amselby81 Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I'm still considering curricula for next year, and MP has been off my radar. I requested a catalog and after taking a closer look, I'm now interested. If you used MP first grade, what did you think about it? Could you please explain any pros and cons? I'm curious about the phonics for first. I found samples of the Classic Phonics book, and it only shows easy pages. I can't find samples of the other phonics book, ARS Phonics 2nd. I'm also interested in the math. I was considering buying everything but the math and handwriting. We've really enjoyed Horizons math this year, and I'd like to continue it next year. The handwriting looks neat, and I am interested in teaching DD cursive early, but I wasn't planning to use that curriculum. I was planning to use Zaner Bloser. My mind could be changed though. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessed mom Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I have not used their first grade, however we are using K now. I love it. We are using the First Start Reading and my daughter has done very well with it. I found samples of SRA phonics on mheonline.com. When I looked at their phonics program for first grade, I also had my doubts. It just seems so simple. However, if it is anything like their K plans, I think it will work well. MP seems to be concise and thorough. Also, take a look at their Storytime Treasures. This will also be a part of their language arts. I think they tie in their spelling list with what the students are doing in phonics. So, with the Classical Phonics, SRA phonics, spelling list, and Storytime Treasures, I think it will be a good program. I am also very interested to hear feedback from those who have actually used the first grade. BTW, when I have contacted MP they have always had great customer service. I do not think it would be a problem to continue with Horizons math or to do a different handwriting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I used MP K with my son and we both loved it! First grade has been a bust for us. The readers are far too difficult for my son, even though he had no trouble at all in the K program. For instance, in the first book of first grade, many words have a prefix and a suffix and most of the suffixes changed the spelling of the root word. This isn't a problem on its own, but my son was just guessing at reading the words because he had not learned the phonics skills he needed to decode what he was supposed to be reading. I was repeatedly annoyed that the readers contained quite a bit of material that had not been taught yet. For instance, while the phonics book is still teaching consonant blends, he was trying to read words like hurried, tried, icicles, shining, etc. Also, there aren't materials provided to help with the Literature & Enrichment portion of the curriculum. There is a read aloud book, a selection of music, a piece of art, a poem, social studies lesson and science lesson each week that you have to procure materials for. There is an appendix provided to help you track it all down. The Literature and Enrichment section was one of my favorite parts of the K program, but it just seems too overwhelming to pull it together for the first grade schedule. We don't use R&S Math, but I noticed that in the first week, there are 11 lessons assigned. Continuing MP K students would be fine with this, because the first half of R&S math 1 is taught in K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 It was a bust for us too. We really enjoyed their K program, but found their 1st grade too school-based for my taste. It was dry, mostly workbook based, tons of writing, etc. It was a bad fit for us and we moved on to something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessed mom Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I am glad that the two of you wrote about your experiences with MP grade one. However, now I feel I may have to go back to the drawing board. Just when I thought I had everything figured out... I would love to hear from anyone else who has used MP 1. Did anyone have success with it? I had also wondered if Storytime Treasures may be too much of a jump from K. Anyone else feel this way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Woods Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I had to shelve STT and MSTT until her reading was better.She can read thos books now with some help from me. I do not require her to read those on her own. Independent reading is done with books I know she can read without my help. We use AAR not the phonics program in MP1. We also use Saxon Math. I use the lesson plans as a guide and love the books scheduled as read alouds. I couldnt use it exactly as written to much seat work- the componets I do use I love and work well. NAC is working well here too. I pick and choose what I want from the program that work for us. We will be continuing with MP2- RS spelling 2, NAC, LC, the lit guides when she is ready for them and continuing with other materials that work well for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robyn Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 We used MP last year for K and are using 1st this year. I just placed an order yesterday for most of the books for 2nd. We did not use First Start Reading in K. We used OPGTR with SRA 1, so I really don't know how much of a jump the reading is. We started this year with ds comfortably reading the Little Bear level books. I did find Storytime Treasures to get a little overwhelming with all the writing on top of SRA 2, copybook, and NAC, so we were doing most of it orally by the time we moved into More Storytime Treasures. We are hit or miss with the spelling and are out of sync with SRA and math. I use the read-alouds as recommendations, getting the books that I am interested in and skipping or replacing others. Like a PP, we pick and choose what works for us. Angie, I was pleasantly surprised by Rod and Staff math. DS really enjoys it and I am finding it very solid. And I think NAC is a great introduction to cursive. Since many children make their handwriting their own once they get the hang of it, I would think it an easy transition to Z-B later on if that is what you wanted to do. Blessed mom, I agree that concise and thorough is a very good description of what we have used so far from MP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amselby81 Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 Thank you so much for the input! Now I am leaning against MP 1st, but I'm open to possibly starting it in 2nd grade. It sounds like the reading might be too advanced in the beginning for my DD, and also too much writing. So we'll work on strengthening her reading and writing skills between now and 2nd grade, and maybe 2nd grade will be a good fit for us. :) Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeplessnights Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 We love MP, but we really don't use their K-2 materials except for Prima Latina. At these ages, my kids would rather use materials that are less-schooly and more interactive. We use All About Reading, ETC, CLE & Singapore math, All About Spelling, and Writing With Ease. Starting in 3rd, though, their curriculum is awesome. We've done 3rd and are working our way through 4th. We plan on continuing with them for many years to come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessed mom Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 For those of you used MP K; but found the MP 1st grade to not work well, what did you use instead of MP for phonics in first grade? Was it a smooth transition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 This thread has been helpful. I am toying with adding some MP to our line up. It does seem like way too much writing, but I do want to step it up a notch as well. Thinking about adding a few components... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 We finished out OPGTR in 1st grade. It was a very smooth transition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sueh16 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 We started out using the first grade plans this year, but we've abandoned them. My ds is reading on grade level, but many of the books that MP uses are above grade level. DS read the Little Bear books at the beginning of the school year, but at a slower pace than what was recommended in the lesson plans. He read a couple of the Christmas books that were in the plans, but they were a little hard. Since then, I haven't been using Storytime Treasures at all. Also, I don't like New American Cursive because I prefer programs that introduce letters that are formed the same way together, but NAC introduces the letters in ABC order. We haven't tried Rod and Staff Math, so I can't comment on it. You may want to join the MP forums and ask some question s over there, too. Good luck, Sue Edited to fix a typo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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