** Testimonies from Users, Even More!

[4monkeyz]

How fun!

Hi - I'm Andrea & we have four kids - 10, 8, 6 & 5 - and one in heaven. Oldest is a boy and then three girls. My dh got a new job this summer, it happened really quick, but it is such a blessing! He will be home more for family dinners and his school sports commitment isn't as huge (he is in administration) I'm not sure when we are going to start school - I was thinking Sept., finish some projects, but my kids are dying to begin now! So I might compromise and start mid-August.

We will be doing CtG, 1st & K. My last kindergartener, sniff. And I don't even want to think of how close Middle School is!!! (next year, gulp, 6th grade) I love MFW and I'm so glad we went to convention way back - it has been a huge blessing to our family and it has brought back the joy of teaching. It has also given us more of a focus of what/why we teach.... Love all the support here and on the various FB groups. A little overwhelming thinking of three TM!!! But I know it can be done.... One of my goals this year is to spend more time with my last two, I feel like I did more with the older ones and bcs. the youngers are so close I just tried to survive (they are 10 1/2 months apart, youngest came 4 wks early). I don't want to miss anything. So I bought the devotion book & art cards, planning lots of snuggling and messes!!

I adore Ancient history & Creation science so I'm super pumped abt. that!! Tomorrow my dh and I are going to get the timeline set up. Yay!

[gratefulmom]

This is fun meeting other MFW users. This our 5th year of homeschooling; 4th year of MFW. We have a small garden, chickens, a dog, a kitten and eight children.

This year my oldest is excited to be going into 9th grade (AHL), Apologia Biology, and (not so excited about) Jacob's Geometry. :-/ Then I'll have 4 in Exploration to 1850's; 8th (Algebra 1), 6th, 4th, and 2nd. We are doing a science coop with another homeschool family, and everyone is excited about that as well. Then I have a 5 year old and MFW K for him, and a little guy almost 3, and Little Miss turning one to throw in the mix. We are hoping to start next week!

Needless to say, I never get bored. I will not cover everything, because I can't. But I know that my children are rich in real life experiences, they are learning a lot, and I remind myself to trust God with the gaps. My oldest 4 are all bookworms, and I'm hoping by the end of this year that my 2nd grade little man will love to read too. Right now he really has to work at reading; it's still a struggle.

Grateful to be on this ride with my sweet, crazy, rambunctious family!

Deborah

[kayben]

Hi everyone, I too seem to be on the older end of the crowd here;) We have been homeschooling for 8 years using a rather eclectic approach to learning. However, I always end up back on this board and with MFW. I have used the pre-k, k, older 1st, Adventures, and parts of ECC with my older kids.

I also have 8 children. My oldest is 17 and is getting married in 2 weeks I am thrilled for her to have found her wonderful Godly husband at such a young age. She graduated high school a year early and completed her first year of college on the dean's list last year. For now she will work while her husband finishes school. Then she dreams of being a homeschooling wife and mother!!

Next , my ds 16 will be using parts of the 11th and 12th grade programs. He needs US History and American Literature. He already took a government class. He is going to stay with our dear friends who sold it all last year and went to the Dominican Republic as missionaries. He wants to spend a few months working for Jesus. Love that. He will take his studies with him. My friends have 5 children and homeschool, so it should work out.

The next group will do ECC, followed by an 8 year old who is slowly catching on with learning to read. She will finish up First Grade and then join in with ECC by Christmas. My 6yr old ds will be doing the new First Grade and my 4.5 year old will slowly work her way through the K program and some of the Rod and Staff ABC series.
Love reading everyone's stories!!!

[Lisa B]

I'm Mom to nine children, two of whom have graduated. This coming year, I'll be homeschooling two 17 year-old seniors (twins!) with MFW High School Year 4, a 14 year-old sophomore with High School Year 2, a 10 and 12 year old (taking a one year break from MFW), a 7 year-old 2nd grader using Adventures, and a kindergartener. I'll be using elements of MFW K with my kindergartener to review phonics and the great Bible concepts, but mostly she'll be tagging along with big brother in "Adventures" while doing some age-level math and Explode the Code since she is already reading some.

The most exciting thing is that my twins will graduate high school this spring and will have used MFW from kindergarten through high school! Can you tell I'm sold on MFW? It's been a wonderful, fun, Biblical, and academically strong curriculum all the way through. I've done MFW K and 1st grade 5 different times, and each of the cores at least 2 or 3 times each.

Best wishes to all as you begin your next homeschooling year!

[meremc]

Hello! I am a first-year homeschool mom in Virginia! We are a military family, and have one son in Kindergarten, and a preschool-aged daughter. Our son begged to start school a couple of weeks ago, so we just started the Sun unit today for Kindergarten. Our daughter has cerebral palsy, and we are still praying about whether or not to homeschool her eventually. We do send her to a preschool program, as they receive extra therapy there, but I would love to feel confident enough eventually to teach her full-time at home. We are loving My Father's World so far!

[rcarr13]

I'm Robin. I have been married to my husband, Douglas, for 10 years. We have one adorable little boy (age 4). We will be starting Kindergarten this year. We plan to begin tomorrow (Aug 5). This will be our very first year homeschooling. I'm a little nervous, but we are also super excited. My son has been telling everyone about how he is doing "kindergarten at home" and how excited he is. We have decided to do school Tuesday-Saturday so that Daddy can join us for fieldtrips and fun projects. It's great to read about the other homeschooling families. Thanks for the posts.

[NJCheryl]

I'm Cheryl and we have 5 amazing children, 3 girls - ages 14, 8, and 11months, and 2 boys -ages 11 and 2 1/2. We began our home school journey 7 years ago when our oldest was entering 2nd grade and we are now beginning her high school career!

I'm excited that we have completed the cycle and are starting round 2 with ECC this year - it is absolutely my favorite year of the cycle! So I will be doing that with my 6th grader and 3rd grader. As for 9th grade, after much prayer we have decided to change curriculum with her this year. We will see how it goes and may bring her back to MFW in 10th grade; this just felt like the way the Lord was moving for her. I have been spending the past 2 weeks preparing for school and will begin in 2 more weeks.

Needless to say teaching 2 elementary age, 1 high school, and having 2 little ones running around I often feel ragged at the end of the day, but would have it no other way!

I have a passion for special needs (my oldest has spina bifida) - I teach special needs Sunday School. All my life I just wanted to be a mom, and I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me in this way.

[Blessedbyfive]

I am mom to 5 little ones. Our oldest son is in 2nd and doing Adventures, then there's the first grade boy tagging along with Adventures but doing his own math and reading. And adding real excitement to our day is a 3 yr. old boy, a 2 yr. old girl and a 1 yr. old girl.

We started out homeschooling Kindergarten with the intention of just trying it out. We curriculum hopped for 1st grade before landing here with MFW. I wanted to do American history and Adventures has rave reviews so we are excited to try it. We finished day 2 today and so far it's going great. We only did the 3R's last year so the cute little projects are super fun.

With children so close in age, MFW seems like a dream come true. I really REALLY hope we love it and it works for our family because I'd love to be able to teach them all together someday. Thanks in advance for the support and encouragement as we begin the MFW journey!

[Missy OH]

We are in this year with RtoR and US2! Our box is arriving today and we are looking forward to another year with MFW!

It is fun to read what everyone is sharing about themselves. We just had our 8th baby a few months ago. We started homeschooling when my boys were in 2nd, 1st, and K. David Hazell was the first homeschool speaker I listened to at a convention. We were so inspired by the Hazell's children when we stopped at the booth that we made a spur of the moment decision and bought MFWK, MFW1st, and ECC. It was a lot of books to carry out! I have now used K and 1st with five of my dc. My second son was a slow beginner reader and I called the office and I remember Marie spending a very long time on the phone reassuring me that he would read, and sharing about their own children. It was the encouragement I needed to keep homeschooling.

Have a great year! Hope to see you all around on the forum often!

[Amy C.]

Hi! I'm Amy. We have 4 boys, ages 15, 13, 10, 3 (almost 4).

My oldest ds will be in 10th grade doing WHL, Jacobs geometry, and Apologia Chemistry, and foreign language. He will be doing an online chemistry class this year. This will be our first experience with an online class. I am learning lots with my firstborn. He is our first to homeschool high school. He is our first to get his permit and prepare for a driver's license. Poor thing! He thinks he has it hard! He tells his 3 y/o brother quite often how easy he is going to have it! And I am sure he is right! But I couldn't have asked for a better firstborn to pave the way! He is our avid outdoorsman and adventurer.

We will be cycling back through ECC this year with my other 3 children (with the 3 y/o obviously just tagging along). I will have an 8th grader and a 4th/5th grader doing it.

My 8th grader is easy-going (most all the time). He loves old westerns (thanks to his father), sports, playing and watching. He is a reader/studier. He has a sweet spirit. In addition to ECC with the 7th/8th grade supplement, he will be doing Apologia Physical Science, grammar, progeny press guides, and Alg 1, which he is nervous about.

My third child is the 4th/5th grader. I did start him with K the Aug after he turned 5 in July. Had he been in ps I would not have put him in school but wanted to ease into it and see how he did. We spread 1st over 2 years. In retrospect I wished I would have waited another year in starting school with him. He has struggled even when I remediated everything and began again. We have not gotten an official diagnosis, but believe there are LDs, ADD being one of them. We have gotten some help from a wonderful lady in our school district, and he has made great strides this past year in reading. He has continued to read through the summer, and I am having him read out loud to me as well as silently to himself. He is like a totally different child in his reading today as compared to even 3 months ago. 6 months ago I wouldn't have been able to make him pick up a book. This summer I haven't been able to keep one out of his hands. I have dreamt of the day I would see this. His brothers are avid readers, and I wanted him to love to read as well. I am so proud of him for working so hard! He has shown improvement in math as well. We have worked so hard, but the rewards are worth it! I learn lots from this child as well. He is a social child and loves people. He is always thinking about others and what kinds of gifts he can give others. Sometimes its just a unique rock he finds, but he is looking for someone to give it to.

My 3 y/o is, well, a pure joy. He is our late in life baby, and he is our BABY in every sense of the world. He is much loved and some people would call him spoiled, but how can you not be with 2 parents and 3 older brothers at your beck and call! His vocabulary has really blown me away. I said I WOULD NOT push and rush him, especially after my experiences with my other boys. His birthday misses the "school" cutoff here by one day. I guess I will have to just see how things progress, but I am going to try to be very cautious in not rushing him. I am also learning how fast the days go by, and I miss the other boys' "little days". I am trying to savor every day with all of my boys!

All of my boys (including my dh) are scouters. My older two boys are ready to start their eagle projects. They are preparing to advance in the OA this weekend. My third born will be finishing his last year of cub scouts this next year (with his father as his leader), preparing to bridge over to boy scouts. They enjoy backpacking. My oldest ds had the opportunity to attend Philmont in New Mexico this summer, and he loved it. Hopefully, there will be other trips there in the future for all my boys, including my dh.

Well, that about sums it up!
Amy C.

[Joyhomeschool]

What a great idea! I'm Vicki. We have 7 children and have been homeschooling for 9 years, 6 with MFW. This year we will be using 1850~MOD with a 1st grader as well. We love MFW. My kids are in 8th, 6th, 4th, 2nd and 1st with a 2yo and a 3yo.

[TNLisa]

I'm Lisa and we We have two children. Our daughter will be a 10th grader and has been homeschooled since 1st grade. Our son will be a freshman in college this fall and was homeschooled at different points along the way. The Lord led us to My Father's World when my daughter was a 3rd grader. We have done Exploring Countries and Cultures all the way through the complete 5 year cycle, and now about to begin our second year of high school (WHL).

I am thankful for My Father's World. I've tweaked it at times to fit our schedule and/or a child's learning style but it is the biblical worldview that has been the glue.

[CaseyVG]

I'm Casey. We have 4 children and have been homeschooling since the beginning using MFW. I'm so glad we found this curriculum right off the bat! We'll be using ECC this year for my son in 3rd grade, and MFW 1st for my 1st grade daughter. She'll be doing almost everything with her brother in ECC, so only doing the phonics, bible and math from 1st.

My 3rd child is a 2 1/2 year old boy that makes things difficult! He is very advanced in his vocal skills, and also in his "getting into things" skills! I've listened to some of David Hazel's workshop CDs and am taking some of his advice with including him in our school. I have a pencil box ready for him just like his siblings full of new crayons and even scissors (Yikes!). I have a lot of plastic shoe boxes full of the toddler/preschool toys, and other things I've collected. He'll get to use these boxes at the table with us.

Lastly, we have an 8 month old baby boy that is already on the move! I plan on starting school Aug 18th. I have blogged about each year we've done and plan on blogging through ECC as well. (See my signature for my blog address if you want to stop by.) Happy homeschooling everyone!

[thelapps]

Oh this is nice meeting all of you! I am Marie. We have 5 sons (ages 16, 15, 12, 10 & 9) and I have lost 3 pregnancies since the youngest was born 9 years ago. And yes, those ages indicate another driver in the family and another learning driver!

We began our homeschool journey when our oldest was ready for 7th grade and began to use MFW the following year. It has been a lifesaver in a family of boys! Sometimes I think the curriculum was tailored for boys and yet I realize the Hazells do not have only sons as we do. We begin Expl-1850 next week with the 3 youngest.

Our school days started Aug 11th, finishing up RTR and doing Math. The 2 oldest have been helping their father with construction- big 6 ft plus guys!- and will begin next week with their high school studies. Personally I prefer when they leave the house and go do some manual labor. It surely helps their attitude. The 3 youngest and I have been busy with the housework and food preservation after school hours. Audio books are a lifesaver when doing these things!

Over the summer one thing that came home to me is to be serious about school hours. Focus on school alone and get it done. Then focus on other things that need doing. Also through the Homeschool Co-op I purchased the Homeschool Planet- an online planner that I find very helpful.

Another thing that I have become aware of is how important it is to focus on the 3 R's. I can get carried away with history and science, art and music, etc, but I am realizing that those who have a good solid foundation in the 3 R's can educate themselves quite well in the other things. If we have too broad a focus our children might not get much of anything.

I enjoy all sorts of things I can hardly ever get done. We sing four part harmony as a family- such fun! I love children and I love being able to teach my sons and enjoy life with them. I did some tutoring for our church school this summer because I have some experience using the Barton System. Our 4th son is dyslexic. It has been such a joy to see him begin to read now that we use this system.

Most of all I'm just a common mum whose laundry is never done, whose house is always dirty in some place or more, whose garden is full of weeds, whose sink is often full of dishes and who is terrified of keeping high school records!
Blessings to all of you!

[Kab]

HI Everyone,

I'M Kim and my Husband and I have two young girls grade 3 and grade 4. We have been homeschooling for 4 years now and will be doing CTG this year. We took last year off and tried another curriculum but decided to come back to My Father's World a tried and true curriculum. I am very excited about starting up the new school year next week. Once we get our curriculum I know the girls will be excited about it with all the fun and exciting things to do.

My goal this year is to stay organized and get up before the girls and get the day started out right beginning with the Lord and a cup of coffee. Stay on track and ignore my phone in the mornings.

Have a good year everyone!!!

[Poohbee]

I've gotten very excited and inspired lurking around here, so I thought I'd jump in and introduce my family. I'm a mama of 3 (4 yo dd, 3 yo ds, 1 yo ds). In a way I guess we already are a homeschooling family. I had wanted to "cobble it together" and use some of the amazing resources I had found in my years of curriculum reading (anyone else read catalogs as a hobby?), and since I have a sister-in-law who has homeschooled or is homeschooling 14 children, I had plenty of advice. One day she handed me a My Father's World catalog, and I fell in love. I had no idea that my three favorite educational theories (Charlotte Mason, Classical, and unit study) had been combined that way. It's truly an answer to prayer, almost a prayer I hadn't even prayed, because here was the program I had been trying to cobble together! My husband is also happy with our choice, and reminds me that time is just as valuable as money when I start to waffle about our choice and say we can "do it ourselves" cheaper. I'm not even sure that's actually true, but at any rate, he's absolutely right. MFW has already done the planning for me, and with three little ones, that kind of brain power savings is surely worth its weight in gold. Or dollars and cents.

Anyway, we've already bought MFW K, and I'm so happy as I read through the manual. Reading all of the posts here makes me think that yes, I really can teach my own children. I'm using this winter to train her and my older son on some basic household tasks, like unloading the dishwasher, folding clothes, and making their beds. And brushing their teeth properly! We're also going to read a LOT of books, because that's my favorite. I hope this investment of time now will pay off in easier mornings when we are schooling.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to post and encourage others and ask questions. It allows a newbie like me to feel secure enough to join the conversation. I think I'll start checking out all the Kindergarten ideas now...

GOD bless,
Stephanie

Welcome to homeschooling and to MFW, Stephanie!

I'm so glad you've been lurking and now have joined the conversations! Reading your post took me back to when we first started using MFW 8 years ago. Like you, I knew I wanted to homeschool my kids since my eldest (now 13!) was born. I was a public school teacher, and it just seemed like the perfect thing for me to teach my own kids, since I knew I was going to be home with them. (I am so thankful for my supportive husband who just hopped on board with my desire to be a stay-at-home mom and to homeschool our kids)! Because I had done lesson planning and been on curriculum committees before, I figured I would just put together my own curriculum for teaching my kids. When my oldest was about 2 or 3, I received a MFW catalog in a homeschool card pack that came in the mail. I loved the look of the Kindergarten curriculum! We ordered it when my oldest turned 5, and we've been using MFW ever since!

As you said, it is just such a blessing to have all of the planning done! Marie (the author of MFW), and David, her husband, have such beautiful hearts! It's been a highlight for me to have visited MFW in Rolla and met Marie and David when my husband and I attended Vision Weekend several years ago. Anyway, what Marie has done with the MFW curriculum--integrating Bible, creating a literature-rich, hands-on curriculum--is just what I would have done myself, but now all of the work and planning has been done for me. And you're right...having the researching and planning done for you is priceless!

Having done every year of MFW except high school (we're in Year 5 of the 5-year cycle right now), I can say with confidence that MFW only gets better and better each year.

You will absolutely LOVE the MFW Kindergarten program! I've been through it twice, with each of my girls, and now I am going through it for the third and final time with my son. Going through it again with him has been such a delight. Watching him grasp the Bible and character concepts has been so precious. My son is autistic, and he obsessively grasps onto certain things in his learning. My goodness, you should see the interest he has taken in the 7 days of Creation and the phases of the moon! He is so excited about them! Kindergarten is truly a delightful and precious year!

Again, welcome to homeschooling and to MFW! I am so excited for you as you soon begin your journey! Enjoy the planning you will do between now and next July!

[klewfor3]

Hello and welcome!

I don't post an awful lot but, I do check out the board for help. Especially the archives. Wonderful resource!

We are in year 4 of homeschooling and we have used MFW all 4 years. I have to laugh because the Lord has a sense of humor. I can't believe I am even homeschooling! My husband had a job change so we decided to homeschool ONE year...just until we got adjusted. It was terrifying! I had two weeks before school started so I couldn't do much research. I bought MFW based on the recommendation of a friend of a friend (if you knew me you would know how unnerved I was to just wing it!) Shortly after buying the curriculum I signed up for a co-op just an hour before registration closed. I didn't even know what a co-op was at the time! Again, I made my decision based on the recommendation of a friend. To top it all off, these friends were not even homeschoolers themselves. Now here we are and I am so thankful!! It is wonderful that the Lord directs our paths even when we are not expecting it.

Sigh, I say all that to say that you and I may have started from different points of view but for what it is worth, I think MFW sounds like a perfect fit for you.

I hope you enjoy your first year as much as we did!

Kathy currently doing RTR and MFW-1st
Married 13 years
ds, 11, (ADV, ECC, CTG)
dd, 8, (MFW-1st, CTG)
dd, 7, (MFW K)
ds, 1-1/2, and napping well!

[familyzablocki]

Thank you both for the encouragement and warm welcome! Every time I come here I'm so inspired and encouraged. Last night I was talking with another mom who used MFW (the first I've met in RL), and all I can do is thank GOD for HIS mercy is directing us this way. I want my children to have happy childhood memories, and it sure seems like this is an excellent way to do that.

[kw4blessings]

Welcome Stephanie,

I had to laugh when you asked if anyone reads curriculum catalogs as a hobby, because, I do!! We are in our third year with MFW and adore it. (It's my favorite catalog to read by the way...I may or may not have sections memorized ). We did K with my second born last year (along with Adv for my oldest). We're working on 1st for the second time this year and looking forward to ECC and K again next year. Kindergarten is so wonderful...enjoy every moment. I SO wish we had found it when my oldest was doing K. When we did it last year with my son, I was doing K and ADV together (with 2 more kiddos in tow), so we didn't have time to get to all the fun activities in the K teacher's manual. They look fantastic.

So, all that said, enjoy your first year and take advantage of all the fun activities Marie suggests. Oh, and buy a laminator if you don't have one already. You will not regret it. One of the best purchases I've ever made.

Blessings!

[Yodergoat]

Welcome! I understand your excitement because I felt the same way when we were first starting with MFW Kindergarten. Our daughter is now in third grade and using ECC. That first year was AMAZING, and I was just using the first edition which was not as streamlined as the newer edition (or so I hear). I will only ever have that one Kindergarten experience (having only one child and highly unlikely to be blessed again), and I am so very thankful that we used MFW. We loved our Kindergarten year!

One advantage of beginning to plan so early is that it will allow you plenty of time to gather fun little extras for each unit of K. I had my package fairly early and familiarized myself with the topical units and character qualities, then kept my eye out at thrift stores, discount bins and elsewhere for little items that went along with each... stickers, puzzles, small plastic toys, videos, books, etc. Most things were just a quarter or so. I made a file for each unit and would slip the items in as I found them. By the time school started and each unit rolled around I had a fun little treasure trove of items in each unit's file folder. They were just simple things, but I find great pleasure in little things built around a theme. It also gave me something to "do" while I waited until it was time to begin schooling!

Again, welcome!

[Cici]

but I'll start with just one.

My kids are ds 10.5, dd 8.5, and ds 5.5. I really would like to keep everyone together with the exception of the skills areas. That's what initially led me to look at Simply Charlotte Mason - the combined family advantage. But then I remembered that MFW does this as well, plus puts tremendous weight on a Godly world view and perhaps is a bit more.....robust? So here I am.

If I were to switch over to MFW, I understand that we should start in ECC with my oldest two. I literally just received Rod & Staff's math this past week and we'll be testing that. I see that PLL and ILL is suggested by MFW along with specific spelling programs but I wouldn't know where to begin. Do others sub in different CM friendly LA programs?

Thank you in advance! I'm trying to get my thoughts organized to figure all this out.

Hi!
I don't have the LA answer you're seeking as my oldest is just finishing up MFW 1st grade. However, I would just like to say that I've done about 3/4 of Ambleside Year 1 before switching to MFW.

It was a breath of fresh air!! MFW's Teachers Manual is priceless Seriously... The way the bible is weaved in & out with unit study ideas & plans is wonderful!

You won't regret your decision & you can still enjoy those great reads from Ambleside during night (etc...) reading time with your children. A lot of the titles are actually recommended in MFW First Grade which you'll probably get for your 5.5 year old.

I'm sure someone will chime in soon to (actually) answer your question, lol.
Hope you're having a Beautiful day

[moonangel]

I actually just switched back to MFW... I found that even though I liked the ideas behind SCM, it just didn't work for us in action. Getting back to MFW is very much God's doing because we got there in a very round about way. I did MFWK with my oldest a couple years ago but the manual drove me nuts (which has since been revised, much better now!). I tried to go to a preschooler talk at a local convention, but my little one wouldn't have any part of it. I contacted them to see if there were any notes for the seminar because I really did want to hear it. I had no idea MFW offered seminar CDs! I started reading through the descriptions and couldn't decide on just one so I ordered them all . What a blessing they have been! Life changing, to say the least. In June my DH started asking about MFW because of what David talked about on the CDs, but I told him I already had purchased so much for the year. Fast forward to October and that nagging thought wouldn't go away for either of us. It took a while for me to finally take the plunge, but it's been so worth it. God has a sense of humor - the first English lesson was on squirrels - which my son is absolutely obsessed with... what a random confirmation! Our days are flowing much better now, my son is starting to enjoy school again and so am I. I have 4 little ones ranging in age from 22 months to 7 1/2 and in this stage of life I need a bit more guidance and hand holding that comes with a boxed curriculum. The inclusion of an NIrV Bible has been wonderful... I never would have bought it on my own, but within a week of getting it my son was reading!! The Bible is his go-to reader - how awesome is that??

I know I am rambling at this point, but I just wanted to share a small part of our story (there are SO many God moments intertwined).

As for math, it's not scheduled in detail. You have a blank box to add in your own lessons so you can use whatever. I personally had already found Singapore to be a good match for us so that worked out well. As for English, I wasn't sure what to do so I just went with what they recommended - if I'm going to go, might as well go all out, right? It's been a nice gentle approach and he's enjoying the lessons. We're doing most of the orally because he's not a very strong writer yet, but he's getting there.

[kw4blessings]

Hi there. We love MFW and wish we had found it earlier as well. It was/is a huge answer to prayer for our family!

I wanted to chime in about your LA and math questions/comments. I would encourage you to use MFW's LA recommendations. PLL and ILL are both solid CM style LA curriculums. We used the 1st half of PLL with my dd last year. While it went well, we are thrilled with the new Language Lessons for Today that MFW recently put out. They have the 2nd and 3rd grade books available right now. LLFT is the same CM style LA that is so great in PLL, but in updated language and with more specific and clear instructions for Mom. A big plus for me. I would encourage you to call the MFW office and ask about placement with yours. Yes, others do sub in other LA and spelling programs. The grids in the Teacher's Manuals allow you to write in whatever you are using.

With math, Singapore is the recommendation, but it's easy to substitute any math program that works for your child. I'm finally starting to realize how each child is so different and what works for one, even within a family, may not work for another.

Hope that helped a little!

[ruthamelia]

Hi- I just wanted to second Kelly's suggestion to try language Arts as recommended. We are now most of the way through both PLL and ILL and I am impressed with the amount of learning that happens from these short, concentrated lessons. You could simply start each book at the appropriate grade level recommendation. Alternatively, you could look through the book a bit to see where your child's skill level seems to fit. I don't think either book needs to be started from the beginning.

Writing strands (probably only your oldest would need this for now) is effective for us as well. The 11yo is already a fairly proficient writer, yet the lessons are stretching him to evaluate his writing and be more intentional about how he writes- all in 2 short exercises a week. For placement, go ahead and start at level 3. That's what we're using this year even though he is kind of straddling 5th/6th grade. If your 10yo likes to write, this will improve his skills. If he doesn't like to write, the lessons are short and low pressure, with only 2 per week!

Also, quite a bit of language arts skills are threaded throughout the curriculum. ECC includes weekly vocabulary words, copy work and dictation of memory verses, and additional short writing assignments for each country. I can't speak to the spelling curriculum - all the kids seem to be developing natural spelling skills from exposure to lots of written material, along with a bit of help from copy work and dictation. All I do for spelling is list any words misspelled from the previous week's work- usually 2 or 3 words- for the 8yo to work on the following week. I have heard great things, though, about spelling power, and if we needed something for spelling I think that is definitely what I would try first.

For math, as others have mentioned Singapore is a suggestion but you can easily use whatever math you like. It doesn't really affect anything else, you can just fill in the blank math box on the grid with whatever you are using.

[Joyhomeschool]

Thirding using MFW LA suggestions. I think you will find them simple enough to implement and very CM!

On Math, no suggestions here. But a testimony. When we started with MFW I looked at Singapore and was so scared by it! It didnt make any sense. I went with another company and we all did fine. We took the jump to singapore this year and Im so impressed with it! I really like how it works. It took some learning on my part the first few months but now its easy to use and it really makes sense!