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WinterPromise homeschooling curriculum: what exactly does it promise?
Here's a quote from their website:
"Literature, Activities, Memories. WinterPromise celebrates the strengths of family by building unity, togetherness, and memories. Our captivating programs will excite your family's curiosity and our interactive learning opportunities will involve every type of learner. All in a low-prep format that parents love!"
I've heard WinterPromise mentioned a few times by some families who like to combine their history and literature studies. I've been interested in possibly using it for my own family, so I was a little concerned when one of my online friends, a curricula reviewer for the TOS Crew (The Old Schoolhouse magazine), Stefanie, began writing about her family's negative experiences with WinterPromise on her blog, Life With My Giggly Girls.
I will be very upfront with you: I have not used WinterPromise for myself.
You may feel that I have no right to share a negative review of WinterPromise when I haven't actually used the curriculum myself. In most cases, you would be correct. However, sacrificing a second income to be a stay-at-home mom requires me to be frugal with our monthly income, like many of you, and I cannot afford to waste a dime on something that will completely frustrate my family. I know many of you are homeschooling in a similar manner, and need to be very careful with every dollar spent on curriculum. If you read my blog and view my website, you'll know that I rarely post negative reviews of curriculum or products. I believe that this information needs to be available for others to view, so they won't be shelling out huge sums of money for something that won't deliver...or that literally may not even make it to your home mailbox.
Stefanie has used WinterPromise, and I trust her and what she has to say about using the WinterPromise curriculum. She is very specific on the problems she's had with this curriculum, and I respect that. Instead of merely saying, "We are not liking WinterPromise," but not giving any specifics on what she likes and doesn't like with the curriculum, she is being very specific.
First, I learned while browsing WinterPromise's website, that for one of my daughters, their program would cost $839 for one year. That's only for one of my children!
Gulp!
I've probably spent that much on both of my girls - but spread out over NINE years of homeschooling!
That is a ton of money.
Apparently, WinterPromise doesn't guarantee the satisfaction of the customer with their products. WinterPromise does have a customer guarantee program, but often you won't receive important parts of your order until well after the deadline to get your money back! So, if I had spent $839 for my daughter's curriculum for one school year, but there were all kinds of mistakes, incorrect scheduling, missing parts and pieces, and incorrectly drawn and published maps (grossly incorrect!), I couldn't get my money back.
And imagine what it would be like to place an order with WinterPromise and still not receive parts of my order after five months' time. That just isn't right.
None of the other homeschooling curricula companies with which I've worked have EVER failed to have a 100% money-back guarantee on their materials.
Instead of going into the lack of customer service (interpreted as NO customer service), no money-back guarantee, and the errors being so many that a parent has to reinvent the wheel with this program, I'll just direct you to the Life With My Giggly Girls website and let you read her blog postings about this company. I have found her experience to be horrific, and she isn't the only one who has been treated this way. It's all over the WinterPromise forums, apparently, and this has been a continuing problem since at least 2007.
I'd be ashamed to own a company like this. I'd be ashamed to have my curricula's errors and problems scattered all over the Internet. I'd be ashamed to deceive people into thinking that what they are buying, because it is SO costly, is a professionally produced product.
All I can say is, if you intend on purchasing WinterPromise for your own family, do some in-depth research. Read reviews of the program, and investigate their forums. Don't buy this curricula blindly, or you will be bitterly disappointed.
The End.
Here's a quote from their website:
"Literature, Activities, Memories. WinterPromise celebrates the strengths of family by building unity, togetherness, and memories. Our captivating programs will excite your family's curiosity and our interactive learning opportunities will involve every type of learner. All in a low-prep format that parents love!"
I've heard WinterPromise mentioned a few times by some families who like to combine their history and literature studies. I've been interested in possibly using it for my own family, so I was a little concerned when one of my online friends, a curricula reviewer for the TOS Crew (The Old Schoolhouse magazine), Stefanie, began writing about her family's negative experiences with WinterPromise on her blog, Life With My Giggly Girls.
I will be very upfront with you: I have not used WinterPromise for myself.
You may feel that I have no right to share a negative review of WinterPromise when I haven't actually used the curriculum myself. In most cases, you would be correct. However, sacrificing a second income to be a stay-at-home mom requires me to be frugal with our monthly income, like many of you, and I cannot afford to waste a dime on something that will completely frustrate my family. I know many of you are homeschooling in a similar manner, and need to be very careful with every dollar spent on curriculum. If you read my blog and view my website, you'll know that I rarely post negative reviews of curriculum or products. I believe that this information needs to be available for others to view, so they won't be shelling out huge sums of money for something that won't deliver...or that literally may not even make it to your home mailbox.
Stefanie has used WinterPromise, and I trust her and what she has to say about using the WinterPromise curriculum. She is very specific on the problems she's had with this curriculum, and I respect that. Instead of merely saying, "We are not liking WinterPromise," but not giving any specifics on what she likes and doesn't like with the curriculum, she is being very specific.
First, I learned while browsing WinterPromise's website, that for one of my daughters, their program would cost $839 for one year. That's only for one of my children!
Gulp!
I've probably spent that much on both of my girls - but spread out over NINE years of homeschooling!
That is a ton of money.
Apparently, WinterPromise doesn't guarantee the satisfaction of the customer with their products. WinterPromise does have a customer guarantee program, but often you won't receive important parts of your order until well after the deadline to get your money back! So, if I had spent $839 for my daughter's curriculum for one school year, but there were all kinds of mistakes, incorrect scheduling, missing parts and pieces, and incorrectly drawn and published maps (grossly incorrect!), I couldn't get my money back.
And imagine what it would be like to place an order with WinterPromise and still not receive parts of my order after five months' time. That just isn't right.
None of the other homeschooling curricula companies with which I've worked have EVER failed to have a 100% money-back guarantee on their materials.
Instead of going into the lack of customer service (interpreted as NO customer service), no money-back guarantee, and the errors being so many that a parent has to reinvent the wheel with this program, I'll just direct you to the Life With My Giggly Girls website and let you read her blog postings about this company. I have found her experience to be horrific, and she isn't the only one who has been treated this way. It's all over the WinterPromise forums, apparently, and this has been a continuing problem since at least 2007.
I'd be ashamed to own a company like this. I'd be ashamed to have my curricula's errors and problems scattered all over the Internet. I'd be ashamed to deceive people into thinking that what they are buying, because it is SO costly, is a professionally produced product.
All I can say is, if you intend on purchasing WinterPromise for your own family, do some in-depth research. Read reviews of the program, and investigate their forums. Don't buy this curricula blindly, or you will be bitterly disappointed.
The End.
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Photos from jimmiehomeschoolmom, jimmiehomeschoolmom
