BoyMom wrote:Hi! We are planning to use MFW for HS. Our 8th grader is using Analytical Grammar and Writing With Skill this year. He is a strong speller and does a great job with written narrations. We love WWS and would like to use the next level.
I haven't seen the Language Arts component of Ancient History and Literature in person. Does it include writing instruction? I know it has writing assignments. Would using WWS alongside it be redundant? We will continue with Analytical Grammar for sure, but I am not sure if he will need a separate writing curriculum or not. Thank you for any information! We are excited about using MFW for HS and hope to stick with it for the full four years!
Hi and welcome,
It's been a little over a year for us, so I hope someone fresher will answer, too.
From my point of view, I wouldn't want to overload a new high schooler, and would want to spend time on quality over quantity. If I were going to add something, I'd try to find a place to sub it out, at least at first. Here are some conversations about blending other things in:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=11161
Or, maybe I'd start with the program as written, and add only as I saw a need. Both writing and grammar are already included in AHL, but each student's needs and each family's goals will differ.
The Language Arts component of AHL, let's see if I can summarize and then others can correct me
1. Essays - the argumentative essay is the focus of the writing program in AHL. It is taught using a MFW version of a Smarr guide, if you're familiar with that program. If not, there are some samples on my post here, and the first one has an essay-related assignment at the very, very end (and it shows a grammar lesson, too):
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 776#p70945
Let's see, I counted up the essays here, and it looks like 5 over the year:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php ... 763#p92763
I'd say that the beginning and the end of the year feel essay-heavy, especially if you have a kid who needs to be dragged into high school level writing like my happy-go-lucky youngest son

During the middle of the year, you do more projects such as Proverbs, Psalms, and the Greek alphabet.
2. Literature - maybe I'll just refer you to my post above about that, since I'm not sure what questions you might have. The Smarr sample #2 also gives a feel for the pieces of literature that are studied more in depth (not all of them are), and some of the spelling/vocab, I think. Also, the website sample of AHL shows a week where a literature study is being done, so you can see the assignments there:
http://www.mfwbooks.com/products/15/Anc ... e/#Samples
3. There is optional free reading on the grid sometimes, and that might be easy enough to sub out for a grammar or writing program. My son subbed it out for his book club.
Not sure if that was too much bouncing around with links. Keep asking questions if you're puzzled.
Julie