Student Sheets in K - Not needed for younger siblings

[hsm]

I have three children. dd1 age 5 (6 in Sept), dd2 age 3 (4 in Nov) and a baby boy. I plan to use and have already purchased MFW K for the oldest to begin this fall (Aug 2014). I'm thinking it might be a little easy for her because of what we're doing this year (SL P4/5 with LA K and Singapore Earlybird A and B) so I plan to maybe speed it up a little bit.

I'm not sure if I should get the student sheets for dd2 for this fall. Would they be a little hard for her? I don't think that I will officially do kindergarten with her for two more years. She would be 5 when we start K, it would be 2016. So then if I used the student sheets with her for K this year I couldn't do the student sheets with her next year when dd1 is in 1st grade (2015) because that would be to hard for her and then to go back to Kindergarten the following year. Should I get the student sheets for dd2 this year and then next year do something different with her while doing 1st grade with dd1?
I'm not sure what to do with their spacing in age.
Any ideas and/or suggestions?

This is a tricky one I think. It really depends on your approach/philosophy of education and the skill set of your younger dd. I can tell you what I would do but this really is just my opinion for what would work in my family so take it with a grain of salt. My son, who turned 6 in October, is doing Kindergarten. He started it in August coming from 2 1/2 years of preschool (public school) so he had some academic background. He started K knowing all of his letters and their sounds and he could do basic math. Academically he can handle it. But, my son has fine motor strength issues so the sheets that require those skills are hard for him. Also, even though academically he could handle the work and the sheets his readiness to sit and do school is still emerging and the fine motor difficulties make the sheets challenging. I am not sure what the SL cores you mentioned entail as I have no experience there and haven't looked at them. But, I am seeing the value in the better late than early philosophy.

Personally, I would use the preschool package for the younger dd and do K with the older. Even if it is "easy" for her, she will learn so much. Going through it more quickly than normal is doable. Then move her to 1st grade and continue preschool activities with the younger until she starts Kindergarten. After first, you older dd would do Adventures and I would continue the path of K, 1st, then join older for the younger dd. After the youngest completes 1st she would join older dd in the cycle.

I think it is important to do K and 1st at the age appropriate level because of the phonics and handwriting involved. If your younger likes to do school and workbooks you could add some fun workbooks into her day. She will still get a lot of the material your older dd is learning just by listening in on the Bible and Science activities. She could participate as much as she is able and as she is interested.

[kw4blessings]

Hi! I wanted to chime in on your question about whether you should get the K student sheets for your 3yo to use along with the 5yo. I can only give my own experience, and each child is so different. We are using K this year with my 5yo and I also have a 3yo. I had this same debate this time last year when I was purchasing curriculum!

I decided not to get the student sheets for ds3 and I'm glad I didn't. He has only shown interest in joining in with the worksheets 2 or 3 times all year so far....he's 100 mph and all boy. When he does, I've given him a preschool workbook page. I'm all about families learning together, to be sure, but I also try to be frugal. And with the K student sheets being as pricey as they are, I wouldn't get them for a younger sibling unless I was sure he/she would really be involved. (Ex. My second born is really into "school" and would have been ready at that age, but not my third). So, in my case, a workbook from the dollar store meets our needs better!

In MFW's defense of the price of these student sheets, they are chocked full of good stuff, flashcards, games, etc. and the price, as always with MFW, is reasonable for what you get.....just not worth it for me to get two for our situation. Hope that was a little helpful? Have fun, K is such a special year.

[Julie in MN]

I agree with the others that the little one probably won't need a set of student materials.

MFW does recommend student sheets for kids 3 and up starting with Adventures, but the student materials in K and 1st are more like lessons rather than creative materials for a notebook that could be at any level. So, your preschooler can join in all the artwork and other activities, but won't need to practice handwriting, read words, or match words and pictures, because she won't need to work on reading or writing words and numbers yet.

Julie

[CaseyVG]

I think it depends on your younger daughter's attitude towards school time. We did K when my ds was 5 and dd was 3. My daughter wanted to sit at the table with us the entire time, she actually thought she was in K too. She did all the worksheets with us, but she didn't do all the writing. I let her choose what she wanted to do. She did all the crafts/activities with us, and sat with us when we read every book.

Then, when we did 1st grade, she was 4. I knew she wouldn't be able to do all the writing, so I opted not to get the student sheets. Instead, I bought Rod and Staffs A-I series to do with her while her brother did 1st. She still did every craft, sat with us for all the books, and science with 1st.

Now this year we are in Adventures and I bought the sheets for her again. She's doing MFWK now, but still does all of Adventures with her brother. She just really loves school and wants to be just like her older brother. I blogged about each year if you're interested in looking: http://www.simplejoycrafting.blogspot.com

[lea_lpz]

My kids are 2 years apart. I did not get student sheets for my then 3 year old when we did k and I didn't this year for 1st. I plan to do the math and Lang portion, which mfw recommends, when he's in k & 1st and so didn't want it to be repetitive, but like others shared, he's done mfw k & 1st as his "preschool" core- doing Bible, activities, read alouds, etc. and has had fun. For his preschool time last year we did the Rod and Staff About 3 series, mfw preschool package and very simple row each week of BFIAR- totaling about 30 min one on one preschool time. This year we haven't done any one on one for preschool. He has his own calander / # of day sheet / weather chart / name print / and letter of the week stuff I got from a variety of free preschool printable sites he does while dd does her "daily drill". While dd does Lang he does Rod and Staff A-F series and some more letter of the week stuff. When she does the Bible notebook he colors in the Rod and Staff Bible color back with the corresponding page. When she does math he does an mfw preschool toy and so on.

He does mfw 1st Bible, Bible History, science, music, art, hands on math games, pattern blocks, modified reading games with the alphabet, & read alouds but I don't have him do student sheets or the workbook or Bible notebook because I think he won't get the full benefit right now, it'll frustrate him and be dull for him when we do it at his 1st grade go.