I was reading Ann Voskamp's latest blog entry with Katie Davis (Kisses from Katie) and noticed the MFW Kindergarten alphabet cards hanging on the wall of Katie's home in Uganda.

Heather, I see that you've got two sets of twins. What a life-filled house you have! One thing I'm discovering is that there are days (weeks) where we can get everything in, and others where we do (maybe) the bare minimum. Every so often we even have a day where life lines up for some sort of extra....

For the place value question about hundreds, if a bean (sticker, dot, etc.) is 1 and the stick is 10, then maybe you could do bundles of 10 sticks rubber banded together?

What do you do when someone advises you to quit home schooling? I really took it to heart today when this happened. A neighbor stopped by to wish us well on our move, and it was part of the conversation. She is about the age my mother would be if she was still alive, and for whatever reasons I real...

Just wanted to share how we handled the 100s sticks and coin cup that ended up working really well. I used an approx. 12 oz plastic coffee can, which was the perfect size for the regular size wooden craft sticks. We used the plain wood ones, but for every 10th used a colored one. Bundles of 10 rubbe...

DD really enjoyed doing the rods with the alphabet book.

We have had such fun with the themes and Biblical truths in MFW K. We do tweak the phonics for my DD who is pretty much where your daughter is from the sounds of it. She still enjoys the (adjusted) activities, and is getting very proficient at the short vowel words. I'm introducing a few of the othe...

My question is both a pro and a con for MFW for me....I actually ENJOY the planning process. I LOVE pouring over book lists and finding great ideas for projects and so on. Before kids I wrote and gave presentations, I truly enjoy the prep process as I find it fun and creative. I love that I can cho...

Here's what we do. Day 1: Picture Cards sheet Name each picture, color, and cut them out per p. 17. We then keep each letter's picture cards in a labelled envelope for use with p. 21 Picture Box activity. Day 2: Handwriting / Sound Discrimination Practice handwriting on front of sheet (p. 20), then ...

Just wanted to add that I normally write the numbers on the 100s chart and calendar, too. My K'er helps by telling me what numbers to make. We've just begun (in Week 17) some additional number practice by putting each day's coin cup amount (that begins in Wk 16) and the numbers for the date on a whi...

We're on Day 1 of penguins. :) In one of the informational books on penguins, it talked about how a single male might try to steal another penguin's mate and showed a picture of the two guys in battle posture. We got a 10th stick for the hundreds chart today, so as we were bundling them up I thought...

I stumbled onto a wonderful free resource this morning for finding and keeping track of MFW book basket books at the library. http://www.worldcat.org When you search for a book, it shows cover art, as well as a listing of which libraries own the book. This is great if you happen to have a couple lib...

We just watched a video on African animal life that is available currently on Netflix Instant, Animals are Beautiful People. It was geared pretty well for the younger crew. (Note: There are a few evolutionary references, and one mild profanity in the last 20 minutes when one animal is antagonizing a...

In The Children's Book of Home and Family , edited by William Bennett, Jr., there's a story called Cornelia's Jewels. A rich woman visits her friend's humble home and shows off her jewels. The poor woman responds by showing her "far more valuable jewels", her sons.

I just saw that our library has a series of A-Z books on the different states. M is for maple syrup : a Vermont alphabet / written by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds, for example. Your library might surprise you, especially if a local school happens to assign state reports.

I'm so glad that we decided to do K. Some parts of it are very easy for DD, but it's been great to cement her skills in those areas and we've been able to push just a little ahead in those spots with the phonics activities in a fun way. With math it barely feels like we're doing much, but I've seen ...

So we have just started fractions (formally anyway). CBOM pages have them coloring in 1/2 , 1/3, 1/4 of pictures etc. My question is when I'm reading the directions aloud to ds- should I pronounce 1/4 as one- fourth or one- quarter, or both ways? Without thinking I pronounce it as one quarter, but ...

As a new homeschooler, I've also gained so much from the board. I come away feeling that this IS something I can do, and not just feeling like my mind will explode from too many competing choices.

Thank you to all (especially those who have used MFW for a while) who take the time to contribute!

My DH teaches 4th grade at a public school, and I can assure you that handwriting is very, very low on the list of priorities in most schools. And honestly, with technology the way it is now, handwriting isn't nearly as important as it used to be (shh! don't tell the kids). The suggestions to try cu...

Thank you all so much for the wonderful replies. I had no idea that the past few days were going to get so chaotic right after I typed the message. Talk about resetting your priority button! DH was in an accident on the way to work. Praise God he's alright, but the car will probably end up as a tota...

There are a few of the topics in MFW K that fit well with a standard school year schedule ~ apples & leaves in the fall, goats & cows right around Christmas (tie-ins to the stable), vegetables & frogs in the spring ~ but these could easily be done at a different time of year without losing anything ...

We used a couple of extra media resources. The Planet Earth DVD set by the BBC had several episodes on the ocean that were good overall. We also have a Wii, and the game Endless Ocean is an interesting way to see what undersea diving would be like (especially for those of us who are landlocked). Pro...

My pages are torn out of the book and stored in their own file. Then each unit I pull out the ones that we'll be using and put them in page protectors. At first I really wanted them all in page protectors or laminated, but this was a cheap solution for the time being.

I tutor math online, and so often I work with students who can solve formulas, but have NO IDEA how to solve a real life application problem. Making math a part of real life is such a good suggestion in the K manual ~ helping set the table, sort things, simple math at the grocery store, etc. It seem...

There are some good suggestions here (and more have probably been posted since I began this reply ;) ). You CAN do this. Please don't beat yourself up when something doesn't go well at first ~ making a few small changes may be all it takes. We have ALL had those frustrating days. Something to keep i...