kilbee
- Reviewed on Monday, May 04, 2009
- Grades Used: 1st and 4th
- Dates used: 2008-2009
Review of WinterPromise American Story 1
Whoever writes and designs the WinterPromise catalog is a marketing genius. Reading through it is so inspirational. And what a fun curriculum it is! The literature approach is so appealing.
Our favorite part of school this past year has been sitting together reading such fascinating stories as The Birchbark House, The Fighting Ground, and The Sign of the Beaver. We've become acquainted with Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. We've followed the events of the Revolutionary War, discussed the treatment of the Native Americans and pictured the hardships of Lewis and Clark. Currently we are imagining life as a pioneer. Before the year is over we will discuss slavery and learn of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.
The manual is well-organized. The year is divided into 36 weeks. Each week is divided into 4 days. Everything for the day is spelled out for you to do. By design, there is far more to do than is possible. The idea is that you will pick what works best for you and your students. Included are crafts, notebook activities, historical fiction and non-fiction books. You are encouraged to make a timeline as you go and a game is included to help learn important dates. Additional resources are listed such as movies you can find at your library and internet links.
There is one thing that concerns me with this curriculum. Although WP is a Christian company, American Story is not a Christian curriculum. It includes a few books and stories that present difficulties for those holding a Biblical worldview. While The Birchbark House is a fascinating tale, it's main plot is how a young Indian girl learns to listen to and communicate with spirits. This book actually led to much productive discussion with my children, and I was glad we read it, but I probably would have omitted it if I had realized what it was about. I was also offended by a few stories in The American Story, particularly its negative slant on Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening. I chose not to read that one. Most disappointing was the little attention given to the Pilgrims and their arrival in America. In fact, our rich Judeo-Christian heritage is left out. I compensated by adding in two books by Peter Marshall (The Light and the Glory, From Sea to Shining Sea) and several of the Trailblazer Books by Dave and Neta Jackson. However, these books are intended for ages 9-12 and are probably over the heads of most 1st-3rd graders.
I like WP because it has given me a workable plan. However, I ended up adapting and adjusting it every week. I substituted books, got bored with the crafts, added field trips, and generally changed everything. Although that was part of the fun, I realize that in the future, it will be better for me to follow a general outline of a time period and find my own resources. But I'll keep the catalog for inspiration.
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cheriebknox
- Reviewed on Tuesday, February 24, 2009
- Grades Used: 4, AS1
- Dates used: 2008-2009
This curriculum is ok. Way too expensive for what you get. The "IG" is nothing but a schedule (grid) of reading/activities. There is no guidance to the teacher as to how to pull everything together to make it flow. A grid is all you get, with a bit of information at the very bottom, which is usually just more activities, DVD suggestions, websites to visit, etc. If you are a natural teacher, this might not be a problem for you. There are many good DVDs that go along with time periods/events studied that aren't even mentioned in the IG. The authors seem to want you to visit a website (or several) for every little thing. We are on dial-up and it would take up a huge chunk of our school day to look up all the things in the IG. There are no comprehension questions for the books the students are to read, so there goes more time (and sometimes money) spent on researching to try to fill the holes in this curriculum. Their LA programs are not that great. For my son I ordered the readers two grade levels down, the readers they have assigned to each grade level is way too advanced. It would be great if they would have two sections of readers..."boy interest" and "girl interest". There are way too many "girly" books used in WP that my boys won't touch. More wasted money on books to sub for the ones they won't read, and time scheduling them in. My best advice to you is to find the IG used (it is way, way too expensive to buy direct from WP) then check out books from your library or take advantage of the free shipping/4-for-3 deals at Amazon.com. Ordering from their catalog can be so confusing. As of right now, they have 3 different programs of study for early American history. Rather than offering a "middlers pack" for AS1 like they still do for AS2, they created a whole separate (VERY expensive) program for middler students to use. I regretfully already ordered our supplies to continue with AS2 next year, otherwise we would be switching to something else after this year, most likely My Father's World. After AS2, that will be the end of our WP experience, and on to My Father's World we will go, and stay.
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katleti
- Reviewed on Friday, February 13, 2009
- Grades Used: 4th-6th
- Dates used: 2008/2009
We used Sea and Sky.
This was our 1st attempt at a literature based program. I was hesitant for several reasons:
1. The price
2. My ds was not a great fan of reading. With this in mind I chose a program below his grade level as I did not want to overwhelm him.
3. I have a toddler and an infant in the house and was not sure if we could find the time.
The price scared me off for a couple of years, until I finally just broke down and bought the program. I have not regretted losing one cent! This program has excelled my every anticipation and expectations. The books are interesting and engaging, I like how the history is alongside with science. We have studied the beginnings of boats, ships, planes to present day. Science was oceanography, weather and astronomy. There are a wealth of hands on learning opportunities, so much that we just picked and chose what we wanted to do. Doing them all would have been overwhelming. The read aloud stories tied in so nicely with the program. Actually reinforcing what we learned from the resource books that we studied.
Ds has several days where he does school elsewhere such as a Co-op and etc..so although we did follow the schedule, we did so in our own way, meaning we didn't follow the traditional Mon- Fri schedule . Since the schedule is labeled day 1, day 2 and etc it did not throw us off in the least. We just picked up where we left off. Some days it was a juggle with the younger kids, oftentimes I would have to break up the reading, or return to the reading later in the day with ds. My toddler enjoyed that she could be included while we sat and read together.
What made this program even more of a success is now ds loves to read. No more groans about reading and he willingly picks up a book that is for the day and oftentimes reads ahead.
I can not rave enough about Winterpromise and will use them again in the future.
Katleti
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Kimberly William
- Reviewed on Wednesday, September 10, 2008
- Grades Used: new
- Dates used: new
I am requesting a catalog and the company is out. Does anyone have one they can mail to me? 2832 167th Rd. Live Oak, FL 32060.
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