moving beyond the page

[Got_Cloth]

Has anyone used this curriuculum? http://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/curriculum7to9.asp

I am thinking about using this for next year. the 7-9 level. I have a very bright 6 year old, ( will be almost 7), my 8 year old has aspergers and struggles with LA, and my 9 year old was just diagnosed with moderate to severe dyslexia.

i like the idea of teaching them all at the same time.

So here is my background. I am an unschooler at heart. But my husband is not. He wants me to do every subject for X amount of time, each day, and keep records. He has tolerated me well for the last few years.

Now my oldest child is asking to do more school. She feels she is missing something, compared to her friends. So i am looking at a curriculum that i can use for all my kids at the same time, that has a lot of fun hands on stuff, and that has lessons laid out for me, since i will have a newborn and an 18 month old in the mix, and we will be settling into a new house.

[LucyRev]

I did most of 2 units of the 5-7 with my daughter and we liked it. I think it will meet your needs well. I am an unschooler at heart too, but I like having something to follow when I feel like we need a kick start.

A lot of people complain about how homemade the books look, and I have to agree. The hand drawings are not the best, and some of the activities seemed like silly busy work. Like cutting something out and pasting a picture over the right word. I suppose that could be useful if your child needs practice with fine motor skills. I skipped parts like that, but often the lesson would spark some other idea and we would be off on another project.

We are trying Oak Meadow this year, but MBTP was my second runner up.

[kgianforti]

We bought the 5-7 Environment Concept and used the "Habitat" unit before selling it (I kept the books though). It was ok. Over-priced in my opinion. The books are very "mom and pop" looking and the artwork wasn't great, imo. Content-wise, nothing spectacular either. I added a lot of my own ideas to beef it up and make it more interesting. I don't recommend it, to be honest. But I've heard of people who love it!!

Maybe consider something like Sonlight where multiple levels are also covered in one Core. We are using the Science K and love it.

[Fairy4tmama]

We use MBTP and I like it, DS LOVES it! We are using it for similar reasons to those you describe and it has worked out well. We have evolved into using it as a spine as there are many wonderful rabbit holes to follow. The one thing I suggest is to try only one unit at first, both to see if its a good fit but also to see if you will really be able to combine all of your children. Luckily for us my oldest is the only one currently old enough (in my opinion) to be using curriculum, so I am not to a point of trying to work with multiple children at this time.

Heres what I like best about MBTP:

• I can pick it up and put it down as needed. Even mid unit we have taken a two or three week hiatus and then picked up where we left off.
  
• I Love the Constructivist approach and feel that they do a good job off creating activities that help children construct their own knowledge.
  
• It is fairly open and go (which is really helpful as I WOH part time)
  
• I actually kind of like the homemade feel of the art so that if I want to whip up my own page I am not competing for my kids attention against slick CGI graphics. And Like wise my somewhat perfectionist DS isn't given the impression that every thing needs to be perfect all the time.
  
• And finally, although I am not big into having a paper trail of our learning it has become an important tool for connecting DH to our homeschooling journey and given him a tremendous amount of peace of mind.

GL, I hope this helps!

[elizawill]

love the product but really hate the cost. i personally don't think it's worth the asking price, but if it were cheaper, we'd probably still use it. hth.

[JessicaS]

We have used a couple of the literature books. I only got individual items not an entire curriculum and we liked them. I have not ordered a single curriculum. I pick and choose from different companies things I like the best from them.

I think some of it is a bit "busy work-ish" but dd and I liked them ok.

I think it is worth trying out.


I wouldn't teach the nine year old the same as the six year old, I had dyslexia problems as a child and was in the gifted programs in school. I don't think that would be fair to the nine year old and I think had that happened to me at nine I would have reacted negatively.

I don't really care if things seem homemade. I could probably have the book made at Kinkos but I care more about the quality of the content.

What will prevent me from ordering a curriculum is paying very much for downloaded content. Paying $50 for a book that I still have to print...well...that I am not doing.

[spruce]

We've used 3 different levels of MBTP w/ my 8, 6, and 4yos this year. We love it. Like a PP said, it's very "pick me up, put me down" friendly. I was a little unhappy with the HISTORY aspect of their social studies curriculum, but then we were using a lot of different levels of work. Next year we're sticking w/ MBTP and with Right Start Math, but going back to all the years and years of "Story of the World" as well, because we've always liked that curriculum. (I also have 2 older homeschoolers, 14 and 17, so we have lots of different types of curriculum stored here and there).

As far as working with all of them at once, I really enjoyed the "option 1, option 2" stuff, and it was fun to let my 4yo cut out the "busywork" stuff while the older two did other projects on the same subject. They all listened to or read the same books, etc.

Good luck!

love, p

[LucyRev]

I agree that it's way too expensive. I got a copy from a friend. I doubt I would have paid for it myself. Also really dislike how each year seems to get progressively more expensive.

[Got_Cloth]

THank you all for the replies.

A friend just told me about the yahoogroup from MBTP, and she said many families sell their used books on there, so i am going to check it out. It is pricey, and it is my only hang up at this point.

If i could get it for less money, and even use the library as a reference for the books, that would be great. but yeah, almost 700 dollars for one level is insane.

Here is what i was thinking about working with them all.

I was thinking, with any particular assignment, i could read to my 6 year old, have my 8 and 9 year olds read silently. We could openly discuss what was read, then i could have my 6 year old dictate to me the answers to questions, have my 8 year old write 2-3 sentences, and my 9 year old write 4-5. They will each have their own ideas, and they could all do work, on their level, but the base would be the same. I dont know how it would be any different than the unit studies we did this year, just for fun.

I am not into busy work, and will likely skip what i dont find a value to the program, or have my older child do more than my younger.

I was thinking for the hands on projects, they could work together to build and create. and that would be fun for all of us.

I do have story of the world, and just never started it, so i would love to work on that as well. And continue with Math U see, since it seems to be going well for all my kids.

I would like my Dh to feel better about homeschooling, and i would like to still feel like i am not being too "schoolish" and we were still having a blast.

While i love "unschooling" i really do feel like it is time to get "serious" with my older child. I feel that it is time she learns more on some kind of schedule, and we spend time schooling everyday,.( or at least every week. LOL)

I do wish it was less expensive, and i do not like that it gets more pricey as you go. It is like they get you hooked on it for 400 per year, then the next year is almost 600, then almost 700.. and that is bad, and not fair. But if i can buy used, i am good with that too.

Anyway.
Thanks for all the comments. I appreciate the info, from peope who have used it, not just the testimonials on the website. LOL

[Fairy4tmama]

Op If you are using it as more of a spine for unit studies you may well find that you will not get thru 4 concepts a year. So far I can't see us doing more than 2 a year (and we are year rounders).