Please help me decide...K plans for ds5...

[Sue G in PA]

I have MFW K which we "started" to use a few wks ago. I really do like it. Ds5 likes it. My only problem is my complete lack of motivation to actually *do* it every day! I have limited energy and my focus is so NOT on school with ANY of my dc b/c of this pregnancy (due in 4 wks and am VERY impatient). It takes all I have to get through the morning with my older dc and do History/Science in the pm. Ds5 just gets the short end of the stick. It's awful, I know. So, help me decide what to do. Should I put MFW K on hold until after the baby and we get back into a rhythm? That means K waits until summer or Fall (when he would be in K anyway). What, then, should I do with him until then? He's eager to learn (somewhat), is really coming along with his alphabet, etc. I have OPG that we could use. I have lots of manipulatives, pattern blocks, idea books, etc. He loves to be read to so that's not a problem. I also have some beg. handwriting books he could practice with. His fine motor skills for writing are really just not there yet. Wo, what say you? Postpone MFW K until I'm more ready to implement it as it should be? Then what? HELP!

[Aletheia Academy]

Hi, Sue!

 

I am only going to say this because I have to tell it to myself all the time. Your K'er-to-be will be just fine with the activities you mentioned without the framework (and burden) of a program. You can only live this life once. Why not just enjoy the fun, productive, yet unstructured time you have with him without feeling guilty about not implementing MFW?

 

He's never going to look back and say, "Mom, everything would have been better for me if you had just pushed ahead with that MFW program a few months earlier." ;) I bet he will feel real good when your new love-bug comes if he's just spent some relaxed time with you, though.

 

My .02!

 

Warmly,

[Karen in CO]

Enjoy your K'er. Sit and read books together. Let him choose. Enjoy this precious time you have before the baby comes. Remember the newborns? They seem to sleep a lot and you don't ever seem to get enough. You will be tired and busy when the newborn comes. Enjoy these last few weeks before that. Put out a pile of toys and sit and just play for 15 minutes with no plan or objective. Read just because it is a time to share. Color. Go for a walk. Watch Reading Rainbow together. Go to the library. Cut up some paper and glue it onto something. relax.

[Tess in the Burbs]

our K was the basics: reading, writing, math

 

we did HWT for writing. easy, gentle.

we did 100EL for phonics. scripted, fun for kids.

we did MUS Primer, but also Singapore Early Bird.

 

then we went to the zoo, aquarium, parks and museums as much as we could. our 'school' day was very short for K and both kids enjoyed it but learned a lot.

[Donna T.]

I am a two-time MFW K drop out. I like it. I really do. I think it's great. But, truthfully, it's not at all essential. Both of my children (who are very different in nature and different kinds of learners) thrived on a more unstructured K. And, I did to.

 

I've dropped MFW K completely and have hodge-podged my own thing. It's working so much better and I feel absolutely no pressure.

 

What we are now doing instead:

 

Handwriting without Tears workbook

Explode the Code Book 1

MathUSee Primer

lots of reading aloud - especially at bedtime and mealtimes (easier to fit into my day) using Sonlight for this but also others

Magic School bus videos and SL Science

 

You know, it's probably just as much work but it just feels different to not have a formal program hanging over my head. Each of these things is just pick it up and go without instructions to sort through.

 

If you do MFW First Grade later on, it will cover everything that is needed. I really do consider K to be completely optional. I consider the only essential thing to do with a child in K (academic wise I mean) is to help them to further develop their listening and thinking skills. That's why we focus on reading to them and talking about what we read. They learn to sit for longer periods of time, increase their vocabulary, and get geared up for formal activities for later on.