MFW K: Reviews?

[....]

Does anyone like MFW Kindergarten?

 

I'm looking for something calm and fun to supplement CLE Learn to Read. I'm also not looking for something overly academic for this Kindergartener and I don't want to spend much more than an hour on K. So far, I liked the price (was finding it on ebay for 40 bucks) and the look of the samples.

 

Has anyone used this program? Did your 5 yro enjoy it? How long does it take to get through one day's lessons?

 

I really appreciate any comments or reviews!! :001_smile:

[Sue G in PA]

Hmmm...how advanced is your 5yo? Does he know his alphabet and sounds? Is he reading at all yet? MFW K is a super program but it is basic in the beginning. Each week the child will learn a new letter and about 3 months (about) in will start learning blends and short cvc words. It is a gentle program and is working well for my dd4 who is a bit advanced. She is already reading but she does enjoy the worksheets in MFW, the cutting/pasting, the science, art and book day. Your 5yo might enjoy those portions of MFW K even if he is reading. MFW 1st moves very quickly as opposed to K. Quick review in beginning and then onto silent e words, etc. and there is a lot more writing...too much for "most" 5yos. My dd will be 5 in August and will start MFW 1st next September. I'm not even sure that she will be able to keep up and she is advance! That being said, I don't have anything negative to say about MFW K. I love it.

[....]

Thanks for both replies! :001_smile:

 

I did hear that it was a very mild, preschoolish curriculum - which is why I was interested in it.

 

The 5 yro just turned 5 a few weeks ago and is a smart one, but can't concentrate on anything for more than a couple of minutes. She's also very sensitive and hands-on. She likes to "do school" because I think she likes the attention and it probably makes her feel like her older sister and brother. :001_rolleyes: I just didn't want to overwhelm her.

 

We are working through CLE Learn to Read, but she does not know all her letter sounds yet. We're also working on Singapore Earlybird, but, seriously, Earlybird's not real advanced either...:tongue_smilie:

 

Thanks again! I think this might be something she could do without being overwhelmed. It's also one of the cheapest K curricula...:D

[J'etudie]

I did MFW K with each of my two oldest just before they turned 5. As a pp said, the Bible and science were wonderful, and they're the reason I plan to do MFW K with my youngers as well. We didn't do phonics as written. The handwriting pages were great for my little pencil-phobes, and oldest ds needed the cutting practice from the little letter books. It's a keeper at our house.

[cbollin]

I really liked MFW K. Used it with my middle gal at age 5, then a few years later with my youngest at age 6.

 

I liked that the amount of paper and pencil writing was enough. And that other multisensory worksheets are built into the program. I like that we could either do the words and sentences as cut and paste, or write them out later in the year. I like that about mid way through the year they start reading longer short vowel stories. It doesn't stay the same level all year. I like that.

 

really special time for us in the program with our youngest. She loved to recite her Bible lessons. I thought that with autism, I might not be able to homeschool with MFW with her, but it was a just a blessing of a year.

 

time each day? I probably spent about 30-45 minutes with her in focused seat work. I know I wasn't doing everything with her, so it could be longer with "regular kids".

 

I really had a fun time in the program with her. Very encouraging year to use it.

oh.. I wish I hadn't messed up my blog... I had a nice entry about us doing ECC and K together.. but basically if I start telling the story again, I'll start crying those happy tears and.. well.. I'm just too chicken to share the stories again.

 

anyway.... we really liked MFW K. I need to go cry again....

 

may the Lord bless your year no matter what program you use.

 

-crystal

[....]

Thanks, Everybody, for the great reviews! I'm pretty decided now that this will work for her.

[beaglemamma]

We LOVED MFW K! We completed it last year when my oldest was 5. The science and Bible are so beautifully interwoven! The Hazells have taken great spiritual truths and worded them in ways that are perfect for kiddos.

 

As for people who say MFW K is "light," I feel like you as the teacher ultimately control that. For example, dd was already reading when we started, so we pretty much ditched the LA portion of the program and continued doing what we were already doing. Because I was able to be more relaxed with the reading part of our school day, I was able to focus more on math and science. We played lots of math-y games and read LOTS of science books we checked out from the library, as well as some great fiction books about whatever our science topic was that week.

 

As far as time each day, I'd say we probably spent somewhere around an hour a day. But it's hard to say for sure because I always broke up our day (e.g., do math then send her out to play for an hour, then do reading, then send her out to play, etc.).

 

Truly, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a better K program anywhere. Hope you are blessed by your K year, whether you choose MFW or another program!

 

Jennifer

[mama2cntrykids]

I'm going to be using MFW K next year with my soon-to-be 4 yr. old dd. I know that she's really young, BUT she's soooo ready for it. I don't think however, that she'll be ready for MFW 1st the following year, but I'm not sure what to do for her actual Kindergarten year. So, what I'm trying to say is, we'll be doing MFW K next year, when in fact, it would be her "preschool" year and I'm stuck with what to do for her actual Kindy year. Any suggestions? Sorry, I don't mean to hijack!

[....]

Maybe you could s l o w l y start 1st grade when she finishes K. Or...you could extend K a little longer? What about adding another program to beef it up a little - you guys could read through Sonlight K selections together. ?

 

I have an older kid who is skipping a grade this fall. I'm just keeping this in mind...if it takes longer than a school year for her to work through the new grade then that's OK. I'm also trying to remember that there might be places where we have to stop and cover some material she may have missed. (in reality, she'll probably just roll her eyes at me while she reviews her plans for taking over the world)

 

The only suggestion I have is beef it up with something else, slow it down or just continue with things until she reaches a point where it's too much - if that even happens. Good luck!

[Mom0012]

I did part of this program with my daughter when she was 4 or 5 and she just loved it. She was already reading well, so we skipped the phonics, but the science and bible activities are simple and fun and make such wonderful memories.

 

One of my biggest homeschooling regrets was that I never finished it with her because, as a new homeschooler, I was so hyper-focused on getting my 1st grader to the level I "thought" he should be at.

 

Lisa

Edited April 8, 2010 by LisaTheresa

[rousselab]

MFW K is awesome! We are having so much fun with it, and both of my children ages 3 1/2 and 5 1/2 have learned a TON! We are supplementing with Christian Light Learning To Read as well. They are working very nicely together. I am using some of the phonics things from MFW with my 3 yo, but my 5yo is way beyond the phonics in MFW. We love CLE LTR. If you do decide to use MFWK, I highly recommend getting on the MFW website and getting onto the K forum. You will find TONS of great creative idea on there for each lesson from MFW K. Hope this helps. :)

Anita

[Oops, duplicate account :/]

I've been reading over material the last several weeks and formulating our schedule. It's all starting to click and looks so easy, but very enjoyable and meaningful for all. We've actually been doing some of the phonics stuff here and there or before bed, like the A-a-apple song sung with the beautiful (art really!) flashcards. I can't wait to start!

Edited May 20, 2010 by mommyjen

[Oops, duplicate account :/]

Oh, there is a schedule on the mfw k yahoo site all done for you. It's in Files and is titled Julianna's k lesson plans or something like that. That's been helpful, but we are not doing any of the reading lessons (only phonics) so I'm just using it as a guide and making my own. We are also doing two lessons a week, so 3 days on a letter.

[Tabrett]

If you are going to use CLE LTR and buying MFW used, I would not buy the student sheets from MFW. The student sheets are the handwriting, phonics and math portion of K. Do you have a good library? I don't and it was hard to do many of the units because I couldn't find the books needed and I really don't like going to the library. There is at least one book needed for each unit and none of the books come with the MFW package.

 

Just something to thing about.

[....]

Did this thread magically spring back to life? :confused:

 

We've been using MFW K and CLE Learn to Read for a while now and it's going very well. She loves MFW K and the letter sounds from LTR are really sinking in.

 

Couldn't be happier!!:001_smile:

[beaglemamma]

Do you have a good library? I don't and it was hard to do many of the units because I couldn't find the books needed and I really don't like going to the library. There is at least one book needed for each unit and none of the books come with the MFW package. Just something to thing about.

 

We have a mediocre library in our small town, so I paid $40 for an annual membership to the library in a larger city 20 minutes away. We were able to find the majority of the recommended books, but I found that even when we didn't have access to the recommended books, we were always able to substitute another great book in its place. That's one of the things I love about MFW--you really do have the freedom to tweak it a little to make it work when you need to. :001_smile: