heidip2p Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Our ds is 5.5 He reads a lot already even beyond cvc words. He loves to write and does pretty well. We are just working on a few letters that he starts bottom up. Anyway, he loves, loves school. He loves to cut and paste and draw. I think he is beyond most of the phonics in MFWK at this point. I am trying to decide if I should just stick with it or go with something else. I am leaning towards AAR1 so we can move quickly through what he knows and find where he is at phonics wise. Should I do AAR 1 with MFWK? I am so confused. He just seems farther down the road than what I had planned for him. Right now we are using and loving.... living books for science HWOT for handwriting lots of reading of all kinds of books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Have you been to the mfw forum? There is a whole thread on beefing it up. I'm on my phone now, but let me know if you can't find it and I'll dig it up. :) When I was using mfw k, I used another phonics program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidip2p Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 I see that you are using SL with your kids. I just switched our older 4 to SL and a loving it. Can you compare MFWK and SL P4/5? I will check the MFW forums too. I didn't even think of that. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I found some threads, though I thought there was ONE thread with all this info, and I'm not seeing that, but maybe this will help: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7179#p47744 This one is close: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2304 This thread has some good links in it: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1354 I see that you are using SL with your kids. I just switched our older 4 to SL and a loving it. Can you compare MFWK and SL P4/5? Well, the biggest difference for me is the nice grid schedule that P4/5 has, though MFW has updated the K TM to have a grid. I have the previous version. It was weird. I understood how to use it, but I ended up skipping a LOT. I prefer a grid. Again though, that doesn't really apply anymore with the new TMs. I just looked at the sample, and I love the new TM! :D MFW K mostly revolves around a science topic, and you get lots of library books on that topic. The book basket list is awesome. I really do love it. They had such good selections on there. I don't think we had a single dud. And the books varied quite a bit - fiction, non-fiction. If you were doing a unit on the sun, there would be books about the actual sun (non-fiction) and also stories that involve the sun. So you weren't just learning more science facts about the sun all week. You were reading good stories too. :) There are more hands-on projects in MFW K. Unfortunately for my kids, I'm not a project gal. :tongue_smilie: P4/5 has more long books with fairy tales and stories from around the world. The listening level is more advanced. My 3 year old could sit in on MFW K readings and understand, as they're all picture books. P4/5 has compilations, sometimes without pictures, so my 3 year old gets bored quickly and wanders off (which is fine). My 5 (about to turn 6) year old is able to listen. He is NOT ready for the books in Core A. He still needs a lot of pictures. P4/5 is a good bridge. He did MFW K LAST year at age 4, and that was a good fit (though I will admit that I didn't get very far - again, it's very project based). Another thing about P4/5 is that all the books are here, so I don't have to reserve books and make a library trip. That's a big plus for me. MFW K really relies on those extra library books, but P4/5 includes plenty of reading in the books that come in the package. P4/5 has various projects/activities listed in the notes that you could do, but I haven't done any of them. We just read and discuss. Note that I am not using the K LA, so I can't compare how each program teaches to read. I'm using Dancing Bears for reading, WRTR for handwriting, and Singapore for math. My older son doesn't use SL LA either. I've been very happy so far with Core P4/5 and Core D (we even love the Landmark book as written :D). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I'm starting MFW K this morning for the 2nd time. :001_wub: I'm really excited. I don't plan to beef it up too much this time, because my daughter just turned 5 a few days ago (so technically, this would be another preschool year in TX). But, last time here's what we did to beef it up: Read through Sonlight Core K read-alouds Singapore Earlybird My daughter loved BOB Books, so she read through the entire series Book Basket books - we checked out books from the library that were suggested in the guide We did the projects like the Butterfly Kit (and read Butterflies and Caterpillars) FWIW, my daughter was not reading when we started MFW K the first time, but she was reading when she finished it. Now, the daughter I'm using it with this year (it's confusing - I have 3 daughters) actually reads CVC words already. But, I think she will still like it. She seems to like worksheets. :D If your son is already reading, would he be ready to start the 1st grade program?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teeniebeenie6 Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 There is also a MFW Kindergarten facebook page that is just jam packed with what people are doing. https://www.facebook.com/groups/142389385847705/ Starfall.com is a lot of fun and free. I used it a lot last year during my older DD's K year. It has a great reading section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gratitude Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I see that you are using SL with your kids. I just switched our older 4 to SL and a loving it. Can you compare MFWK and SL P4/5? I will check the MFW forums too. I didn't even think of that. :) My second son did MFWK and SL P4/5 at the same time. It was a great year. They are very different programs. I started it around his 5th Birthday; which would technically have been spring of his Pre-K year. We did the phonics with MFWK and some of the activities, character badges, Bible verses, etc. We did Bible and literature with P4/5 (he had done the developmental books from P4/5 for pre-school). He used Singapore Early bird for pre-school and then I did MFWK math for his math (I wouldn't do MFWK math again after Singapore Early bird). It was a great K year. P4/5 is all about the reading of the literature and MFWK is more about exploring topics, a gentle K introduction, etc. It was a great K year. My third child, dd5, started MFWK 2nd edition last April for the end of pre-school, took the summer off, and is now is doing more of it for K. She is loving it. She has been doing Singapore Early bird math with it; instead of MFWK math. She does read some. I am not using an IG for it but I lined all of our Core A & P4/5 books on a shelf and I have started reading through them with her. She is loving K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josie6504 Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I think adding AAR1 would be perfect for beefing up the phonics. I loved the Bible and Science, but my son got bored quickly with the phonics. I think it could work wonderfully for some kids, but my son needed something more varied and fun. MFWK was perfect for us once we switched out the phonics for AAR1. This year we r doing P 4/5 for his first grade year bc he wasn't quite ready to start MFW 1st. After looking through the manual though, I kind of wish I would've waited and started MFW 1st a few months into the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidip2p Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 I love the hive. You all have given me so much to think about. I already own both MFW K and SL P4/5. I think trying to choose between the two was really tough. They both have things I like about them. I think I am going to mesh the two together and add in AAR1. Or I can accelerate MFWK and add in AAR1. Then when we are done add in SL and continue with AAR. Thank you for all of the suggestions. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I love the hive. You all have given me so much to think about. I already own both MFW K and SL P4/5. I think trying to choose between the two was really tough. They both have things I like about them. I think I am going to mesh the two together and add in AAR1. Or I can accelerate MFWK and add in AAR1. Then when we are done add in SL and continue with AAR. If you have both, definitely add them in! P4/5 takes very little time. Friday, we did a whole week's worth of reading in one sitting, and it wasn't that bad (I was trying to get us caught back up, since I want both cores on the same week for my own sanity). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josie6504 Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Sounds like a great plan to me. I may do that as well next time we go through MFWK, depending on how crazy life is with baby 4. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I prefer to use it for Pre-K, when they want crafts and fun and phonics and done, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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