MFW users who love TWTM too...

[mlbuchina]

If you started at the beginning with Kers, and have gone up from there, how have you used MFW with TWTM? I love MFW, but I love the way TWTM has history and science set up. Obviously, MFW does not begin the history cycle until CTG, and that would put my dc at only doing the cycle twice. Plus, US history is "out of place" according to TWTM (MFW does US history in 2nd with Adv). Any thoughts? Did anyone care? Do I need to put my TWTM down and stick with MFW as is?

 

I had this same struggle last year when I began planning for the next school year budget... As you can see in my sig, I combined the two. I don't know that it would be a good idea to do US history AND SOTW 2 at the same time next time around. I do think that would be a bit much! LOL

 

TIA!

[Julie in MN]

I didn't use MFW in the K-2 years, but really there's a "mini cycle" during those years. Little ones are starting close to home by studying the world around them in K and then their first world history is Biblical (Egypt through Rome is in there), followed by Adventures which covers explorers through the US. It's very child-appropriate and gentle.

 

Julie

[LAmom]

:lurk5:

 

 

I use MFW 1st and really love TWTM and what it has to say. So I am interested in responses here. I see in your signature all that you have added on with MFW 1st. Do you find it to be too much? Just enough? I feel like I am lacking something. I did buy FLL but haven't used it yet. I am slacking in science since we are kind of on our own right now--around day 80 or so. I really have been trying to make math work but was tempted to add Singapore.

[Amy in KS]

Two ideas for you if you want to add something (but not too much)...

 

One--read through Child's History of the World as a read aloud. Except for the first couple of chapters, my kids loved this and it will give a brief overview of history.

 

We did this last year and it was great!

 

OR--

 

Two--add Classical Conversations history sentences (and/or maybe the VP timeline cards) to your memory work. If you're doing Adventures, I would add Cycle 3 (American History) to your mix. The memory work is set to songs. My kids LOVE this. We're doing this this year with Adventures and it adds a lot of detail to it all. If you go with this route, add the scholastic American History reference book for explaining the sentences (and lots of picture books).

[Mama2Three]

Interesting. We are loving MFW K, but I planned to move on to the WTM schedule for 1st. Perhaps I should revisit. :)

[mlbuchina]

:lurk5:

 

 

I use MFW 1st and really love TWTM and what it has to say. So I am interested in responses here. I see in your signature all that you have added on with MFW 1st. Do you find it to be too much? Just enough? I feel like I am lacking something. I did buy FLL but haven't used it yet. I am slacking in science since we are kind of on our own right now--around day 80 or so. I really have been trying to make math work but was tempted to add Singapore.

 

I don't find it to be too much because we don't do 1st exactly as written. The only thing we do follow is the Bible lessons, copywork, timeline, Bible Reader and Notebook. That we do like it says. Everything else, I do on my own schedule. Her reading level was above MFW 1st, so I am just using the student workbook as a review lesson in one of her workboxes. I don't have her do the pages where you mark the sounds with the red pencil because we do a seperate spelling program (unless she asks to do them, which she has:001_huh:), but all the other ones she has done so far.

 

This week's schedule looks something like this:

Mon: Bible with MFW1, science TWTM way, AAS, FFL, WWE, math

Tue: Bible, history TWTM way, AAS, FFL, WWE, math

Wed: mid-year meeting (mine), Artistic Pursuits Lesson 6 (oops, don't have that one in the sig!)

Thur: Bible, science, AAS, FFL, WWE, math

Fri: Bible, history, AAs, WWE, math (because of Wed, we will do more today. usually Fri is our light day.)

 

History moves around a little depending on where the Bible notebook work comes in. I have found that trying to do both of those in the same day was too much for her.

 

This may be way more than you were looking for, but I hope it helps!:lol: If you have any other questions, let me know!

 

ETA: I don't use the math that comes with the program, either. I use Saxon, and we love it. Math four days a week, one lesson a day. That's all there is to it. I didn't look to closely at the math schedule in the MFW TM, because I didn't like how they did it in K, but from what I did see it was just way to unstructured for me. I need a little more structure. That's why we started Saxon in K. I just wasn't comfortable with the "informal" aproach. HTH!

Edited January 26, 2010 by mlbuchina

[dhudson]

I love MFW and I love TWTM. I treated the first three years (K - 2) as the "first" history cycle and added in extra read alouds as needed to fill in any gaps. I felt like that worked beautifully. I also saw the value in ECC as a year of geography to help cement the history that we talked about. I also am a big fan of the Worldview that ECC gives the entire family.

 

We have now gone through the whole cycle - except High school and have been very pleased at the history. We like the MFW science and it allows me to have science scheduled for me, which I like. I have added books about scientists as TWTM suggests. We have added Latin as TWTM suggests and have added other LA to the MFW suggestions as per TWTM.

 

The next time through with my younger twins, I might add the SOTW activity pages as well as the review questions. MFW only adds this in year 5 (1850 to MOD) and we have found them to be really helpful. MFW has done a good job at teaching summary and narration in both history and science and I have been pleasantly surprised at well my twins have done with WWE because of MFW.

 

Overall, I have been extremely pleased with MFW as a curriculum and how well they have blended in a "classical" education. The Charlotte Mason touches have taught me to be more hands-on than I probably would have been otherwise but my children have loved those portions of MFW.

 

As for MFW1st math, I have done it both ways. I have added in an extra math program with my oldest and with my twins I did nothing but the math that MFW suggests. My twins did better and had a much more "fun" view of math. My oldest, who is a math whiz, often tells me that he would have preferred the MFW way.

 

Does that help?

[mlbuchina]

Thanks for the info, everyone. It gives me other perspectives to think from!