Hey, I use MFW and am very happy with it. We just finished Exploring Countries & Cultures 4th grade. We previously used Heart of Dakota and much prefer MFW. My son loved it. My state requires yearly standardized testing but does not specify which test. I use the CAT test and I get it from Seton Testing Services for $25. http://www.setontesting.com/ They also have the Iowa and Terra Nova available. I use the CAT because it's economical, easy to administer and meets my state requirements. After the first year or two, I stopped worrying about preparing for the test and just enjoyed school and he has done fine every year. We are using Life of Fred math. I used the grammar book from MFW and also mixed in some Rod & Staff grammar because I like it a lot. I'm using Sequential Spelling, which he likes considering it is spelling lol. I got the spelling they recommend, is it Spelling Power??, on Ebay but I can't seem to grasp how it works so I moved on to Sequential. We especially enjoyed the Kingdom Tales book from this year of MFW. I only wish I had known about MFW when we started homeschooling!
This online curriculum looks awesome http://allinonehomeschool.com/ and it's all free. There are some great links to lots of information on that site even if you don't use the curriculum.
Here is a link to the reviews page from the previous page this message board was on... Scroll down and you'll find some for MFW and all kinds of others as well.
http://homeschoolchristian.com/forum/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=54
Try not to stress too much about the testing or curriculum. He will do just fine.
