I'll be homeschooling DS next year for kindergarten. I've been looking at MFW. He needs extra work in fine motor, letter order, and counting. He can recognize letters and tell you the sound they make, but saying the alphabet is a challenge. He can do simple addition and subtraction, but has trouble counting past 5. Odd, I know. These were skills he once had, but his medical issues have set us back a bit. Will this curriculum address these needs? He will be 5 in June. Does the curriculum move too slowly for 5 or is it about right? Is it easily adaptable for supplementing or rearranging the schedule? Thanks in advance!
I've been looking at MFW for my dd next year too. She'll be 5 in October and doesn't meet the cutoff date for K in our area, but she wants to "do school" too. I've read good reviews but I don't have any experience.
I didn't use MFW for my first two children, but after hearing good things about it, I did for my son. Two of my friends had used it and both said that the Kindergarten curriculum was more suited to pre-school since it only taught short vowels, so that is what I did. I used the K curriculum when he was 4 and this year we are doing their 1st grade curriculum. I agree with my friend's assessement. He isn't at the same level as children who are in 1st grade in public schools. I do really love MFW so far though. It encompasses everything, is pretty easy to teach and is never overwhelming to him. He is reading with minimum fighting on my part (unlike with my other 2) and enjoys the math this year. We spent a lot of time reading library books last year that they recommended, we don't do so as much this year because of time constraints on my part. As far as math in the K curriculum there was a lot of counting, but not a whole lot of addition and subtraction. It is addressed more in the 1st grade work. In the K curriculum you sing the alphabet every day using the sound and a word. i.e. a, a, apple; b, b, butterfly, c, c, cow and d, d, dinosaur.... If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask!
I am currently using MFW - K with my youngest. This is our first time using it as it wasn't a good fit for his older brother (more of an unschooled K year) and didn't homeschool my oldest for that year. Anyways, it is definitely a gentle approach - not overwhelming at all. I've added to it, but that is only because my ds turned 6 in October and was ready for a bit more meat. MFW-K by itself is great for a child who is completely unfamiliar with the alphabet. It really is one letter a week, but within two months, the student is beginning to work on blends and short vowel words. It also gives quite a few ideas for tactile work with fine motor skills (writing in salt, using playdough, etc.) As for extras, that would depend on each child. We started out just adding an extra cutting skills wksht, as that is what my ds needed work on. When that was mastered, he begged for a "real" math book just like his brothers. So he is now working on MUS Alpha. He also ran through the entire set of Get Ready for THe Code workbooks, but is now at a point with blending/reading in MFW that he doesn't need any extras. I do teach him all the sounds for each letter even though it's not taught that way in the guide book. My reason is that his older siblings are using All About Spelling, so he is already picking up the additional sounds from listening in to their lessons. To answer some of your specific questions, there is counting practice every day if you do calendar and the 100 chart. Takes just a few minutes each day but very effective. Also the calendar works on grouping into and counting by 10's. Their is an alphabet puzzle that comes with the program. Very good for hands-on and visual learners. We use it almost daily for a variety of learning activities - bingo, tracing, creating blends, etc. My youngest loves that there is a picture under each letter to help clue the sound. We are going through the K program faster than it is designed, but that is what works for my ds. Other families have stretched it out for 18 months to two years. Love the flexibility.
I using my MFW with my 5 1/2 year old twin boys. I LOVE it and am looking into it for first grade. The kindergarten curriculum we have found to be very easy, but every child is different. For my boys I cut out a lot of the activities and games because they found them to be "babyish", but that is what I like about MFW. You can do what they have listed for you or cut some things out depending on your child. We have added things to do it as well. I just love the biblical principles they are getting daily so I am sticking with it for first grade. Like others have said it is slow and flexible. But easy enough to double up if you see he is getting it. We do about two lessons a week now. What I love best are all the ideas for fun/everyday things to do with each lesson. Feel free to email me privately and I can send you my blog to see some fun things we have done. Wasn't sure if I could post my blog address here.
Thank you so much for your replies! I think this will work for us. Clara, I'll check out your blog. Rymatt, I'd like yours, also, but I'll send you a pm. Thanks! Tiffiny
