner and 2nd grader. Most of the books are great, and the kids and I have really enjoyed them and learned a lot. The scheduling guide is a little frustrating because it has you reading 3 pages of this, half a page of that, a chapter of this, 2 pages of that, etc. Usually I just see what book(s) are coming up next and read as much as the kids and I feel like reading of each book for that day. I have also supplemented with lots of books from the library on certain topics that I didn't feel got enough coverage, so we are going to be finishing up throughout the summer, since I've added a lot of extras.

I already bought all of the American Story 2 books used from AbeBooks.com. I am debating whether or not I really need to buy the teacher's guide for next year. I think it's like $80, and I can probably put the books in chronological order myself and look up supplemental activities on the internet as needed, so I might not even bother with the expensive guide.

I like that WinterPromise introduces American history for younger grades. I think with Sonlight, you have to wait until, like, 3rd or 4th grade for American history (if you're going in the proper Sonlight order), and I wanted my kids to know about American history before that. WinterPromise is big on colorful and visually interesting books, which is nice for me, because I like pretty pictures. :) The subject matter, I believe, is also a little less graphic/emotionally intense than Sonlight, so WinterPromise can be better for extra-sensitive children.

I don't have any experience with their animal curriculum, so I can't help you there.

[ValiantJoy07]

I did it. I quit 2/3's through. I just could NOT take any more animals. Everyday all day, all animals.

Something else I disliked about WP was they say hands on, but it wasn't original activities. It was just books that had activities in them and they scheduled it for you.

I was worried about this after you shared "what if we HATE the sight of animals by October?!" We plan to start in June and I was :nails about it.


We also love history and with Heart of Dakota were up for American History which I enjoy. :O -there are so many fun read aloud with that.

I own a lot of the HOD read aloud (we've read several already), we're going to read some over, do a couple of the Winter's Promise suggestions (Ribsy... Mr. Popper's Penguins) in with a few new HOD books I can get cheap on kindle, and it'. Going to do both and alternate units every week. :dance

For me I need the teachers guides. I need "someone" saying what we need to do... even if we skip a lot.:shifty Otherwise I will let the kids watch TV and play all day and do house work or projects... the guides have been a great bridge to fun activities together and kind of ground our day. It's been a really god fit for me. :O

Excited to do both. :)