Stick with MFW, switch to HOD, or other?

[amselby81]

I've been trying to make MFW work for us. I struggle with keeping a routine. This is a weakness of mine, and truth be told, maybe nothing will work for us because of this. But right now, MFW is not getting done. I like it! I just have trouble implementing it, because it requires planning ahead of time.  We are just getting language arts (CLE) and math (MUS) done. Next year, my oldest will be 4th grade, and my second oldest will be first grade. My oldest says she doesn't like MFW, because she can't do it on her own. She likes that we changed to CLE language this year, because she can work on it independently. I can't wrap my mind around doing MFW ECC and MFW 1st grade. It just seems like too much. I've posted in a MFW group, to see if people have combined a first grader into ECC, and plenty of people have done it. So, I thought I'd just try to do ECC for both of them, together. And let them do their level of LA and math. BUT, if I change over to HOD for my oldest, specifically preparing, would this get my oldest doing more independent work? I wonder if it might be a better fit for her, since she wants to work independently? Would it be too hard to juggle my girls doing two different programs? I'm so worried that we're never going to find our homeschool groove. It's mainly me. I'm so scatter brained and disorganized. Adding a toddler to the mix does not help!

 

I don't know what my other option would be. Maybe do other history and science programs, like SOTW and Apologia, and trying to combine both girls? I've even thought about take the easier way, and just give them CLE for all subjects, since it's workbook style. Or at least that seems easier. I just want a productive homeschool year!

[sunshineslp]

This is my EXACT situation (almost). Finishing up adventures and debating if I move to ECC with my to-be 2nd, 3rd graders with my K tagging along (I also have a preK...). I have done mfw 3 years now and I want to love it but I have cut so much out that wasn't working for us that it's a hefty price tag for only bible and social studies. I personally am considering either biblioplan or just using sotw on its own. I might move back to ECC the following year... Maybe. I've considered hod but it's a lot of reading... It's not very independent in the early grades and I'm not sure at what point it becomes so. For my to-be 3rd grader I was looking at Bigger for next year.

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

[rubyslippers]

I have found that the best way to get school done consistently is to follow a pretty set schedule for the morning hours. If you get off schedule, or get sidetracked, just go back to the schedule and start at whatever time it is. We did this for two years and it really helped me re-focus. Example - 9-10 is math and 10-10:30 is language. 10:30 is history. At 9:30, in the middle of math, the toddler makes a mess and disrupts everyone. You get all cleaned up and look at the clock and it is 10:05. Now you just tell everyone to move on to Language. Math time was interrupted, but you will get to math again tomorrow.

 

Next year, my youngest will be in 3rd grade, and I'm hoping to go to a schedule that is a little more content based, rather than time based, but I still plan on having time slots such as I've described. It was a lifesaver for me when things were a little crazy, and really helped me re-focus pretty quickly after an interruption.

 

As far as curriculum, the best curriculum is one you will teach. Find something that you know you can do every day consistently, and do that. If your oldest wants to work alone, you may try just giving her a good reading list for history and literature and making her her own schedule. Then CLE for math and language (mine actually do Saxon math largely independently, so you could probably use that, too). That would open you up to be reading to your 1st grader and pre-schooler, and give you time for phonics and math with your middle.

 

Notice I left Science off my list - that's becuase I'm still trying to figure out how to reach that really well. That's my goal this year. Lol

 

Just some thoughts from one naturally UNorganized mom to another. 🙃

Edited April 25, 2016 by rubyslippers

[Slache]

I believe Veritas Press is fairly independent. I haven't used it, but it seems well loved by its users.

[mamiof5]

I think it's hard to tell. I get the impression that it's not that you don't like MFW, but the problem is that it's not getting done...lacking routine. Same here, I have a toddler and it's taking us forever to go through Creation-Greeks. We have moved towards a year round schedule, so I am hoping we can catch up a lot in the summer. If the problem is the program I wouldn't hesitate in switching, but it seems to me that it's just life getting in the way, not MFW. Also, from what I have heard/read about HOD, I don't get the impression that it can be more independent. I really don't know though, since we've never done it. For us it works out better when we manage to do math and LA in the morning, toddler goes for nap after lunch and we tackle MFW during his nap time. Also, in the morning I try to assign 30mins of baby time to each kid, so someone takes care of him while I teach another kid.

[My4arrows]

If it's not getting done, even though you do like it, it may be time to move on. Mfw is definitely not an individual work program. We switched this year too since it wasn't a good fit anymore. I have begun MOH which we can either do together with me reading aloud and projects take their or separately. I bought the CDs and my kids love to listen to them and can do history on their own that way too. From the sounds of it you may want a more boxed curriculum, but it's not working best for your family. I'd start asking your child what their interests are, have them look through curriculum with you and perhaps piece together a better fit for your family.

[strange_girl]

Honestly, if MFW isn't getting done, HOD won't either. If she likes more independent things, why not look for something a little less mom-led? My third grader is enjoying America From the Beginning, which is a textbook she can read herself and then write the answers to the questions on paper. Simple. Independent. She's learning, and it's getting done.

 

I tried to make HOD work. It probably does for some families. Just not for mine!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Vintage81]

One thing I found that REALLY helped me was changing how I planned our school stuff.  I used to sit down every Sunday evening and plan out each day for the week. I rarely would get everything done in a day that I wanted to, and by the end of the week we hadn't done any History or Science and seemed to barely scrape by with Math and Language Arts stuff. Not to mention those weekends where we were really busy and I didn't even have time to sit down and plan anything out.

 

So, what I did, for the last half of our school year, was plan everything out by the week (not by each day) for the rest of the school year. There's lots of stuff on Pinterest about planning out entire homeschool years, so I took some of those ideas and made them work for us. For each child, they have a folder for each week. In the folder is a checklist, by subject, of what needs to be done that week, along with any applicable worksheets or activities. The folders are stored in hanging files in a crate.

 

It took me a while to get all of this organized, but it has been well worth it! I have found that we are completing our week's worth of work in about 3 days, only doing school in the morning. Each day, we look over the checklist and pick and choose what we want to work on. If something doesn't get completed that week, I just move the old checklist (along with the applicable worksheet) to the next week's folder. 

 

I realize this may not work for everyone, but I thrive on being organized, so this really helped me.