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does MFW work as a spine with SCM/AO supplementation?
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I am STILL trying to figure out a long term plan for curriculum for my dc (now 5 and 3), starting year1 with the to-be 6yo in August. I initially wanted to do AO as scheduled, but have since decided that like people on the thread about higher up and further in curriculum, I do not want to read so much for 2 different years and I don’t want to wait till my oldest is 8 to start both children in year 1 together. I have highly considered SCM 6 year rotation and am still considering it, but I really like the MFW schedule….especially the concept of the Adventures and ECC years, followed by the 4 year history rotation cycle using SOTW and other books (having both children on the same cycle once my youngest learns the 3 Rs). However, I am not a “busywork” type person and I am sure I wouldn’t do the many crafts, worksheets, science projects, etc…that come with the program. And while MFW covers artists and composers, I am thinking the SCM or AO suggestions on artist/composer study each term will be more to our liking. The only reason why I’m thinking of not doing SCM modules instead is because I think the ADV and ECC years with MFW will fit well with my education goals….thinking after those 2 years I could use SCM or AO history books as heavy supplement to our history curriculum in the 4 year vs. 6 year rotation that MFW uses. That would put our ds in 8th grade when he would repeat the ECC year (with more advanced reading to cover the geography, countries, and missionaries of the world before he starts high school). I hear MFW has CM and classical components, but it seems they start language arts and notebooking much soooner than CM recommends….and they do tend to have many worksheets and paper “crafty” projects that will get thrown away not long after making them. So while I like the academic content covered and the order in which it is covered of MFW better, I LOVE the way SCM or AO curriculum lay out better. Does this make sense?
I’m asking on this site, because I know many use combos of SCM, AO, MFW, Truthquest, and other similiar curriculums. Interested if anyone has come up with some sort of combo to fit individual their family. I’m truly not trying to confuse the curriculum…..my goal is to have a curriculum but for a curriculum not to have me. For year1, I’ve already decided against purchasing a 1st grade curriculum package and doing the copywork, phonics, math, lit readings, artist study, composer study, hymns, poetry, nature study etc…..from AO and SCM suggestions. After that is when I’d be looking into doing MFW ADV (studying the US in depth with oldest), but want to do the CM way and not the “busywork way”.
Thanks in advance for your advice!
Check this out …http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/scmmfw-users – especially the link to the blog, as you might find it will help you one way or another.
I’m not very familar with MFW. I imagine you could make it work if it wouldn’t bother you to have a bunch of stuff planned for you that you didn’t do (and you didn’t mind paying for that). I’m a box checker personality and came from Sonlight, which I loved overall, but the need to check every box to feel on top of things was too stifling for me…and not enough time to add in more CM ideas. But if you can get past that, you should be fine:)
You might want to check out “Planning Your CM Education” sold here. It’s been immensely helpful for me to create my own CM curriculum and make sure my bases are covered, complete with downloadable schedules. Then I’m following MY schedule, which works much more smoothly….and easy to adapt as needed. We use Truthquest history with SCM and AO books….and pretty much just pick and choose ideas from both sites to create our own curriculum based on our needs. You could do the same with MFW/AO/SCM. It’s some work at the beg. of the year getting it all planned, but very worth it for me. HTH some:) Gina
How did your planning go? I am planning my boys 1st and 2nd grade years to start in June 2012. We used My Father’s World for K and 1st and liked them pretty well.
However, I found I was always supplementing because they didn’t seem like enough on their own. I think this is because they are designed to be taught to younger children who can also listen in on the lessons of older siblings. MFW K and 1st are great time savers for when my third child is ready, but for my two older kids I needed more content.
We used Story of the World: Ancient Times this past year and loved it. We plan to use Vol. 2 next year but I’m also looking in to the SCM materials.
I decided not to do the MFW 2nd grade because I would be supplementing again. Why not just use the SCM guide and only put in materials I know will be complete and enjoyable? We’ll give it a try and see!
Having done MFW Adv & doing ECC now… I must say that I’m actually thinking of switching over to SCM.
We REALLY enjoyed ADV… but ECC, not as much. My daughter fell in love with certain countires that got little coverage & quickly became bored with some that last 3 weeks or more.
Both of my children yearned for more science… so we’ve decided to start Apologia… and Singapore Math has been a huge flop for us. Which has kinda left History-Bible-Literature being what we “use” MFW for. And since *I’m* not personally crazy about their literature, I think I’ve come to the conclusion that the cost of the curriculum is just not making any sense any more.
I have heard a coupla others mention doing the SCM modules in a rotation of 4, so it is possible… and if you really wanted to pursue ADV & ECC that may be an option!
I’ve not done the younger years of MFW, but the year we did together was fairly intense in its requirements; I can’t see supplementing. From reading the post above, it sounds like a good idea might be to do a SCM module, and then sub in the books from MFW that were most appealing. We’ve done something like that with some of our books from our old Sonlight days, subbed in as read-alouds in a more CM-style manner.
I did SL and MFW with my dd (6) in 1st grade. I started with SL (8 weeks) and then used MFW. I quickly realized that I am not a box checker personality. I was supplementing so much that when it came to 2nd grade I decided to make my own plan. I really like doing this because financially it allows us to buy books that we are interested in from any booklist. (SL, MFW, SCM, AO)
One of our goals in purchasing materials for HS is for a majority to be living books. I had considered ECC for 3rd grade, but after going book by book through that cirriculum I quickly realized that many of them were not living books.
I think MFW is a great cirriculum for families who like the style, but it just wasn’t for us.
Can’t believe its been only 3 months since I posted this as I have researched much and changed my mind once again! The recent thread titled “MFW or CM, I need to decide” was helpful in my planning.
Last weekend I did as someone from that thread suggested and downloaded the SCM handbook samples. I sat dh down at the computer with me for him to compare MFW and SCM history. He listened to my pros and cons of each and what input I have gotten from this forum, the MFW forum, and the AO yahoo groups. He liked the looks of MFW. I think it looked comfortable to him because it does look more like “school at home” with the worksheets, projects, checkboxes, etc… Thankfully, although he doesn’t think MFW is too much $$$ for what you get, he understands that I don’t want to spend much money to buy a TM that I won’t use as is. If he were doing the teaching, he would choose MFW, but unlike me he likes things planned out to the detail.
I then showed him the SCM modules history plan that seems to integrate ancient history in the correct order as events happened according to the Biblical chain of events. For example…..the textbook history spine doesn’t start until after the tower of Babel when the people were scattered. MFW may do this too, but I like Sonya’s explanation as to why she takes 3 years vs. 1 to go through the material (mainly to slow down other ancient studies to keep pace with the Biblical timeline of events). I also discovered last w/e that SCM has hands on activities to go along with the history study (something I didn’t realize until looking more closely at the website). So we decided that SCM history plan looks llike it will fit our desires in a history plan…..in a format that leaves me the freedom I desire to tweak, and saves money.
I’m sure MFW TM is a great resource, but for me not worth $98/year since I don’t need a box to tell me what to do each day in other subjects. The only thing I plan to modify from SCM is to wait until ds is in 3rd grade to start the modules. That would allow his 1st grade year to focus on good literature, the 3R’s, and learn things I’ve been slow at teaching him like house cleaning and helping in the kitchen. Then 2nd grade, I would like to do a light US history study (I’ve been reading the recent thread on this forum where many suggest doing US history with younger children….something I liked about the idea of MFW ADV). I may get SCM US history spines for that and supplement with books from the library. For me, there seems to be too many good US history books geared toward younger children to wait to do US history till the later years. Thoughout this time, our dc will get Bible through devotions at home, AWANA, and our church’s Bible rotation program. When ds starts 3rd grade, dd will then be 1st grade. I think starting the SCM modules then will be a good time for us. Ds would finish the modules when he is in 8th grade, giving me the flexilibity to repeat the modules at a faster pace for his high school years, or choose a different high school history curriculum. With dd finishing the modules in 6th grade, she could repeat the modules a 2nd time unless choose we something different for upper years.
So, that’s our plan TODAY. I should rest in that “simple” Simply Charlotte Mason plan for a while, and resist the temptation to entertain something else which would start start the comparing all over again 😉 . Although, it is tempting to throw Truthquest, AO, HUFI, OFE, SOTW with activity guides, and MOH back into the mix, lol.
ibkim2,
I like your plan! I, too, really want to work on US during the early years. I think that is what keeps holding me back from following the SCM history modules. My children are 2 years apart also, so your plan would work for us. I hadn’t thought about the fact that starting in 3rd grade would mean I could choose something totally different for highschool. That is a plus, because I think we are required to have 1 year of US history, 1 year of World history or geography. I know that is far in the future, but the decisions we make in the early years do affect their later years. Thank you for sharing your plans. This type of sharing IS helpful for others (and you too I’m sure).
Jennifer
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