Family Size - Is MFW-K possible with a large family?

[Mom2theteam]

Carissa, you are right. I have a good friend who has 3 children right around my kids age. She doesn't have any twins, but we like to remind each other that this is the hardest time. No matter how many kids we ultimately have, this will be the hardest stage because all of them are still young. It will get easier as the oldest ones get older and are able to help more and more. It is already much easier than it was when my oldest was 4.5 and the newest twins were born. That is definitely one of the benefits to waiting till next year, my older twins will be older too.

And, in my limited experience thus far, I agree, age 3 is harder than age 2. I call it the horrible 3's. LOL.

Thanks. I try not to have too many pity parties, but every once in a while I get overwhelmed and mope with a bowl of ice cream.

[Mom2theteam]

I really wanted to send out a heartfelt thanks to those of you who encouraged me to "cease and desist" K with my young 5 year old. I tried to start him last Jan. He was just over 5 and I felt he "should" be able to go ahead with K. I also felt he was a little behind because he still didn't know all his letters and definitely not all his sounds. Many of you said I should put it away till this fall and the few months would make a world of difference maturity wise. Let him play and learn at his own pace still. I was skeptical and concerned, but I followed the advice of those who had BTDT, knowing that it is wise to follow the example of those who have gone before you.

We have not started K yet. Our official start date is Aug. 15th (or 22nd, if I can't get my act together this week )

In the last couple of months, he has really started to learn all the letters. Then, I got the Letter Factory movie by Leap Frog. Now, he knows all his sounds too. Not perfect, but pretty well. At church on Sunday while we were singing, he says to me "Mommy, 'G' stands for something very important. God" Then, today at dinner, out of the blue he says, "Mom, I think I can spell 'God.'" He did it! He sounded it out without any help from us. He proceeded to sound out "dog," "cat," "pot," and "dad." He needed a little help here and there, but he did it mostly on his own!!! I was so proud of him. Both my mom and my husband's parents were eating with us and watched him learn too. And, how cool to say that the first word he ever spelled on his own was "God." It was such a sweet moment.

Thank you very much for encouraging me to wait and assuring me that he would get it. I am so glad I didn't push him. Now, he is so excited to sit down and learn to read. I can't wait to watch him develop this skill. Thank You!!!

[editor's note: more here: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 679#p80704 ]

[Julie in MN]

Hello! Since I have been away from the message board for quite awhile, I will reintroduce myself.
My name is Debbie, I have been married to Cy for 15 1/2 years. We have 8 children with #9 on the way!!!

I have taught my oldest 4 children MFW K. Our largest spacing between children is between #4 & #5. Our child #5 turned 5 last June and we began MFW A-Z with him, but my 5 y.o. just wasn't ready for kindergarten so we put it away...

He seems ready for K now, he will be 6 this June, and his younger brother also seems ready to start some "schoolwork"(they are very different in personality).

i know how to use MFW's recommendations for how to teach two children together when one is ready for Kindergarten and on is 4, but what about teaching them both as Kindergarteners? (My younger son will be 5 in September, and I am usually in the "better late then early" school of thought, but I don't want to make him wait if he is ready.)

I guess this would be more like teaching twins, but I would love to hear from anyone who has "been-there-done-that"?

I have already written to the MFW office and they have responded-i would now like to hear from homeschool parents who are doing this very thing right now(or have in the past), if there are any?

Thank you,
Debbie

Hi Debbie,
Nice that you are able to check back in over here.

Since moms like you are very busy, I'll just give you some links to start with while you wait for replies.

Here is a K experience that's almost like a classroom (my3boys) http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 863#p41674

There are several twin and almost-twin posts here. It is a language arts thread, but the majority of K is basically language arts: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4879

Mom2theTeam has a lot of wisdom about teaching groups with K, and this is just a random post about how she adapted K for one child who needed more (and I assume didn't for another child), and you might click on her name to find more of her posts http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... =75#p95541

HTH,
Julie

[MelissaB]

Hi, Debbie ~

You've already spoken with the MFW office, so i don't think i have anything to offer in the form of advice. But just as encouragement ~ It seems that their starting K together will be such a blessing. You'll only have to teach each lesson one time to both, which will save time, and the two boys can play the games in the K curriculum with one another (maybe? depending on how well they get along on some days... ). Your 3 year old will learn so much tagging along, too.

It seems like a great plan to me.

Enjoy Kindergarten! (Isn't it the sweetest year?)