MFW K

[Kidlit]

I'm thinking of using MFW for dd's K program next year. However, we've already been working on phonics using OPGTTR. We are up to about lesson 33 in it. Will going back to the K MFW program be too repetitious, or will it just be a nice reinforcement?

[dhudson]

All of my kids could read when we did MFWK and it was a great reinforcement. I added in Abeka books for extra reading practice but also using MFWK helped to really give them a firm foundation.

 

We loved MFWK and learned so much while having a really fun year. One of our goals for our kids is to teach them to love to learn and MFWK gave us a great beginning in that.

[cbollin]

I used MFW K with middle child who was already reading. She reviewed the phonics as spelling time and the handwriting in the K program was worth it. Then there is all of the other stuff outside of phonics in the program.

 

Youngest is ahead of the curve in reading and used K. I tweaked phonics into pre spelling and handwriting and other language skills.

 

Here are some ideas I put on MFW's board about tweaking phonics in K.

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7179

 

-crystal

[Rebecca77]

My dd. was beyond the phonics and math. We dropped it right away and just used the science and bible portion. There are no words to describe what a blessing it was for me and my dd. We have many fond memories of our experience. Just the bible and science alone are worth every penny I spent.

 

Rebecca

[Donna A.]

My youngest, who has speech and language issues and is about year behind developmentally, can read cvc words, but we're using MFW K as reinforcement and for the Bible and science portion of it. There's no way I'd jump into 1st grade phonics/LA yet with her. She needs a lot of reinforcement, and MFW 1st picks up the pace pretty quickly.

 

Your oldest is just barely 5 (or turning 5 soon?). I'd do K with her. It's only 26 weeks if you do it as written, and if you skip some things due to her already knowing the material, it'll be even less. That's assuming you're schooling through the summer, that is. If you aren't going to start until the fall, then she may be ready for 1st by then BUT you won't know that until you get there, because kids can change a lot between age 5 and 5-1/2. Thing is, they don't all change at the same pace (or they may mature in one area but not another), so you just can't determine her readiness OR skill level for the fall right now.

 

But if you're talking about starting it NOW, then yes, I'd do K.

[Kidlit]

Thanks for all the great advice and input.

 

I'm thinking now of starting in the fall, but I could be convinced to start sooner. We already have learning time almost every day, so I guess you could say we're already homeschooling. I actually have given serious consideration of schooling year 'round, though, and beginning official K this summer.

 

The other part of the equation is that I also have a 3 year old dd who will be along for the ride.

[Donna A.]

Your 3yo would enjoy participating in the K activities.

 

K doesn't take that long -- an hour to hour and a half a day, if you do everything. You could easily fit it into a summer schedule. That would give your kiddos some fun learning time and help keep them productive during those long summer days. ;) I don't know if your children still do naps, or how long they are, but we like to play/work outdoors in the morning, and then school/do learning stuff in the cool basement during the hot afternoons of summer. This helps save on the a/c bill, too. LOL

[cbollin]

Your oldest is just barely 5 (or turning 5 soon?). I'd do K with her. It's only 26 weeks if you do it as written,

 

uhm....

MFW K is not "26 weeks of school." There are 27 units in the program. The first unit (as written) is a 10 day unit on creation and intro or ease back into structured school time. Then there are 26 units (one per letter of alphabet). Each of those units has 6 lesson days of material. There is no expectation of doing school 6 days a week with the program though.

 

As written, there are 166 lesson days in the program.

 

-crystal

[Kidlit]

Thanks for all the great ideas!

 

I guess my question now is this: is MFW K too much for a 3 1/2 year old? She knows most of her consonant sounds, all the short vowel sounds, and she recognizes most letters. She's not so great in the fine motor skills dept., of course, but she has always done school with older sis. She has a fairly long attention span, too.

[Donna A.]

Thanks for all the great ideas!

 

I guess my question now is this: is MFW K too much for a 3 1/2 year old? She knows most of her consonant sounds, all the short vowel sounds, and she recognizes most letters. She's not so great in the fine motor skills dept., of course, but she has always done school with older sis. She has a fairly long attention span, too.

 

I wouldn't push it. You could get a 2nd set of student materials and try it with her, but make it fun and don't stress if she doesn't "get it". This is actually the second time I've done this with my 6yo (the one with speech & language problems), but the first time through was while she was taking a special class at the speech clinic, so I used MFW K for more hands-on reinforcement of what she was doing in her group, coupled with speech therapy. Then later, I got another student notebook and am going through it with her for actual learning to read and the other subjects.

[Donna A.]

uhm....

MFW K is not "26 weeks of school." There are 27 units in the program. The first unit (as written) is a 10 day unit on creation and intro or ease back into structured school time. Then there are 26 units (one per letter of alphabet). Each of those units has 6 lesson days of material. There is no expectation of doing school 6 days a week with the program though.

 

As written, there are 166 lesson days in the program.

 

-crystal

 

True... I guess I was just thinking about the 26 units. But if her oldest already knows cvc words, she likely won't do every single lesson, especially in the beginning.

 

Definitely do the Creation booklet at the beginning. :thumbup:

[J'etudie]

My dd. was beyond the phonics and math. We dropped it right away and just used the science and bible portion. There are no words to describe what a blessing it was for me and my dd. We have many fond memories of our experience. Just the bible and science alone are worth every penny I spent.

 

Rebecca

 

:iagree:We didn't do the phonics but we did do the handwriting :D. We did the 100 chart, which has been helpful in understanding place value. I plan to do it with all my kids as their first intro to organized learning.

[Kidlit]

Okay, I'm just about convinced that this is the way we want to go. . .

 

Do you think coupling MFW K with some FIAR books for fun would be too much?

 

Does MFW K cover math, and if so, to what extent?