Scope & Sequence

Scope & Sequence

New postby cbollin » Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:27 am

Is there a scope and sequence available to see what is taught at which level? One possibility in later years (or even next year if I don't get my act together) is to send them to a private Christian school. I have printed out their scope and sequence and my DH wants to make sure that they stay on track with their peers as far as content goes. He is very concerned that they will miss something along the way and get behind. It is a bit of a concern for me, as well.


A couple of things. First of all, if you stop homeschooling and send them to a public or private school, the schools will be very familiar with dealing with transfer and new students. Not all schools share the exact scope and sequence in science and social studies. So, it is not as big of a concern to them when new students enter the school. They will test and assign which reading group and writing group to put the kid. They might miss something at some point. But there will not be huge gaps and things like that. In fact, my church has an elementary school with it. Last year we attended an assembly that was about Abraham Lincoln. I was the only TEACHER who knew that there were "87" or "4 Score and 7 years" from the signing of the Declaration of Independence until the Gettysburg Address. Oh my. Those TEACHERS were embarrassed that the homeschoolers knew that.

Also, my daughters have participated in science fairs and science demos at that school. Again, that school is accredited and a good school. My daughters knew more in science than the other kids did. It was really sad in some ways that the school didn't have more hands on teaching. It was just a normal science day for my girls but for the school kids it was unusual.

so, I wouldn't worry about in terms of history, science and especially not in Bible if you use MFW. Your children will learn a lot in MFW's sequence.

In terms of math, if you use MFW's recommendations for math, your kids will do great. Reading and language arts in MFW is strong too.

Also, may I suggest to you and your dh to get a copy of a homeschool convention workshop given by MFW’s David Hazell? It is called What Should 21st Century Christians Teach Their Children?
Here is a link for ordering information
viewtopic.php?t=3234

I also suggest that your husband consider calling MFW office and asking if he can speak with David or possibly with Bret at MFW. Sometimes it helps when men talk to men a bit.

In terms of the scope and sequence of specific programs, I’ll chime back in a few minutes to b/c this is already too long.

I’d encourage you to email or phone the MFW office and ask them to send you a copy of the overview of their programs. I’ve seen it at conventions but it is not on their website. [ viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7898 ]
loving MFW since 2003 and have done all of the MFW 5 Year Family Cycle programs.
2009-10 CTG for 8th and 5th graders & 1st grade (autistic) for 1st grader
Learn More about God's Word for the Nations MFW's Bible translation missions fund
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New postby cbollin » Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:47 am

Julie in MN wrote:The sample for each level will give you a general idea of topics covered.


Aimee,
Julie did a great job to link you to the samples of MFW’s program. On those samples in the Table of Contents you will see a break down by week of the history, Bible and science topics. That will help a lot with the scope of sequence of the years.

I’d like to present it from the view of progression through the years:

Overview of the Scope and Sequence for Bible/Spiritual Focus

This is in another post of mine that was titled something like Does MFW help to Develop a Thirst for Christ? The overall progression through the years for Bible into the overall program:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4277
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7894&p=44794#p44794

-crystal
loving MFW since 2003 and have done all of the MFW 5 Year Family Cycle programs.
2009-10 CTG for 8th and 5th graders & 1st grade (autistic) for 1st grader
Learn More about God's Word for the Nations MFW's Bible translation missions fund
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Location: the name of the place is Babylon 5

New postby cbollin » Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:55 am

History Sequence in MFW:
They follow a classical approach and do history in cycles.

Cycle 1 is up through about grade 2. It starts in Kindy with a focus on God created the world and everything in it. 1st grade, world history is presented from Genesis to the time of the writing of the books of the New Testament. The ADV program covers from about 1000 AD with early North American explorers, then gets into an overview of US history and a tour of the 50 states.

Then they start 2nd history cycle with ECC with a foundational year in geography and cultures and current times. This is followed by 4 years of chronological history that is broken into time periods indicated by the titles of their programs.

    (copied from their website.....) MFW’s unique and innovative multi-age curriculum begins with a one-year foundation in geography followed by four years of history presented chronologically. Beginning with Creation, world history is integrated with Biblical history. When the study of U.S. history begins, it is presented in the context of world history so that your children will understand how world events greatly impact what happens in the United States.

(3rd cycle) High school years they do more in depth with 4 years of history. It is quickest to link to the high school page for that information http://www.mfwbooks.com/highschool.html

    (copied from that high school page) Each of the following is a one-year curriculum for 9th through 12th graders that integrates history, English, and Bible (3 full-year credits). You will need to add science, math, and electives.
    Ancient History and Literature - available now
    World History and Literature - planned for 2009
    U.S. History Part 1/Government and Literature - being developed
    U.S. History Part 2/Government and Literature (first semester) - Economics, Geography, or other course (second semester) - being developed
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New postby cbollin » Thu Dec 04, 2008 9:03 am

Science in the elementary years with MFW:
MFW offers science for the full year in each of its programs. At the elementary level in MFW, here are the science topics -

Until about 2nd grade or so, MFW uses a very hands on approach to science. Many age appropriate topics are covered in order to give the children a broad scope of science and exposure to many aspects of science.

Then in ECC, the science is very related to geography. You study habitats, biomes, and other things to help with seeing the world. Science correlates to the country being studies. Includes nature walks and journaling.

CTG: it is hands on science to cover many chemistry and physics topics at elementary level. You will cover topics that relate to the days of creation (such as light, rest, plants, etc.) Additional topics include pyramids when you are in Egypt, as well as some other topics that are listed on the CTG sample page in the table of contents.
http://www.mfwbooks.com/pdf/ctgsample.pdf

RTR: 1st semester is human body systems. 2nd semester is Astronomy. Nature walks and journals optional.

EX1850, 1st semester is taxonomy and classifications of living things. 2nd semester Botany. (so this is a biology year at elementary years)

1850MOD – chemistry and physics, intro to inventors and scientists. Many handson experiments. The Deluxe package includes an electricity kit and a magnet kit.

However, from 7th-12th grade, MFW suggests using Apologia Science for jr. high and high school. You can check out Apologia’s website for scope and sequence of those programs.
Here’s a quick link to their scope and sequence
Apologia Science


Aimee, from a personal side of it. My husband holds a PHD in chemistry. We really like MFW’s approach and sequence.
-crystal
loving MFW since 2003 and have done all of the MFW 5 Year Family Cycle programs.
2009-10 CTG for 8th and 5th graders & 1st grade (autistic) for 1st grader
Learn More about God's Word for the Nations MFW's Bible translation missions fund
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New postby cbollin » Thu Dec 04, 2008 11:48 am

A little bit about the language arts sequence.
This is still not the official scope and sequence that you are hoping to find about language arts.

K: In the MFW K program, students learn letter recognition, the sounds of the letters, how to write those letters, and begin to blend them together to read Consonant-Vowel-Consonant words and some common sight words. Learning to enjoy age appropriate literature is a key component to the MFW K program and is addressed in the program. The other typical things listed in state expectations are also covered. Many of them are covered in the science and character sections.
Hands-on and workbook activities are combined to teach letter names, 26 letter sounds (consonants and short vowels), sound blending, and correct handwriting. Students learn to read short vowel words; and by the end of the year, they are reading very simple stories. Children also get a lot of handwriting skills through both multi sensory and workbook approach. Children should begin to be able to copy 4-6 word sentences at the same length as the readers in the program.

1st grade: is taught with step-by-step instruction in phonics. My Father's World First Grade begins with a quick review of letter names and sounds, followed by in-depth teaching of all necessary phonics to produce an independent reader. The Teacher's Manual provides easy-to-follow daily lesson plans that teach new skills and allow for continuous review. Student worksheets reinforce phonics, spelling, and handwriting skills. By Lesson 31, students are able to read Bible stories in a special beginning level Bible Reader, which is included with the curriculum.

Other Language Arts in 1st grade:
They will learn composition skills, practice narrations. Thinking skills of language. Much composition is taught in 1st grade program.


From grades 2-6 MFW recommends resources that will continue to cover a wide variety of language arts skills, both oral and written. Reading comprehension continues as does reading for enjoyment and as a way to begin more independent learning approaches. You will have much flexibility to adjust for skill level of each child in your family as you provide individual instruction to help them.

MFW doesn’t do a “workbook” approach to language arts. MFW uses many elements of Charlotte Mason influence combined with Classical Education goals. You will find lots of oral language, dictation, narration, copywork, composition skills all throughout the elementary years.
I encourage you to read a post by Marie Hazell in which she describes much of this
viewtopic.php?t=3240

So, each year in grades 2-6, children cover a lot of language arts in a wide variety of ways from oral to written. It doesn't have to be workbook approach. You can look on MFW's language arts page to see which specific materials are used in each grade to help achieve those goals. and keep in mind that many language arts components are included in the unit study approach.


Then in jr. high years, more in depth reading analysis and the most formal grammar instruction is finished at that time. In the elementary years, grammar is there, but not in the form of worksheet approach to circling parts of speech as that does not help with retaining the material.


Hope some of that helps to answer the scope and sequencing. Please keep asking. I didn't touch the math. I'm sure someone can link or copy Singapore's sequence or you can find that. Singapore Math is one of the strongest programs out there. I didn't touch the humanities (MFW includes music appreciation and art history and art instruction too)

I apologize for the length of my answers. But MFW is a complete curriculum from preschool through high school and it's hard to give a short answer to summarize all of those years.
-crystal
Last edited by cbollin on Thu Dec 04, 2008 11:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
loving MFW since 2003 and have done all of the MFW 5 Year Family Cycle programs.
2009-10 CTG for 8th and 5th graders & 1st grade (autistic) for 1st grader
Learn More about God's Word for the Nations MFW's Bible translation missions fund
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Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2005 2:04 pm
Location: the name of the place is Babylon 5

Re: Science - MFW science topics?

New postby Julie in MN » Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:26 pm

amelasky wrote:Here's what I think I understand :)
ECC: habitats / countries
CTG: Six days of creation / physics / chemistry / biology types of experiments.
RTR: Human body and astronomy (APOLOGIA ASTRONOMY)
EX1850: Taxonomy (APOLOGIA BOTANY)
1850-MOD: Chemistry / Physics


Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:50 pm


Agreeing that Apologia Zoology is not scheduled in MFW. It's 3+ years, after all. I have heard of some MFW families adding in Zoology when they have time. But also wanted you to know that MFW does do an animal study in EX1850.

I would add to your description of science:

ECC: (1) habitats / countries and (2) nature walks.

CTG: (1) Six days of creation with physics / chemistry / biology types of experiments. (2) Also pyramid-related science experiments, (3) dinosaurs book, and (4) a biography of Archimedes.

RTR: (1) Human body study, (2) facts of life, (3) astronomy (APOLOGIA ASTRONOMY), and (4) a biography of Galen.

EX1850: (1) Animals/taxonomy, (2) botany (APOLOGIA BOTANY), and (3) local nature study (during study of your state).

1850-MOD: Chemistry / Physics / & more - we don't have that one yet
Julie, married 26 great years to Shane (battling cancer http://www.CaringBridge.org/visit/ShaneHansell )
Reid (13) 1850MOD (started in Feb.)
Alexandra (22) raising her toddler & finishing up homeschooling
Travis (25) petroleum engineer in UT
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Writing Strands

New postby 4Truth » Sun Feb 01, 2009 5:02 pm

Here's the scope & sequence for WS 3:

http://www.writingstrands.com/scope-and ... ce.asp#WS3

If you scroll down a bit, you'll find the s&s for level 4 right underneath it.
Donna, wife to Tim and mom to 3 great girls,
8th, 5th, & 1st graders, using MFW since 2005
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