Combining K & 1st - Experiences teaching them together

[jasntas]

I am adding in MFW K for this fall for my second ds. We did a little of it last spring, but this will be his first year of participating daily.

I read that Marie suggests doing activities for both programs. It seems like a lot when I look at it (ie. science, art, bible, etc. activities for both MFW K & 1). Is it less than I think? Is it fairly doable to do both?

We haven't done K and 1st together but last year we did K and ADV together and we did most all activities in both programs. We were still finished within 4 hours most every day. I think that with not as much expected from a 1st grader compared to 2nd/3rd graders in ADV the day would even be shorter. HTH

Maybe someone with that specific experience will chime in, too.

[Julie in MN]

Hi Carin,
Here are some more experiences teaching K & 1st together:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1252
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2736
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=191

HTH,
Julie

[finley3001]

I'm currently doing K and 1st.

My K'er is sitting in with big sister for the 1st grade Bible, science, activity and read aloud. He's doing the worksheets from K as well as the math. He sat in alot last year when we were doing Kindergarten with my daughter so I didn't feel the need to do the badges, science, etc. from K again. A plus to doing it this way is that they love doing the science and Bible together (experiments, Bible costumes, etc.). We're usualy done in about 1.5 hours.

One of the great things about MFW is the flexiblity to make it work for you family.

Hope this helps!

[gratitude]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

We had a very successful first day of school, and everyone's tips a month ago helped so much. We actually started at 8:30 a.m. and finished at 11 a.m. I am amazed!

The tips that helped me the most were laying everything out the night before, and staying focused myself in the morning. I haven't run any laundry yet, but we had a great first day of school and I think I will just move all my chores to afternoon. It really helped the kids to have me entirely on board from the moment they were out of bed and for me to be entirely ready to go.

I even took pictures on the front porch this year, how fun.

So now we have two first day of school surprises for them. I just had to share my success. I am really looking forward to home schooling this year. Praise God!

[gratitude]

My three year old loves doing the MFW Kindergarten program with his big brother. My five year old and I do phonics and Singapore Early bird Math while the little ones are napping in the afternoon. However, we are planning to finish K in March and take a break break until June after the boys have had their next birthdays.

When we start back, the oldest will be in 1st and I wonder what my then four year old should do. What is the 1st grade program like? Will he likely enjoy it? I have heard that it is much more complex.

Any recommendations will be welcome on how to either include or occupy a four year old for that time.

When I started MFW Grade 1 last February my kids were 6,4,3, & 1. We are almost to the end of it, and my kids are now 7, 5, 3, & 1.

The parts my 4 & 3 (now 5 & 3) have participated in for MFW Grade 1 are the following:
1. Bible readings (they listen to me read the Bible stories, and they also listen to Big Brother read the Bible stories from his Bible reader). We do Bible first for the school day, and it starts with me reading my dd3 Bible and she is able to listen to the Grade 1 & K Bible readings as well. There are days though the 5 & 3 are restless by the time we reach Grade 1 Bible. If this happens the shapes from the deluxe package from Grade 1 keep them occupied as they build geometric designs on the coffee table.
2. They participate in all science experiments & listen to any science readings.
3. They participate in drawing with their own pencils and paper. My dd3 can not do the drawing exercises but she likes to color.
4. Timeline: they often watch me put the next person on the wall and hear me talk about it.
5. I also read-aloud books to my kids for all their levels.
6. They participate in all of the hands on activities that we do.

The parts of Grade 1 MFW my 5 & 3 don't do, and what they do during it:
1. Math, Student Notebook time (Spelling/Reading/Phonics/Handwriting), Bible Notebook time.
So what do they do:
Puzzles, drawing, play-doh, geometric wooden shapes, Lauri toys, toys, & play.

The challenge is the younger ones can start wanting/needing attention. The more independent the older becomes, the less this is of an issue. When he was 6 last year it was a big issue. I learned to stop, get a snack for the young ones, and then try to pull the older ones attention back to his work. It is best if the older one finishes their work before the younger ones need too much. I find the earlier I start in the morning the better. When they are all rested the younger ones are more likely to do puzzles and toys and drawing on their own which gives me the time I need to teach reading & math to my older son. After my older son is done I do phonics & math from K with my second son, who does better after play time.

I also do school at the dining room table, which is on one side of the kitchen, and the toy room is on the other side of the kitchen. All of the learning toys and puzzles are in a closet and cupboard close by. This helps A LOT! When I need to help them switch activities I can do so easily.

You will do great!

Posted Mon Nov 22, 2010 9:06 pm by gratitude
I am using MFW Grade 1 & K and they are very easy to do together. The work load is not high for either one, so both of them at the same time is more than manageable. My greatest challenge is doing all of this with 4 kids ages 7 & under; the work load though is fine for these ages.

MFW is very Charlotte mason focused from my understanding of Charlotte mason. It has a nice variety of narration & note-booking that my ds and I have both really enjoyed. We add in a lot of living books to the program; but we aren't to the programs with the book basket yet. My understanding is the book basket recommends a lot of great books to read.

MFW also of course ties in a lot of Bible in Grade 1; it really has been wonderful to go from Creation to Jesus with the Grade 1 program!

Postby gratitude » Wed May 29, 2013 4:53 pm
Welcome to Home schooling!!

For first grade I would recommend MFW First Grade program. For Kindergarten I would recommend MFW Kindergarten program. The first time I did those two programs together I wasn't doing any children older than first grade and they went very well together.

I hope that helps some!

[OtterMommy]

I just wanted to share my enthusiasm. We have been trying different curriculum & activities for OVER two years. We've gotten so many things that just die out, aren't fun, and feel so stale. Until now.

My 5 y.o. son and 7 y.o. daughter have been waiting excitedly for their K and 1st MFW kits to come, and they came yesterday. They have been playing with the math and shape blocks almost non-stop, and our son has been playing with his ABC puzzle over and over with pride. I have never seen them so excited about learning, and what's awesome is that it's FUN. I am much like my kids, I wanted to have fun while learning, and that was the only time I seemed to learn well. I find myself sitting down with the kids and playing with their things! This is just too much fun.

Melissa

We just finished up doing K and 1st this year (we began early since we had another baby this year). It was a FUN year for us all, and I loved the progression from the phonics in K to reading in 1st! Hope your year is a great one!

[AnnieMarie]

I am having a little bit of trouble getting started with my two girls who are also K and 1st. We were supposed to start last week, but the week just kind of slipped away from us. How do you organize your day between the two curriculum? Thanks!

Well, what I did for this year was to have my kindergartener work before breakfast, because she is an early riser. She really enjoyed having time with mommy by herself. Kindergarten never took more than 30 minutes except when there were craft projects to do. We stopped for breakfast and chores then had the kindergartener and 1st grader do calendar, math, 100 chart, coins, bean counting together. Takes about 20 minutes. Kindergartener then went to play with some "school" toys while I worked with the 1st grader on her stuff. Most days we were done by 10:30. I did do each unit for the kindergartener in 5 days and matched up 1st grade exploration days with the light day of kindergarten. I then had them both work on the blocks, science,one painting out of the art books, read a poem out of Eric Carle's Animals, Animals together.

[meljen]

There's a sticky thread in here that tells how to teach K and 1st together. [ http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=191 ] Each does their own math/reading, and then they can do the activities together. I guess we're just slow, we start at about 8/8:30 in the morning and are done by about 11, sometimes earlier sometimes later. Both of our kids get very distracted though. Maybe I'm doing TOO much? Are we supposed to be doing ALL of the activities together from both curriculums?

Oh, and I started both curriculums on the same day (a Thurs) and haven't put any days together, so I think our K's 'light' day is off from our 1st's 'exploration day'. I hope that won't cause a problem in the long-run, I am not the best at organizing homeschool (thus why I needed MFW, lol!)

[Dusenkids]

As for as K/1st at the same time, I can only tell you my plan. This year is just K but I am going to have my 4yr join in on the Bible/science/history part of school. He LOVES science so I won't have trouble holding his attention. Math and reading will just be with my K student. The next year both of my boys will do the 1st bible/science/history and their own grade level math and reading. I figure they will always be different math and reading levels so I might as well get use to doing them separate. I have little games/puzzles that one can work on by themselves while I work with the other. They love books on tape too! I have thought about handwriting practice here too once they have learned to write all of the letters correctly. I also have a reward system for quiet work. This I have already started teaching them the independent stuff and the reward system to get into a routine before real school starts which, for us, is working well. I guess that is my version of a staggered start. This is where not doing MFW1 before comes in but I think that a plan like this would help put the exploration/light days on the same day?
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5510 is the link you are looking for I think.

Like I said this is just my plan. I have taught both grade levels, just not at home or MFW. Let you know how it goes this fall...Ok summer. I can't wait to get started! HTH

[DaniWestRN]

I combine my K and 1st grader similar to how AnnieMarie does. I posted about it on my blog here: http://www.westhavenkids.com/node/2815
One thing we do not do is most of the science/Bible activities from K. My DS was part of everything last year when DD and I did them. This year he joins her in all the Bible and science activities as well. And again, I expect I will not repeat most of this when he does 1st next year.


Postby DaniWestRN » Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:34 pm
...something I wrote up about combining K and 1st. Here it is:

For those who are using My Father's World and combining a K and 1st grader here is what our daily schedule looked like:

For all 3 children (1st, K, and pre-school), circle time with singing 3-4 children's songs.
We would then do our calender time.... day of the week, month of the year, mark the date, and identify and graph the weather.
Then we would sit at the table and DD and DS would do the number of the day and the math from MFW that goes with that.
Then we would do the Bible portion of MFW 1st including having DD1 narrate the Bible passage and color any timeline piece.
We would close our Bible time by singing 2-3 hymns and praying.
I would then either have DD do her verse copy work or work on a math activity by herself while I taught DS his phonics from the MFW K program. Once DS finished the phonics for the day he was also excused.
I would then call DD back and we did all of her phonics work. Once we started Singapore Math, we did it after the phonics was finished.
On science days, we would do the reading and experiments in the afternoons. I would also read aloud to them over lunch when I could.

[spaldingclan]

I combine my K and 1st grader similar to how AnnieMarie does. I posted about it on my blog here: http://www.westhavenkids.com/node/2815
One thing we do not do is most of the science/Bible activities from K. My DS was part of everything last year when DD and I did them. This year he joins her in all the Bible and science activities as well. And again, I expect I will not repeat most of this when he does 1st next year.

That is our situation as well. My DD did all of the K Bible and science activities and a lot of the math and writing activities last year with her big sister.

We did go ahead and start yesterday (I know it should have been Thursday, but that's just not a good start day for me). It worked out well and I pretty did as Anne Marie mentioned above. The two girls did their Math at the same time although they did different activities because they are at different levels. We did bible, music, science and some PE together as well. I am having my youngest dd do the creation unit again because she was so young the first time we did it and I want to make sure she really understands it. We are doing it a little differently this time too so it's familiar, but new too:-)

Thank you for the suggestions and input. It's helpful to read about actual families actually doing it:-)

Blessings!

[MelissaM]

We are at the tail-end of K; this is my 2nd time to use the program. I've never carried school into the weekends.

When we're doing calendar on Monday, I just point to the previous Friday, and say "What day was that? And so what was Sat? (still pointing) And yesterday? And so what's today?" And we fill in today's date. I don't make him fill in the dates for the weekend, but he can if he wants. Sometimes he just goes through the whole calendar at the beginning of the month, and crosses out all the Saturdays and Sundays. Now that he's at the end of K, he's a calendar expert, and I barely need to be awake to get 'er done. (Which is good, since my toddler doesn't always like me to have a full night's sleep. )

I'm not sure why the number cup would be carried into the weekend? You only do that one day per lesson, right? Or is it 2? I think it's 2, but the 2nd day you're still working with the same number - whatever number lesson you're on. So lesson 1, you make a #1 on the card, and count out one bean. Then, when you do the math page (let's say you're on lesson 6 now), the kid picks 2 numbers out of the cup, writes them on the line and draws the corresponding number of objects in the box. I always had my kid do the first box with the number that we were on that week, and then pick one other. Now that we're on number 25, I just have him pick any 2 numbers. He always picks two very small numbers so he doesn't have to do a lot of drawing, LOL. This week, I "suggested" he use the numbers 2 and 5 - I'm so clever, ha.

Anyway - hth. We love this K program so much; I am ready for the end of the school year, but am sad to know I'll be packing this all away for several more years until my youngest is ready for it.


Melissa

[Erna]

Another thing I am doing this year is a circle time board for songs. I'll try to let other know how it goes. :o)

[gratitude]

I am looking at using K, 1st and ADV next year with my 3 little girls who love school. (I will also have a son doing AHL and a sweet 6 mo old baby girl in the mix)
I haven't had a chance to get my hands on the materials yet, but I think I have an understanding of the suggested way of combining the ages. Have YOU done these ages together and how did it work in your home?
thanks,
Rachel

When I did K & 1st together my 1st grader and pre-schooler would join in on many of the K activities. Then my Kindergarten student did all of the phonics and math separately. For MFW 1 my Kindergarten student & pre-schooler would join in on many of the hands on and science activities. Then my 1st grader did all of the Bible reader, notebook, math, etc. separately.

I am now doing 1st & ADV together. So far we are doing ADV for the science. There is some of the science though I would like to re-do for my children in the 1st program, so at some point we may do both. The 1st grader & pre-K are joining in on the hands on activities for ADV. The 2nd grader & pre-K are joining in on the hands on activities for MFW1. Then any LA, reading, Bible copy work, math, etc. is done separately for the 2nd & 1st grader. The recent catalogue suggested buying student sheets for programs for ages 3 & up. I am so glad that I did for the ADV program. When I read the ADV history all 3 of them color on the notebook sheet while I am reading. Then my 2nd grader does the summary sentence, and I leave the summary sentence part of the sheet blank for the youngest 2. I feel like I am tying all 3 of them together more than I ever have, and I am loving it!

If you decide to do all 3 programs you may want to pick between science & Bible hands on activities. I think it would be a lot to try and do the hands on activities for all 3 programs at the same time. At least it would be a lot for me. Perhaps someone will chime in who has done all 3 at the same time.

[Julie in MN]

Lucy posted some suggestions here:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5052

These are about combining just ADV & 1st, but maybe you'll find something good:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2307

Just ADV & K:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3419

And... K, 1st, and an older program... which should be even a tiny bit more, so good to look thru:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1161

Sorry, that's all I have to offer, since I haven't taught K/1st.
Julie