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My Father's World is a full package curriculum (math & language arts are from other vendors) with a Christian perspective that, like Sonlight but less intense, has history as its backbone, and relates the rest of the curriculum to it. It was originally created for missionaries.
Website: My Father's World
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(29 Reviews)
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Contributor Reviews
Reviews are solely the opinions of the contributor.
Cons: Science not my favorite
Grades Used: K and 1st
We love My Fathers World! It has made homeschooling easy and fun for all of us.
A lot of times I hear people say the MFW K is too light. I couldn't disagree more. I think it really hammers in the basics. My daughter could actually read before we started it and I came very close to skipping K. Thank God I didn't. By the time we finished K she was reading at a 3rd grade level. The Bible part was great. It opened the door for a lot of discussion. It challenged my children to think and draw conclusions based on the word of God. I did supplement some but it was because I could, not because I felt I had to. (If that makes sense.)
MFW 1st was a great phonics program. I loved the biblical timeline. We all learned so much. I added my own spelling program and used Saxon math. We also did not use the science program they recommend. I for one love the TM. I have almost zero prep to do on my own, unless I want to. My daughter took the CAT test this year and scored at a 5th grade level in language arts and her overall score was in the 99th percentile. We do not plan on changing curriculum any time soon.
One thing about MFW I have noticed, hands on/ crafty people are the ones who love it the most. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe it's because it is pretty laid back. It can be as hard or as easy as you want it to be. I felt like I had complete control over my child's education.
Cons: I didn't like the English lessons
Grades Used: 1st and 2nd
I have used MFW for two years, and I plan on continuing. I love how the different subjects often overlap in a week (ex. studying the Wright bothers in history, and air and flight in science). I also love the list of suggested library books. I need the structure but I don't feel obligated to do every suggested activity, and I supplemented a couple lapbooks and occasional copywork. I like the weekly schedule, but it can be a challenge to adjust when a day off is needed in the middle of a week.
I did not like the English book, and I now supplement with Learning Language through Lit.
Cons: had to supplement
Grades Used: K
For my first year homeschooling, I really liked MFW K curriculum. The newer manual book is much better than the older one, liked the layout better where you can see the whole week at a time over 2 pages. For more detail, the individual days are described on other pages. I liked how the theme for the week was truly carried through each day the entire week. For my son, the reading/phonics was too easy for him but I think thats just because he is more advanced in that area.
I liked how its flexible and we could pick and choose what we would do each day. We were actually able to do 2 weeks into one week most of our year in order to finish before a new baby was born. My son seemed to enjoy MFW. I did supplement for math to make it more rigorous and challenging.
Cons: notebooking pages of cycle years lacking format
Grades Used: K, 1st, Adventures, ECC, CTG
When we first began homeschooling and I looked at My Father's World I thought too gentle, that's just play stuff, not "real" education, not "beefy" enough. And for many moms who look at the K and 1st grade programs for their oldest child I hear those same concerns. But I still did like the family cycle concept and so we still did come to MFW later to try it with Adventures with a 3rd and 1st grader together. I prefer that we are all learning the same history era and science concepts together. I love how the Bible and art is connected as an unit- I definitely enjoy the unit style of homeschooling. And we LOVE the Biblical foundation, focus, and mission of MFW.
After trying MFW's older years I did go back and use K and 1st with our younger children. It was then I realized the brilliance of the gentle, seemingly too "easy" K and 1st grade programs. When you have older children and other responsibilities you cannot spend hours on K and 1st. These are designed to creatively and inspiringly cover what a K and 1st grader need to learn, instill a love of learning and curiosity, all while keeping your schedule reasonable to manage! It is such a blessing to have that special time with just your younger ones, still have a sweet program for their K and 1st grade years, but not feel overwhelmed.
With My Father's World I also can enjoy many components of Charlotte Mason's theories without the struggle of how and when to implement them. The nature walks, copywork, art, music, and wonderful family reading times are right in the Teacher's Manuel schedule for you!!! Narration and notebooking are encouraged and some are provided but allowing you to customize it to the extent that you would prefer.
Which leads me to the last reason I've stayed with MFW- the flexibility of the literature used. Unlike Sonlight, Heart of Dakota, Veritas Press and others- MFW does not require you to purchase at new book price a large amount of literature. They offer a few selections they consider a must have in their deluxe packages and the rest is suggestion. In the TMs there is a whole appendix of recommended books to either buy yourself or borrow from your library. Often they will include a brief summary and age appropriateness. I love this aspect. I add many books from Sonlight, HOD, and other's catalogs- but I don't have to buy them! I keep my eyes out at sales or use our library's interlibrary loan system extensively!! If there was one or two we really enjoyed, I often do try to buy it somewhere but as any homeschool family on a budget it's freeing to not have to buy new books and worry about keeping them nice. Also there are so many resources for ebooks and audio books online now!!
Most homeschool moms tweek and change their curriculum and I will admit I have done that with MFW as well. But everything that I change is minor to the backbone of what I consider MFW's core. I have found it is much easier to add little things I like to MFW than to try to take the things I like in MFW and add them to other curriculums. An example, during ECC we added Download N Go units from Amanda Bennet and other lapbooks from other sources, not for every country, but some mixed in. This avoided a repetition for us and took a lot of pressure off of me due to a situation of a high risk pregnancy that particular year.
My only cons of MFW are their LA recommendations and notebooking. While I do use Spelling Power and Progeny Press guides, I do not use their writing or the PLL/ILL. It just has not worked for us. But MFW offers them as recommendations, they are not a must to use MFW. Our first year with Adventures was also our first exposure to notebooking. We greatly enjoyed it but as we've moved to older years, I find I need to add more "pretty" notebooking pages than what MFW provides. That's my choice to add more, many families feel it's enough, many families add more as well. Again, it's the flexibility of MFW not to make you buy a $40 set of full color notebooking pages if you don't prefer that aspect of homeschooling.
Thanks for reading and happy homeschooling.
Cons: very poor organization! literally drove us mad to be skipping all over the books.
Grades Used: 9
We've used a lot of Sonlight and so perhaps our expectations were too high, but we liked the book titles of MFW 9th grade so we thought we'd try it. BIG mistake! The book choices were good, and the literature study guide for the Greek and Roman mythology were great. But after trying to follow their lessons plans for 3 weeks, we were literally going crazy trying to make sense of it. It is so poorly organized and had us jumping all over the place and out of sequence in different books. we dumped it quickly and just used the books we liked combined with a completely different program. A very costly mistake. I would NOT recommend MFW to anyone. it is maddening! I would however, look through their catalog for book choices, because they did choose good books (like Sonlight) but use a different program or make your own. Good idea, but poor carry through.
Cons: requires a little organization and material collection up front
Grades Used: Kindergarten
My Father's World, Kindergarten (complete) comes with:
Teacher's Manual
Student Sheets include:
Student pages
Teaching charts
Game cards
Badge patterns
Monthly calendars
Short vowel song cards
100 chart for math
Activity sheets
Alphabet Flashcards
A-Z Textured Letters by Lauri
What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?
Butterfly Garden
Ant Hill
For the Children's Sake, by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Say Hello to Classical Music
Cuisenaire® Rods
Cuisenaire® Rods Alphabet Book
Inflatable Globe
____________________________________________
The friend who gave it to me (because her daughter was now enrolled in another school) did not have the complete list as above, but had pretty much everything I needed. And she had already organized it into a tote, and collected lots of complimentary material. She is SO awesome. I would have struggled to plunk down the cash to try something new, but since she shared, I'm so glad I tried it.
What we had included:
Teacher's Manual
Student Sheets include:
Student pages
Teaching charts
Game cards
Badge patterns
Monthly calendars
Short vowel song cards
100 chart for math
Activity sheets
Alphabet Flashcards
A-Z Textured Letters by Lauri
What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?
Ant Hill (a gift from Grandma and Grandpa!)
Each week's unit covers one letter of the alphabet, after the initial weeks of studying creation in depth. Each unit covers a fun hands on activity for each day, a reading list for great library books to check out, and most importantly a lot of Scripture and a simple lesson to apply all week long. For example:
One week we studied the Turtle, for the letter T. There was a short motto: "I don't quit; I persevere." There are 6 days of lessons with a different activity to re-enforce the letter T and the science exploration of turtles (which we expanded to other pond creatures). There were Scripture passages pertaining to the character of perseverance:
Phil. 3:13-14
Hebrews 12:1
Galatians 6:9
There was also a poem about turtles, and instructions to read the story of the Tortoise and the Hare in Aesop's Fables. We lucked out with that one, as we were able to actually attend a play of Tortoise Vs. Hare, performed by local school-children thanks to the Missoula Children's Theatre.
As for Math and Phonics, there are daily activities to re-enforce number names and counting, as well as letter names and sounds. There is plenty of emphasis on tactile exploration, such as making the shapes of letters with clay, or just using the textured foam letters that came with the kit. We make use of the number chart, focusing on one number each day, as well as shapes and colors and patterns of those in sequence.
A major help to supplement this curriculum came from my very own bookshelves. The Christian Liberty Nature Reader (book 1) has short stories about various animals. It worked out that there were 3-4 stories to fit with each unit theme. It took me a little prep to page through the book and match them up on my assignment charts, but it was worth it. They fit so well, and add a thread of continuity. I highly recommend it as a complimentary purchase to MFW.
Conclusion:
I honestly thought MFW would be too simplistic for my kindergartner, hitting more on the Pre-K level than on the Kindergarten level. I was pleasantly surprised at the methodical way it is bringing him to know his letters and numbers. While he already knew his letters and their names and sounds, I now find him running around naming things and shouting out what letter fits! And the counting methods have helped us navigate the missing teen numbers we were struggling with. By Christmas break he could count to 100, and knew what those values meant. Overall, I am very pleased with My Father's World, and I'm wishing I had used it with my older 3 children.
Cons: Cot
Grades Used: 4
We just started MFW this year after a couple years of kicking the idea around. And all i have to say is we love it. We are doing year one which is a geography year. We have learned so much about the different countries of the world. Our favorite part are the YWAM Heroes then and now series that are the read aloud. I think we learn more about the countries we study from those than anything else.
Cons: need to supplement, but they give ideas for that
Grades Used: 1,2,5,6
We have used Creation to Greeks and Rome to the Reformation. I have a gifted child and use a lot of extras to increase learning. MFW provides a variety of book suggestions for each week and the materials used give extra reading and activities. We have loved to God's worldview to history and all the read aloud suggestions have been wonderful. The children want to learn more and read more.
Cons: None so far
Grades Used: 2,4 combo. Exploring Countries and Cultures
This is my first year of homeschooling and I was a bit apprehensive. We use a local Charter School, which I have used their math and language arts resources to save $. Overall, My Father's World has been a great experience for all three of us! Everything is planned out and scheduled; but, totally flexible. My 4th grader is ADD and has really enjoyed the change of pace. My 2nd grader has excelled in learning the continents, bodies of water, about cultures and where various countries are on the globe/map. Another plus, it has been easy to work in the State of California requirements for projects, since the schedule is so flexible & there is plenty of room to do extra projects.
I am looking into next year's cirriculum already, and am looking at the second year of MFW, creation to greeks.....I can't wait!!
Cons: my kid got tired of it
Grades Used: traditional A-F scale
It's brilliant concept, unfortunately my husband was so spoiled using ABEKA DVD curriculum that he didn't quite catch on to this curriculum so I was left doing this alone. It's not hard to follow, but we didn't stick exactly to the curriculum for the science part. We didn't even use the art or the music lessons, we haven't found a way to get everything done, so I just get the main parts (Bible, Writing, Math and Reading/Phonics) done (bad parenting maybe)
Grades Used: first
nowadays, there's so many choices for what to use to teach our children, it can easily overwhelm you. i believe My Father's World can help parents disciple their children to be effective witnesses, and strong christians, the kind that can be a light unto the world. i think it builds on a strong foundation and then adds academics to that.
My Father's World is meant to be a gentle academic approach to teaching our children. it is also meant to be an incremental program. it's hard to see the big picture if you only use it for one year, then switch to another curriculum. keep that in mind when you check out My Father's World.
it is a wonderful curriculum for families who need to do a multi-level program. you don't have to wait until third or fourth grade to include your kindergarten or first graders in with your second or third or older students. the author tells you how to include younger siblings into older children's school activities but also how to teach the three r.'s to the younger children on their own developmental level.
you can make it as easy or tough as your children need. just remember to go at your child's developmental pace.
and the kindergarten curriculum has been updated: the teacher's manual just got revised and expanded and now has the unit plans written in the same grid style as the older programs, and the student papers have been updated and expanded, and there's a new literature package you can buy to get all the recommended books to use for the units. they really have eliminated almost all of the flipping back and forth. kindergarten is meant to teach kids who haven't been in a pre-k or readiness program. it starts at the beginning. and, yes, it does repeat some things. young children learn by repetition. how many times do they have to repeat things in their daily lives, like brushing their teeth, put away their toys. how many times do we have to remind them to do these things?
i really loved using MFW 1st grade. my son did not do pre-k or even kindergarten, but learned phonics to the point where he became an independent reader by the end of the program. the math was a good hands-on approach using everyday type math and MFW recommends starting second-graders on the singapore math program, so in comes that incremental approach. and the bible info he learned was done very well, not like a drill and kill program. it was a great foundational year in the Bible for him.
i highly recommend you borrow a teacher's manual from someone that has one available so you can see for yourself what MFW is like.
Cons: a lot of library work and a little easier in my opinion
Grades Used: Kindergarten
We used MFW Kindergarten for our first year homeschooling. I was overwhelmed with the choices, didn't know anything about homeschooling methods, and liked that everything was included in one box.
We chose the deluxe Kindergarten for the extras like music and science experiments. I loved the art and music. The intro to music was just enough and my daughter enjoyed it. There was about 1-1.5 of school per day and I thought that was plenty for Kindergarten.
I love what was covered, the Bible verses, inclusion of letter studies, science, math and reading.
You have to supplement with some things and in order to follow the suggested content. Weekly or biweekly library trips were necessary to get the books needed to go with curriculum so I had to plan our library trips, which was fine and not too much trouble since we like library trips.
We had to do a LOT of extras with reading etc because the curriculum seemed very easy, more Preschool/PreK then Kindergarten. However, if you are looking for a good starter curriculum its perfect. It gentle introduced the alphabet, how to write them, and various suggestions on how to work on letter formation. I actually plan to use it with my youngest when I'm ready to start school at the preschool level.
Great overall curriculum and wonderful customer service if you have any questions.
Cons: needed to supplement other things
We absolutely love MFW! We are currently using this for our kindergarten and second grade girls. I love the well organized lesson plans already made up for you. The kindergarten activities are really fun and simple to do. It is really relaxed, which I love. My second grader has learned so much in bible, history , and geography.I am learning right along with her. We are really having fun this year.I can't stress enough how much I enjoy having lessons already planned out for me. When you have little ones, this is great to have. The only complaints I have are that you need to supplement with the K. We added horizons math and journal writing. The reading is taught at a slow pace. This is ok for me because my daughter wasn't quite ready to go any faster.No complaints with the second grade! Overall we love love it!!!
Cons: need to supplement, repetitive
Grades Used: K
My child has been doing prek/k workbooks for $1 bins since she was 3 so the repetitiveness and starting from the beginning of the spectrum made it a bit difficult to find a routine with this curriculum. The great thing about it is I just supplemented with a faster paced reading system and higher level math. I find that my daughter LOVES all the hands on activities and book activity suggestions-some of the things that will make me come back year after year! And yes, the ability to make the work as easy or intensive as you'd like is nice!
Grades Used: 4th
I simply love MFW! My oldest, for whom this curriculum was use, is Dyslexic and has ADD and enjoyed it as well. We are currently finishing ECC and will be sticking with MFW probably through high school.
My only problem with ECC is the science was not meaty enough for my son. He did test as gifted in science so we also took that into consideration but I would not say that the science itself was not interesting and informative. In fact, for me, I enjoyed Properties of Ecosystems it's just that my son needed more supplemented for his science lessons and in that, we found it to be lacking. But, fortunately, next year we will be doing Apologia and with that we are totally psyched!
Overall, I would totally recommend this to any family seeking a curriculum that is well planned out, full of great books and lessons, and provides wonderful hands on activities for their children.
On another note, we are involved in a small co- op of 4 other families and we all use MFW. You can easily take subjects such as the science and use it for co-ops. We often used the Nature Walks, Science Experientments, Global Art and cooking to use during our co-op days. That is another wonderful thing about MFW.
Cons: lack of tests and reviews
Grades Used: 4,4,6
I loved using Countries and Cultures this year with my three children. The lesson book was so easy to follow telling me exactly what to do each day. We did most things, but not all. The science book included was great except that I wished I would have had the parent supplement that I just learned about at a convention. My kids really enjoyed learning the geography and cultures this year.
The only downfall in future MFW years is the science does not appear to be strong enough so we would supplement if we stay with MFW curriculum. We are unsure if we will use it next year as I need my children to be a little more independent as I also work. This is a great curriculum especially for a first year homeschooling mom.
Cons: Sometimes feel bogged down w/a book selection
Grades Used: K, 4th (Exploring countries & cultures)
I LOVE this curriculum. I found it by watching a friend who got it from a friend & used it for K. She switched to Sonlight for 1st, which was her original plan and is re-using the K for her next child. However, in watching her with Sonlight - which I wanted, but couldn't afford, I am so glad I went with MFW. My daughter is learning a ton, even though it is a little repetitive, it leaves so much time for her to jump into her big brother's lessons or do fun things to expand on hers. Exploring Countries & Cultures has been a blessing. My senior in public high school can't touch my 4th grader with geography knowledge, and we are only a little over 1/2 way through the year. I was a little overwhelmed with the science book, Properties of Ecosystems, but I have learned to tweak it & it works well now too. The extra activities are great & you can use as many or as few of them - and my kids still are learning tons. I feel guilty on busy weeks when we miss a few things - but then my kids surprise me with some conversation they have with someone and I'm hearing the things they've learned. It's wonderful - the most wonderful thing I'm seeing along with education is their passion for Christ. They have both grown so much in this area. They talk about everything related to how this affects their faith. My daughter sees pictures of people in history books and prays that they knew Christ before they died! How blessed I am. One last thing - the teacher's manuals are different in the older grades. This 'flipping' back & forth in the K manual (and I'm told 1st - I'll see in a few weeks) is, I think, due to the way the program teaches the different letters in the same way. As much as this can get a little dull for me - my daughter is learning to read so well! I can't believe how well she is reading - and she is starting to understand math so well - she is working math problems in her head - though I have never even given her math worksheets yet! MFW has been truly a great curriculum!
Cons: not all their supplemental products work for us
Grades Used: k-4th
I call this curriculum "Homeschooling for Dummies" for myself because I started homeschooling without a clue and Marie walks you through every step every day. I changed the math and spelling curriculum they suggested. But the main curriculum is excellent for history, Bible and science. Lots of projects to do and hands on activities. I recommend it to everyone who asks!
Cons: TM can be little confusing.
Grades Used: K, 1
The MFW K program is the best I've seen, bar none. When I started homeschooling, I had no idea what I was doing. I'd tried to follow the recommendations for K from The Well Trained Mind; my daughter hated it. I came across MFW in a Google search for a K Bible curriculum and it's what allowed me to make it through that first year. The math is excellent; very hands-on and fun for the kids. The science and character development portion is excellent too. They have a great message board with lots of tips, support and encouragement. The subjects are all inter-related, and that made it perfect for my daughter, who hated to be told, "Now we are doing [insert subject]." We just "did school" and the format eliminated a lot of conflict.
The first grade curriculum was also excellent. The math was teacher-intensive and I found that I didn't remember to do all the things I was supposed to do. Also, looking back, my daughter just wasn't ready for a lot of the concepts; I thought the curriculum wasn't working, but in retrospect, I think she just needed more time.
The only thing that would have made my life easier would have been weekly lesson plans laid out for me. I found the teacher's manuals confusing at first. I will say that after using them for a week or so, I got used to them, but I spent a lot of time creating weekly lesson plans and would have appreciated having those. They do come with upper levels of MFW.
Cons: Difficult TM.
Grades Used: Kdg, 1st.
I loved so many things about MFW, Kdg and 1st. The hands on activities were superb! Learning the books of the Bible was fun as well.
Although I enjoyed many parts of MFW, I was very disappointed with the teacher's manuals for these two grades. They require flipping back & forth and are difficult to use. I understand that is NOT the case with older grades.
I also found it weak in relating the Bible to daily life application. My children, who enjoy repetition, eventually became bored with the the same things every week. Especially the one in Kindergarten. The listed books were difficult/impossible to locate, but we easily chose other titles for each unit.
We stuck with it until we felt it wasn't making learning fun, and recently changed to Five in a Row, which I highly recommend.
Cons: tedious prep work if you get the recommended resources from the library
Grades Used: K-3rd
I used Adventures in My Father's World with my K and 2nd graders and Exploring Countries and Cultures with my 1st and 3rd grader (and my preschooler loved to join us for the coloring activities). I primarily used the Bible and History/Geography parts of the curriculum. My kids and I loved the fun activities they incorporated into the curriculum (like cooking and eating foods from different countries).
ECC was fun and very educational--by the end of the year my son could find all the countries we had studied on a map and we had a greater understanding and appreciation for other cultures.
Adventures was a great basic US history course, hitting the high points of US history. My kids especially loved coloring each US state page as we learned about each state (although I found it a bit tedious by the time we'd done all 50 states!)
I did find it to be time consuming to find the resources at the library for each week (although these are optional, I did feel they added alot to the learning process--my kids were young enough that reading fictional picture books helped solidify what we were learning.)
Cons: have to supplement sometimes
Grades Used: Kindergarten & 1st
I have use My Father's World Kindergarten twice. Once in 2003 for one student and then again in 2009 for two students. I plan on using it again 2012 or 2013. I really like how it is all planned out and really easy to use.
The kids love the activities but they can get bored easily with the repetition each week. I found some other resources from my days as an education student and carryout each "unit" for two weeks.
Our favorite is the science activities and all the books that are suggested. The librarians love to see us coming in the door.
We are just now using My Father's World 1st Grade this year with two students. Again, I like the ease for the teacher. There is some prep work but once you get the hang of it, the prep work is like 5-10 minutes and mainly gathering of supplies that most households will have.
I have late bloomers in the reading department so this program has taken them slowly step by step and I have seen a great improvement since we start in August.
Again, our favorite is science. We can't get enough of it.
Cons: see below
Grades Used: 3rd
We started homeschooling 1/2 way through last year. We did a little bit of everything & I had to do a lot of prep. This year, we decided we needed more structure & less work for Mom! So, we went with My Father's World & we love it! Each day is already planned out, it's easy to look at my list of supplies needed for each week, and it's very interesting! I love how the various subjects tie into each other. I love how it's set up for about 4 days allowing for 1 day to either take it easy, or for field trips.
The only con that we have to deal with is our own personal schedule. My daughter takes a full day class at a "homeschool school" and a 1/2 day at the public school for accelerated classes, then I have a part-time job that requires us to be away from the house for 1/2 a day. I realize that we opted to do these classes & job so I can't really complain, but if I follow My Father's World as instructed, we have to squeeze 4 days of work into 2 1/2. Sometimes it gets a little stressful.
Overall, though we highly recommend My Father's World to anyone looking for a well planned out curriculum. It's reletively flexible & my daughter enjoys it!
This curriculum is one of the best I've seen. The price is just right, but everything is included for you. Daily lesson plans with activities are all tied in together, so each subject builds on the other. It is a complete curriculum with all the books, activities, and lesson plans, but you can easily supplement or use a different book then what is suggested. My Father's World has done all the work in pulling together resources from different places and putting them together in an easy to use curriculum. I have used the kindergarten - 3rd grade, and I am planning on continuing with it.
Cons: each year there's a weak area to supplement
Grades Used: K through 6th
We have used MFW since my son was in K, so we've used K, 1st, 2nd grade Am. History, the geography year, and finished the first two years of the 4 year history cycle. We are into the 3rd history year: Reformation to 1850. I "discovered" MFW the summer before we started K. It has been a great fit for us, giving us structure and flexibility, hands-on projects and just enough seatwork! Marie Hazell has chosen wonderful books to include in the package and gives us a huge list of additional book ideas in the teacher's manual. I am so pleased that MFW weaves God's history and a Biblical world-view into ALL they offer! I often recommend this curriculum and have had the pleasure of seeing many new families enjoy learning about My Father's World!