LAmom Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 Hi-- My daughter is to start 1st grade this school year (according to CA laws) and I have been researching and researching curriculum...my head is spinning. I was going to use MFW 1st grade. But I see many like HOD. Or should I just list the required California subjects and fill in the blanks with my own choices under that? Question: If I go with MFW 1st, should I add anything to that? Many talk about FLL, WWE, Singapore, Spelling such as (AAS), SOTW for history....then there is Explode the Code, HWOT, etc, etc, etc. Just MFW 1st? Just math and reading? Forget history, etc? Use my own list with the following (required CA subjects): English (grammer, spelling, writing, reading, etc....) Math Social Sciences Science Fine Arts Health PE (if you go this route, how do you know what to do the following years....through high school and make sure to cover "everything?" We never did much for kindergarten. My dd is working on finishing 100 EZ before the school year. I believe she is where she should be. Besides dd (6 in November), I have ds 4, ds 1-1/2, and ds 2 weeks old. So a tad busy. I am sorry this is so long and kind of rambly, but after reading this forum for over a year I still cannot decide what to do for curriculum. I feel like I need a program set up for me, so that nothing gets missed through the years of homeschooling. But it seems like a lot of people have each subject listed and pick under each... But then I start thinking about the ease of MFW, HOD or even am tempted by Sonlight.... Help? New to this and thankful for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisasaysto Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 (edited) I think you are letting yourself get too stressed about what will happen down the road. Just take one year at a time and make adjustments as you go along if they are needed. I know it's easy to get overwhelmed because there are so many good choices. We used MFW for K, 1st and 2nd for my son. If you decide to go that route, it is a complete program that doesn't need anything added. The only things it doesn't explicitly cover on your list are health and PE, but that would be easy enough to cover by talking about the nutritious things you eat and exercising or playing outside. If I had to do it again, I'd probably go ahead and start Singapore math in first grade instead of using "The Complete Book of Math" that MFW recommends. There's nothing wrong with the book, but I think Singapore is easier to schedule. We stopped using MFW because my son was diagnosed with some learning challenges (dyslexia and dysgraphia) and MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures was too much reading and writing for him. It's a great program and I was sad to let it go so we may go back to it later. I haven't ever used HOD or Sonlight, but I think it would be very hard to go wrong with 1st grade whatever you decide. Edited June 27, 2009 by lisasaysto Ooops, used the word Singapore when I should have said Sonlight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudreyTN Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 I think you are letting yourself get too stressed about what will happen down the road. Just take one year at a time and make adjustments as you go along if they are needed. I know it's easy to get overwhelmed because there are so many good choices. :iagree: Congrats on the newest little one!!! I definitely wouldn't add anything to MFW with all of the other little ones running around. :) Do the program as written for a while and then see if you still feel something needs added. As far as the future... if you start with MFW you'll probably want to stick with it. It's very very easy to implement with lots of kidlets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlbuchina Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 :iagree: Congrats on the newest little one!!! As far as the future... if you start with MFW you'll probably want to stick with it. It's very very easy to implement with lots of kidlets. :iagree: As you can see in my sig, I have added things for my dd6. This is only because her reading level is well above that of MFW 1st. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't add any more LA to the program. My dd4 will probably go through it as written, as she hasn't quite started to read yet. (Although, she learned most of her letter sounds and is able to identify beginning sounds just by being in the same room with us during school.) Dd6 was reading when she was 4. I do math because I need the structure, and the informal way it is done (in K, at least) made me too nervous. But that's just me!:001_smile: I am not using the math that is suggested with 1st, because we had already started with the Saxon. It is working well, so why switch? I added the history because I wanted to, not because 1st doesn't have it. I have been thinking of stopping formal lessons, and just using it as a read-aloud when we come to a section in the TM of 1st that goes with it. Did that make since?? lol. IMO, MFW is a wonderful, complete program, and is VERY easy to use with multiple children. Try it, and you will probably find it just what you are looking for. MO, of course!:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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