What does your MFW Friday meeting look like?

[WaterLily]

So we're a couple weeks into My Father's World with my 9th grader.... it's been a rough start but we're hanging in there for now. We have yet to really have a "proper" Friday meeting. Can you tell me what your meetings are like? Are we supposed to go over all his work for the week or just the MFW stuff? For example, do I grade his Algebra ahead of time and then talk to him about what he missed at the Friday meeting or should I do that daily? I hope we fall into the groove at some point but I'm very overwhelmed right now.... Oh, and I did start him a week before the younger ones as suggested in MFW.

[cbollin]

I'm in WHL this year. did AHL last year.... it looks odd in my house.

 

Math: (looking around here.... ) she grades her math homework on a daily basis and that's working for us. I or dh grade the tests and that's how we know that she's getting it done and learning it.

So on Friday, math is looking for progress on the lesson planner to be on schedule. This week, she wasn't, so guess who did a week's worth of Alg II today (Saturday?) I don't know what she did all week, but it involves a lot of reading of some novel that she got very interested in. :lol:

 

Science: similar to math. on Friday check point I see what's left to be done. in our case with science, we bundle the experiments on evenings or weekends when younger kids go to sleep, or when dad is home to deal with it. Otherwise, it's just not getting done in a safe manner. My dh grades the tests when they are done. I don't even want to deal with it. He has the phd in chemistry, let him do it. (oops. sorry. I'm whining)

hey wait a minute.... didn't she have a test this week that she forgot? oops... it's been a week over here.... I got too tired to "make" her do the test yesterday.. fighting some fatigue from my part time job, mixed with low iron levels............

 

Health, Art... check points and make sure it's done.

 

Most of that takes about 20 minutes.. it's checking, grading quickly...

 

Then, for the mfw stuff Bible History English.... we go over stuff. She also talks all week about some of this stuff. I have not been good this year at doing that, so it looks bad in my house. Last year, I was good at taking the suggestions from the daily lesson plan in week 1 and checking the work from notgrass and all of that... this year.... mommy isn't doing well. I keep hoping the iron levels return.....

 

so, I am no poster child for how it's supposed to go. a 2 hour stretch together isn't going to work for us. so, it's in tiny portions.

 

well, thanks for the indirect reminder that I need to check on the science stuff. It's been a day over here with cleaning and outdoor chores and driving lessons.

 

I hope we find our groove this year. I know last year we got it all done and it all worked out. But I never was able to do a fully devoted regular conference for a long stretch. It was in small sections on Thursday night, Friday morning and Friday afternoon. checkin during the week. this year, I feel like I'm going through the motions on it.

 

hope something in there makes sense.

 

-crystal

[speedmom4]

My daughter is using MFW World History this year and last year we used Ancient History. This year I have begun grading everything every day. It just works better for us. My daughter seems to do better if she has accountability every day and also she enjoys talking about her work every day. The Friday meeting for us is just a time to get caught up on anything that needs some extra time.

 

God Bless,

Elise in NC

[cricket1178]

Doing U.S. history this year. We have done AHL and World. I grade math, chemistry, and easy grammar daily. I also go over any questions they had to do in any of the other subjects. I want to try and clear up any problems as soon as possible. Our Friday meetings are more of a catch up and review session. Has worked really well for my family.

[Julie in MN]

My daughter seems to do better if she has accountability every day and also she enjoys talking about her work every day. The Friday meeting for us is just a time to get caught up on anything that needs some extra time.

 

Similar at our house. I think MFW's intention was for the meeting to cover the 3 credits - Bible, English, & History. But we had more interaction during the week, and used the extra time on Friday to catch up or to skip a day, since our local school calendar is only just over 34 weeks.

 

And don't forget that this is just the beginning of 9th grade. Don't expect essays to be perfect yet, just pick something to focus on and let some things go. Help your dd to answer questions from Notgrass by having them open as she reads the chapter.

 

I saw a lot of growth as my son turned 15, both physically and mentally. I think it's good that MFW helps the student to take high school seriously right from the start, but it doesn't mean everything will be perfect yet. You can always weight early assignments less than later ones, if necessary.

 

Julie

[SonshineLearner]

Very nice to read about others doing MFW for Highschool. Just in case anyone reads this from around Salem, OR.... we have a co-op using MFW for our highschool.... (and SOTW for the youngers)

:)

[Melissa in CA]

Just completed the first two weeks of AHL and we have yet to have a Friday meeting. :tongue_smilie: Except for the argumentative essay, his school has been relatively straightforward and a lot of 'talking time' hasn't been needed. I mean for history he's been in Genesis...for a kid who's been in the bible since birth, that's pretty easy stuff. Job for lit has not been overly taxing either. ;) It's all good. No complaints so far. I've looked at his answers and these all seem reasonable. I think he did pretty good on his essay as well. Came up with an odd argument, but it was interesting just the same (how there is Trinitarian symbolism in Harry Potter. Haha). He pulled it off...not theologically sound by any means, but he did a pretty good job proving his stand. I see there is another essay due in week 3...I think this writing is going to be SO good for him.

 

Getting organized has been the hardest part for me this year, but coming into week 3 I feel we've finally got our groove.

[WaterLily]

I want to thank you all for your replies! Like I said, it's been a bit rough but I hope we get it figured out soon and it starts to get a bit "easier". I also think it might work better for us to have little "meetings" through the week instead of doing it all at the end of the week. We'll see...

 

I have another question for you. What do you do on a week like this where you only have 4 school days? How do we get all of our MFW work done? Do we do it over the weekend or just do Friday's work next Monday?

 

Thanks again!!! :)

[Julie in MN]

Hi Rebecca,

We just "do the next day." There are so many 4-day weeks in a Minnesota school year that I gave up on making the weeks work. (We have to have a school calendar in MN, so ds just chooses a local public school calendar.)

 

Also, MN's schoolyear is not the equivalent of 36 weeks. I added up the days last year, and it was just over 34. So we used a lot of the light Fridays to just skip a day & move forward.

 

HTH,

Julie

[cbollin]

I have another question for you. What do you do on a week like this where you only have 4 school days? How do we get all of our MFW work done? Do we do it over the weekend or just do Friday's work next Monday?

 

Thanks again!!! :)

 

blush.... we did school yesterday. I know my dh was home from work and I didn't have to go into my part time job, but it was nice to do school yesterday and have chores as part of it. I checked in with her at the end of each subject to encourage her to work like she used to in the younger years. We got a lot done! It was just nice to have a vacation from having to be anywhere other than home. plenty of play time too, but turns out that yesterday's lesson was somehow a little "lighter" to us, that or checking in on every 30 minutes, she was motivated to get it done.

 

on something like Thanksgiving week, we plan to take off.

 

other Monday style of holiday weeks.... it might be as simple as just do Tue-Friday and hold meeting late on Friday. There are plenty of 4 day weeks in MFW - with exception of math lessons which she can have one day with 2. But we're just wired weird and it really helps us to start a new week on a Monday.

 

-crystal

[WaterLily]

Don't blush b/c you did school lol! Maybe I should blush b/c it never even occurred to me to do school yesterday. ;)

 

Thanks again for the replies. I like having Fridays light so it makes me want to try and keep on their schedule - not sure if that's going to be possible or not...

[Sue G in PA]

Dd14 used AHL last year and is now in WHL. I must say that last year was not a great year. She started out well but by February or March...fizzled out...and so did I. Our "meetings" happened haphazardly and I fear that I have ruined her math progression by NOT checking her work DAILY. She was getting Cs on tests (some lower) and I had to stop and rewind mid-year which put her wayyyy behind. We didn't finish Alg. I (not even close) and she is starting Alg. 2 this year. I'm so fearful about how THAT will go. This is my child who used to be able to do math in her sleep! Anyway, I am much more strict with her this year. We are on Week 2 and she is already in TEARS b/c of my "new" expectations (work done NEATLY, on time, completed, to the BEST of her ability...meaning 100% effort and not 50%, etc.). We have DAILY meetings about her work and will continue that until I see an improvement in her attitude and work ethic. We had the discussion today about this being HER life and HER transcript. Her effort NOW will determine where she goes to college and her career path after. She isn't too concerned about that right now and I am trying hard to get her to understand that this is SERIOUS stuff now! Her grades last year were so-so. I expect better this year. I would urge you to have daily meeting the first month or so until your dc gets into the swing of things and proves herself/himself. I gave my dd too much rope last year and she just about hung herself. :glare:

[WaterLily]

Thanks, Sue. It sounds like you can relate to what we're going through over here. It's so frustrating to me when my ds is lazy and not living up to his abilites. I'm sure many feel that way. I told him today that this whole thing would be going a lot more smoothly if he cared more about his work and had a little more motivation and self discipline. argh....

I think we will do short daily meetings for now. Seems like if we wait until Friday we are both overwhelmed. Thanks for sharing and for the advice!!!

Edited September 7, 2011 by beccasboys

[Julie in MN]

I do think that 9th grade (as they turn 15) and algebra in particular are big transitions. I suppose it's the rhetoric transition, from just learning the black & white of the rules, to learning that the world's all full of grays :001_huh:

 

If you have the time at all, I wouldn't be afraid of sitting alongside a 9th grader -- mentoring them through learning to study, learning to think about abstract algebra operations, etc. I picture it as if you are helping them create another room in their brain where new things are going to fit. If they don't create that room, then they may manage to fit everything in, but it won't be as tidy & organized :)

 

I saw amazing growth, both physically and mentally, in my 9th grader over the last year. I always felt with my older kids & their friends that they really came into their own, started knowing who *they* were, at about 16. Just before that seemed like an agonizing metamorphosis was going on :tongue_smilie:

 

Julie