MFW and AAS/AAR questions

[lgliser]

Hi!

I'm looking into My Father's World. I'm a little confused. For first grade, I see their package comes with many things but I'm not really clear on what's what. "Learning God's Story" is what the whole first grade program is called I guess. There's a Bible Reader. Is that just Bible education? Or is it reading/spelling? I see there's science. Then there's "Honey for a Child's Heart." Is this just stories? There's drawing/art. Does my question make sense? Where are the phonics? Is this something I'd want to supplement? And handwriting?

 

Ok so I was also wondering what the difference is in AAS and AAR? Would I want to do them both at the same time? And how do these programs compare to Spelling Workout? Is Spelling Workout just focusing on spelling, or does it cover reading as well?

Thanks!

[heritagelearningacademy]

I have a kindergartener and we are doing AAR. When she finishes level 1, we will add AAS. The difference is that AAR really focuses on the phonics and building words, reading words. AAS goes back to those phonics but you are looking at it to spell. The child is writing and spelling. We will continue with AAR 2 while doing AAS1.

 

We also are doing MFW ECC as a family. (I have a 3rd grader and a 7th grader too). She joins us when she likes and can name many of the countries.

 

We began MFW K back in July, but dropped it quickly. SHe was past this with the phonics and math they were introducing. A year earlier she would have been okay with that. Now, as far as 1st grade and MFW, they do have a bible reader. This is bible education but also tied to reading and they will also narrate/draw pictures of what they read. The Honey for a Child's Heart is a parent resource that lists books and talks about reading strategies and benefits. (there is a better description on amazon.com)

 

My challenge was in deciding to MFW 1 beginning in our new year. We are at a point where in April we will be ready to move to Singapore 1 for math so I was worried that we would not be challenged enough in math with MFW. And, our reading is getting stronger and stronger and I began to wonder about MFW and if their approach, etc. is different froM AAR.

 

So, my plan changed and I purchased the bible reader and bible notebook. This will be her bible study. Then we will continue with AAR 2, AAS 1, Singapore Math, and writing. (We use a spectrum workbook for writing and she loves it.) She will join her brother in science in their MFW course.

 

My goal for 1st grade is really to focus on the 3 Rs.

 

Hope this helps some.

[Mom2TheTeam]

We are doing MFW 1st. :) I only have a quick minute...

 

The phonics, reading and Bible are very integrated. The Phonics is included in a separate workbook call "The student workbook." This is where they do their phonics. It also teaches a little intro to grammar toward the end. Unfortunately, I don't see any samples of it on the site. :( Though you could call some of this spelling, there is no formal spelling in first.

 

The Bible reader is their reading work and the Bible notebook is where they journal about it....write a short summary and illustration. Copy work is included in the back of the manual and is the Bible verse for the week. Bible is read in story format each day and the child narrates it back to you. These are the same stories in more details from the Bible reader plus many more. This is also history and the time line and most hands on activities are done from these. (see the integration) There is also a weekly Proverbs verse to learn and study. I have the old version, but apparently, there is also a new children's devotional type book that is read each week for Bible also.

 

Honey for a Child's Heart is for the parent. It is a book about reading aloud and includes book lists by age in the back. I have used it a lot.

 

The art and music are broken up into half the year each and are scheduled in the new manual for once a week. My children LOVE the art and we have done very little with the music....yet, but I plan to start doing it very soon. They did really enjoy the small bit of it we did.

 

Math is hands on, real life math, but with a supplemental workbook that is thorough. Many math games and ideas to teach 1st math are included in the manual. There are suggested units and activities for each with the pages of the book noted all in the manual. I, personally, needed more guidance and scripting than they give, so I got Singapore, but I know many others who are using the math as written with good success.

 

Hopefully that helps. Please feel free to ask me any other questions about the program that you have. If you like Bible integration, this really is an awesome program. My son and I are both really, really enjoying it. Every day he is looking ahead and asking about the stories ahead. He has done really well with phonics and reading and spelling. It's been great! The only thing I've added is the Singapore math.

 

I can't answer the other because I know nothing about those programs and I'm not totally sure what they are....though, I do think I know. ;)

[kdownie]

I haven't used MFW, so no help on that one..... :-)

 

However, AAR and AAS can be used together but your child may (probably will) be on different levels.

DD has just started AAR 1, and we are going VERY slowly. When she finishes it, we will probably start AAS1 if she's ready.

So she'd be in AAR2 and AAS1. Children usually learn to read much faster than they learn to spell, hence the difference in levels. DD1 can read almost anything, but spelling is much, much different.

If your children are ready for AAR2 (check their website for a "placement test") then they may be ready for AAS1).

 

I haven't used Spelling Workout, but I THINK it is just spelling, not a reading program.