FIAR, MFW, or Sonlight for my K daughter? - PLEASE help!!!

[MitchellMom]

OK, I am desperate for advice and I really need to make a decision *soon* for my daughter as far as curriculum is concerned. Basically whatever we start, we are going to do now through August. She is reading and she can write all of her letters and she loves being read to. I thought Sonlight would be perfect but a friendly forum member pointed out that a curriculum such as FIAR might be more likely to teach us to savor the books we read. (Or will SL do the same?...) I've also considered My Father's World; however, if I choose MFW, would I have to choose the first grade curriculum, since the K curriculum basically teaches letter sounds?

Basically I do not need a Phonics program; nor do I need a math program. I need a program that will teach my daughter (and tag-along son!) to enjoy and cherish books, and to use them to learn more about the world at large.

I am desperate desperate desperate for advice! Please help a newbie!!! Thanks in advance :)

[Testimony]

All of those programs you mentioned are excellent in my opinion. All would help your child to love books. I think that it is a matter of your tastes in my opinion.

Blessings in your homeschooling journey!

Sincerely,
Karen
www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[Kuovonne]

Both Sonlight and FIAR use rich, wonderful books. I'm not familiar with MFW.

For Sonlight, you could just use the history & read-alounds along with your own phonics and math program.
FIAR also includes some language arts and math, but the language arts isn't complete and the math is mostly counting, so again, you would be fine with your own phonics and math.

I think that a *major* difference between Sonlight and FIAR is how they schedule the books. In Sonlight, you read a little bit from several different books each day, including some chapter books and books with few pictures. Each books is read once, and the order of books is scheduled for you. However, in FIAR you read the same beautifully illustrated book all the way through every day for a week, and you can do the books in any order. Of course, you could re-read Sonlight books or skip the re-reading of FIAR books, but that's now how the programs are set-up.

So, if you think you and your children would prefer re-reading shorter books with pictures, I'd recommend FIAR. However, if you would prefer longer works, don't like re-reading, and don't need the pictures, I'd recommend Sonlight.

[cbollin]

I've used MFW for a long time and love it!!! With that said, please don't use their 1st grade program with your 4 y.o. 1st grade in MFW has a lot of writing in it and is not the right program for what you have described in your 4 y.o child. It is an excellent program even if you have a 1st grade AGE child who is reading. My middle child did fine it. It is so much more than just reading. But, I don't think it is the exact program you want to use right now.

I have used MFW's K program with my middle child who was already reading and we really enjoyed the hands on activities that were part of science and character building and focus on who God is. I'm glad we used it with her. She didn't forget how to read by using it. It starts with letter sounds, but the kids are reading short vowel stories around the middle of the year. Lots of good stuff for multisensory approach with writing too. And some people get a used copy of the manual to enjoy the science/hands on/ character lessons. It is a unit study. Each unit has 6 days worth of material. One of those 6 days is a literature based day. (MFW assumes that you are reading to your child everyday of course. But for school time, there is one out of 6 days per unit of reading a book and then doing activities from the book.) It is a perfect fit for us. We love reading the books that are age appropriate. My youngest is in MFW K now.

I haven't used SL except as a reading list with my oldest and had to put that reading list down. We weren't enjoying it as much as we did enjoy FIAR with our oldest. Too often we thought the books were too long or had stuff that topic wise we just wanted to wait until she was a bit older. But, I haven't seen their list for K in over 6 years. all families have different opinions on that.


When my oldest was about 4 or 5, we did a lot of fun things with books and library programs to help her enjoy literature. It didn't really come from curriculum as much as it just came from enjoying books together and not stressing over it. But we really liked FIAR to keep it fun. I did tend to try to over teach the social studies and language arts parts of it. Keep in mind that FIAR is designed for ages 4-7 (or close to that) so some lessons with the story do not have to be done with a 4 or 5 year old. I just wish someone had told me that when I was using it with my oldest. I was taking the fun out of it. But the books are good.

We enjoyed watching Reading Rainbow to enjoy good books. We attended puppet shows and storynight at the library.

-crystal

[happyWImom]

I have tried Sonlight, and have used MFW K, am using MFW 1st, and also just bought FIAR to supplement.

The concept of Sonlight has appealed to me so much, that I have tried it twice-but never finished! I am not thrilled with the way they schedule, and I felt like we could never get everything finished. I know you don't have to, but-it wasn't for us. At least not right now-maybe we'll try it again sometime. Because I do like the books.

I LOVE MFW, because they use the Charlotte Mason method-short lessons, the core subjects but also stress the importance of the arts and nature activities. Best of all-they are the only curriculum I've tried (and I have tried too many to list:tongue_smilie:) that have kept our days stress free and lessons done before noon if we start on time. We still read books in the afternoon or evening, but the lessons are done. I did purchase FIAR on a whim, and because we have many of the books on the list, but I'm not using it instead of MFW, I'm going to try some of their ideas and incorporate them in. That's the beauty of MFW, it allows you to do that.

I really think you can't go wrong with MFW K, everyone raves about it. Then, maybe add FIAR if you feel you need to, or just get the books from their list or Sonlight's to add to it. Have you gone on the message boards on their website? Check out the info there.

Good luck, and don't panic.

[Karen in CO]

I really would suggest you try FIAR for the following reasons:


It is the least expensive way to go.
If you don't like it as a full program, you will probably still love it as a supplement.
After a few weeks of working with this, you will really be making BIG steps toward learning how to not only enjoy books with your children, but how to use a variety of approaches to teach your children.
It is VERY easy to start.
It is VERY gentle.
You will be able to start with this and add to it and learn about your teaching style and your YOUNG children's learning style.
It is very, very gentle for young children.
Once you are comfortable with it, you can add more math to it as they grow.
If you hate it, you have spent less than $40.
It has great resale, but you may want to shelve it to try again later.
Your kids are VERY young. Enjoy them and enjoy books with them. Don't get caught up in and tied to expensive stuff yet.

[Linda]

Ditto to everything Karen said.

We have the first three volumes of FIAR and we still pull them out from time to time when we pick up a library book that's listed or if I know I want to cover a certain time frame/gerographical area/character trait . . . whatever.

I never used FIAR as a curriculum, per se, but it's a staple in our homeschool that I would HATE to be without. It's a beautiful way to introduce great literature, and I am a big fan of the snuggle-on-the-couch-under-a-comfy-blanket school.

[AngieW in Texas]

I recommend FIAR for first-timers all the time. I started off with FIAR and even though it drove me crazy, it was a wonderful start. It taught me what I wanted from a program. I didn't know that I wanted a laid out schedule until I worked without one. I didn't know that I wanted a more academic program until I worked with one that wasn't as academic. I thought my dd and I would love all the neat activities, but we didn't.

I had completely wrong ideas about what would work for my dd and I. But FIAR was very inexpensive. I got all the books at the library, so I only spent $40 for volume 1. We enjoyed the books, so we used the whole volume. We just didn't do many of the activities. We also read each book only 2-3 times, because my dd was driven crazy by reading them more than that. By the 2nd time through, my dd was reading it to me (early reader).

After my experience with FIAR, I knew that SL was going to be a great fit for us. We're still using it 10 years later.

I don't recommend starting with SL unless you really know that it will be a good fit for you. The nicest thing about FIAR is that it's so inexpensive that if you hate it, you won't feel fiscally obligated to finish the whole thing.

[Aurelia]

We finished the 1st volume of FIAR with my 4.5 year old in November. She loved it, and really got a lot of knowledge and love of learning from it. Personally, I didn't want to try Sonlight because I don't like teaching by reading pieces of different books all at the same time.

DD is the type to shout "Again!" after listening to every book she likes (she liked most of the FIAR books) so reading it 5 days in a row worked beautifully.

In addition to FIAR, I copied the list of read-alouds from Sonlight's P4/5 and K programs and I get the books that I think are most interesting from the library and read them to Ariel at bedtime. I feel like it is the best of both worlds. :001_smile:

It is a very gentle program, and just pick-up-and-go, the only must-haves are the TM and the book of the week.

[PollyOR]

FIAR :thumbup1:

[Karen in CO]

In addition to FIAR, I copied the list of read-alouds from Sonlight's P4/5 and K programs and I get the books that I think are most interesting from the library and read them to Ariel at bedtime. I feel like it is the best of both worlds. :001_smile:

It is a very gentle program, and just pick-up-and-go, the only must-haves are the TM and the book of the week.

Oh - over the years I have collected many of the Sonlight books books too. Their list of books helped me fill out my home library and run up big fines at the local library.

I started homeschooling my son with Sonlight when he was in 6th and tried my dd with it when she was 4 (then I put her in preschool). I learned a lot more teaching preK and K from FIAR. It is what I always reccomend.

[Lovedtodeath]

I have SL K books and we have only finished one of them. I drool over the catalog, but it is not a good fit for DD. and with SL that means a lot of wasted $.

In your case, with an early reader, MFW K is not worth the money unless you get the TM used, and IMO is more appropriate for PreK than Kindergarten.

I have seen FIAR recommended over MFW K on the WP forums, but I can't remember why and cannot find the post.:tongue_smilie:

http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/alscreso...roundWorld.cfm (http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/alscresources/booklists/GrowingUpAroundWorld.cfm) Out of everything we have tried, DD loves the cultural books recommended here, and even additional books that I found in the same area/topic in the library.

[OhElizabeth]

Oh Jessie, you're learning the first rule of homeschooling: TRUST YOUR GUT! You already said you want to read her the SL books, so DO it! Don't let people disuade you or convince you you're wrong. Even if you are, what does it matter? They're good books, and you have to try things to find out how they'll work for you. There is NOT one perfect way to homeschool. There are lots of ways, lots of options, lots of combos, and you're going to find the blend that you like best by listening to your inner voice and your heart. Don't let ANYONE sway you away from that!

Now, as far as the SL vs. FIAR thing, has it occurred to you that you could do both? We did. When my dd was that age, I got many of the books from the SL preK and K cores (different names now?) and used them as daily read alouds. Then we had the FIAR books for occasional things like rainy day fillers or treats. I found it a poor fit trying to get my dd to do the activities. Seemed she was either too young to do them or too old to enjoy them once she was old enough. Or it may have been something I did wrong? In any case, FIAR wasn't quite so magical for us as far as teaching us to savor literature. Our enjoyment came in quantity, and anything that upped the quantity was good. So we read FIAR books, SL books, just lots and lots of books! I kept them in a little dishpan and we would read through the stack, a chapter from each book each day. You don't even need a schedule to do that.

Some of the FIAR books are still dd's favorites. They're ALL great books. Your dc might not care for the repeated reading of the books either. We tended to just read them once and move on. It's one of those things that is really specific to your kids and your situation. The magic of homeschooling is always YOU, not the curriculum. YOU are the magic that makes it fun. :)

[djbartch]

I quickly glanced of the responses to your question, so if I'm repeating someone else, I'm sorry. But if you are interested in FIAR, I would suggest trying Homeschool Share. It is a lot (I'm not sure how many, but they are being added to all the time) of units set up like FIAR. They've got books for early pre-K all the way up to 3rd or 4th grade I think. Just a ton of great units. Did I mention it's all for free??? It would be a great way to sample a unit that is similar to FIAR and see if its a good fit for you.

http://www.homeschoolshare.com

We're working on Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett from HSS this week. And my son has continually asked me to re-read the book. I love this style of learning. We get to spend more time on the topics we like, and can have a quick discussion on the things he's either (a) not interested in or (b) not at his level yet. My ds learns well from having discussions about things, so many times we'll just curl up with the book (and possibly some supplementals) and discuss the topic for the day. It's just so easy. And using this method, I've learned how to find the 'educational' things in other books.

[Caroline4kids]

I really would suggest you try FIAR for the following reasons:


It is the least expensive way to go.
If you don't like it as a full program, you will probably still love it as a supplement.
After a few weeks of working with this, you will really be making BIG steps toward learning how to not only enjoy books with your children, but how to use a variety of approaches to teach your children.
It is VERY easy to start.
It is VERY gentle.
You will be able to start with this and add to it and learn about your teaching style and your YOUNG children's learning style.
It is very, very gentle for young children.
Once you are comfortable with it, you can add more math to it as they grow.
If you hate it, you have spent less than $40.
It has great resale, but you may want to shelve it to try again later.
Your kids are VERY young. Enjoy them and enjoy books with them. Don't get caught up in and tied to expensive stuff yet.


:iagree:I have used FIAR with three children now and I own most of the books. My four year old is just starting. My happiest homeschool memories are listening to their first little narrations. My kids all have very fond memories of each book and still talk about all they learned from them.

[Bird Girl]

We're using Sonlight, and I adore it, but I do have some caveats:

The core levels are somewhat advanced. This is exactly what my DD needs, but I have seen posters on the Sonlight forums recommend that children be in at least the middle of the recommended age range (this would mean that a student in Core K would be at least 6.) My daughter is doing very well in Core 1 at age six, but she reads at a fifth grade level. For a 4.5 year old, I would recommend starting either with Core P4/5 or stretching Core K over two years.

The instructor's guide is somewhat choppy. I ignore it, and let my daughter work on each subject until she feels like she's at a good stopping place. But the IG suggests stretching some books out over two or so weeks by reading two pages every day. My DD dislikes that kind of start-and-stop work.

There are no particular hands-on-activities included with the core. This is great for us, since my DD is happy to come up with her own activities, and I'm happy to skip any make-work projects unless my daughter is personally invested in them. But some families really love and need lots of hands-on activities, and SL utterly lacks them. So be aware before-hand.

[Lovedtodeath]

My daughter is doing very well in Core 1 at age six, but she reads at a fifth grade level. For a 4.5 year old, I would recommend starting either with Core P4/5 or stretching Core K over two years.

Reading level is not the only thing to consider. The level of emotional majurity is years ahead. SL philosophy is that children will learn and retain if they have an emotional connection to the book. The deep emotions are too much for many DC to handle. One example is a book in core K that is recommended for 4th grade and up in my Beautiful Feet guide. Some emotionally sensitive children have ended up hating school, hating reading, and/or having nightmares. Other children have ended up loving school and reading, so I don't want to scare you away. It did not work for us and I thought I would explain further.

[Amber in AUS]

We are LOVING FIAR for my DD (4.5) and DS (almost 3). They just can't get enough of the books and the activities.

[Violet]

I will throw one more suggestion out there for you: Take a look at amblesideonline.org Year 0.

Anita

[chiguirre]

OK, I am desperate for advice and I really need to make a decision *soon* for my daughter as far as curriculum is concerned.


Honestly, you don't have to make a decision soon. Try all the things you're interested in for a month or so and THEN make a decision. Neither SL nor FIAR is ever wasted time, they're both so rich. But, they are different styles, and one will fit you better. The same goes for MFW. Fortunately for you, you can try out both FIAR-style picture book unit studies and SL literature-based learning for free!

To try out FIAR-style studies, look at homeschoolshare.com. In general, the units are not quite as fleshed out as FIAR, but it will give you a good idea of what FIAR entails. If you have a bit of budget, buy one of the FIAR volumes 1-3 used (any of them will do, they're written at the same level and they don't go in order). You can find most of the picture books and any extras or go-alongs you want at the library. FIAR is a very low cost option for hsing littles.

To try out SL, look up the catalog page for PK 3/4 and get some of the books from the library. The parent guide for this level is literally a list of the stories in the books roughly divided by maturity level. It also includes an activity suggestion for some of the stories, but these are REALLY obvious (eat a cookie after reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie!) I bought the guide because I didn't want to miss something, but IMHO, it's not worth even the $10 it cost. You can see a sample that's most of the list for the first third of the year at the SL website. If you love reading a lot of books without doing a lot of tied-in activities, SL is for you. Given your dc's ages, I'd go with PK 3/4 to start. It really is true that SL's topics are very mature and it's best to go with the lower core for your child's age. Here are the SL links:

https://www.sonlight.com/online-catalog.html for the catalog and

http://www.sonlight.com/uploads/1/P3_4_2008.pdf for the P3/4 sample


MFW also has a sample week for its K program. I've never considered it because of the religious focus, but you could do something similar to the test drives for FIAR and SL.

The hardest thing about the first year of hsing is learning what type of curriculum works best for you. It can be stressful to consider so many options, but it is worth the time and effort it takes to try things out until you find the best fit.

[momsquared]

I am really excited to hear all the rave reviews of FIAR. I bought about 5 of the books on Amazon and found the actual curriculum used - I am waiting on that to arrive. My mom purchased some more of the expensive books for Christmas presents. I plan to start this while I am on my vacation from teaching and do one book over two weeks or 10 days since it will be a busy time of year. Yesterday my daughter selected one of the FIAR books of the shelve and we read it together. What a gorgeous book and she was thrilled. She asked a ton of questions and the quality of the book really was obvious by the way she interacted with it. I am so excited to get started.

[MitchellMom]

I will throw one more suggestion out there for you: Take a look at amblesideonline.org Year 0.

Anita


Anita, it looks terrific, but there is no schedule for Year 0. There is just a list of readings. This would not be enough for me to go on. :(

[Mommy22alyns]

Jessie! Great to see you. Now, take a deep breath... :001_smile:

I like Julianna's suggestions here - I know it feels "urgent," but you do have the luxury of testing these programs out to see which one is right for you.


Honestly, you don't have to make a decision soon. Try all the things you're interested in for a month or so and THEN make a decision. Neither SL nor FIAR is ever wasted time, they're both so rich. But, they are different styles, and one will fit you better. The same goes for MFW. Fortunately for you, you can try out both FIAR-style picture book unit studies and SL literature-based learning for free!

To try out FIAR-style studies, look at homeschoolshare.com. In general, the units are not quite as fleshed out as FIAR, but it will give you a good idea of what FIAR entails. If you have a bit of budget, buy one of the FIAR volumes 1-3 used (any of them will do, they're written at the same level and they don't go in order). You can find most of the picture books and any extras or go-alongs you want at the library. FIAR is a very low cost option for hsing littles.

To try out SL, look up the catalog page for PK 3/4 and get some of the books from the library. The parent guide for this level is literally a list of the stories in the books roughly divided by maturity level. It also includes an activity suggestion for some of the stories, but these are REALLY obvious (eat a cookie after reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie!) I bought the guide because I didn't want to miss something, but IMHO, it's not worth even the $10 it cost. You can see a sample that's most of the list for the first third of the year at the SL website. If you love reading a lot of books without doing a lot of tied-in activities, SL is for you. Given your dc's ages, I'd go with PK 3/4 to start. It really is true that SL's topics are very mature and it's best to go with the lower core for your child's age. Here are the SL links:

https://www.sonlight.com/online-catalog.html for the catalog and

http://www.sonlight.com/uploads/1/P3_4_2008.pdf for the P3/4 sample


MFW also has a sample week for its K program. I've never considered it because of the religious focus, but you could do something similar to the test drives for FIAR and SL.

The hardest thing about the first year of hsing is learning what type of curriculum works best for you. It can be stressful to consider so many options, but it is worth the time and effort it takes to try things out until you find the best fit.

[MitchellMom]

Jessie! Great to see you. Now, take a deep breath... :001_smile:

I like Julianna's suggestions here - I know it feels "urgent," but you do have the luxury of testing these programs out to see which one is right for you.

Thanks Amber!

Is your 3 year old reading?!?!?! (BOB books!)

My 3 year old is just learning letters!

Here's the thing (back to curriculum): I thought my daughter was supposed to be doing the classical ed thing and learning world history (beginning at the beginning) right now. Isn't she? FIAR and MFW and SL don't do this.... <confused>

[Mommy22alyns]

Thanks Amber!

Is your 3 year old reading?!?!?! (BOB books!)

My 3 year old is just learning letters!

Here's the thing (back to curriculum): I thought my daughter was supposed to be doing the classical ed thing and learning world history (beginning at the beginning) right now. Isn't she? FIAR and MFW and SL don't do this.... <confused>


Well, Sylvia will be 4 in March, so she's an older 3 year old. But yeah, she's starting to read. She can read the first four BOB books and some of the HOP Learn to Read books we had left over from Becca. She's doing it on her own, just like Becca did.

As to the history, your DD is still Pre-K, isn't she? Even in WTM, the history instruction doesn't really start until first grade.

[MitchellMom]

Well, Sylvia will be 4 in March, so she's an older 3 year old. But yeah, she's starting to read. She can read the first four BOB books and some of the HOP Learn to Read books we had left over from Becca. She's doing it on her own, just like Becca did.

As to the history, your DD is still Pre-K, isn't she? Even in WTM, the history instruction doesn't really start until first grade.


You're right, she is Pre-K, but since she is already reading and doing Saxon Math 1 I thought I should consider her a kindergartener ... should I not?... Thank you!

(That's awesome that Sylvia is reading! I hope Truman is like that!!!!! He just turned 3 and he knows 16 letters ... after that comes sight words and hopefully some reading. He is SO wiggly, I don't know how I am going to teach him! :willy_nilly: