MerryAtHope Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Hi, I'd love to hear your likes and dislikes about MFW World History. Thanks! Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie in IL Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Merry, dd 15 1/2 is doing MFW World Hist this year. She enjoys it very much. My only concern is that, for some weeks, the writing assignments seem rather light. We have been supplementing those. Let me know if you have any more questions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 Merry, dd 15 1/2 is doing MFW World Hist this year. She enjoys it very much. My only concern is that, for some weeks, the writing assignments seem rather light. We have been supplementing those. Let me know if you have any more questions! Interesting, light writing assignments might actually be advantageous here as I am trying to get a reluctant writer up to speed! That seems like the opposite of what I read on the MFW board though, maybe it just depends on the student? How does it do with writing instruction--I know it uses Writer's Inc--if we do it, we wouldn't have done AHL first (we're doing Ancients this year in 8th grade and would do WH for 9th--or I might possibly stretch it out over 2 years and supplement with the books I can't bear not to use, LOL!). How do you like the DK encyclopedia? I'm looking forward to seeing that at conference this spring. Do you know why they use the abridged version of A Tale of Two Cities rather than the full version? Is it an easier read? Do you do extra reading besides what's scheduled--how much? (I've heard that AHL has a book basket concept like the younger courses do, so I'm assuming WHL does that too?) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Merry, one of the reasons for the differences in experiences with writing between what I've mentioned on MFW board and what Deb is experiencing might be as simple as I was talking about AHL instead of WHL. I know in AHL over the whole year, I thought it was a good amount. Not each week has the same pace in writing. Maybe it's same in WHL - a pacing issue of the week versus over whole year??? maybe not? I haven't used WHL, so I apologize if the numbers of assignment in AHL confused the situation. But then again, I was hoping the same thing as you are saying for your son's needs with continuing WS. -crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 18, 2011 Author Share Posted January 18, 2011 one of the reasons for the differences in experiences with writing between what I've mentioned on MFW board and what Deb is experiencing might be as simple as I was talking about AHL instead of WHL. You're right, that could be. I was thinking the writing might be more consistent over the whole, but maybe some years are harder than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie in IL Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Interesting, light writing assignments might actually be advantageous here as I am trying to get a reluctant writer up to speed! That seems like the opposite of what I read on the MFW board though, maybe it just depends on the student? How does it do with writing instruction--I know it uses Writer's Inc--if we do it, we wouldn't have done AHL first (we're doing Ancients this year in 8th grade and would do WH for 9th--or I might possibly stretch it out over 2 years and supplement with the books I can't bear not to use, LOL!). That's true - light writing assignments can be perfect, too! I do think it depends on the student. One of our major goals is to prepare dd for writing in college, so we require her to do a great deal of writing on a weekly basis, hence the supplementing when necessary. Writing instruction in MFW is decent - it relies pretty much completely on Writer's Inc, but we have been happy and satisfied with that. How do you like the DK encyclopedia? I'm looking forward to seeing that at conference this spring. The DK encyclopedia, IMO, is excellent. We both love it. I look forward to reading the assignments as much as dd does! (I do read all of what dd reads each week so that we can discuss it on Fridays. This is probably my biggest challenge of the year - keeping up with dd in MFW and ds in Veritas' Omnibus!) Do you know why they use the abridged version of A Tale of Two Cities rather than the full version? Is it an easier read? According to the teacher's manual, "because A Tale of Two Cities is very lengthy and difficult to read, we use an abridged version that retains the original language and writing style but omits some of the less important text. A student who is a strong reader may instead read the full version (borrowed from the public library)/ The chapter numbering is the same in both versions, so the reading schedule in the lesson plans can still be used." Do you do extra reading besides what's scheduled--how much? (I've heard that AHL has a book basket concept like the younger courses do, so I'm assuming WHL does that too?) We started doing extra reading in the beginning of the year - extra classics, etc - but stopped in order to focus more on the MFW readings. Now, dd does extra reading for fun - light Christian fiction, mostly. There is an optional reading list in the back of the TM for MFW. Thanks! Hope this helps, Merry! Have a great day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie in IL Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Crystal - good point. Some weeks are heavier than others, for sure. Weeks 2 - 10 (roughly) focus on an 8 - 10 page research paper, just like in AHL (if I remember right). I'm sure it all balances out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 (I've heard that AHL has a book basket concept like the younger courses do, so I'm assuming WHL does that too?) Kinda sorta, but not really. AHL has a short list of "extra reading" in the front of the manual, and I think at least once during the 1st semester there has been a suggestion for reading more on a topic. Then on the weekly grid, there is a box for "reading" on lots of weeks, where you plug in extra reading. It can be from the list in front or from the Stobaugh SAT list of literature, or your own choices. Not every family will do this reading, and it's not intended to be a "literature study" like the assigned books (Gilgamesh, Homer, etc.). So to compare to the younger years, it's more like the "reading box" and the "list of classics," rather than the "book basket box" on the grid or the "book basket list" in the back of the manual. To me, it's very much like the parts of many other programs where easier books are assigned (Sonlight assigned Dear Mr. Henshaw when my dd did that, or WP assigns Macaulay books), but instead of "making" them read a certain easier book, they are given freedom to choose books according to their interests and abilities -- in at least one area of the curriculum. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 18, 2011 Author Share Posted January 18, 2011 Kinda sorta, but not really. AHL has a short list of "extra reading" in the front of the manual, and I think at least once during the 1st semester there has been a suggestion for reading more on a topic. Then on the weekly grid, there is a box for "reading" on lots of weeks, where you plug in extra reading. It can be from the list in front or from the Stobaugh SAT list of literature, or your own choices. Not every family will do this reading, and it's not intended to be a "literature study" like the assigned books (Gilgamesh, Homer, etc.). So to compare to the younger years, it's more like the "reading box" and the "list of classics," rather than the "book basket box" on the grid or the "book basket list" in the back of the manual. To me, it's very much like the parts of many other programs where easier books are assigned (Sonlight assigned Dear Mr. Henshaw when my dd did that, or WP assigns Macaulay books), but instead of "making" them read a certain easier book, they are given freedom to choose books according to their interests and abilities -- in at least one area of the curriculum. Julie I haven't done the younger years of MFW--I assumed that the Book Basket was all optional (or read some but you decide which ones and how much), which is kind of what I'm assuming that the "extra" reading would be in the high school levels (I know the "scheduled" books are not considered "optional.") It sounds like from what you're saying that there is sometimes time for us to add in other books of our choosing, just for fun or interest, or something "lighter" to read but not "study," which is what I was hoping would be the case. Thanks, Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 I It sounds like from what you're saying that there is sometimes time for us to add in other books of our choosing, just for fun or interest, or something "lighter" to read but not "study," which is what I was hoping would be the case. Thanks, Merry :-) definitely in AHL it's like that. My oldest is enjoying fun reading currently with a series called Ranger's Apprentice. Nothing to do with school at all nor anything on MFW or Stobaugh list. Just fun reading because she wants to. (not to mention it gives her something to talk about with a "certain someone" from church. ;) no one at church wants to talk Iliad. LOL So, she just says "yeah, you know how it is... sometimes you have to read it 'cuz it's in English class." then all of the other high schoolers say "yeah. that makes sense." -crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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