I know I just saw a link the other day where someone made printable handouts for all of the poems in FLL, but I have searched and searched and can't find it anywhere! Any chance someone knows the link? And this time I'll bookmark it! :tongue_smilie: Thanks! Jennifer

I happen to be one of those former teachers who chose MFW, and I have to say WE LOVE IT around here! Honestly, it always confuses me when I read comments about MFW being light. My mind is going in a million different directions right now with things I want to include in this reply, so I'll try to get everything typed before I forget it all! (1) I wonder if these comments are made by people who have actually USED the curriculum and used it the way it's designed. The reason I say that is because I can understand how someone might have that impression if all they do is go to the MFW web site and look at the sample pages or the resources that are included in the package but don't see the extra resources that are added in through the use of the book basket. (You won't find me saying many bad things about MFW at all, but I have to admit, even I wish there were more sample pages online and book basket lists online. I think a lot of people's opinions would change in a heartbeat if they had a better picture of the curriculum as a whole. But unfortunately, you don't get to see all the extra book basket gems or the overall picture of the curriculum until you have the TM in your hands.) (2) This comment ALWAYS baffles me because, as the teacher, YOU ultimately control how challenging the curriculum is. YOU'RE the one who chooses your book basket resources, so if for some reason you feel like the recommended book selections are too babyish, then you just have to choose more in-depth books when you make your weekly trip to the library. They give recommendations in the book basket list, but you are in no way tied to those choices. You are free to use any book, movie, etc. of your choice as long as relates to the topic being studied that week. I happen to really enjoy their book basket choices, but it would be a REALLY easy fix for someone who doesn't. (3) You don't have to do any activities that you feel are too babyish. Next year, for example, we will do Adventures, which is MFW's version of U.S. History for 2nd and 3rd graders. If we come to an activity that I feel dd wouldn't enjoy, then we'll just grab an extra historical fiction or maybe throw in an extra American Girls book or something like that as a substitute. I understand that not everyone learns the same way, but I can honestly say from my own experience that the few things I do remember from public school are things that were hands-on. I remember making a costume to go to Dickens on the Strand. I remember staining a paper with tea and burning the edges so it would look like an old document, then writing part of the Declaration of Independence on it. I remember cutting the legs of black pantyhose into three sections and braiding them, then putting the hose on my head so I could have "indian hair" when I studied Native Americans. It made the learning fun by making me involved in it, and that's the only reason I had any interested in it whatsoever. (4) Let me just say before I type this that I'm well aware that I may get rotten tomatoes thrown at me for this comment, but it's my honest heart and it IS being said in love, no matter how it sounds, so here it goes . . . I often wonder if, as homeschool moms, we're not just WAY too hyper-sensitive about whether our kids are learning "enough." Maybe we feel like we have something to prove to our friends with kids in public school, to our parents (that's the case with me--I always feel the need to prove to grandma & grandpa that our decision to homeschool was the "right" one), etc. that we tend to err on the side of overkill. Yet if we would allow ourselves to go at a gentler pace (which, thanks be to God, is exactly what MFW forces me to do!), our kids would not only enjoy learning more, but they would also retain more of what they learn because they're not getting so much forced on them at once. Here's an example of this that just happened in our home last week. We studied ocean creatures for one week (that's five days of an entire school year) back in October (seven months ago). Last week my six-year-old was running errands with my husband, and she took a spiral notebook with her so she could draw. When she got tired of drawing, she wrote the following "essay," for lack of a better word, about whales. (I'm including all of her grammar and spelling mistakes, so keep in mind that she's only 6.) Did you know? that a whale is a mammle. Whales have a spout that sprays out water. the mom and dad keep wach over their youg. if a enimy atackes the mom and dad save their youg. we have foud that some pepole take care of whales that live in bad water. some whales sing and thats how they talk to each other. whales eat fish and seals. I know it's funny but it's true. Whales live in the ocean and stay At the midel. Whales are Biger then a elephant and a . . . Dinosaur! thats cool dood! whales can jump and dive. it is cool that a whale can jump. it would be cool to have a pet whale. they can swim fast! a whale would make a good boat I like Lerning about whales don't you. well it's time to go. it was fun wall it laster. By! Granted, it's nothing that's going to win an award for literary genius, but I think it's pretty okay that a 6-year-old learned about a topic, retained a good bit of the information for 5 months, and chose to write enough to cover a full page of notebook paper about it. And as I talk to people who have used the curriculum longer than I have, one thing that keeps coming up repeatedly is how much their kids retain. This, to me, is HUGE! First and foremost, I want them to love to learn; after that, I want them to remember what we've studied because it has become such a part of their world through literature choices and hands-on activities. I'm sure there was more I wanted to say about this, but I've already written a thesis, plus I can't remember anything else I was going to say anyway! But it really IS a great curriculum. In our house, "gentle" doesn't mean "bad." "Gentle" means "enjoyable." And that's what promotes lifelong learning, IMHO. Blessings, Jennifer

I have AAS Level 1 and Level 2, and the words on the list at the back of the book just don't seem all that challenging. Do they get more difficult in the higher levels? I understand that the idea is for the kids to know the rules so well that they can apply them to more difficult words (and that's one of the things I love about the curriculum!), but I'm just hoping that at some point those more difficult words are provided and I don't need to go making up my own list! FWIW, dd is only in 1st grade, and I'm NOT the kind of mom who pushes her to do more than she's able to do. But at the same time, I don't want to be a curriculum hopper. I'd love to find something that will suit our needs long-term and stick with it, kwim?

We switched to CLE math around Thanksgiving. We follow a traditional school calendar (dh is a teacher/coach), but we're currently on light unit 106, which is behind where I wanted to be right now. DD is 6 and has done very well on all of her tests and quizzes so far. I would love to skip a light unit so we can have something that resembles a summer break, but I don't know which one to skip. Would it be better to skip the 110 light unit and start 2nd grade with 201 -OR- or complete through 109, take a break, then start 2nd grade with 110 and skip 201? Or any other ideas you have to offer . . . :tongue_smilie: Thanks! Jennifer

DD 6 lost her first top tooth tonight, and there's this weird fleshy-looking thing hanging down where her tooth used to be! Has anyone ever seen this before? If so, how long did it take for it to go away? I don't know if it's the root from her baby tooth that just came out or what! She's currently crying because she's afraid she'll get made fun of at co-op tomorrow, so she wants to stay home. What to do, what to do?? :confused: Jennifer

Don't ever underestimate the power of good old-fashioned card games! We were playing cards at my parents' over Christmas. My 1st grader had a score of 18 and earned 5 more points. We weren't adding two-digit numbers together yet, and she was a little confused. My dad tried explaining it to her with carrying, but she wasn't getting it. I said, "Look, how far away from 20 is your 18?" A light bulb immediately went on, and she said, "Oh! So it's 23!" From that one game she learned how to get her number to a multiple of 10 and work with it from there. AMAZING! Okay. Done now! :tongue_smilie: Jennifer

We've recently tried to add more math games into our day, too. Here are a couple of ideas we're using, but please understand that these ARE mostly for drilling. We use lots of manipulatives and just everyday around-the-house math for conceptual teaching. (1) It's basically like the sidewalk chalk hopscotch game described above, but we play it indoors with a foam hopscotch board we picked up at Big Lots for next to nothing. LOVE the sidewalk chalk idea - I'll have to do that on a day when the weather's too gorgeous to stay inside! (2) Go fish. We deal out flash cards and ask each other for whatever we have in our hands. For example, if dd has a 7-4 card, she'll say, "Do you have any 3's?" And if I have, for example, the 9-6 card, I'll give it to her. (3) MATHO. (Yes, I'm a dork.) I just went into Word, made a table with 5 columns and 5 rows, added random numbers to the cells, and printed it out. I made 4 different cards (one for each member of the family). DD is the caller - she goes through her flash cards, and whatever the answer is, that's the number she calls out. If we have the number on our card, we cover it with a penny. I especially love this one because it has helped my 4yo dd with her number recognition. (4) Flashback. DD has index cards with numbers on them. When I hold up a flash card, she flashes back the card that has the answer on it. (5) Mother May I. We use the foam hopscotch pieces from #1, but we take them apart. (They fit together like a puzzle, and each piece is about a square foot. You could just as easily use pieces of paper with numbers on them.) I'll hold up a card (say 4+2) and dd will ask, "Mother, may I please go to number 6?" They especially love it when I say something like, "Only if you hop on one foot (or walk like an elephant, dance, crawl, tiptoe, take giant steps, etc.) while you go." (6) Matching. I recently purchased some 10-sided dice from CBD for about $3 for this game. We lay all of our flash cards face up, then roll the dice. Whatever number we roll is our "answer" and we have to find a card with a math fact to match. Whoever has more cards at the end wins. I'm probably going to make a variation of this game where you don't use flash cards but instead roll the dice and make an equation to go with that answer. For example, if you roll a 10, you could say, "6 + 4." But if you roll 10 again, you can't use the same equation, so you'd have to know another way of making 10, such as 7 + 3 or 12 - 2, etc. (7) Battle. Play like regular battle, but add the two players' cards together. If they add up to be an even number, dd keeps them; if they add up to be an odd number, I keep them. Sorry to be so wordy - brevity is definitely NOT my gift! But I'm glad you started this thread! I love hearing everyone else's ideas, and now I have a few more to add to this list! :) Jennifer

We LOVED MFW K! We completed it last year when my oldest was 5. The science and Bible are so beautifully interwoven! The Hazells have taken great spiritual truths and worded them in ways that are perfect for kiddos. As for people who say MFW K is "light," I feel like you as the teacher ultimately control that. For example, dd was already reading when we started, so we pretty much ditched the LA portion of the program and continued doing what we were already doing. Because I was able to be more relaxed with the reading part of our school day, I was able to focus more on math and science. We played lots of math-y games and read LOTS of science books we checked out from the library, as well as some great fiction books about whatever our science topic was that week. As far as time each day, I'd say we probably spent somewhere around an hour a day. But it's hard to say for sure because I always broke up our day (e.g., do math then send her out to play for an hour, then do reading, then send her out to play, etc.). Truly, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a better K program anywhere. Hope you are blessed by your K year, whether you choose MFW or another program! Jennifer

Thanks, ladies, for sharing these other resources! They look great! Anyone out there who has used the American Girls Teacher's Guides???

I'm planning to do an American Girls study at home. As of now, I have the complete 6-book sets for Kaya, Felicity, Josefina, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, Kit, and Molly, as well as the Welcome to _____'s World for each of these characters. I also have Portraits of American Girlhood, which I thought would be completely sufficient, but they list the old Teacher's Guides for the characters as recommended resources. Sooo...anyone done an American Girls study with or without the teacher's guides? How much will I lose if I don't have them? How much will I gain if I do? I honestly appreciate ANY input before I go crazy trying to track down teacher's guides on ebay...and spending a fortune, I'm sure!:tongue_smilie: Thanks, Jennifer