Nojo317
- Reviewed on Monday, November 02, 2009
- Grades Used: Kindergarten & 3rd Grade
- Dates used: 2009
I started using Weaver Volume 1 this September. The idea of Weaver sounded great, but I’ve found that it’s got a steep learning curve for using it. As a new homeschooler, I thought I could handle it because I like to plan, I’m very organized, and have a couple great libraries nearby. After two months of trying to use this curriculum, I have finally come to the point where I need to throw in the towel. It’s just TOO much work! Here’s my overall assessment:
1. For your littles or lower elementary grades, the Bible portion is often over their heads. I found myself having to use other, more age-appropriate materials for them so we weren’t skipping this part of our schooling, which to me is the most important part! Also, the Bible verses chosen (for memorization or penmanship) were ridiculously long for younger students. I usually found my own Bible verses that also tied to the topic we were studying.
2. The materials recommended in Volume 1 are mostly Milliken transparencies and worksheets. These are rated at 5th grade and above in the Rainbow Resource catalog, although Weaver suggests using it for grades 3 and up. The thing is that they aren’t cheap, and no libraries have them available for checking out. For *each topic* they’re roughly $15. I had K’r and 3rd gr students, plus I didn’t have the money to spend on Milliken resources. Instead I spent hours going over what the libraries had available on the topic and what would be appropriate for each of my children and what they were studying. Other non-Milliken materials that were suggested in Weaver were not available at my well-stocked libraries (about 90% wasn’t available.) I know I can do ILL, but sometimes I didn’t have time to wait for a library loan to arrive and had to make my own decisions about books. For me this was stressful – is the book too much or too little? Is it going to cover what Weaver suggests or will we be off-track? Also, in one chapter a National Geographic from the 1980’s is a recommended resource for a particular objective in chapter 3. Are they kidding? Unless you live near a college library or large city library, where are you going to find it?
3. I also ordered the Weaver “Pulling It Together” Review Questions as a reference to see if we were on target for what we were supposed to be learning. Most times the questions didn’t have anything to do with what I had taught my kids OR with the outlined objectives, so I’m left wondering how important are the recommended resources – my kids weren’t learning half of what the review questions seemed to imply they should be learning with the library books I had chosen.
4. Often times I found myself tweaking the objectives, which is OK and what most homeschoolers do! However, if I’m tweaking the objectives, tweaking the Bible lessons, etc, I needed to stop and think why am I using this curriculum anyway?
5. One thing that bothered me about this curriculum was that it is spiral-based. I didn’t know this going into it. Each chapter you’re flying through topics. This isn't what I envisioned when I pictured us homeschooling! I wanted to take our time and savor a topic, really dig in and learn it! However, Weaver doesn't work quite like that. Example: In chapter 4 it’s recommended that you spend one day doing a “brief overview” with a 3rd grader of the following US History: discovery of America, Mayflower, early colonies, Revolutionary War, Presidents Washington, Lincoln and current president, and introduction to Civil War. ONE DAY?! And yet this same chapter Weaver spends no less than 8 days on a memory album of the child’s family! I had serious issues with this.
6. I also didn’t like all the flipping back and forth between the Day by Day and the Volume. I realize some people don’t need the Day By Day so they’re kept separate, but most people will need it. If that’s the case, why doesn’t Alpha Omega (the seller of Weaver) arrange the Weaver in two ways: One with just the Volume and one with the Volume and Day By Day meshed together to prevent all this going back and forth. I only had two kids; I can’t even imagine if I had more!
7. In my opinion, I think Weaver would be fine for a seasoned homeschooler with older elementary and junior high kids. I don’t know anything about the 7-12th grade extensions they offer. However, you will be spending some serious time at the library gathering needed resources, so you should have a really great library nearby or loads of money at your disposal to buy all the books and resources you’re going to need. In conclusion, I really think Weaver needs a major reediting by Alpha Omega. It needs some updated resources, not ones that are from over 20 years ago as well as making it more organized and easier to follow along.
As an alternative, I’m looking into Heart of Dakota. Its curriculum is grounded in the Bible and builds the subjects from there, much like Weaver does, but there’s less of a “one size fits all” approach.
|
Iniguess
- Reviewed on Thursday, June 12, 2008
- Grades Used: 3-4
- Dates used: 2006
.ldd
|
esther
- Reviewed on Thursday, February 21, 2008
- Grades Used: Preschool
- Dates used: 2008
Just wanted to give a head up...if you purchase Interlock, the pre-k program from Weaver, the teacher portion is the exact same thing that you get in the teacher manuals for Horizons preschool program. So if you have Interlock, you can order the student workbooks and the resource package for Horizons and save yourself some money!
|
Wendy W
- Reviewed on Thursday, November 08, 2007
- Grades Used: 4th -7th
- Dates used: 2003-2007
I LOVE this curriculum! In 13 years of homeschooling I have used a large variety of materials. This is at the top of my list, (with Five in a Row an extremely close second!) but I do NOT use it quite as intended. Other reviews have given a good summary of how Weaver is designed to work, so I won't go there. I want to address some of the dislikes others have mentioned, and how we work around those issues. I am not a regimented person, but I do like to have a basic plan in place.
We use the main volumes, and this year added the upper grades supplement for my older son. Others have complained about planning time. I generally spend a couple days in the summer planning out my year, then only an hour or so the week before beginning each new unit. My big planning days are done at a location where my kids will be well-occupied, (like a park) so I have a minimum of interruption. I made two types of planning sheets on my computer. One is divided by chapters and grade levels, and will be filled with an overview of all the topics I plan to cover. The other is a weekly plan with space for all the subjects. I sit down with the Volume and Supplement, and write down on the overview all the subjects and objectives I want to cover. I make notes of which ones naturally seem to go well together. This is the part of planning that requires all the "page flipping". Next I use the weekly plan sheets and fill in the Bible lesson numbers. I read through the Bible lessons and put the corresponding objectives on the right days. That's it until I reach the chapters during the year. (Weaver suggests alternating Social Studies and Science days. I have found it works better to group them when possible)
In the week before we begin a new unit, I change out the unit pages in my small binder, then I sit down with my planning page at a computer- either at the library's card catalog or at home logged on to the library. I order any books that the library has that look like they might be what I want. (If I have more time I will actually browse at the library) We have access to a large library system, so there are always plenty to choose from. (I NEVER try to find the particular books Weaver recommends. Looking up individual books is time-consuming, and they are simply the books that author had access to, not necessarily the best books to use.) When the books come in, I will sit down with the stack and decide which ones we'll actually use. I frequently only use about half of what I have ordered.
Each day when we start school, I simply check my plan for the topics to cover, and grab the appropriate books.
I do NOT use the Day-by-Day that Weaver sells. I bought one with my Volume 1 to see what it was. My attempt at following it lasted less than a week. It schedules what topics to cover on what days- usually I wanted to cover different topics, or different aspects, than what was scheduled. It gives page numbers of books for the scheduled topics-and we never have the same books. It is MUCH easier to make my own plan for MY kids than to use the one designed for someone else's kids.
Some reviews stated that Weaver breezes through some subjects too quickly. I have found this to be true, especially with History. Each time we get to a History unit, I take a break from the Weaver Volume, and spend as much time as I want to on the History period. I use other period-specific manuals as a backbone, and flesh it out as we want to. Because of this It has taken us about 1.5-2 yrs per volume. Just remember that your chosen curriculum is to be your TOOL, not your taskmaster.
Wisdom Words- I have this, and I never use it. It's heavily dependent on the child's written work to use as the basis for teaching the mechanics of the subject. Since getting my kids to produce written work is like pulling teeth, it just does not work well for us.
Weaver also sells a small packet of binder dividers and helpful hints. (I don't remember what they call it, but I know it's named in one of the other reviews.) This is well worth the few dollars it costs. It helps you set up a smaller secondary binder that will contain only the pages needed for your current unit. This keeps you from having to handle the HUGE Volume binder on a daily basis.
Someone said that Weaver requires the purchase of too many additional resources. If you do not have access to a good library system, that could very well be the case. My additional purchases have included mostly things that we'd buy no matter what curriculum we were using- resources such as atlases, time lines, drill materials, and games. Topic specific books can almost always be found at the library- though I frequently find things that look "perfect" for an upcoming unit and spend money I don't HAVE to.
For moms that prefer a totally laid out plan, the Day-by-Day can provide that. For moms that like to "wing it", Weaver can easily provide the backbone to build your own plan.
|
|
