Anyone Not like MFW?

[...................]

What were your reasons? I am specifically looking at first grade and Adventires with two kids.

[Sue G in PA]

I can't speak specifically about 1st or Adventures. I am using K right now and I really like K. We used ECC last year and I just didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped...neither did my kids. It was a rough year last year, but we just didn't like all the Geography stuff and and even the missionary focus, which originally sounded awesome, just didn't "fit" us. KWIM? That being said, I am loving MFW K, looking forward to doing 1st with ds6 in a few months and absolutely can't wait until Adventures next year b/c I've heard so many great things about it. It will be a toss-up btwn that and HOD but MFW is looking better right now. HTH a bit...sorry I can't give more reviews about 1st or Adv. yet.

[...................]

With Calvert, but my dd will be done K in about January... I'm thinking of MFW 1 with her but I'm not sure it mAkes sense to switch at all since everythings going so well... The Bible notebook in MFW reallly appeals to me because my dd is crafty and really loves her Jesus...It just sounds like it would fit her.

[PeterPan]

Well why don't you do just the components of MFW you like? I'll bet you can buy them separately. As you say, don't mess with what is working. :)

[Sue G in PA]

The Bible notebook and reader are what appealed to me as well! It sounds like MFW 1st would be a great fit for your dd. I'm a big fan of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" but sometimes the Lord just leads us to change something "just b/c", kwim? So, if He's leading you toward MFW 1st...I would follow. Just my 2 cents. :)

[Sheila in OK]

I've never used their 1st grade program, but we used Adventures for my daughter's 2nd grade year. It was one of our best school years ever! She still has the American history notebook she made that year and has gotten it out to look it over occasionally.

 

Unfortunately, we did not click at all with ECC the following year for whatever reason, but Adventures was great. We didn't really like the Exploring American History book but I just substituted picture books from the library on those topics and it worked great!

[NCJessieRN]

I used MFW 1st and K last year and LOVED it! We are only in our second week of Adventures (my DD will start 1st in January) and LOVE it! The kids are excited about school and what we are learning!

Jessica

[Polly]

I like K, 1, and Adventures but after that I don't like them.

 

For me it's the choice of books that MFW uses. I really dislike Usborne type books!!! Most of MFW science books are this type of books. I'd rather have a living book than a fluffy book like Usborne. That's just my preference. I also missed built in poetry. What I like about MFW is their course outline. I really like that they focus on Bible first, one year of Am. History overview, and then ECC (though I didn't like ECC) before getting into World History.

 

We've switched to HOD and are enjoying it. I add picture studies to HOD. I use a different math and grammar program. HOD is more compatible with my book preferences.

 

So much of it is personal preference. I have a friend who likes MFW so much she works their curriculum booth at HS fairs. She doesn't like HOD because of the layout of the TM.

[MeAndTheBoys]

We *are* liking adventures; I'm a little scared seeing the responses here of people who didn't like the later programs--ECC et al.

 

I will have to look closely before next year------

 

We are doing Adventures after 2 years of Sonlight.

 

Betsy

[RanchGirl]

We tried MFW K and it was definitely not for us. Too many worksheets/sheet work for things that I'd rather be doing hands on or just reading good books at that age. But I haven't looked at the upper levels so can't comment on them.

[Rebecca77]

A friend of mine used there 1st grade program, they had a great year, and she just treasures the notebooks they made. The next year she used adventures, it was great for awhile, but then she became very burned out with the repetiveness of it.

[angela&4boys]

We loved MFW K and Adventures. (The only reason we didn't use MFW 1st was our ds #2 wasn't ready for the phonics.)

 

MFW K is just so sweet and it was perfect for my ds in terms of phonics at the time. It was just the right balance of "school" and fun hands-on activities not to mention Christ-Centered.

 

Like a Sheila, we really enjoyed the notebook in Adventures and it is such a beautiful keepsake as well as a record of their work. The only negative, for us anyway, was that the "State Sheets" became a little redundant, but that alone would not deter me from using it again.

Edited August 28, 2009 by angela&4boys
grammatical error!

[Susu]

I loved K, and was very glad I used First Grade (as it did a great job of teaching reading)...but we did not like Adventures. So I have mixed reviews for MFW...for me it was a natural build up to Sonlight, which I am very happy with right now. (I am on my second year of Sonlight...Core 3) But I do use WTM suggestions for Language Arts (Grammar, WWE, Spelling Workout)...I like a more formal approach for those subjects...

 

Susu

[Donna T.]

MFW First Grade worked well with my oldest. In my opinion, it is very strong academically... the phonics instruction is great. I enjoyed the informal, but very sufficient math lessons. We enjoyed the suggested math and science titles. As for the results, they were great! My son was reading very, very well before the end of first grade. He didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped he would, but he was compliant and would do the work and did it quite well. He is a get down to business kind of student. I did have to cut back on the copywork, but other than that, we did everything.

 

My youngest son had a totally different experience. It was an awful fit for him. He needed something with more color, books that were visually appealing, and something more fun and playful. He is more social and chatty during his lessons and wanted something with some humor & play activities. MFW First Grade just didn't fit his personality.

 

As for Adventures, we used that for 2nd grade with my oldest. We have alot of fond memories from that year. When we got to ECC, I decided MFW wasn't going to work for us for the long-term, but I'm glad we did Adventures.

We didn't really like the science in ADV but everything else was great. The music and the history books are really good. I ran myself crazy getting all the book basket books up and I overdid it I'm sure. The book list is really good and I wanted to read all of the titles on it.

[...................]

This gives me a better idea of whether it would work for us... I think it would. We don't mind the issues that were problems for others. I may stick with Calvert anyway, since I dont want to try to fix what's not broken.

[5wolfcubs]

I'm using MFW 1st for awhile with my ds who just turned 7. We're about 1/3 through the manual (lesson 50?). I like the phonics because he's finally *ready* to learn to read. The lessons do seem to go very fast, but since he's ready, it is just fine. I wish there was more built in reading of stories though. The science & math could be better. Well, I could make it better by actually getting the recommended library books every week.

Overall it is a :thumbup1: and gets done here, which is exactly what I needed for my ds.

 

I started MFW Exp-1850 with my 3 older ones this week. Interestingly, we've enjoyed everything except the history readings! The hymn, composer, art, Bible (book of James study) have all been great. There hasn't been much science this week (only using for ds9) yet so I can't say much about that. Anyway, the history readings about Leif Ericsson, Columbus, Cabot...well, we already know about them, so there hasn't been anything new or interesting yet. I'm hoping next week will be better! But it is getting done and it isn't overwhelming (TOG!) or reliant on me to plan (SOTW!), so I'm giving it a :thumbup1: also.

[Sheila in OK]

Oh yes, I forgot to mention about the state sheets. They did get a bit redundant and I did not have my dd color them for the entire year. About halfway through I just started having her put the stickers on them and put them in the book. :)

 

As for ECC, I still think it looks like a great program, and I know at least two different families IRL that it has worked out very well for. I think it mainly was just not a good fit for us at the point we were academically. If I had tried it a year or so later, it might've worked better but we had since moved on to other things.

[Devotional Soul]

I loved MFW K with my 4 year old. We had a lot of fun learning about letters, reading, writing, animals, plants, sun, moon, colors, and geography. My ds learned to read cvc short vowel words and still loves learning to read. We started out stretching 1 week lessons into 2 weeks because the handwriting was hard to get through at first, so we just did lots of art, hands on stuff, and library books to really soak in each topic. Halfway through, and we were at one lesson per week and flying through the worksheets, (he had a huge developmental leap at 4 1/2). We have many great memories for MFW K. My only complaint is that I couldn't start 1st grade with some other programs because he never learned long vowels and blends like ch and sh. So, we are now repeating K to catch up. It was a great preK intro to the alphabet, reading, and animals, and I am so glad I chose to use it. It would not have been enough for my ds at age 5, but was perfect at 4.

 

I bought MFW 1st grade and sold it before using it after reading through most of it. I could tell that it moved too quickly, as it covers all concepts of phonics. A lesson is taught, then is reviewed the next day and then moves on. There are game ideas for helping reinforce the concept, but that's it. I could tell my ds would need more easy readers and other practice to remember all of the lessons. There are no questions or review pages to enforce comprehension of reading.

 

We're ok with the black and white, but because it is completely based on the Bible, it's pretty serious...no silly stories to laugh about, and my ds loves silly stories, not much fun and playful stuff as Donna T said. Reading the Bible means reading things like "Cain hated his brother and killed him", along with other Old Testament stories about brothers hating and killing and trying to kill each other. The focus is mostly on the Old Testament, not so much on the New Testament and Jesus. The hands on Bible activities look great, like making an ABC scroll.

 

The handwriting is pretty intensive...with Proverbs quotes, animal stories and Bible story summaries.

 

The science is pretty light, and I think is ok with since learning to read is the main focus. The Usborne books are kind of short and dry, but the library list of books from MFW makes up for it. Some of the science topics align with the Bible stories, like after reading the story of Moses, you learn about how things float, after the flood you learn about rainbows.

 

The math activities, especially with the Complete Book of Math, are pretty thorough although not very structured, IMO. We kept the pattern blocks and animal pattern book. The math part of the tm requires some flipping around. The math lessons are planned out weekly, and the Bible/Reading/writing lessons are daily, so you have to flip to the math section, find the day you're on. Not a big deal, though.

 

Overall, I thought MFW 1 looked great and I loved many of the ideas, but I knew that it was too serious for my silly, squirmy boy who needs fun stuff to stay focused, and that it moved way too quickly to reinforce learning of phonics concepts.

 

Anyone who completes MFW 1 will have a very strong foundation in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, and that is definitely it's biggest strength.

Edited August 28, 2009 by Devotional Soul

[Donna A.]

Just an FYI about ECC for those who don't know... it's been revised and now requires much less "busywork" and less prep time for Mom. ;) They've also switched out some of the books in the package, and the TM has a different layout. It looks more like the TMs for Adventures and the upper history years now.

 

Also, Exploring American History is no longer used in Adventures.

 

And the reason the state sheets get repetitive is because it's just an overview of the 50 states (well, that part of the study, I mean), with an introduction to the bird and flower for each state along with a very brief history. (Anyone trying to do American history in just one year would HAVE to make it brief! :tongue_smilie: ) But this can also be expounded on with books from the library (many titles listed in the back of the TM), additional notebooking assigned, or whatever else one wants to do with them. For us, doing the simple "overview" method was fine for a 2nd grader. :) (Oh, and I understand about the coloring... my girls don't like to color much, either, so I just had them trace/outline the state, more as a way to "identify" the shape of the state than anything, do some identification such as a main river going through the state, and that sort of thing. We made it more like a "mapwork" assignment than just a coloring sheet.)

 

Interesting observation in this thread... most negative comments have come from folks who haven't used the upper history years, which are very different than the earlier years. Hhmmm...

[sweetbaby]

I'm using MFW 1st for awhile with my ds who just turned 7. We're about 1/3 through the manual (lesson 50?). I like the phonics because he's finally *ready* to learn to read. The lessons do seem to go very fast, but since he's ready, it is just fine. I wish there was more built in reading of stories though. The science & math could be better. Well, I could make it better by actually getting the recommended library books every week.

Overall it is a :thumbup1: and gets done here, which is exactly what I needed for my ds.

 

 

Hi, Lee! I didn't know you were using MFW and it's so good to see you posting. I've peeked in on your blog from time to time. :)

 

We are in our 2nd year of MFW (CTG) and I can't wait to start the early years with my youngest.

[bethben]

I haven't continued with MFW (we did Adventures and ECC) mostly because of 2 things:

1. I like to tweet things. With MFW, if I didn't like the book or the activity, it was up to me to find a substitute. Mostly, it just didn't happen.

 

2. I don't like to rely on a book basket to make it more interesting. Yes, you can do it without the book basket, but it overwhelmed me because those were the books that were more fun to read. I found out I like having all my books that are scheduled and not really have to get more.

 

I know people who really love this program, and I really wanted to love it too, but it just didn't work for us.

 

Beth

[jubulibee]

I really liked MFW K, and used it with all 3 of my boys. I purchased MFW 1st and ECC, (in different years) and they just did not inspire me to teach them. I honestly tried, but they were too dry for me, and for my visual, kinesthetic middle child, kinesthetic and auditory youngest, and auditory oldest. We needed better choices of books, more interesting stories and pictures. I needed more of a structured weekly schedule, with more choices of activities and websites. Although I like the way it is complete (except for LA and math), I also would get bogged down on keeping everything together. I also don't think they offer much variety as far as the programs.

 

I think they are perfect for some people, but not for us. We are much more of a Winterpromise family--fits much better for us.

[FriedClams]

We did Adventures, then SOTW and now we're back with ECC. I really like MFW - the schedule, booklists, biblical emphasis, etc. For adventures I would recommend ---- when you get to the states, group them by region and then study regions. The state-a-day thing about killed me with boredome and repititiveness. THe kids never learned all the states, we got bored and I ended up skipping MFW for a year. If it had been set up by region ("let's learn about New England") for a week or 10 days we would have loved it and I feel it would have been more age appropriate for a 1st/2nd. I was a newbe - so I had no clue. The history part in the begining of the year rocked and we all loved it. And - I am back with MFW and don't see us changing any time in the foreseable future. :)

[Tabrett]

I'm doing a MFW K/1 hybrid with my 4yo and 1st grader. So far I really like what we are doing. I do all the unit studies in MFW K, calender and SOTW 1 with both dc. This takes care of Bible, science and history. Then I do MFW K phonics and RS A with my 4yo and MFW phonics, reading/Bible notebook, RS B and FLL 1 with my 1st grader.

 

So far I really like the pacing of the phonics in MFW 1. I think I went too fast last year with my dd and MFW 1 is keeping me at a better pace.

 

I'm doing this hybrid to keep my dc together as much as possible.

Next year we will to MFW 1 as our "core", then Adventures. I'm not sure if we will do ECC, but I really look forward to the next four cores following ECC. All the extras in MFW is what really drew me in. They incorporate Bible, music, recorder, chess, art, picture study and are hands on. Plus, it is very close to a four year history rotation, which I really want to follow. I did SL with my oldest dd when she was elementary aged and I feel that I really missed out on her hands-on learning style.

 

I'm not to crazy about MFW 1 math program. It is not as organized as I need. The math is too Charlotte Mason-ish and not incremental enough for me to feel confident with. However, I am using the math book from MFW 1 as a supplement to RS B. If you like Calvert math,

I would stick with it. You would need your own math program after MFW 1st and it would be easier if you dc stayed with one program, IMHO. This is the reason that I am doing FLL 1. You will need your own LA program after first, so I am going ahead with FLL 1 this year so my dd will be read for FLL 2 next year.

[Donna A.]

Calming Tea, I've known you off this board for a few years now, and I truly believe that MFW 1st would be great fit for your little gal. Have you looked at what's included in the Deluxe package? The art, music, etc. are all things that she would love, and I think you'd enjoy doing them *with* her. The TM is very different than Calvert's, so that would take some getting used to on your part. But once you have it figured it out, I think you'd have a great year.

 

You could try the math and then if you don't like it, go back to whatever you like for her.

 

I'll be doing MFW 1st with my little gal, too, btw. Maybe we could do it together? ;)

[novagirl]

We used it, but just weren't THRILLED with it. Black and white worksheets and not much variety past that. We like crafts and lots of stories. We did MFWK and 1st grade. I did appreciate the Bible notebook and reader. That was the only thing that was a positive for our family.

[5wolfcubs]

Hi, Kysha & Christina! You are both reasons I decided to try MFW this year! :) I'm looking forward to Week 2. Someday I'll update my blog...

[TXMary2]

We used MFW K and the content was great (although too easy for my son), but the format drove me batty. I need the SL or WP type format. The MFW format and wordiness made my eyes glaze over. That is the single reason why I wouldn't use it again.

[Donna A.]

The MFW format and wordiness made my eyes glaze over. That is the single reason why I wouldn't use it again.

 

"The MFW format" that you refer to is only in the K and 1st grade manuals. Adventures (2nd grade) and up are laid out more like the SL manuals. Just FYI. ;)

 

IOW, please don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. If the format of the K and 1st grade manuals are the reason you won't use MFW again, please reconsider in later years! Especially if you thought the content was great. :)

[Guest sarathan]

I used MFW K last year and it was just okay.... some parts were great and other parts.... not-so-great. The phonics activities were way too repetitive for us and moved too slow. I really didn't care of the library book suggestions either, they seemed too "babyish" to me. On the other hand, the science and bible activities were awesome!! Can't rave enough about those! But the amount of money I spent on the TM was not enough to justify just using it for science so if I could do it over again, I would do something entirely different for my son's kindergarten year.

[TXMary2]

"The MFW format" that you refer to is only in the K and 1st grade manuals. Adventures (2nd grade) and up are laid out more like the SL manuals. Just FYI. ;)

 

IOW, please don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. If the format of the K and 1st grade manuals are the reason you won't use MFW again, please reconsider in later years! Especially if you thought the content was great. :)

 

Are there samples to view?

[Homeschooling6]

With Calvert, but my dd will be done K in about January... I'm thinking of MFW 1 with her but I'm not sure it mAkes sense to switch at all since everythings going so well... The Bible notebook in MFW reallly appeals to me because my dd is crafty and really loves her Jesus...It just sounds like it would fit her.

 

Another thing to consider is that Calvert is so different from MFW 1. We used Calvert for a year and loved it but I couldn't afford to continue with it. I bought 5 Calvert programs that first year:tongue_smilie:

You can have your child make her own Bible notebook and pull from MFW what you like about it.

 

Both programs are great though. I will admit that we only got 1/4 way through with MFW 1st and I tried it twice. Yes, I bought the program two times. I first tried it with Caleb and it went too fast for him Phonics wise. Then I tried it again with Brent and he just didn't like it. I do plan to have my dc use MFW for Jr. & Sr. High.

 

As you mentioned if it's not broken.......

Edited August 30, 2009 by Homeschooling6

[Devotional Soul]

Are there samples to view?

 

Here's a sample from Adventures, it shows the weekly schedule in a grid:

 

http://www.mfwbooks.com/pdf/advsample.pdf

 

Although we loved most of K and didn't like 1st, I do plan on going back to Adventures later.

[Julie in MN]

What were your reasons? I am specifically looking at first grade and Adventires with two kids.

 

I shouldn't answer because I don't have any reasons that I don't like MFW. I like it. But since so few have answered who've used MFW for a long time, I thought I'd just give a few reasons why I'm glad I've used MFW for over 5 years with my youngest --

 

- He's thoroughly grounded in knowing what's in the Bible and in discussing Biblical concepts throughout the rest of his education.

 

- He's been exposed to the details of all the other major belief systems as well, under my close guidance.

 

- He has a solid framework of where countries are on a blank map, where the 50 states are on a blank map, where the books of the Bible are, what important events make up an extensive chronological history of the world, art & music as a reflection of the rest of the world (i.e. history is not just wars), and an introduction to major branches of science in fun but meaningful ways.

 

- He's heard history from more than one author & fully understands the subjectiveness of such.

 

- He's produced his own "history textbook" by notebooking over the years, and can review what he's learned in a meaningful way.

 

- He's had time to branch off according to his own interests.

 

- He's had plenty of time learning with an adult before he started learning on his own, and he's been gradually introduced to learning on his own, as well (which he needs to do, sometimes).

 

- MFW was open-and-go enough for us to continue schooling even when we traveled to visit relatives, spent time in the hospital as dad battled cancer, helped sister raise a baby in our home, learned to give his cat insulin shots, and whatever else life threw our way.

 

- And again, prayer and hymns and talking about how our faith fits into all we learn has never needed to be set aside.

 

 

 

Often when I hear folks say that a MFW year didn't work for them, I find out they were really focusing on the worksheets in some way or other. Too many worksheets, too few worksheets, too much repetition in worksheets, etc. Maybe because I've been raising kids for over 25 years now, I don't get as caught up in one thing when I'm digging for what I want in life :)

 

JMHO,

Julie

Edited August 30, 2009 by Julie in MN

[Donna A.]

Here's a sample from Adventures, it shows the weekly schedule in a grid:

 

http://www.mfwbooks.com/pdf/advsample.pdf

 

Although we loved most of K and didn't like 1st, I do plan on going back to Adventures later.

 

All of the other history and geography years (Adventures, ECC, CTG, RTR, EX1850 and 1850MOD) have pdf samples available on the website, too.

 

Editing to say that while ALL the MFW programs have pdf samples, I was responding to clarify that there are samples for all the upper history years besides the one that Devotional Soul posted, as well.

[in Training in Texas]

With Calvert, but my dd will be done K in about January... I'm thinking of MFW 1 with her but I'm not sure it mAkes sense to switch at all since everythings going so well... The Bible notebook in MFW reallly appeals to me because my dd is crafty and really loves her Jesus...It just sounds like it would fit her.

 

I used 1st grade last year, and Adventures this year. If you are drawn to the bible notebook, its for good reason. The bible content in 1st is excellent - and I say that even with my daughter not being crazy about the drawing stuff. I wouldn't depend on it for phonics (a little weak, but dd is still a decent reader, I just don't think she will have a good foundation for spelling). I would say though that I would turn to WWE 2 to get a better instruction on guiding a student to creating a summary statement. We did all of 1st grade and dd's eyes still glaze over when I ask her to summarize what she read.