Please describe MFW high school from a teacher's point of view...

[Sweet Home Alabama]

If you're using MFW high school, would you describe your role as the mom/teacher? What do you do at the beginning of the year to prepare to use the curriculum, and how much time do you put in on average per day/week?

 

I'd like to hear about MFW high school from a mom's/teacher's point of view. How have you tweaked the curriculum to fit your needs/student's needs? Is it easy to use the rubrics to grade writing? How parent intensive is MFW high school especially if there are younger kids to teach? Has your student been able to follow the lesson plans from the get-go, or do you transition them into this skill by offering help?

 

If you could give advice to a first-time user, what would it be? I'm seriously considering this for my 1st high school student next year.

 

(Dd is currently taking a local outsourced English Comp I class that we are really enjoying. If she continues with English Comp II next year, I would have to choose something else for history to use with that class instead of using MFW. Otherwise, there would be too much writing... kind of like having two English classes. I love that MFW is 3 credits in one curriculum, so this is kind of a tough choice to think about right now.)

Edited September 28, 2011 by Sweet Home Alabama

[cbollin]

My oldest is in 10th grade. She did AHL last year. In WHL this year.

 

We transitioned during jr. high years by having her do more in math and science on her own. I found that she really wanted to be more independent as a high schooler. Some weeks are better than others on staying on track and she’s had homework on the weekends where she goofs off during the week.

 

I found the grading rubrics easy to use for not just writing, but overall grade for the whole year.

 

Time needed from me:

Either me or my dh takes about 20 minutes each evening to make sure she’s on track, or help with stuff.

Once a week, we have a longer conference on stuff to more fully discuss history/Bible. There’s a conference outline suggestion in the lesson plans. I know it says “2 hours”, but yeah right….. maybe 2 hours over the whole week?

 

How much tweaking? Well, this week, we tweaked and changed the due date on a one day writing assignment. I was surprised to find it tucked in middle of week lessons. It was almost like a pop quiz, but it was an assignment that required a lot of thought and prayer, so I said “uh… if we do this assignment, it’s not due until Saturday morning”.

 

I do not find it be teacher intensive. I have a 7th grader in MFW. And a special needs 3rd grader. Teacher time wise… it’s grading, checking work, being able for discussions, and me keeping on her Bible reading. This year with the church history book, I glance at the chapters. I figure if she reads even half of the book, she’ll know more than I do. Bible reading.

 

I’d overall describe the role at this point as mentor/coach. And part drill sgt to wake her up every day. Hormones. Ugh.

 

what did I do at beginning of year to prepare?

I read the intro of the daily lesson plans and took a look at the books she's using. made sure we bought the supplies listed. prayed. Was I supposed to do anything else? the plans are written out. oh wait a minute... at beginning of AHL... we started high schooler a week ahead of other children. that helped!

 

 

-crystal

[jamajo]

The lesson plans/checksheet works well for my DD who is doing WHL as a 9th grader. She was in Classical Conversations Challenge A last year which really prepared her for the skill of managing her time between several subjects and staying on track.

 

Throughout the week I read over her answers to the Quiz Questions in World History and give her feedback on whether her thinking is on track. She took her first Quiz today but I haven't graded it yet.

 

I've tweaked the schedule a little in that, I decided to put off the research project that WHL schedules for weeks 2-8 (may be off on the weeks) until the end of the year (gasp!). I wanted her to use these weeks to write shorter essays in preparation for the research paper.

 

I scheduled the reading of The Giver during this time with a Progeny Press Study Guide. When she finishes I will have her write a paper on some aspect of the book, maybe a compare/contrast paper. If anyone has had a student write a paper on this book I welcome any topic suggestions.

 

My advice: If you have a mature, engaged high schooler this curriculum works well with little teacher involvment. Discussion and checking answers is key.

 

Another way I've tweaked this curriculum to make it my own is to have my daughter write a character analysis on a character from Julius Caesar instead of the play MFW suggested the student write in Week 2.

 

A lot of my time is spent with my dd going over Algebra problems.

She does Science in a coop. The built in accountability of the coop keeps her on track. I give and grade the tests.

 

We sometimes read her new testament selections as a family first thing in the morning but sometimes she reads it on her own. I don't enforce the guidelines that MFW suggests with the underlining in different colors, etc.

 

We are currently in Week 4/5 (a little behind in the History) so that's it so far. I check or ask where she is daily and we spend time on Math together so the Parent Conference isn't a standing appointment.

 

Overall, I really feel like it is independent and not very teacher intensive. I see my roll as helping her to make connections and form ideas from her reading. Math is the only think I "teach."

Edited September 29, 2011 by jamajo
adding information

[cbollin]

If anyone has had a student write a paper on this book I welcome any topic suggestions.

 

 

quick side track....

just trying to help on the essay for the extra book you added, The Giver.

 

(for clarity purposes for others reading the thread... The Giver is not a scheduled book in MFW, but just a book that the poster did to tweak for her needs, just in case that wasn't clear to someone not doing the program yet. you know how it can be on forums....)

 

check all through the Progeny Press guide. Usually there are essay topics in there.

 

or, check spark notes they have some essay topics on this link, scroll down a little...

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/giver/study.html

 

or this

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-giver/study-guide/essay-questions/

 

or even this

http://www.myaccess.com/myaccess/materials/Lesson%20Plans/The%20Giver%20Lesson%20Plan.pdf

 

 

any of those work?

 

-crystal

[fischerl]

 

My advice: If you have a mature, engaged high schooler this curriculum works well with little teacher involvment. Discussion and checking answers is key.

 

Overall, I really feel like it is independent and not very teacher intensive. I see my roll as helping her to make connections and form ideas from her reading.

 

:iagree:

 

DD (9th grade) is doing AHL this year and is very independent with it. We meet on Fridays to check any written work and go through Old Testament Challenge together (we take the time to look up most of the Bible verses together at that time even though she's already done it because I enjoy the discussions this prompts).

 

She really seems to be enjoying it and she likes the independent aspect.

[Julie in MN]

I could chime in if you're looking to do more with your student than the usual MFW family. I do a little more than most with my son. For instance, we read the Bible as a family, like Jamanjo. However, when I need him to be independent (as I did for 2 months last year), MFW has everything laid out for me.

 

As for using MFW without the English credit, I think it's very possible. I still think the complete Bible and the apologetics are worth pursuing, even without the English comparison essays & related readings.

 

 

P.S. Jamanjo, not to worry -- we actually started the research paper in week 1 (because our co-op was doing Julius Caesar but not until week 4), and it's going well with my 10th grader. Although I suppose it's easier with a youngest child not to expect college level work yet :)

[cbollin]

P.S. Jamanjo, not to worry -- we actually started the research paper in week 1 (because our co-op was doing Julius Caesar but not until week 4), and it's going well with my 10th grader. Although I suppose it's easier with a youngest child not to expect college level work yet :)

 

even with oldest child, the WHL research paper isn't that bad in 10th grader. (julie and I like to tease each other on that)

 

We're turning in final draft this week. I like how each week has a small amount of work and then by the end of it they have a nice size paper.

but all of that to say, yeah, jamanjo, if you wait until later in the year for your child, it's ok. I do think you will enjoy the step by step feel of it from getting a topic, to using library, to note cards, reading/researching, organize, then 3 weeks to do the "real writing".

 

I know I was nervous about the play in the first 2 weeks, but when we saw the actual expectations on the assignment in Writer's Inc, eh, it wasn't that hard or long.

 

I'm enjoying hearing how it's going for others and especially with jamanjo doing the 10th grade program in 9th grade without having done AHL or any of the jr. high mfw, it's a real treat to hear how that's going. :) happy smiles

 

ah, coffee time. :)

-crystal

[jamajo]

cbollin...thanks for clarifying the issue with the book I added in. You are correct it wasn't an assigned MFW reading.

 

Yes, as you pointed out this is our first year with MFW and we didn't do AHL.

However, during the summer I scheduled the 9 units in Exploring World History that is covered in AHL as an 11 week study for my DD so that she would have a background/foundation from which to start WHL.

 

I was able to condense the study by eliminating a lot of the chapters dedicated to bible history ONLY because as a family we have a strong biblical foundation but the "academic" topics (i.e. Mesopotamia, etc.) was what she needed more.

 

There are places in the lesson plans that say "if you haven't done AHL then skip this..." It is usually referring to a timeline activity. So I guess MFW knows some of their users in WHL haven't done AHL and it doesn't make for a difficult year.

[Sweet Home Alabama]

I could chime in if you're looking to do more with your student than the usual MFW family. I do a little more than most with my son. For instance, we read the Bible as a family, like Jamanjo. However, when I need him to be independent (as I did for 2 months last year), MFW has everything laid out for me.

 

As for using MFW without the English credit, I think it's very possible. I still think the complete Bible and the apologetics are worth pursuing, even without the English comparison essays & related readings.

 

 

P.S. Jamanjo, not to worry -- we actually started the research paper in week 1 (because our co-op was doing Julius Caesar but not until week 4), and it's going well with my 10th grader. Although I suppose it's easier with a youngest child not to expect college level work yet :)

 

 

 

Thank you all for these great comments!

 

I'm very thankful that MFW isn't teacher intensive. With a 7th and 3rd grader along side a 9th grader, high school independence will be a blessing. It does sound like short, daily checks work better than long checks at the end of the week. Starting high school work a week ahead also sounds like good advice.

 

Julie, I really want to ask you about your comment concerning English. My thoughts have always been to either use MFW as written and NOT take the second year of our English Comp outsourced class *or* find a different (and less expensive) history so that we can take English Comp II.

 

The English Comp II class will be filled with reading novels and writing different kinds of essays. It is probably a 10th grade class that dd would be doing in 9th grade.... It is definitely time consuming. The novels are not meant to line up with history.

 

I can't imagine taking out the writing section in MFW since the history, lit, and Bible topics are written to flow together. If we left out the writing part of MFW, wouldn't that negate the point of using MFW? I've thought about doing both, but really didn't think I could take the writing out of MFW. (Not to mention, it would be quite expensive to do MFW and Eng. Comp II.... kind of redundant.)

 

Will you elaborate just a little more so I can get a better idea of what MFW would look like if we only used the history and Bible credit?

[cbollin]

cbollin...thanks for clarifying the issue with the book I added in. You are correct it wasn't an assigned MFW reading.

 

Yes, as you pointed out this is our first year with MFW and we didn't do AHL.

However, during the summer I scheduled the 9 units in Exploring World History that is covered in AHL as an 11 week study for my DD so that she would have a background/foundation from which to start WHL.

 

I was more referring to the writing in jr. high year and not really the skipping of ancients. In mfw jr. high, most students will have done a smaller research paper. And I notice that your student would be more ready at end of 9th grade for writing part of it. I'm not saying you're wrong.. just talking in terms of how it's different from student to student and even works well for students who haven't done mfw before.

 

I still enjoying hearing how your student is doing with history modifications and other things. and yes, there are parts in WHL that realize that some students did not use or did not buy the carry over items from AHL.

 

-crystal

[Julie in MN]

Julie, I really want to ask you about your comment concerning English. My thoughts have always been to either use MFW as written and NOT take the second year of our English Comp outsourced class *or* find a different (and less expensive) history so that we can take English Comp II.

 

The English Comp II class will be filled with reading novels and writing different kinds of essays. It is probably a 10th grade class that dd would be doing in 9th grade.... It is definitely time consuming. The novels are not meant to line up with history.

 

I can't imagine taking out the writing section in MFW since the history, lit, and Bible topics are written to flow together. If we left out the writing part of MFW, wouldn't that negate the point of using MFW? I've thought about doing both, but really didn't think I could take the writing out of MFW. (Not to mention, it would be quite expensive to do MFW and Eng. Comp II.... kind of redundant.)

 

Will you elaborate just a little more so I can get a better idea of what MFW would look like if we only used the history and Bible credit?

 

Well, I tend to be on the flexible end, so keep that in mind :)

 

My son is in a book club that also doesn't line things up with history. It's not a heavy-duty one, but last year we actually hired a teacher, so a little more time on that. And it worked with AHL (and is going even better with WHL, since some of the book choices are overlapping, yay!). It hasn't confused anything for him to be reading a modern book while he studies the ancients.

 

As for the writing, there are several shorter Notgrass essays that are part of the history credit. I might evaluate those essay topics and switch some of them for the English essay topics (without all the English requirements), so I got my child writing on the "most important" stuff for his history credit? If you scroll down the sample pages to the "grade" sections, this might make more sense:

http://www.mfwbooks.com/inc/pdf/ahlsample.pdf

 

I think you could easily re-sell the lit book, but I personally would keep it as a reference until the year is through. That way, you can see what "would be" studied and decide whether you might make space for an essay topic or other conversation.

 

The main things in English would probably be these, with some of my own random thoughts in capitals (hope it doesn't look impolite!). If you want to squeeze in some of these, I do think there are some history days that are light, since Marie will often balance a heavy English day with a lighter history day. And I've noticed different folks skip a few things in the history & Bible credits, for whatever reason. So one way or the other, I think there's room for moving a few of these to the History/Bible time in your day by subbing or using light days.

 

MAYBE YOUR CLASS WILL ALREADY COVER THESE

1. Learning to write an argumentative essay

2. Reviewing some of the more advanced grammar (beyond the parts of speech, getting more into clauses & use of grammar in writing)

3. Reading - Cat of Bubastes by GA Henty (gives a historical picture but not studied in depth)

4. Reading - Eric Liddell biography (character builder, since he's the Olympics athlete who refused to run on Sunday, but maybe your child will read other good books)

5. Scheduled extra reading

 

MAYBE YOU'LL FIT AT LEAST THE READING INTO BIBLE TIME

6. Psalms project (some Psalms are read throughout the year, but there's a chunk studied in depth in English, and it also relates to a Notgrass chapter, plus a more fun writing project)

7. Proverbs project

8. Study of Job

 

MAYBE YOU'LL PICK & CHOOSE HERE, READ A COUPLE OF REAL CHAPTERS & PICK UP THE REST IN A CHILDREN'S VERSION OR MOVIE, THEN DO A SHORT ESSAY FOR HISTORY/APOLOGETICS?

9. Study of Gilgamesh

10. Study of Bulfinch's mythology

11. Study of Iliad (the manual says Iliad is somewhat optional) and Odyssey

 

 

I probably forgot something important, but it's a start at seeing the kinds of options you might have.

Julie

Edited September 29, 2011 by Julie in MN
reorganize

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Well, I tend to be on the flexible end, so keep that in mind :)

 

My son is in a book club that also doesn't line things up with history. It's not a heavy-duty one, but last year we actually hired a teacher, so a little more time on that. And it worked with AHL (and is going even better with WHL, since some of the book choices are overlapping, yay!). It hasn't confused anything for him to be reading a modern book while he studies the ancients.

 

As for the writing, there are several shorter Notgrass essays that are part of the history credit. I might evaluate those essay topics and switch some of them for the English essay topics (without all the English requirements), so I got my child writing on the "most important" stuff for his history credit? If you scroll down the sample pages to the "grade" sections, this might make more sense:

http://www.mfwbooks.com/inc/pdf/ahlsample.pdf

 

I think you could easily re-sell the lit book, but I personally would keep it as a reference until the year is through. That way, you can see what "would be" studied and decide whether you might make space for an essay topic or other conversation.

 

The main things in English would probably be these, with some of my own random thoughts in capitals (hope it doesn't look impolite!). If you want to squeeze in some of these, I do think there are some history days that are light, since Marie will often balance a heavy English day with a lighter history day. And I've noticed different folks skip a few things in the history & Bible credits, for whatever reason. So one way or the other, I think there's room for moving a few of these to the History/Bible time in your day by subbing or using light days.

 

MAYBE YOUR CLASS WILL ALREADY COVER THESE

1. Learning to write an argumentative essay

2. Reviewing some of the more advanced grammar (beyond the parts of speech, getting more into clauses & use of grammar in writing)

3. Reading - Cat of Bubastes by GA Henty (gives a historical picture but not studied in depth)

4. Reading - Eric Liddell biography (character builder, since he's the Olympics athlete who refused to run on Sunday, but maybe your child will read other good books)

5. Scheduled extra reading

 

MAYBE YOU'LL FIT AT LEAST THE READING INTO BIBLE TIME

6. Psalms project (some Psalms are read throughout the year, but there's a chunk studied in depth in English, and it also relates to a Notgrass chapter, plus a more fun writing project)

7. Proverbs project

8. Study of Job

 

MAYBE YOU'LL PICK & CHOOSE HERE, READ A COUPLE OF REAL CHAPTERS & PICK UP THE REST IN A CHILDREN'S VERSION OR MOVIE, THEN DO A SHORT ESSAY FOR HISTORY/APOLOGETICS?

9. Study of Gilgamesh

10. Study of Bulfinch's mythology

11. Study of Iliad (the manual says Iliad is somewhat optional) and Odyssey

 

 

I probably forgot something important, but it's a start at seeing the kinds of options you might have.

Julie

 

Julie, thank you so much! I just happened to check the board, yet it is time to start school again now that we've had a break. I will ponder all of this this afternoon, yet I definitely wanted to thank you for such a thoughtful answer!!!:001_smile: