MFW with Ker and 1st as PreK and K

[EmilyGF]

Hello,

 

I've got an almost 4-yod and a 5.5 yos (as well as an almost 2 yod). My son is reading CVC pretty well (we've used PP and are getting into SWR). I keep thinking about what I want to "do" next year, when my son would officially be in school, starting at the beginning of November after a move and trip.

 

I'm pretty driven as a person and would like something that would tell me I've done "enough." I also want something for my daughter (who will be 4 by then) so that we get some structured sit-together time each day.

 

I considered Sonlight, doing Core PreK, but I am just slightly too conservative for some Sonlight books. I don't like My Father's Dragon and am worried that if I don't like that, there will be others I'm not familiar with that I won't like. I also don't want to read condensed versions of stories, which it seems Sonlight uses sometimes.

 

So how about 1st for my reading son, who will likely be a fluent CVC+some by November and a gentle K for my daughter? Or will I go crazy? Do you think I'd like MFW given what I don't like about SL?

 

Thanks,

Emily

[Dinsfamily]

I'm in my 2nd year of doing SL with SWR with my 6yo. While I agree that SL wouldn't be a good choice for you based on what you said (we haven't run into any condensed stories, but there's a lot of mythology in the PreK cores), I just wanted to tell you that you don't need a learn to read program if you're using SWR and MFW includes phonics in the K and 1st programs. It is unneccesary and would be overkill to use both. I also think it would be confusing to teach using two different methods.

 

Since I've never used MFW, I don't how it would go if you cut the phonics portion out. Is the phonics portion so integrated that removing it would be problematic? Hopefully some MFW users can speak to that. Despite that, MFW 1st looks fantastic and that Bible Reader would go well with SWR.

 

Now, you could hold off on SWR and use it after they learn how to read with MFW. Being a SWR fanatic who loves the way it teaches dc to read, it wouldn't be what I would choose but that's me. YMMV. :D

Edited July 3, 2010 by Dinsfamily

[razorbackmama]

Agreeing with Taira. Have you looked at MFW K and 1st? The bulk of it is phonics instruction. There are very few outside books pulled in (as compared to SL). (The K and 1st programs are set up very differently from the 2nd and up programs, which *is* more like SL.)

 

SWR and either one of these would be complete overkill and very confusing since they are so different.

 

Also, MFW 1st goes really quickly. I would not use it with a Ker unless he was REALLY reading very, very well and is ready for the pace.

[krismoose]

Will your son be 6 this fall? Mine turns 6 in October, so this fall will start his first official year as well. We started SL prek at first, and dropped it for the reasons you're concerned about. (I also started and dropped SWR because it was too much for *me* lol) We've finished The Reading Lesson, so he can read early readers, and we are alternating that with PP lessons for now. We did HOD's Little Hearts for His Glory last year, and are doing a light trip through MFW K until fall when we'll probably start MFW 1st. We *loved* LHFHG, and younger sis joined right in as well. I wish I had waited to use it this year, because I know now that he'd get even more out of it. We are also really enjoying MFW K now, the science and Bible lessons are great. I'm really only using the phonics part as an intro for 3.5yo ds (she wants to "do school" as has great fine motor skills and really enjoys tracing and writing) and to give ds some practice writing in print (we did cursive first, and he's pretty much taught himself to print, but it's helping to practice the correct letter formation.) My ds is not ready for the amount of writing in MFW 1st right now, but I think he will be by October or so, which is why we're "stalling" a bit :) Ultimately we want to follow HOD's sequence into Beyond LHFHG, but he'll do better if we wait a year on that :)

 

All that to say you could easily do SWR with just the science/Bible lessons of MFW K with both your dc, if you want to do it together. You could just get the TM (used, even) since you wouldn't need the student sheets if you're using SWR. We're just using it as a guide for the week, and we get lots of library books out and read them all week long rather than keepinf a separate "exploration day". Or, LHFHG would be great, and is meatier than MFW K in that you learn about history from creation to present day and you memorize scripture which is tied into the history and science lessons. And you can do your own phonics as well (they have recommendations, but it's not built into the program). It sounds like your ds might be ready for MFW 1st by November. If you're going to do SWR, I'd skip the phonics lessons in MFW 1st, and do the Bible reader & notebook, copywork, science, etc. HTH :001_smile:

[rousselab]

Hi! We are using MFW K (half way through it) and LOVE it! MFW is such a blessing to our family! We are also "conservative" and chose not to use Sonlight for the same reasons that you stated, so I completely understand.

 

I have a dd age 5 1/2, ds age 3 1/2, and ds almost 2. Sounds like our children are about the same ages. I can not tell you how much we have enjoyed MFW K! My daughter and middle son both actively participate. We use the science/history/geog. portion, along with calendar, numbers, and some of the phonics games. The children have all learned a ton. I love how MFW ties in the Bible with each lesson,and the children remember those lessons so well. It has made for some amazing discussions that I never though would come up at this age. So to us, using MFW K has been priceless!

 

We are not using the phonics with my daughter. Her reading was already above the level of MFW once we began the program. She is excelling with Christian Light's Learning To Read Program along with their Language Arts (another incredible program-workbook based).

 

http://clp.org/store/by_course/150

 

http://clp.org/store/by_course/151

 

She does well with workbooks. I do believe that MFW K phonics may work better with my younger 2, however my middle son already knows all of his letters and sounds and is beginning to write letters. I will probably begin the MFW K phonics soon with him to see how it goes. In MFW K it's super easy to separate the phonics from the other parts, if you decide to use another phonics program. I'm wondering how easy this is to do with MFW 1st, and I'm not sure about that yet.

 

Hope this helps. If you decide to use MFW, take advantage of their message boards on their website. There is a TON of info and amazing ideas from those who have used the program. I check it before I begin each unit. This program is a God-send. Please let me know if I can help in any way!

 

:)

Anita

[rousselab]

Oh, just my opinion, but I would use K with both of them. It's very "meaty" with the added literature/library suggestions and the suggestions on the MFW K message boards. I would hate to miss K, and both of my olders (same ages as yours) are just loving it! :) MFW 1 has a lot more writing. I have glanced at the TM for 1st, but not close enough to see if phonics can be sep. Anyway, I wouldn't overload myself and the kids with K and 1 at the same time. Especially if my oldest is just now officially beginning K.....

[specialkmom]

I'm kind of interested in what others say too. I did MFW K as Pre-K with my then 4 year old. Now he is reading CVC and blends, and even some long vowel words. I'm interested in sticking with MFW 1st to move along with the phonics/reading for him (and because I like MFW), but go light on the writing.

 

Anyway, You really could do MFWK for both of your kids and they could both get a lot out of it. My 3 year old tagged along and learned his letters and sounds. We read all kinds of books from the recommended list as well as books other users recommended on the boards and then some we found. We did different hand-on activities that both kids enjoyed. My older son was almost reading when we started. I added in some other readers for him, but he still loved making words/reading words, writing them, and making the little story books. You could for sure edit out the phonics stuff if you wanted to as well with K. I also added in Singapore Early Bird math. You wouldn't have to, but I liked Singapore, so we did.

 

I also looked at SL, but decided to just choose some of the books that looked interesting or I thought would be good. You can read reviews on most books on Amazon.

 

I loved MFW K and will probably use it again next year with ds2.

 

And just curious since I am rather new, what is SWR?