Can we talk about My Fathers World?

[susancollins]

If you could please share you likes and dislikes and MFW, and any tips. I am thinking about doing Kindergarten. Thanks Susan

[Michelle My Bell]

I used MFW levels K, 1st, part of ECC, RTR and Exp-1850.

 

MFW is a good curriculum, but after awhile I found it boring. That is totally me as I do get bored if things don't change up. MFW is consistant in its style of organizing lessons and teaching. Here is my grade level opionions:

 

Kindergarten - I found this program badly organized and very confusing. I never completely used the program because I couldn't figure it out. I have been homeschooling for 11 years and I couldn't figure it out.

 

1st - I liked this program, but it made too big of a jump for my daughter about 1/2 way through before she was ready.

 

ECC - I borrowed and used part of this program before I used any of the other levels to try MFW outu. I really liked it and it got me into MFW.

 

RTR - We used it all, even though we didn't enjoy all the books. We liked it enough to continue the next year.

 

Exp-1850 - HUGE disappointment here. I was excited to bring in my younger daughter with her older sisters. The younger lessons were very sporadic and not well done at all. The older lessons just didn't impress me and we ditched it 1/2 way through the year. We no longer use MFW.

 

We use Heart of Dakota now with 1 of my girls and Tapestry of Grace with my other ones. This is an excellent fit.

 

Michelle

[cbollin]

Been using and found a great fit in MFW since 2003. My experiences are the total opposite of Michelle's. It helps to see that no such thing as one size fits all. Neither of us is wrong. We just had different experiences. That's why the exhibitor halls at conventions are very full with lots of different stuff. it's great!

 

I found the younger supplement in EX1850 to be just that: a supplement/switch out for specific lessons for when the oldest child was heavier in world history and my 2nd grader just needed a more age appropriate lesson that week or a read aloud. My 2nd grader did the rest of the program with older sis. Worked for us.

 

 

The K program wasn't that hard to figure out for me.

You do math routine

you do phonics lessons

you do the activities for science and Bible

(for more verbal detail on that

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7348#p48723

 

But we haven't found MFW to be boring. I know when routines get to me where I don't want to do it, I tend to think of it as a time to re-arrange furniture and take a field trip. grab a video on the topic. Play outside.

 

If you need to see the K routine in a grid only format instead of the day to day planning, here's a picture:

 

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7348#p48725

 

I've loved using MFW since 2003.

 

I've done the K program twice. My middle gal was already reading when we started MFW K, so the phonics was review and more of a time for handwriting and spelling. Very easy to adapt. We enjoyed the crafts and hands on lessons. I enjoyed that we didn't have to read a specific book for the literature portion if that book wasn't available.

My youngest, who has autism, did great in the K program from MFW. I modified a bit for her special needs. But it was a great joy to hear her saying her Bible theme lessons

http://www.mfwbooks.com/k_theme.htm

such as "If I stay in Jesus, I will have much fruit"

or "I am safe in God"

 

So, I really liked using it with her as well.

 

I like how the subjects are integrated and age appropriate with analogy teachings and hands on stuff that isn't hard to do. I enjoyed reading out loud, or using audio books with my K kids.

 

I pray that God will show you the path he has in mind for you. I just know that I know that MFW remains an answer to prayer for my family. It may or may not be what He has in mind for you.

 

Now you have 2 totally opposite experiences. :lol:

love it!

 

-crystal

[Marie in Oh]

I hated the K but loved Explorers to 1850. We are doing 1850 to Modern Times this year.

 

I, too, had been homeschooling for a good while when I tried the K program with my 5th. I thought it was confuising and spotty. I never figured out the math and the phonics wasn't very thorough.

 

OTOH, we loved, loved, loved Explorers to 1850. I thought it was well done, not boring at all, and just enough. The read alouds were fantastic, and the readings from SOTW 3 and George Washington's World were perfectly integrated.

 

So, we are ditching the younger grades and folding the next child in in 3rd or 4th grade depending on readiness.

[cbollin]

Susan,

 

phonics in MFW K:

learn or review letter sounds and names. Short vowels readers are the focus. Some program use other methods like teaching all long and short sounds the same year, but MFW doesn't start long vowels until 1st grade (day 18).

 

Blending of sounds starts around lesson 6 in MFW K. Students are reading short vowel stories by around lesson 12 and then practice that to gain fluency and confidence.

During that time, they also learn to put those sounds together to spell and write the words through dictation exercises. They do sound discrimination pages, handwriting practice.

Much of this is taught with hands on (Lauri letters), some songs (that you sing instead of buying a cd or something)

 

Math is a hands on approach and covers the same topics that are found in a program like Math U See's Kindy level book. You start the year with learning counting, and a huge emphasis on place value with base ten. It's done in such simple ways that you think "it is really enough?" but it is foundational work.

 

Then, you incorporate other K math things with patterns, thinking skills (especially with the Cuisenaire Rod book), calendars, time concepts, etc.

 

Then, after you finish a 100's chart, you begin to add in coin cup to work on money skills and skip counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's.

Then, later in the year, the program encourages you to add in a simple workbook (something you'd get from dollar stores, or target/walmart kind of stores, or a book store).

 

In the activities section, the math skills are in there with graphs, charts, clocks (telling time), comparing numbers and sizes.

 

It's kindy.

 

The activities will combine science and Bible lessons with a foundation of who God is, what he made all over the world. So, there is even age appropriate Kindy level geography/biomes/animals and that kind of social studies/sciences units for K age child to enjoy.

 

There is a literature day each themed unit where you set aside worksheets and enjoy a book together and enjoy nature walks.

 

MFW encourages parents to read about Charlotte Mason philosophies via a book in the deluxe package (For the Children's Sake). So, you learn to read to them everyday from whatever you want to read. You learn importance of nature walks and all of that.

 

There are times in some units that some simple field trip ideas are included.

 

and there is an Ideas forum that users of the program leave other books and field trip ideas to share.

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewforum.php?f=10

 

 

-crystal

[Michelle My Bell]

I don't think the problem is a lack of understanding about phonics, math or even Charlotte Mason. I think I have read every CM book out there. It is a a porly designed guide. I am referring to the Kindergarten guide only.

 

Susan,

 

phonics in MFW K:

learn or review letter sounds and names. Short vowels readers are the focus. Some program use other methods like teaching all long and short sounds the same year, but MFW doesn't start long vowels until 1st grade (day 18).

 

Blending of sounds starts around lesson 6 in MFW K. Students are reading short vowel stories by around lesson 12 and then practice that to gain fluency and confidence.

During that time, they also learn to put those sounds together to spell and write the words through dictation exercises. They do sound discrimination pages, handwriting practice.

Much of this is taught with hands on (Lauri letters), some songs (that you sing instead of buying a cd or something)

 

Math is a hands on approach and covers the same topics that are found in a program like Math U See's Kindy level book. You start the year with learning counting, and a huge emphasis on place value with base ten. It's done in such simple ways that you think "it is really enough?" but it is foundational work.

 

Then, you incorporate other K math things with patterns, thinking skills (especially with the Cuisenaire Rod book), calendars, time concepts, etc.

 

Then, after you finish a 100's chart, you begin to add in coin cup to work on money skills and skip counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's.

Then, later in the year, the program encourages you to add in a simple workbook (something you'd get from dollar stores, or target/walmart kind of stores, or a book store).

 

In the activities section, the math skills are in there with graphs, charts, clocks (telling time), comparing numbers and sizes.

 

It's kindy.

 

The activities will combine science and Bible lessons with a foundation of who God is, what he made all over the world. So, there is even age appropriate Kindy level geography/biomes/animals and that kind of social studies/sciences units for K age child to enjoy.

 

There is a literature day each themed unit where you set aside worksheets and enjoy a book together and enjoy nature walks.

 

MFW encourages parents to read about Charlotte Mason philosophies via a book in the deluxe package (For the Children's Sake). So, you learn to read to them everyday from whatever you want to read. You learn importance of nature walks and all of that.

 

There are times in some units that some simple field trip ideas are included.

 

and there is an Ideas forum that users of the program leave other books and field trip ideas to share.

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewforum.php?f=10

 

 

-crystal

[Sue G in PA]

So glad Crystal chimed in here...she is a wealth of info. re: all things MFW! She has been so helpful to me in the past (even though I didn't always use her suggestions or take all her advice :tongue_smilie:). We have used K, 1st and ECC and I really don't have anything negative to say about MFW. I loved K as did my dd4. She loved the worksheets and didn't seem to mind/notice that they were all the same (pretty much) for each letter. She liked the consistency. The manual is laid out in sections and really isn't that difficult to figure out. I used post-it flags to mark each section for ease in flipping back and forth. Once you get into a routine...it's a snap. LOVED how science and art and Bible all meshed w/ the letter the child was studying. 1st I found a bit more cumbersome to use and thus didn't use it all as planned so I really cannot comment on it fairly. ECC was a bomb for us although many absolutely RAVE about it. I think you will enjoy K!

[Marie in Oh]

I don't think the problem is a lack of understanding about phonics, math or even Charlotte Mason. I think I have read every CM book out there. It is a a porly designed guide. I am referring to the Kindergarten guide only.

 

I really thought the guide was poorly done. But that is a K only issue from what I can tell. Again, I have used the upper elementary stuff and a friend used Adventures and they are great and the TGs are worth gold in my opinion. I don't know why their K program was so hard for me to implement and I wanted to love it. I didn't know that there were worksheets till half way throught the program. There was no mention of them in the TG as far as I could see. I sold it. So, obviously it is a personal preference issue.

[Michelle My Bell]

:iagree:

 

I really thought the guide was poorly done. But that is a K only issue from what I can tell. Again, I have used the upper elementary stuff and a friend used Adventures and they are great and the TGs are worth gold in my opinion. I don't know why their K program was so hard for me to implement and I wanted to love it. I didn't know that there were worksheets till half way throught the program. There was no mention of them in the TG as far as I could see. I sold it. So, obviously it is a personal preference issue.

[cbollin]

I didn't know that there were worksheets till half way throught the program. There was no mention of them in the TG as far as I could see. I sold it. So, obviously it is a personal preference issue.

 

agreeing that personal preferences issues make all the difference for any program on the market in any family.

 

not being snarky here, I'm just trying to help the original poster see the unseen of the program. I'm not being rude or snarky, I'm just saying there is plenty of mention in the teacher's manual.

 

the first mention of the workbook comes on page 4 of the manual.

Then, instructions are given in the Creation Unit to use the student worksheets that apply to that unit.

 

On page 17 of the manual with Day 1 of the phonics routines the workbook gets listed as materials for that 4th step in the step by step instructions.

It tells you to use the workbook, and which step to use it, and very specific instructions to use them. Day 2, step 2 and step 4 tell you to use the workbook page. Day 3, step 4, 5 tell you to use the workbook. Day 4 step 3, 4 give detailed step by step phonics instruction with workbook. Day 5, step 2 and 3.

 

 

 

MFW K was the 2nd MFW program I used. I was personally very spoiled by the grid format in ECC (Exploring Countries and Cultures) and shocked that the Kindy program was organized in a different format. A little earlier in the thread, I linked to a template I made that made it easy on me to see the day at the glance and then all of a sudden, the entire manual made sense to me. It doesn't happen that way for everyone. I wish it were organized more the way I think it should be, but I found it easy to use in spite of it being a way that I don't have a personal preference for either. If I were putting the manual together, I'd make it so the dictation list and phonics routines were repeated (even if I got to where I didn't need to see the same notes each unit) each unit in the activities section, even though the manual would probably be thicker. I'm not saying the K manual is "perfect" and it definitely wasn't my personal preference on style. But in spite of that, I found it easy to understand and use.

 

Other "problems" (for some and not for others) with MFW K, is that you use books from the library to have to read to the students. Some people don't want to use libraries at all. I didn't mind. I liked finding very simple science texts. I liked not living in the library either. I liked that there was flexibility in the books. I had used FIAR with my oldest and those required very specific titles. I didn't find that issue in MFW K.

Another common issue is that people want to beef up the phonics lesson and don't know how. Well, I made a long list on that on MFW's board. Only makes sense if you have the manual in front of you though.

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7179#p47744

 

and another common "slow" feature that I hear from others who struggle liking the program has to do with the fact that many kids know sounds already at the beginning of the year. So, in the Creation Unit, there are quick ways to beef that up too

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=51&start=25#p51585

 

and other little things that I use to hear on problems (I use to moderate the MFW Kindy yahoo group, so I'm mostly going on memory here)

*how to sing the alphabet song (it's similar to what is on Starfall.com)

*people want a better way to see the unit supply list (I agree)

so here's that

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9&p=49381#p45939

 

and

ideas for books to use for Science section

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9&p=49381#p49381

 

anyway, you can kinda tell, I really enjoyed the program. I enjoy helping others who are using it. I know there's no such thing as one size fits all either. It may not be the right program for the original poster. But like with any program out there, there's help if something is confusing.

 

-crystal

Edited July 30, 2010 by cbollin
fixed a sentence

[cbollin]

I don't think the problem is a lack of understanding about phonics, math or even Charlotte Mason. I think I have read every CM book out there. It is a a porly designed guide. I am referring to the Kindergarten guide only.

 

just to clarify my post. sorry for the confusion???

 

I was letting the original poster know that MFW Kindy tries to be a CM approach (and to let her know they have a book for that in case the original poster hadn't read any books on CM), and that MFW K intentionally covers just short vowel CVC reading (to explain what their intent is -- it may or may not match the personal goals of education of the OP), and the same thing with math.

 

and as I keep saying, I do wish the guide were arranged differently for my personal tastes. But in spite of that, I still found it easy to use. still wish it were in grid. that's why I made that template.

 

-crystal

[Nakia]

I used and loved MFW K and 1st with my middle dd. I will definitely use them with my youngest. I don't think the phonics can be beat! I also used ECC and CtG with my oldest. We really liked ECC except for the science. But I did notice they redid their science portion for ECC, and it looks much better. CtG was also a great program. I loved that the bible was used as a spine, but I really wanted more of non-biblical world history, if that makes sense. I hated the Genesis for Kids experiment book.

 

I love love love the way the MFW guides are set up. I like that grid pattern.

 

We have a totally crappy library system so I could not get the book basket to work for us. I know people say you can do MFW without the book basket and still have a complete program, but I disagree for our family. We found the spines boring, and we really needed supplementary books. I just got what I could from the library (very little) and then used the ones we had at home (again not too many because I just didn't have the money to spend on supplements after purchasing the program). Another reason is that I don't like most of the MFW science. We have tried Apologia, and it's not a good fit for our family. Of course, it a favorite for many people.

 

I hope this has been helpful and not too confusing. :001_smile: I'm a bit sleep deprived right now. We are switching to Sonlight this year, and we'll see how that works for our family.

[abrightmom]

 

I really thought the guide was poorly done. But that is a K only issue from what I can tell. Again, I have used the upper elementary stuff and a friend used Adventures and they are great and the TGs are worth gold in my opinion. I don't know why their K program was so hard for me to implement and I wanted to love it.

 

:iagree: MFW K was a bust here. We tried twice. My personality or teaching style and that teaching guide clashed in a BIG WAY (ugh). It always overwhelmed me and felt tedious. I loved the ideas in it, the themes, the badges sounded so cool but implementation was gnarly!! I was happy to sell it.

 

MFW First was awesome EXCEPT I don't rely on it to "teach" reading. I see it as a support to teaching reading with a more incremental, thorough primer (such as The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading). We loved the Bible, the workbook, the copywork, etc. in MFW 1st. We opted to NOT do the drawing or the math. In retrospect I think the math would've worked beautifully (now that I know better - that my kids don't need a bazillion worksheets as that is NOT math for the youngers).

 

MFW Adventures is our choice for this year with a 1st and 2nd grader. It looks fantastic and very well organized. I like the layout of the guide, the weekly grids, the book lists, etc. I'm very excited to use it and I think it is well planned and well balanced for the target grades. I don't know how much my 1st grader will do. I plan to temper the writing requirements for him as needed. He will enjoy making the notebook, learning about the states, hearing the stories, participating in science, etc. :001_smile::001_smile:

[Mom0012]

I think MFW K was wonderful and had no trouble implementing it. I have some wonderful memories with my daughter and regret that I never used this with my son. The only problem I have with it is that my daughter was beyond the phonics portion by the time we got to it (as many children on this board would be). I just used the bible/science portion, but I thought the activities were priceless.

 

Lisa

[mommyagain]

I tried MFW K and didn't like the manual either. But I am very much looking forward to using Adventures when my oldest are in 3rd and 2nd. And I'm holding on to my K and might give it another go when my current 2yo is in K! I saw MFW at a convention and I think it looks wonderful!

[KellyinPA]

We have used MFW's K, 1st, ADV, ECC and starting CTG in the fall. Obviously, we love MFW:) The K TM is a different animal from the other years. It may take some getting used to but not overly so, for me. We have used Saxon Math all the way through so no comment there. I was very nervous about teaching my boys to read but found it very easy with MFW's 1st grade curriculum.

 

YMMV, of course, but we've had a wonderful experience so far.

[beaglemamma]

Hi Susan ~

 

My dd has completed MFW K and MFW 1st, and we absolutely adored the K program! She had done Hooked on Phonics when she was 4 and was already reading CVC words when she started K, so we didn't do much of the language arts. We continued on with the next level of Hooked on Phonics since that was obviously working for her. We did, however, do the math, science, Bible, and music. I can tell you that I liked what I saw in the language arts portion; dd was just beyond that already. I currently have a 4yo dd who is learning her letter sounds and trying to blend them into syllables, and I absolutely plan to start using the MFW K language arts with her when our school year begins on Monday. (She's not quite ready for Hooked on Phonics yet.)

 

Personally, I didn't find the TM confusing at all. Maybe some people find it confusing because it's divided into sections (one section for math, one section for language arts, one section for Bible/science) and the music isn't scheduled in. True, it would be nice if the K TM was set up more like the upper grades where you have a nice chart with a column for each day of the week and rows listing each assignment/project for each day. (Kind of a week-at-a-glance type thing.) But if you just stick a post-it note or paperclip or something to bookmark each section, then you can easily flip from one section to the other. And honestly, after two weeks of doing it, I doubt you'll need to flip at all - you just get in a groove. Keep it on the Bible/science portion because that's always different, but the math and language arts will basically be on auto-pilot! ;)

 

In my opinion, I truly can't imagine a sweeter Kindergarten program out there. The way Marie Hazell has combined these Bible truths with science is absolutely priceless, and that's what matters most to me. I feel like I learned just as much as dd during our K year!

 

If you want to get a "feel" for the program, lots of people blog about it. You could always go to the MFW message boards and look at people's signatures to get their blog addresses. (It's kind of like peeking through the windows of their classroom!) If you'd like to read about our experiences, my blog is www.trainingthemup.blogspot.com, but I must warn you that it's VERY outdated! In fact, I don't think I ever blogged the last two K units! But that means 24 of them are blogged, plus the creation unit, so you'll be able to read enough to get a feel for it anyway.

 

I pray God will give you wisdom as you make a curriculum decision. It's the worst when you're unsure of what to do! (And people ask us if we worry about socialization . . . Geez! We're far too worried about curriculum to have time to worry about socialization! :lol:)

[....]

I'm using MFW K right now with a 5 yro who was has an "interesting personality" :glare: (OK, without getting too detailed, there's concern that she has traits similar to ADHD). Anyway, she is doing very well with this program. She'll grab the box it came in and try to get me to "do school" while I'm cooking dinner, etc. She really enjoys it. She's starting to read now, which is so incredible that I felt like falling out of my chair. :D

 

From a parent standpoint, I supplement the math with Singapore Earlybird. The curriculum guide was really hard to follow the first week. I had to look over it a lot before I figured out, "Oh, yeah, there's a pattern." :tongue_smilie:

 

I don't have any regrets about using this program at all with Kid #3 and I'm probably going to check out their 1st grade for her also.

[Rosyl]

I like it. It is simple. It is gentle. It is kindergarten. I wish I would have used it with my 2 oldest.

 

The problem with MFW is it seems light and there is a tendency for the overachiever(GUILTY HERE) to supplement--it's unnecessary. The good thing about MFW Less is More.

 

We have used K, ECC, CTG and are set to use MFW 1 and RTR.

[kimsclan]

I did supplement with a K math program and books to read and also Hooked on Phonics (but that was because I had it already and liked the books) although, the phonics program in MFW K was great! The Tm was easy to use after a week or so. I just used a post-it to mark my place. I especially enjoyed the activities- my K son loved them too. It made for a very nice 1st year of school for him and an easy 1st homeschooling year for me. The TM isn't so hard once you get used to it! Very easy going- not too intense- just fun!

[TxMama]

I'm currently using MFW K and agree with the negatives of the layout of the manual.

 

There is a MFW K yahoogroups that has options for a grid weekly format that you can adapt to use.

 

It also helped me to implement it once I started our filing system (after the big filing system thread of the past weeks). The manual does have suggestions about using files to help organize your work and preparing for your year Once you get in the flow it does become easier to implement.

[Momma H]

I am using MFW and have for a long time (except for one unfortunate year that was a mistake:glare:).

As a curriculum overall, I LOVE it. I have looked extensivley at the other options and this is the funnest, most balanced, easy to implement, easy to learn, easy to teak, easy to cram a couple of days in at a time if necessary (which makes it easy to actually finish the curriculum), and it is rich with learning. When I realize all it has to offer it is so much more than history. It is bible, cooking, art, literature, science, handwriting, some english, crafts, and way more but I have to get going.:D

For our family, it is the best fit. Is it absolutley perfect? NO Is any curriculum? heavens NO

I am happy with the high school too. Next year we start that and I am really looking forward to it!

Edited August 5, 2010 by Momma H
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