Anyone care to share how MFW is going for them this year?

[mazakaal]

I did a lot of research for high school around this time last year, even though high school was quite far off for ds. I really liked the look of MFW high school program and was encouraged by all the positive reviews. Of course, now I'm second guessing my decision and am wondering if it really is the direction that I want to go for ds, who will be starting 9th grade in September. This is my first one to homeschool through high school, and doing it in a foreign country makes it doubly intimidating. There is absolutely no one here who is using a traditional American high school program, and ds doesn't want to go through the British system with GCSEs, etc.

 

Anyway, all that to say, I'd love to hear how it is working for your family. If it isn't working, why? And if you love it, what is it about the program that makes it so great?

 

Also, what type of student do you have? Ds does what he's assigned without too much complaint, but can be lazy and sloppy with his work. He's not a super-motivated, enthusiastic student. I'd hate to get something that wasn't a good fit for him. Do you think MFW would work for him?

 

Finally, how much time does it take with you? Ds prefers to work independently. It's my understanding that the student and parent are supposed to have a conference at the end of each week, but other than that it's independent. Is this correct?

[cbollin]

My oldest is using MFW's WHL this year. She used AHL last year. We've used MFW for a long time.

 

student wise: she loves to read, but is just as happy to "get school done" and go play computer games rather than do an assignment really well. She's more motivated to get it done so that she can play a computer game, or read a fun book, or chat on FB with friends or not get grounded from doing fun stuff at church. She's not one of these who even knows what she wants to do after graduation in 2 years. But she's smart.

 

Mostly, she's working independently except where it's plain to my dh and me that she needs direct instruction on a skill. We are finding that with her brain, she has to have direct instruction in writing from Writer's Inc.

 

I have no idea how much time it really takes her to get it all done. She ends up with breaks through the day for various reasons (watching sisters when I go to work, or do some chores)

 

Things we like: she seems to really like the Bible study and reading. She's not that thrilled with Notgrass but does it. I guess one of the things that gets her is how much she remembers from SOTW compared to what's in Notgrass. She's enjoying the other history books. Well, ok, she does Church History in Plain Language, but I wouldn't say she enjoys it.

She's enjoying writing and processing what she is learning in history. She likes the literature choices for the most part. Right now she's reading Pride and Prejudice, and although she's reading it, she comes out and says things like "this is too much romance novel for me.. can't they break things other than hearts? really?" LOL LOL LOL

 

She likes doing the map activities and timeline. and when I gave her the option of not doing MFW next year, she looked at me like I was crazy.

 

-crystal

[mazakaal]

Thanks so much for your response. Your dd sounds a lot like my ds - smart, but not super motivated. It's good to hear that it's a good fit for her. One more question. While I think my ds is a pretty good writer, he really dislikes doing it. Does it have a lot of writing assignments? There's not a 5-page paper due every week or anything is there?

[rmiz]

Hi,

I seldom post but I really wanted to reply.

 

My girl and I are really enjoying it. It is not easy, quick, fill in the blank kind of stuff. It requires thinking and quite a bit of time reading. I think the only thing she does not like is The Answer Book bc she says it goes on and on.

I am overall very pleased with it and plan to do year 2 next year. We are doing it very much as it is written. I will probably do Illiad on audio to make it easier on her.

Actually, the only thing she is struggling with is Biol. No surprise. SHe is an artsy kid who plans to become an animator.

This was a great fir for her and I want to thank Crystal for her encouragement (on another board) to try it.

 

rmiz

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I did a lot of research for high school around this time last year, even though high school was quite far off for ds. I really liked the look of MFW high school program and was encouraged by all the positive reviews. Of course, now I'm second guessing my decision and am wondering if it really is the direction that I want to go for ds, who will be starting 9th grade in September. This is my first one to homeschool through high school, and doing it in a foreign country makes it doubly intimidating.

 

 

You sound like me! Exactly. And based on all of my recent panicked posts you can see I was seriously doubting myself. Well, just today I decided to stick with my original plans (ducking from everybody who dealt with me and all of my panicked posts lately)

 

 

All I can say is if you decided on MFW when you were not on the verge of high school actually starting then don't doubt yourself now! I am going to stick with MFW and I am happy. (I think :001_unsure:) All that being said- I am sticking with the plans I had originally and along with that was a TON of research so I am just going to trust myself and all of the people on here that use and love it! You :chillpill: and I will try to :chillpill: :lol:

[mazakaal]

Hi,

I seldom post but I really wanted to reply.

 

My girl and I are really enjoying it. It is not easy, quick, fill in the blank kind of stuff. It requires thinking and quite a bit of time reading. I think the only thing she does not like is The Answer Book bc she says it goes on and on.

I am overall very pleased with it and plan to do year 2 next year. We are doing it very much as it is written. I will probably do Illiad on audio to make it easier on her.

Actually, the only thing she is struggling with is Biol. No surprise. SHe is an artsy kid who plans to become an animator.

This was a great fir for her and I want to thank Crystal for her encouragement (on another board) to try it.

 

rmiz

 

I'm glad to hear that you and your dd are enjoying it. It's good to hear a lot of positive responses. Although my original post was more about the MFW materials (Bible, history, writing), I'm also debating whether or not to do bio with him next year. I don't know if he's ready for it. I'm thinking about doing earth science next year, then go back to Apologia for bio, chem, and physics, and skip the AP sciences. Ds is really not a science kid.

[mazakaal]

You sound like me! Exactly. And based on all of my recent panicked posts you can see I was seriously doubting myself. Well, just today I decided to stick with my original plans (ducking from everybody who dealt with me and all of my panicked posts lately)

 

 

All I can say is if you decided on MFW when you were not on the verge of high school actually starting then don't doubt yourself now! I am going to stick with MFW and I am happy. (I think :001_unsure:) All that being said- I am sticking with the plans I had originally and along with that was a TON of research so I am just going to trust myself and all of the people on here that use and love it! You :chillpill: and I will try to :chillpill: :lol:

 

I made the decision to do MFW based on where I was hoping that ds would be at in September. Of course that's still several months away, but I'm starting to wonder if he'll be there because he's not made as much progress (in maturity and diligence mostly) as I would have hoped in the past year. I know he's still only 13yo, so I'm trying to be patient and hope that he comes around. But I also don't want to get materials that are going to be so challenging or such a bad fit that he doesn't learn anything. KWIM?

 

I'm feeling some relief from the posts so far, though. Glad to hear that you've found some peace as well.

[cbollin]

AHL is not a 5 page paper every week.

I might miss something or forget one...

 

in English There are 5 argumentative essays (5 paragraph format) over the year. Plus some other kinds of writing with Proverbs and poems and something else....

 

in history some shorter essays. about 6 of those.. Oh wait.. my brain doesn't have to remember all of this... those are shown on the sample pages. here scroll to page 8 and 9 for those graded assignments.

http://www.mfwbooks.com/inc/pdf/ahlsample.pdf

 

there are some daily writing - sentences for review questions and able to show you "yes mom.. .I did that..." :lol:

 

-crystal

[mazakaal]

AHL is not a 5 page paper every week.

I might miss something or forget one...

 

in English There are 5 argumentative essays (5 paragraph format) over the year. Plus some other kinds of writing with Proverbs and poems and something else....

 

in history some shorter essays. about 6 of those.. Oh wait.. my brain doesn't have to remember all of this... those are shown on the sample pages. here scroll to page 8 and 9 for those graded assignments.

http://www.mfwbooks.com/inc/pdf/ahlsample.pdf

 

there are some daily writing - sentences for review questions and able to show you "yes mom.. .I did that..." :lol:

 

-crystal

 

This sounds like he can handle it. Thanks so much for responding. :001_smile:

[Julie in MN]

Anyway, all that to say, I'd love to hear how it is working for your family. If it isn't working, why? And if you love it, what is it about the program that makes it so great?

 

Also, what type of student do you have? Ds does what he's assigned without too much complaint, but can be lazy and sloppy with his work. He's not a super-motivated, enthusiastic student. I'd hate to get something that wasn't a good fit for him. Do you think MFW would work for him?

 

Finally, how much time does it take with you? Ds prefers to work independently. It's my understanding that the student and parent are supposed to have a conference at the end of each week, but other than that it's independent. Is this correct?

 

Those are some big questions that I could go crazy and write a book about :tongue_smilie:

 

First, I remember talking about this last year, as we finished up AHL at our house. I thought it might be good to link to that, not because I want to discourage you with the hard parts, or because I want to show off the nice notes I received on that thread LOL, but just because there are a few good AHL reviews on there, and I was being pretty realistic on mine at the time. I think the hardest part of teaching high school is staying real amidst the fears of wrecking your child's future.

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=283360

 

As for 10th grade using WHL, it's felt very easy at our house. I think the transition to high school has been made.

 

The New Testament study is a bit less structured than last year's OT study, and my son has emailed me some awesome comments in the daily Bible email I make him send me :) We read the Church History together and I love being able to go through the development of our creed and the various denominations and such together with him. The Heroes book covers all the historical Christian names I'd like him to know and more -- I also have him email me a sentence or two on each of them, and again some good thoughts have emerged from my son.

 

The transition to the Notgrass quizzes was a little rocky at first but now we're getting the hang of what he needs (last year in AHL, he learned to answer the questions on each chapter, and this year in WHL they also do the quiz after every 5-6 chapters). This year I've really felt that he's noticed how different things reinforce one another (Notgrass, DK book, timeline, church history, heroes book, mapping), which means in my mind that he's actually remembering some of the things he learns :) I'm going ahead and having him do all the maps, for the extra 1/4 credit in geography. He's happy that his map work is going faster for him this year.

 

The writing is quite varied this year, and my son enjoys some of the unique assignments like writing a play or learning what an editorial means. We used the long research project to allow him to look into career options, which was something he was interested in. We're always behind on writing because I want to do so much discussing and editing, but that's just me.

 

It seems like there is more literature this year, based on the fact that I have to juggle more to keep up with his book club, or to add in a few lectures and videos like we enjoy, but I think he's getting more used to higher level lit. We did do Beowulf via audiobook. The British Lit book wasn't hard to use with him like I had thought it would be, and it's only used for a certain section of the year. He did have a fit when I made him read the Everyman play from the Notgrass supplement aloud with me, but heehee his fit was part of the fun for me :)

 

I feel like my ds is happier when we follow the MFW lesson plan than when I veer off and do my own thing, mostly because mine tends to be longer. However, I don't have him following the grid himself any more, because his personality is to "check it off and move on," whereas I want something different with this particular child. So I usually move him along myself, or if I'm gone then I make a sticky note with his daily tasks.

 

I am very pleased with the maturity this year, both academically and spiritually. My main problems have been with science, but part of that is my own agonizing over a kid who seems to like science but hate textbooks. We're making some progress there, though :tongue_smilie:

 

Julie

[Sue G in PA]

For my book-loving 10th grader, WHL is going very well...as did AHL. The only problem she is having is the writing. I had given her a bit too much "rope" at the beginning of the year and she just about "hung" herself (meaning...she got lazy and didn't do some of the tougher assignments :glare:). Bad Mommy...(overwhelmed Mommy). :001_huh: We are a bit behind now, but that's okay. The research paper is a bit daunting for her and so I re-vamped the assignment a bit. She chose to write about "house" rabbits (domesticated rabbits or pet rabbits) as we have 6 of them. I couldn't see her writing a straight research paper on that so I wanted to spice it up a bit. I am having her do the research and then write a manual for prospective rabbit owners. It accomplishes the same goal (I think) and she will also learn how to use a new program on the computer (Publisher). Should be fun. I'm getting a lot more teenage attitude this year and I don't like it. :glare: For example, her assignment today was to write a letter to a friend who was thinking about converting to Islam. You would have thought I asked her to lasso the moon. Her first draft...3 words..."Don't do it." :glare: Obviously, that didn't fly and she re-did it but it's the attitude that really angers me. Science...she hates it. The core issue I believe is that she doesn't want to put forth the effort. Not sure what to do about that. Today wasn't a stellar day for us. I really like MFW for high school. I'm just not liking being the teacher right now.

[ThisIsTheDay]

...

I'm also debating whether or not to do bio with him next year. I don't know if he's ready for it. I'm thinking about doing earth science next year, then go back to Apologia for bio, chem, and physics, and skip the AP sciences. Ds is really not a science kid.

 

I have chosen AWH for my ds for 9th grade also. I also have a dd who will be a senior next year, but we've never done MFW before. Like Megan's, my ds will be a young 9th grader. I appreciate the continued encouragement I can read here on the boards.

 

Dd doesn't think he'll be up to Biology yet next year, and I really value her opinion on this. I've decided to go with Classical Astronomy for him. Conveniently, I already have it (haven't used it yet though!), and I think it will mesh perfectly with ancient history.

 

It's going to be a challenging year for my ds, but I think he will enjoy it and step up accordingly.

[cbollin]

Sue,

 

if it's any sympathy on that assignment.... my daughter struggled thinking about how to write something. We changed it a bit and changed it back and changed it again... We went through the thought of "what about just writing a compare and contrast beliefs between them".. then we thought about it a different way.... what if one your friends was pregnant, how would you respond...

then we remembered a facebook discussion where one of her friends announced a religion change from Christian to atheist. I was happy with her answer on that facebook. It was one that showed loved without meanness.

 

In the end, since it was not a graded assignment, we did it out loud and thought about it. I even went on the general board over here and showed her some of the religion threads and discussions where people share about their beliefs.

 

interesting thought process. I had forgotten about that day until reading your post.....

 

-crystal

[mazakaal]

Julie and Sue, thanks for your responses. I'm off to read that link now, Julie. :001_smile:

[jamajo]

Well seems like you've gotten the reassuring answers you need but I'll go ahead and share my experiences anyway.

 

1. My daughter enjoys checking off boxes at her own pace. She often is between 2 weeks at any given time. She reads ahead in bible but oftentimes puts off writing assignments.

 

2. MFW is so well put together it really is a no-brainer it's all the other subjects that have to be planned that becomes problematic - working in math, getting Science done, so on and so forth

 

3. DD is self motivated so she gets it all done but sometimes in my opinion she is a little slow so a few hours on Sat. and Sun. is devoted usually to catching up in Science as she does this subject at coop. She spends weekdays getting MFW work done and math but makes little time for Science.

 

4. I did eliminate Church History in Plain Language a few weeks ago b/c all of the reading slows her down and she feels as though a lot of the information between all of the sources is redundant.

 

5. Her biblical worldview has been tremendously strengthened which I appreciate.

 

With all the positive I've just mentioned, I've decided not to use MFW next year. There are some skills I would like to focus on that MFW 3rd year doesn't seem to emphasize or spend too much time on. It looks as though the last two years are heavy on cementing biblical topics which definitely is important but I do want to get some other important things in. I do have two other daughters coming up behind which I plan to use MFW AHL

& MFW WHL with. I haven't had the privilege of using MFW AHL so I look forward to experiencing that.

[mazakaal]

Thanks so much for your experiences. It's great to get another perspective.

[happymop]

My 14yo dd is doing AHL this year virtually independently, and I think it takes her the time MFW estimates (about 50 minutes/class/day). She has asked to continue with WHL next year.

 

The writing overall is very reasonable IMO but it was scheduled in a way that overwhelmed her - she hates writing to begin with, and there were several essays at the beginning of the year pretty much one right after the other, then a big break from weeks 14-25 (well, that part she liked!), then there will be 4 more essays at the end.

 

She plodded through Iliad - had I been on top of that I would have chosen the abridged audio version instead. She's liking Odyssey much better.

 

We're looking forward to WHL's literature selection. I'm going to try to set up a co-op class so she can have some others to discuss the books with.

 

Overall, AHL and WHL are well put together programs.

[SonshineLearner]

My 14yo dd is doing AHL this year virtually independently, and I think it takes her the time MFW estimates (about 50 minutes/class/day). She has asked to continue with WHL next year.

 

The writing overall is very reasonable IMO but it was scheduled in a way that overwhelmed her - she hates writing to begin with, and there were several essays at the beginning of the year pretty much one right after the other, then a big break from weeks 14-25 (well, that part she liked!), then there will be 4 more essays at the end.

 

She plodded through Iliad - had I been on top of that I would have chosen the abridged audio version instead. She's liking Odyssey much better.

 

We're looking forward to WHL's literature selection. I'm going to try to set up a co-op class so she can have some others to discuss the books with.

 

Overall, AHL and WHL are well put together programs.

 

Wish you were here!! We have the perfect co-op (potentially) for you... right here in Salem, OR :) (And we're on WHL this coming year, too!! :))