At least one person mentioned they found MFW spines dry or textbook-ish. Has anyone who's done Ex-1850 felt that way? I did look up several of the spines on Amazon and CBD to get a better feel for them, and some are classified as textbooks for middle school level students. It made me wonder if these would be too advanced for my two third graders. I am so appreciating all the input! It has me really evaluating what we enjoy about Biblioplan - all the great books, scheduled for me, along with lots of flexibility - and on the other hand, what I feel it's missing and would like done for me (music, art and Bible). I am a tweaker and would probably end up tweaking MFW just as I've tweaked Sonlight, Winterpromise, Beautiful Feet and Biblioplan through the years, but I want to make sure I at least start out with the best fit for our family. I will keep prayerfully considering and will enjoy any more input you send my way. Thank you all! This board is great. Blessings, Aimee mom to 6 great kids ages 6-18, schooling grades k, 2, 2 and 5

Understood Betsy - about truly appreciating things and relationships. A beautiful story. The Wheel on the School - relationships, character, perseverance...a slow start but what a good book! The Year of Miss Agnes - just a really nice story. All the Little House books. Lots of others but those came to mind. Blessings, Aimee mom to 6 great kids ages 6-18, schooling k, 2, 2 and 5

Thanks so much for your thoughts, I do appreciate it. Biblioplan does schedule fantastic read-alouds but not Bible, with the exception of the study of the Nation of Israel in Biblioplan Ancients (which was great!). It does also schedule the readers by level, which we've enjoyed - though I find it schedules more of them then I'd like my son to rush through. He's a strong reader but many books were scheduled to be read in one week, and I selected the ones I wanted my ds11 to read (skipping others), and gave him a little longer. He was usually reading another thick book on his own (he enjoyed the Lord of the Rings trilogy this year), and I didn't want reading historical fiction to turn into too much of a chore. As it is, he still says that is his favorite genre, so it's worked well. So I did get used to setting my own schedule and # of pages read as far as that goes. I assumed MFW book basket would schedule readers the same way; am I wrong about that? Also, if anyone has used Ex.-1850, does MFW progress though SOTW in order, or mix it up? I will try to get my hands on some of the books MFW schedules, maybe our library carries some and I can preview them. I'll also check out Harmony Fine Arts. I do love the idea of having the Bible, art and music scheduled though, I've gotten so many great resources that we've not done justice too because I just don't schedule them in. Thanks also for the heads-up about the yahoo group for used MFW. Blessings, Aimee mom to 6 great kids ages 6-18, schooling k, 2, 2 and 5

This is what I've got so far, for two third graders, six weeks apart in age but very different learners: Math: MCP 3 for one, Horizons or Saxon 5/4 for the other Grammar: R&S Writing: WWE 2 and 3, depending on how they progress Spelling: R&S or Spelling Workout Reading: CLE Reading and lots of good books to read Handwriting: HWT cursive History: SOTW using either Biblioplan or MFW, still deciding - either way, lots of good historical fiction read-alouds and readers Science: Either MFW's suggestions or Abeka, lots of nature study Guitar for one of my guys, weekly gym and swim for both Several choices, including Bible and science, sort of hinge on my history choice and the jury's still out on that...thanks for helping me think it all through! Blessings, Aimee mom to 6 great kids ages 6-18, schooling k, 2, 2 and 5

I have been carrying around the MFW catalog for days now, trying to decide if we should do MFW Exploration to 1850, which uses SOTW, or stick with Biblioplan, which is based around SOTW and which we've used for the past few years. We always enjoy the Biblioplan selections but I do spend a lot of time with the guide before the school year, researching the recommended books, choosing the ones I think will work, seeing what our library has and ordering the ones I want to own. In addition, this year (Middle ages, Ren and Ref) felt less cohesive to me than last year's study. So, MFW - I love the concept of having the music and art scheduled in. I like the fact that I can incorporate two 3rd graders and a 6th grader in the same program. I like that a study of the states is included in Ex-1850, along with a state report. That said, it looks like the package includes a fraction of the books I usually end up buying and using during the course of a year. I know a lot of people here love MFW - so please tell me, is it worth the $$? Why should I not just stick with Biblioplan, which has been working, for the most part? I'd love to hear any thoughts as I try to make a decision here. Blessings, Aimee mom to 6 great kids ages 6-18, schooling K, 2, 2 and 5

We have used all three of the curriculums you mentioned, for a variety of reasons. I used FLL with our 11-year-old when he was in first grade, and he loved it. But it seemed like "not enough school" to me, (I still had my head wrapped around the public school model) and so in second grade we switched to R&S. He hated it and each lesson involved tears and a degree of headbanging and before a month was out, we had switched back to FLL for the second grade portion, which again, he loved and learned lots from. He was a very bright boy whose small motor skills had not caught up to his reading and listening skills, so R&S had too much writing and not enough creativity for him, whereas FLL had a great deal of auditory learning that he enjoyed. To satisfy my desire to have him write more, I added in more dictation and copywork than the program included. I used FLL for my next two boys as they entered first grade together, and again, they both loved it. However I realized at the end of the year that one of the boys had retained very little. I began to understand that he's a very visual, kinesthetic learner, and needed something he could see - the primarily oral teaching in FLL wasn't a good fit for him. We used PLL for the beginning of second grade, which both boys really enjoyed, but I realized the little guy in question was struggling with the same issues again and again - things like begin each sentence with a capital letter, end each sentence with a period. I felt he needed straightforward drillwork that he could see. I switched both boys to R&S 2 and they both LOVE it, I am amazed, they beg to do their English lessons each day (we do about half of each lesson orally, and read the lessons together). As a sidenote, we learned this month that the child I mentioned has a significant hearing loss and will require a hearing aid in one ear - which explains a lot! I love PLL but it does involve a lot of writing that a younger boy might have trouble with at first (or a child who doesn't love to write), and not a lot of traditional grammar instruction (ie "a noun is a person, place, thing or idea" - you use the language rather than learning what it's called). I still love the way it teaches, though, and the poetry and picture study. My 11-year-old is currently using ILL and this works really well for his learning style now that he's comfortable with writing. Hope this helps; Aimee mom to 6 great kids ages 6-18, schooling k, 2, 2 and 5

I share your quandry in wanting to have everyone on the same page, with no-one missing anything and everyone getting to complete the history cycle. I don't know if I'll be able to do it, but I'm consoling myself that we will make the most of what we do study, that they will likely meet it again the second time around, and that we can use summers to read or listen to the appropriate volume of SOTW if we switch gears and they're missing a year in the rotation. That said, I still have no clue what we're doing next year! I am feeling a bit fragmented with Biblioplan after doing it for two years, and am spending way too many hours pouring over the HOD and MFW catalogs, wondering whether these might be options for us... Blessings, Aimee

We've used Biblioplan for the past two years and really enjoyed it. That said, last year, one of my two first graders really didn't engage with most of the readings - they were just too much for my kinesthetic, visual learner. This year I made an effort to include more visual materials and we didn't do all the family read-alouds, but my 5-year-old K student was totally not engaged at history time. Because I have an 11-year-old in the mix we have stuck with what we're doing for this year, but if I had a K student and a first grader as you do, I think I'd likely choose one time period and find materials they could both enjoy - I'm just too disjointed if I try to study more than one time period at a time. If you went with American history this year, you could easily pick up Biblioplan ancients next year and both kids would get more out of it. The nice thing about Biblioplan is that it lays things out for you, but you can choose to do as much or as little as you like, sticking with SOTW, or adding more as fits your kiddos and your schedule. Blessings, Aimee

My eight year old son was adopted at age two, has excellent speech but also substituted words as you describe your daughter doing. He is sweet and very musical and we just thought he was a little spacy, inattentive, not focusing, when he'd give me narrations that were quite far off from the story I'd read him, when he'd substitute words or make cute errors in saying big words - substituting a different first consonant usually. I was thinking he had auditory processing disorder and we just had him screened for hearing - and he has a significant hearing loss in both ears, worse in the left, and will need a hearing aid. When the audiologist described for me his type of hearing loss, it made perfect sense of his behavior, his constant shouting, his inability to focus when their was any background noise. This may or may not be an issue for your daughter, but my son functioned so well I never would have guessed hearing loss was his issue. I would recommend getting her hearing checked - it can't hurt and may give you information you need. Blessings, Aimee mom to 6 great kids, schooling k, 2, 2 and 5

MFW K was passed down to us and I tried to use it with two of my little guys a few years ago. I liked the concept but I just felt I needed something more - more in terms of things included for them to do (I love the "Get Ready, Get Set, Go for the Code" series and we went back to that for phonics), and more in terms of books included - I have often said I would have loved MFW K if it came in a package with at least a basic core of books used for the year. I think I could have made it work if I'd just been schooling one, but I was a bit overwhelmed with schooling an 8th grader, a second grader, the two K boys and the adjustment of a newly adopted toddler - that would have been a good year for a package! If you have time to pull it together, I think it has fabulous ideas. Just didn't work for us. Blessings, Aimee mom to 6 great kids ages 5-18 (schooling k, 2, 2, and 5)

Makita is right, The Handbook of Nature Study isn't a field guide - but we have learned a lot from it. For a field guide, I've found The Reader's Digest North American Wildlife- an Illustrated Guide to 2,000 Plants and Animals, to be a really helpful, all-in-one guide. It's not tiny like the pocket guides we own but has lots of information and illustrations, and is still portable enough to tuck into a backpack for a nature walk. Aimee mom to 6 great kids ages 5-18, homeschooling K, 2, 2 and 5

:iagree:We love the Handbook of Nature Study (Comstock) mentioned above. It has lots of great information about animals, observations and anecdotes about animals she's kept as pets or observed, and lessons that include leading thoughts, methods and questions for observation or study. There are black and white photographs, lovely drawings and scattered poetry, very typical of what might have been popular in 1911 when the book was first published. We also enjoy Peterson's Guide to Eastern Birds. Aimee mom to 6 great kids ages 5-18, homeschooling K, 2, 2 and 5

One of my eight-year-olds is a very similar reader, and that's a problem we've attacked this year - once I realized in the fall that his great spelling and reading didn't = great comprehension. Even though he's capable of reading well above grade level, I chose books at grade level for him to read, and assigned short portions. After he read, I'd ask for a narration. I didn't want to suck the fun out of reading but it was evident he was reading to check it off his list, and not slowing down and paying attention to details. So he would give a short narration - often missing significant information and very confusing - and most often I'd send him back to re-read the section and try again. And so you know, we are talking short readings here - like one section in the Christian Liberty Nature Reader or Pathyway Reader. The short readings make it less overwhelming than a chapter book, and easier for me to skim for important details or story line. With discipline and attention he's gotten better at this, but it's something we continue to work on. I'm not asking for narration every day now because he's slowing down and able to retain more, but still checking regularly. Aimee mom to 6 great kids ages 5-18, homeschooling K, 2, 2 and 5

One of my two eight-year-olds sounds so much like your son! He is a very bright boy (also a perfectionist) who reads well above grade level, but really doesn't enjoy it and would prefer to have me read to him. He also gets frustrated and confused by plots in reading (never in listening) and has poor reading comprehension. This surprised me because of his reading ability, but once I realized it we've had to back up and choose readings he's comfortable with, with oral narrations every few days to check his comprehension. We were doing the narrations every day for a bit; I had him do shorter readings, and he often had to go back and re-read the story because he'd rushed through and really muddled things up. Believe it or not, his independent readers of choice are the Rod and Staff Bible reader, Pathway Readers or Christian Liberty Nature Readers - he's a fact-minded kid. He's also loved the "You wouldn't Want to Be" series mentioned by another poster and has read every young reader Bible we own - several times. Like your son, he enjoys re-reading familiar stories, but I'm making him choose new ones for his school reading. My other second grader has more difficulty with comprehension when I read to him, but LOVES to read - they are all so different! He loves books about animals having adventures like: The Mouse and the Motorcycle Ralph S. Mouse Runaway Ralph Henry and Ribsy Stuart Little Aimee 6 kids ages 5-18, homeschooling youngest four grades K, 2, 2 and 5

Thanks for explaining how the program works. For LA and math: My 6th grader will be completing Saxon 7/6 and moving on from there, and he LOVES Intermediate Language Lessons and would like to complete the 6th grade portion of that. He's using Wordly Wise and enjoying it - not sure if we'll continue with that - and I'm considering Writing Strands as recommended by MFW though as a former journalist I can't say I've found it exciting when I've looked at it - though many people seem to like it. The 3rd graders are using different math programs - one will continue with Horizons which suits him well, and the other will use MCP and Developmental Math, which is a better fit for him. They will continue with R&S English, which they really like, with a smattering of PLL, which I really like. :001_smile: The little guy, I'm still considering what will be the best fit for him. Blessings, Aimee

I did see the supplement and she did say it would work for them - but felt kids should do ECC first to become familiar with geography, etc. I do feel we've done a lot of that through the years with our history and Hero Tales readings, perhaps not to that extent though. The supplement made me think this program would work well for our family though. What is the workload like for older kids? We're used to Biblioplan's family read-aloud, history readings, and independent historical fiction/biography reading for the kids. Thanks so much for your input! Aimee

I'm new to this board as a member, but have been reading (and learning lots from) all of you for several years. We use a mix of classical and CM materials, and for the past two years have enjoyed using Biblioplan with SOTW and lots of other great resources. I'm considering MFW's Explorers to 1850 for next year (I'll have a first grader, two second graders and a 6th grader) instead of the third Biblioplan guide, mostly because I love that art and music are scheduled in. The idea of a package is also appealing I must admit! However, the gal I spoke to at MFW thought it might be heavy for our two 3rd graders and suggested we start with ECC. My kids really want to continue with our history progression though and are excited to move forward - and our Biblioplan readings have been fairly meaty, so I thought they'd be ok with it. (The first grader will have his own work.) I'd love to hear from anyone who's had experience with MFW - would this be a good curriculum to jump into? How does the multi age learning work in MFW? Thanks so much; Aimee