mfw vs. fiar for kindergarten

[mom24cuties]

I cannot decide. I want to do both of them but I know I can't. We start school in 3 1/2 weeks so I have to decide fairly quickly. Can you guys give me your pros and cons on these 2 programs?

I am looking for my young kindergartener. He will be 5 in August.

[craftyerin]

Well, I didn't consider MWF, so I can't compare, but we are using FIAR and I could not be more excited! I also have a young Ker. He turned 5 in June. His 4yo siblings will be tagging along. I bought volumes 1-3 and chose ~18 books from them (some from each) that looked like they'd fit our interests. I plan to use some of the books I skipped next year for 1st grade. I'm adding phonics, handwriting, and math, and think it'll be a great year!

[mom@home]

I used both :001_smile:. We used MFW K primarily, but I borrowed FIAR from a friend and used our library for the books. MFW K was very light (which I liked) and took only a short time in the morning. On days we wanted something a little more structured to do in the afternoon, I just added in a book and activity from FIAR. We ended up not reading a book five days in a row, and doing every activity, but that was okay. We loved it.

[KristenR]

Have you tried looking around on homeschooling blogs to see what MFW and FIAR can look like in your home? I have a few FIAR links on my blog here that you can look through. I know there are tons of really great FIAR posts from other Hive members. Maybe they can chime in and link up for you.

[thegirlwhopaintedtrees]

I used both :001_smile:. We used MFW K primarily, but I borrowed FIAR from a friend and used our library for the books. MFW K was very light (which I liked) and took only a short time in the morning. On days we wanted something a little more structured to do in the afternoon, I just added in a book and activity from FIAR. We ended up not reading a book five days in a row, and doing every activity, but that was okay. We loved it.

 

We also use both. MFW K is based around animal/science themes for the letter of the week, so I looked for BFIAR and FIAR books that fit in. For example, the week of letter K, the focus was kangaroos, so we rowed Katy No Pocket.

 

My blog is in my signature, but I haven't blogged much about MFW/FIAR together.

[cbollin]

My oldest did FIAR in Kindy. My next two did MFW for Kindy.

 

with my oldest, I had to add a phonics program, a math program.(and some science in some ways) .. and learn not to fret if I couldn't get the exact book in FIAR.....

FIAR was fun for reading together. I remember being all excited about it and enjoying it. by end of vol 3 (that was how far it went back then), it became a reading list and not as exciting as a program and that's ok too. It didn't take much time in my day, and Kindy shouldn't take a lot of time.

 

with my next two.... I was able to just enjoy FIAR as reading out loud time while we did MFW Kindy as a program.

 

many of those FIAR titles we got to read again in later years in MFW in book basket.

 

with MFW K, there is "literature day". Although it is a nice ideal to use one of the recommended themed connected books... you can use any book. So pick and enjoy a FIAR book if you want... read it for a few days even if the themes don't connect completely. MFW includes in their current Kindy manual a very extensive library book list to match with their themes. Many of them, you'll read more than one day anyway.

 

-crystal

[Nakia]

My oldest did FIAR in Kindy. My next two did MFW for Kindy.

 

with my oldest, I had to add a phonics program, a math program.(and some science in some ways) .. and learn not to fret if I couldn't get the exact book in FIAR.....

FIAR was fun for reading together. I remember being all excited about it and enjoying it. by end of vol 3 (that was how far it went back then), it became a reading list and not as exciting as a program and that's ok too. It didn't take much time in my day, and Kindy shouldn't take a lot of time.

 

with my next two.... I was able to just enjoy FIAR as reading out loud time while we did MFW Kindy as a program.

 

many of those FIAR titles we got to read again in later years in MFW in book basket.

 

with MFW K, there is "literature day". Although it is a nice ideal to use one of the recommended themed connected books... you can use any book. So pick and enjoy a FIAR book if you want... read it for a few days even if the themes don't connect completely. MFW includes in their current Kindy manual a very extensive library book list to match with their themes. Many of them, you'll read more than one day anyway.

 

-crystal

 

This is exactly how it worked for us. Oldest did FIAR, and then my next two did MFW for K. I love MFW K&1st. We own all the FIAR titles, so we read those aloud. Sweet books!

[mom24cuties]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I may use both since I can't decided, and just see which one works best for us.

Thank you.

[Plink]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I may use both since I can't decided, and just see which one works best for us.

Thank you.

 

Go for it. I adore FIAR. It is a perfect gentle transition into formal school for my little ones (we are on our 3rd time through), but there is nothing wrong with combining the two if that is what you think will work for your family. They are actually very complimentary. Check out the FIAR list by topic on Kendra's blog (lower left sidebar) if you are going to try to link the two together. It is very helpful.

 

I love K. Such a sweet time. :001_smile: