Hi Sheila,sheilanne wrote:I have some priority questions. I am in my fourth year using MFW. I started with MFWK then MFW1 with my two oldest. We did everything, every library book, every experiment, stuff I added to expand when I wanted to, extra art projects, etc. It was wonderful. Then I did ADV and was able to go more "by the book" since it was more appropriate for my older daughter. This year, I am doing MFWK with #3 dc and ECC with #1 and #2. However, also this year we joined a co-op that meets from 9-4:30 every Mon. The co-op offers classes that meet the NYS requirement. Health, art, science, writing, music and Spanish are all covered through the co-op with homework. It's been wonderful, but it's been tough trying to figure out exactly what to make my top priorities in ECC and MFWK. We've been through some trial and error.
My questions are related to next year. I plan to do CTG and MFW1 and then some pre-K/K4 stuff. I'm going to need to do some prioritizing again. What do you feel are the most important parts of CTG, the parts that shouldn't be missed? And what parts can be minimized or eliminated entirely without tremendous detriment to the program? I love everything about MFW so eliminating anything feels like cutting off a finger, but we can only do so much.
This is a hard and tricky question because I think that some families would chose different things but I am going to give you my thoughts and I am sure others will have some too.
Bible-yes, very connected to this years study of history
Vocabulary(English From the Roots Up)-this does not take much time each day and is very valuable in building reading skills.
History-yes
Science-could let this go if you are doing it somewhere else. This year is very experiment-based and only uses library books to go deeper with. So you could choose to do only the experiments with the information given in the book and not try to go much deeper with the books.
God and the History of Art-very good and connects to art of the time period but may need to let this one go.
Music-famous artists, but not connected to history
Read Alouds-These are excellent books although they are not connected to the study of history in this year. I would try to read them if at all possible.
I hope this helps you a bit as look ahead to next year.
Lucy