Anyone using Moving Beyond The Page?

[AmandaGRB]

Hi! I tried searching this forum and apparantly am not doing it correctly because I can't find anything. Is anyone currently using, or have used, Moving Beyond The Page? (http://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/ ) What, if anything, do you NOT like about it? From looking at the site and looking through the samples, I think my DS (almost 7 yo) would LOVE it! But, wow, it's pricey. For those of you that are or have used it, do you think it is worth what you paid for it? I tried searching for it on ebay, but couldn't pull anything up. Have you ever seen this sold second hand? Does it hold it's value? Do you use it as a full curriculum or as a supplement?

Any thoughts or comments on MBTP would certainly be welcome. Thanks!

Amanda

ps...if anyone is from KY and uses MBTP, could we get together so I could see it?

[elizawill]

i bought it this year and so far we LOVE it! i mean really love it!!!!! BUT this is only our second week of homeschooling with it ...so, how i feel at the end of the year will be an opinion really worth hearing (compared to now), yk? i don't have enough experience with it yet. there is a yahoo group though and it's very helpful. i do feel the curriculum is expensive too, but if my child loves it and learns from it - that's good enough for me. plus...i spent A LOT of $$$ last year....a little here and a little there...but it added up to be A LOT over time. so i figure, it's not quite as expensive when i look at it that way. we use the 5-7 package and my dd is almost 7 and in first grade. she isn't gifted though & this was the level the author recommended for an "average" first grader. i supplement with videos or activities and keep an ongoing list of what we use with MBtP at my calendar. if you want to buy used, post at the yahoo group and tell them what you're looking for...people sell there some times. lastly, you can just buy one concept at a time -- see if you like it before you buy the whole year's worth, yk? good luck!

[elizawill]

oh, there's also a few reviews at www.homeschoolreviews.com

hth!

[JennifD]

I will be using this curriculum with my 5 year old daughter, but we haven't actually started yet. Since this will be our first year homeschooling, I don't have anything to compare it too but it looks to be a wonderful, well-rounded curriculum and I really think my daughter will enjoy it. I purchased the full curriculum. It looks to be worth the price. We are also supplementing with Right Start math and The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. I am on the Yahoo group and occasionally see members who are selling their used curriculum.
Here is a link to the Yahoo group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HS_Mov...yond_the_Page/

[AmandaGRB]

Thanks, ladies, for the input and information. I think I am going to purchase one concept and see how it goes. Actually, purchase just the 2 manuals. I went and really looked through the booklists last night and I have most of the books and the ones I don't, I can borrow from the library. That has cut the cost significantly. From what I see on the site, I think we will love it as well.

Thanks again!

Amanda

[AmandaGRB]

Elizawill,

Are you supplementing the math and reading or using the MBTP as your full curriculum? Is your daughter reading yet? My DS will be 7 yo in November and is still a beginning reader and does not really like to write. In the couple of weeks you have used this, do you think your daughter has been challenged enough or finds it very easy? I've been looking at the 6-8 group although I think he would really like the 7-9 materials. I don't think he is anywhere near ready for the reading and writing required in 7-9 though.

Decisions, decisions.

Amanda

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

Originally Posted by AmandaGRB

Elizawill,

Are you supplementing the math and reading or using the MBTP as your full curriculum? Is your daughter reading yet? My DS will be 7 yo in November and is still a beginning reader and does not really like to write. In the couple of weeks you have used this, do you think your daughter has been challenged enough or finds it very easy? I've been looking at the 6-8 group although I think he would really like the 7-9 materials. I don't think he is anywhere near ready for the reading and writing required in 7-9 though.

Decisions, decisions.

Amanda

Amanda,
We're using MBTP with our 6yo son and we're in the 6-8 set. He'll be 7 in February, so only 3 months difference We have an anti-writer and beginning ready, too, and the first few lessons were a little too extreme in writing/reading for us. Once we figured out what to have him write and what to just let him dictate, things got so much better. It really is easy to adapt the amount of writing required. It's so good for a beginning reader because it's more about talking and doing than reading and it takes that pressure/stress off of all of us to have him reading at some arbitrary level

[elizawill]

hi amanda,

my daughter will be 7 in early october. she is a beginner reader (bob books, some dick & jane, cat in the hat, etc.) and a fairly reluctant writer (short sentences - can only spell phonetically right now, etc). i feel we chose the perfect curriculum for her in the 5-7 level. the writing in concept 1 starts off with fairly simple activities, but some days they are much more challenging. for example, each lesson has a letter for the child to trace & practice writing (which my dd ironically enjoys even though she already can write them all well). however, the author recommends writing sentences instead of letters if you want to make it more challenging. by lesson 5, my dd has already had the opportunity to write 2 short stories though (about 1/2 page in length - but could easily be longer if your son needed it).

as the concepts build upon one another, the curriculum becomes even more challenging - so by the end of the year the writing becomes much more intense. i felt easing into it this way was a better fit for my dd.

in addition to MBtP, we include field trips, discovery streaming videos, library books that tie into our topics, magic schoolbus videos, and brainpopjr. videos.

for math, we use rod & staff grade 1. it is very "textbook" but my dd prefers math this way - that's why i chose this curriculum. for phonics, we alternate between workbook and online lessons. she currently likes explode the code workbooks, and for online stuff, her current favorite is readingeggs.com

i would recommend the 6-8 at the highest level for your son, but that's just my opinion... and it's only based on what i've read - i don't own those levels. i think if your son is a beginner reader and reluctant writer - it may require too many adaptions to utilize the higher levels, ykwim?

hth.