Homeschooling Q&A: How Has MFW Worked for Your Family?
Since I’m tackling a few Homeschooling Q&A’s this week at the blog, I thought I’d respond to a comment a reader recently left on this post: 7 Reasons I Switched to My Father’s World Curriculum .
Alicia, a mother of five young children, asked some really great questions:
I have almost decided to make the switch over to My Father’s World after reading so many wonderful things about it and also considering the price difference now that our 5 year old will be officially school aged this year.
Can I ask what all you purchased and how it worked out for you?
Did you buy a separate K curriculum along with a curriculum for the older kids or did you just buy language arts & math for your K student and incorporate them into the core?”
I love these questions, because these are definitely ones I was asking two-and-a-half years ago when I was looking for a curriculum for our multi-aged children.
Let me tackle these questions one-by-one:
—–> What all did you purchase?
When I first switched to My Father’s World curriculum, I opted for the deluxe curriculum packages, simply because I thought I’d miss out on something really important if I bought the basic packages. I quickly discovered that the deluxe packages contain way more “stuff” than I need.
These days, I generally order the basic packages and am very happy with what I get for the price.
The only exception is if I snag a really good deal on a used curriculum forum; I’ve purchased deluxe packages this way.
Here is a quick run down of curriculum I’ve purchase (so far) from My Father’s World and absolutely loved:
- Preschool Package (for 2’s and 3’s)– This is a great hands-on set for busy little toddlers.
- Pre-K for 4’s– I use this set in conjunction with Rod and Staff’s preschool booklets.
- God’s Creation from A to Z (kindergarten)– I highly recommend the Kindergarten literature set with this! I don’t add math or language arts in kindergarten. My little guys listen in during history and science lessons, and participate in craft, art, and music times throughout the week.
- Learning God’s Story (first grade)– We just finished this set with my 7-year old son. We used The Complete Book of Math with this set. Since my son isn’t strong in phonics I didn’t add language arts; we simply focused on learning to read.
- Adventures in U.S. History (2nd or 3rd grade)– I used this unit with both my girls several years ago and we absolutely loved it! The literature in this unit is very engaging. We simply added grade appropriate language arts and math.
- Exploring Countries and Cultures– We just finished up this unit with my 5th grader. My younger kids participated by listening during the history, science, and geography lessons. Our favorite part of this unit was the missionary biographies… my 11-year daughter read through those books in a matter of a few months!
Other favorites from MFW:
- Never Bored Kid Book– a great supplement with preschool or kindergarten.
- Kindergarten Literature collection– these are fantastic “living books” for kids!
- The Brinkman Adventures cd’s– my kids love these engaging missionary stories!
- Language Lessons for Today– grades 2 and 3– my favorite language arts workbooks for younger students.
- Singapore math– this critical thinking mathematics has been a good fit for our family.
—–> How has it worked out for you?
My Father’s World has worked out very well for our family. We are about to start our third year with this curriculum, and I’m happy with this choice.
Here are a few reviews I’ve written about MFW so far:
- My Father’s World Curriculum Review (our first year)
- My Father’s World Curriculum Review (our second year) I still need to write this one!
- Language Arts Outside the Box
- Is My Father’s World Kindergarten Too Easy?
—–> How do you work a kindergartener into the mix with older kids?
Alicia’s exact question was: Did you buy a separate K curriculum along with a curriculum for the older kids or did you just buy language arts & math for your K student and incorporate them into the core?
I did buy and use MFW’s kindergarten unit for my 5-year old. This year, my second son, Mr. C, will be using the kindergarten unit (he’ll turn 5 at the end of July). Very likely, our “baby” (he’s 2 now) will use the same unit in a few years. 🙂
I mentioned previously in this post that I do not add language arts or mathematics to the kindergarten curriculum. In kindergarten, we focus A LOT on phonics, learning to write, lots of read aloud time and creative play.
A child who is more advanced in reading or math would very likely benefit from supplementation in these subjects, but that’s not where we’re at as a family.
Alicia, I hope this answers your questions and offers helpful information to any moms who may be interested in My Father’s World as a curriculum for their young children!
Please feel free to ask any other questions in the comment section below… either myself or other readers will be happy to respond and help any way we can. 🙂
I’d love to connect with you homeschooling moms in my online community over at Facebook! You can join up right here.