I've used MFW since my daughter started K and will now be entering 3rd, and I am wondering if ECC would be too hard for her. I know some people don't start this until 4th grade. What is your experience with it?
ECC can be used from 2nd-8th with modifications as needed. I would think it would be just fine for your daughter. A few of the assignments marked "advanced" may be too much for her and can be skipped without any issues. When I did it, my oldest was considered 4th grade and she flew right through most of it, with the exception of a few advanced assignments. Her younger brothers even joined in with the geography games, cooking, and art lessons. The only reason we waited till 4th grade to start ECC was that we hadn't heard about MFW until the year prior.
I agree with Claraskids. I wouldn't bother with the World Geographybook at all for that age but I think the rest would be fine, especially if you're only working with one child.
I will be working with one child for ECC this year, then next year I'll be adding one more. I was wondering, tiffharmon2001, why you say I should skip the World Geography. Is it too hard for her age, or is it just repeated in other areas?
DEFINITELY DO ECC!!! We are just finishing up and we've LOVED it this year. GREAT Geography base, GREAT missionary emphasis. We've loved it. DEFINITELY SKIP the World Geography Book, even my 6th Grader struggled with this one. She did it. But it was tough for her - definitely think that's more for the older kids. This workbook is really a "research" book where they would research all the answers using encyclopedias, internet, etc. My DD is very computer savvy and struggled finding stuff. She had some pages she really enjoyed researching (animals, traditional clothing, etc), and some she just LOATHED (natural resource plottling, finding the islands via coordinates, etc). I am glad she did it all, and it looks impressive in her Portfolio, but if I had to do this year over again, I'd have skipped that and let her use the other resources more. I did not have her use the A Trip Around the World as much b/c I thought she was kind of above it. A Trip Around the World and Another Trip Around the World would definitely be okay for the 3rd grader. Also, most of the book recommendations at the end of the teach book are for younger readers or are read alouds. I recommend getting "Geo Scribe" from www.historyscribe.com - we used this EXTENSIVELY this year for the Country Reports (I only made my kids do the first page of the country that had all the "basics" in it) and for the Geography A to Z pages - you have to print some blanks b/c some words are not in their geography terms - but it's easier to keep track of than the cards as they recommend them. The Geography Game is amazing. We loved it. My kids just took their end of year test and both of them aced it!!!! We did not use Writing Strands. Actually, I was pathetic at writing this year! Oh well, always next year, right???? We did use the Spelling Power, loved it. Like I said - do ECC - you won't regret it!!!!
I think it would be too hard. My 7th grader did it pretty much independently, but I didn't have my 4th grader attempt it.
