Combining Adventures and 1st

[carissa]

Hi, Kate,

This year our twins are doing MFW-K, and our oldest is doing a mish-mash of things for 1st--I'm mostly trying to make it a strong Bible year, like MFW-1, so we can jump back into MFW with ADV next year. Assuming the twins continue to do well with learning to sound out the CVC words, I plan to do ADV with MFW-1 next fall, too. Have you seen Marie's sticky about teaching K and 1st together at the top of the Main Board? http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5510 If you scroll down past her recommendations for that first year, she goes on to outline what year two (1st and ADV) would look like. That was helpful to me.

After poking around on the board for the last couple weeks, I found a few more threads about combining ADV and 1st. Here's one: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?t=2307 I bookmarked that one. I know there are others, but I'm not very adept at searching the forum yet.....I'm getting TONS of search results when I enter "Adventures and 1st" so they're out there!

Wish you were still here in CO, we might have been able to get together with our kids on the same levels! At least there's the forum where we can have community despite distance, and learn from those who are going through things before us, too.

[erin.kate]

Since I want to bring in the first grade reader & bible notebook my plan is to:

Not have him do the ADV notebook, but continue to do what he is doing. He is involved in listening to the ADV books, being involved in the discussions, doing the science, included in the Bible, and hearing the people's names on the time-line. I am also including him in any US state geography activities we do.

So the only thing he really isn't doing is the Art & Notebook & Spanish (he listens in though). I rather have him do MFW 1st grade for both of those activities.

This seems like a great approach. I'm thinking along those lines too ... Mae (3rd grade at that point) would do ADV and Viola and Shaw (1st then) would do MFW1 phonics and Bible and the history readings (not notebooking), science, and activities. The book basket would be appropriate for all three.

This is why MFW is an amazing curriculum. It is beautifully and intelligently organized while being simple and flexible.

Have you seen Marie's sticky about teaching K and 1st together at the top of the Main Board? http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5510 If you scroll down past her recommendations for that first year, she goes on to outline what year two (1st and ADV) would look like. That was helpful to me.

After poking around on the board for the last couple weeks, I found a few more threads about combining ADV and 1st. Here's one: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?t=2307 I bookmarked that one.

The link you sent is great! I made a little schedule from it to see how I could combine my three kids at that point ... totally feels doable and now next year has fallen more into place as a result. Thank you!

I will re-read Marie's article on combining ... I do have that one bookmarked.

So grateful for your thoughts!

[erin.kate]

Hi, Kate,

Have you seen Marie's sticky about teaching K and 1st together at the top of the Main Board? If you scroll down past her recommendations for that first year, she goes on to outline what year two (1st and ADV) would look like. That was helpful to me.

After poking around on the board for the last couple weeks, I found a few more threads about combining ADV and 1st. Here's one: http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?t=2307 I bookmarked that one.

Wish you were still here in CO, we might have been able to get together with our kids on the same levels! At least there's the forum where we can have community despite distance, and learn from those who are going through things before us, too.

Oh how I'd love to be in Colorado again. It was a great four years that we lived there. We were in the Springs. So many home school families and so much support. It was such a blessed time.

The link you sent is great! I made a little schedule from it to see how I could combine my three kids at that point ... totally feels doable and now next year has fallen more into place as a result. Thank you!

I will re-read Marie's article on combining ... I do have that one bookmarked.

So grateful for your thoughts!

[gratitude]

This is why MFW is an amazing curriculum. It is beautifully and intelligently organized while being simple and flexible.

I agree!! It does make it so easy for all of them to be a part of our home school curriculum, while still meeting their individual needs in LA & math.

[Metairie]

This is why MFW is an amazing curriculum. It is beautifully and intelligently organized while being simple and flexible.

I agree!! It does make it so easy for all of them to be a part of our home school curriculum, while still meeting their individual needs in LA & math.

Couldn't have said it better myself!!

[jasntas]

I have one that is almost done with 1st then another one that is in K right now (and still will be for awhile). I also have a 4 and 2 year old. The first year we did all of K then this year we only did the reading section. He joined his brother for the activities and Bible story. He did the same thing last year when the oldest was in K so I did see any reason for the younger one to repeat that this year....

Now my problem is... I plan on the younger one joining in for as much of Adventures as he would like to. How can I teach all of Adventures and 1st grade (once he gets there). I don't see how I can leave out the Bible in 1st since it goes with the phonic (but he will also be doing Bible in Adventures). I really just need to hear how these two work side by side because right now I feel like I will have to do all of 1st and all of Adventures....I know while the younger one is finishing up K it will go smooth....now if I can just figure out how it will work once he moves on to 1st....I hope somebody understands this other than me Thanks!!

We did K and ADV together and now 1st and ECC together. ECC was a step up from ADV but the two programs (ECC & 1st) were still pretty easy to do at the same time and still be finished with school in a timely manor. I don't have little ones, though.

I have left out the science for 1st and some other activities along the way. My dd sits in on the Bible time for ECC but I don't require her to do any of the copy work, etc. She does her own in 1st.

HTH

[AnnieMarie]

I have 3 dd, one in Exp1850, one in 1st and one in K. What I do is have all of them at the table together for the bible part of Exp1850 on the weeks that we did have anything besides memory verse. I did not do any additional science with the 1st grader because she wanted to do the botany and animal science that big sis is doing. I usually do one of the little girls before breakfast because they are usually up before my eldest. and they also are more willing to do it first thing because they get mom's complete attention for an hour. While the eldest is doing her memory work after breakfast and chores, I work with the other little one and am done with the little ones before 10:30 usually. When the eldest is done with memory work and I am not done with the little girls, she does things she can do by herself (book basket, reading, math drills, science reading, Spanish). We then take a break to get brain food and some exercise. I then get the little girls occupied with either computer time, coloring, etc....I then work with eldest for Spelling, English, Math, Notebooking, Art, and History. During lunch is usually when we do Read Aloud. For some reason history summaries are harder for her this year, so I am very grateful for the SOTW act guide. It comes with questions to ask for each reading. I usually ask her those questions and she writes down the answer for the summaries. I am usually done with her by 2. She then takes a 15 minute break and finishes anything that did not get done earlier.

[Buttercup78]

Hello. I am new to the boards and MFW. We started with MFW 1st half way through this crazy year. I am so blessed to have found MFW it has been the perfect fit right now. I have two dc a son in first right now and a daughter in k.

Next year we will be using Adventures and I'm really excited about it. I got student sheets for my daughter to join in with Adventures, but I am wondering how much of the writing do you require from Adventures for a first grader? I plan on using MFW 1st with her next year for reading and the student workbook but she has been joining in with us this year for the other things in 1st. She is a reluctant writer and so is my son. Just wondering what others have done with reluctant writers and how much you should expect from them. I have gotten PLL for my son and plan to do a lot of that orally because getting him to write at the moment is like pulling teeth.

Thanks for your advice and any tips you might have.
Jen

We are doing ADV now with an 8yo 2nd grader and a 6yo 1st grader. 6yo adores the state sheets and for notebk pages she gives me a short summary and I write it, she copies it. She also copies the memory verse (or half if it's a long one.) There really isn't much writing in the History.

[beaglemamma2008]

Actually, there is more notebooking in 1st than in Adventures. I think if you're having her do the notebooking in 1st, I would just make Adventures notebooking optional. If she wants to join big brother in making her own U.S. notebook, great; but if not, she's done plenty just by doing the notebooking in 1st.

I had a reluctant writer in 1st, too. She's gifted with words and loves to come up with stories, but hates the physical task of handwriting. It took lots of encouragement to get her through the Bible notebook in 1st, but after all of that practice, Adventures notebooking has been a breeze!

[far above rubies]

I had my 5 year old join us in ADV this year and she enjoyed it, however, she wasn't doing her own program, save a K4 program at the time. She enjoyed the hands-on projects in ADV, and a few of the coloring sheets, but she didn't really "get it," for the other things.

I just re-listened to my David Hazell CD on teaching k and 1st and it again made me think about how these little ones really do need their own complete program. She's going to have her own worksheets in K, and I want her to continue working with a program on her own level. So, all that to say, LOL, that I would make sure that 1st grade is being done for your little one and if you're able to afford an extra set of ADV student sheets for the 1st grader, invite the 1st grader to join in on that part of the notebooking.

As for my upcoming year, I intend to use the full K program for my Ker and include her in any reading, read alouds, or hands-on projects from ECC, but as for doing any other notebooking, since she's already going to have worksheets in K, she's is likely not going to appreciate doing more of it. That could almost be like doing 2 programs at once.

Or, if you decide to do only the phonics portion of 1st grade, then I would consider doing the notebooking in ADV.

But every child is different. I would make sure that her program is done, or at least that your 1st grader is doing well with the phonics portion and see what happens. My 5 year old really loved ADV, but as I mentioned, she was only using the preschool program, which didn't have any worksheets or notebooking to it at all. When it came to writing, I just asked her to draw a picture. And in the end, we had a LOT of unused sheets in her little pack. But because it was the only notebooking/writing/drawing that she was doing, that was cool.

[jbragg]

Thank you for your replies. It is nice to hear how others have done things.

I did get the Adventures student sheets for her and I think she will enjoy the state sheets because she loves to color. She was very excited about the flag stickers too. I think I'll have to play it by ear with her. I never know if she will want to join in with what big brother is doing or decide that she wants to do her own thing. For the notebooking pages in Adventures I might just have her narrate to me and I'll write it down for her and then she can color or draw the picture on the top if she wants to. Then she can do the writing and picture in the Bible notebook.

Thank you again for you replies. It is nice to be able to bounce things off people who have been there before or are there right now.

Jen

[Sara in PNW]

Has anyone taught 2nd (ADV) and 1st at the same time? Any tips? I'm pretty sure I'm going to combine science, Bible, music, etc., but wondered if anyone has some experiences and wisdom to pass on?

This is our first year with MFW. I am doing ADV with my 3rd grader and 1st with another. The 1st grader will be doing the Bible, workbook & notebook from the First grade manual and will be joining us in ADV. I will have her make a US Notebook but will not have her do all the writing but I'd like her to do the state sheets. We'll also do the art/science with ADV.

[Buttercup78]

My children were those ages 2 years ago and we did Adventures. My 5yo tagged along with most everthing. For her math we used MFW 1st (since we already had it) and for language we ended up using Rod & Staff. So I guess that doesn't answer your question, but that's how we did it.

[gratitude]

I have read Marie's post on teaching Adv and 1st but still have questions. Does anyone have an example on how they have done this and what their schedule looked like?

...I have read some other good posts about this topic since I first posted this. Are there any other moms who want to add to the other posts that have already been posted?

I also have a question about my daughter who is 5 and a half. She is sounding out CVC words pretty well. We didn't completely finish K last year. Should I finish K and then start 1st or just go straight to 1st?

Thanks.

Hi! I just saw this post tonight.

This past school year I was doing ADV and MFW1 together. So the way it looked in our home:

ADV Bible ~ my 2nd grader participated every day; my 1st grader and dd5 listened in about half the time.
ADV Bible student sheets/Jesus poster ~ all 3 of my kids did their own Jesus poster (2nd/1st/Pre-K)
ADV Bible copy work ~ my oldest did.
ADV History ~ my oldest did all of it; my middle two listened in on all of Pioneers and Patriots, read aloud books, etc.; my oldest did all of the note booking & student sheets & state sheets & reading of extra books (book basket I put together); my middle two colored most of the note book sheets and some of the state sheets and now recognize many American symbols from the Statue of Liberty to Mount Rushmore; hands on activities or cooking activities were done by all 3 of them.
ADV Science ~ The experiments I did were done by my 1st grader; I did Apologia Astronomy for my oldest (personal preference).
MFW1 ~ my first grader did all of it except for the science. I added Singapore 1A to MFW1 math. All 3 of them did the drawing (my oldest re-did) in the fall. All 3 did some of I Can Do It Art
ADV foreign language ~ my oldest did the Spanish.
ADV LA & Math & Spelling ~ my oldest did.

Schedule:
We usually did Bible first (ADV). Included Jesus Poster. It also included Awana verses for my oldest and two middles.
2nd: Oldest LA, math, and spelling from ADV and Spanish on the computer. Bible copy work.
3rd: MFW1 for second son (all) (sometimes a break 1/2 way through between math and reading; it usually took about 1 hour)
4th: Break
5th: Science, History, read aloud books, hands on activities. (lunch sometimes/usually took place in the middle of this part)

I hope this helps. They are actually very easy to do at the same time.

Enjoy!

Blessings,
Carin

P.S. My 5 1/2 year old is reading some too, but I still plan on continuing with MFWK phonics this fall for her (I think she is around unit 7). I wouldn't want to start MFW1 yet with her for the increased work load. She loves to sit and write, but I still don't think she would do well with the amount of writing and copy work in MFW1. I hope this helps too.

[afelton]

Thanks. That really does help.

[DaniWestRN]

Thank you Carin! That is very helpful! I have almost the exact same age kids going in this year as you had last year!

[DS4home]

So far I'm fine with balancing 1st and Adven., but what I'm struggling with right now is my OCD tendencies. How do you moms handle multiple TM?? Would a list work better? Or maybe I should buy a daily planner (saw one at Target that was super cute) and jot down each day's activities. Help!

I like to use lists. Before each new school year I list out each child's specific curriculum books, on a separate page for each kid. I figure out a sort of order to the day, then I make a master sheet for each kid, of the subjects listed down the side. Every day I make copies from my master, write in specific page numbers or simply MFW for some things, and cross off things that we don't do everyday but are on the list. We check them off as we do them. I group things together for "group learning", individual work, and work with mom. I find this an easy way to glance down the list throughout the day and see what each kid has done or not done yet. The kids also like it because they get to make the check marks and they can see how much they have left to do before school is done. I only refer to the TM when we are doing the group stuff (ie: Bible, history, science), or in your case the First grade things.

I don't know if I wrote this out in an understandable way. It is a pretty basic system and very easy to implement. It works for us

Dawn

[MelissaB]

Hi, Andrea,

We did ECC w/ K, and CTG w/ 1st. There's no easy answer for this, but I just want to reassure you that once you start teaching and get familiar with the two curriculums, your days will flow pretty easily.

1st grade math may look overwhelming at first, but it's really set up to be pretty consistent each day. The 100 chart, Calendar, and popsicle sticks are completed daily. After that, there's an activity or workbook sheet to keep things from becoming too boring for this young age. They're excellent activities. By the end of 1st grade, our daughter was adding/subtracting, counting money, totally comprehending place value, and telling time on the hour. It's a pretty amazing math curriculum, really.

In just a few weeks, you'll have a great system in place. (!)

Have fun!

[4monkeyz]

Excellent ideas! Thank you! My hubby told me I was just freaking out and it would all work out in the end since I'm not actually teaching from both at the exact same time. Lol I guess having had to plan out first and second myself, old habits kind of die hard. It also doesn't help my brain when the youngest is going through a series of late night wake-ups. Yikes. Anyways. I will have to rethink things a bit here and implement some of these wonderful ideas.

[Joyhomeschool]

I take my TM out of the binding and put the pages in sheet protectors in a 3 ring binder. Because then I can pop out a weeks worth and have them in a clip board or just have them loose. I can also write in dry erase marker and use them later.

[Ruby]

when i did first grade, i only had one child to teach so my days were easier. but, being ocd myself, and highly visual, i went through the tm a week at a time and wrote down a simplified form, like the blank calendar forms (donnayoung.org is a great site for printing out calendars and other organizing forms), and used that to see at a glance what we would be doing on any given day. helped me with park days, shopping or other things and also helped me to see what supplies i needed to buy for the week, or library books needed to pick up. i had an extra box on the bottom to write notes for the day in.

now, if you purchased the k manual, you can photocopy the grid pages, if you want to use all that paper and ink for organizational purposes and put that on a "k clipboard", and have another chart for first, hang them next to each other and viola! instant reference. but that's more work than the program calls for and not everybody wants to add more to their prep time. everybody's different.

[4monkeyz]

We got our TM and student sheets this weekend, my dd was so excited we jumped right in and it worked fine. She is my school lover. And my hubby says I am the most "disorganized organized person" he has ever met. He says it with love, heehee, so I forgive him. I call it "living with four littles" - I organize what I can, but if the kids shoes are in a pile and toys scattered, I know that give it a few years and I'm going to miss the kid mess. So,no, my house isn't even remotely perfectly clean. Esp. being under construction for the entire summer. Lots of dirt and chaos.

Let me say too, that I love this board and having all these ideas is really nice! Thanks ladies!

[4monkeyz]

My children will be 5.75 and 8 when we start our new school year. By public school standards they would still be in K and 2 but we would start our new school year so be in 1st and 3rd. My 8 yr old is close to being an independent reader ... can read early reader books by himself. We are nearing the end of our phonics curriculum. He can write sentences by himself. Our 5 yr old is also nearing the end of the phonics curriculum and can read a lot by herself but not as quickly as her brother. (Our son struggled with reading for a while so we combined them this year with phonics/reading and they've done great). She enjoys writing 1-2 sentences about a topic of her choice and illustrating it. I'm looking at curriculum for this coming school year. I'm considering Adventures ... I wasn't sure if it would be too hard. I would love to do ECC but I do think it would be too hard for my (almost)6 yr old. Any suggestions? Should we hold off until the following year?

Hi! We are currently using Adventures with an 8 yo boy & 6 yo girl. It is super easy to have the older one write a little bit more and the younger write a little less for notebook pages. The activities and crafts are fun. We haven't done everything, but we have done many and they are always a hit. Book basket selections have been easy to find in the library and my kids have enjoyed pulling them out of our basket throughout the week. Often those are the ones they sneak in bed with! I haven't had any issues with my dd not being able to follow the read-alouds or understanding anything. Sometimes I might provide an extra coloring page for her, like the week we read about Washington, it helps her focus and the other little ones. I heard that the science might not be challenging for an 8 yo, so I bought a simple robotics kit for him to do with my hubby. But honestly, the Usborne books are quite lovely with simple activities; perfect for this age group.

For math and reading I tend to split them up and work more individually. I am using MFW 1st for dd's phonics, which is going really well and we use the pattern blocks and other hands-on math. My ds is required to read out loud and to himself (hank the cowdog is the current fav), math is Teaching Textbooks 3 and other hands on stuff. The PLL is very simple, my youngest two love the artwork. I tend to pull out lessons as needed. For example, the other day I had him work on addressing envelopes. He is also working on dictation and copywork (if the day feels light). No formal handwriting or grammar yet. Together we do a calendar time after Bible - covering today's date, the month/year, weather. We also do the bean cup and money (I found a rhyme to help them with remembering what each coin is). Sometimes we might cover time and thermometer. It just depends. Fridays tend to be light - I save music, art, nature walks, games from the closet for Fridays. We might bake or go out.

What I love is the flexibility and it has been easy to do a little more one day or a little less. I tend to think I need more, but this is really enough. Just depends on how antsy they are. Hope that helps!

[gratitude]

I think you would do great with Adventures. I used it last year with an 8, 6, and tag along 4 and they all learned something along the way.

[Julie in MN]

Oh, I'm so glad Andrea gave you an experienced mom's advice. I can only add some links to the mix.

This one from Marie Hazell discusses 1st & 2nd grade about halfway down the page:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=191

This is about combining Adventures & 1st:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2307

And not sure on this one, but since my kids were mostly 6 in kindergarten, here are experiences with Adventures & K:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3419