Homeschool With Tracey

We use My Father’s World curriculum.  I chose My Father’s World because they integrate the Bible into history (i.e., you learn what was happening in the rest of the world when Jesus was born), they give great activity suggestions that aren’t too complex, I can buy almost everything I need right from them, they support Bible translation (part of your purchase goes towards it!), they have a mission focus (the family who wrote the curriculum are missionaries), everything is laid out in the teacher’s manual and explained extremely well (I never think, “What the heck are they talking about?!”), they teach history chronologically (each package year just continues from the last), they have curriculum from preschool all the way up through high school, and the support is wonderful as well as the PRICE!More information…taken from The Homeschool Libarary:Name of curriculum: My Father’s World

Common abbreviation: MFW

Optimal age of students: The 5 year history cycle program is designed for multi level teaching for students in grades 2-8. There is also a K and 1st grade program. High school is being completed (currently have through grade 10 finished…11th & 12th grade coming soon.)

Type: Complete curriculum

Educational Philosophy: combines easy hands-on unit studies, with Charlotte Mason, and Classical Education from a Christian view

Worldview: Christian

Website: http://www.mfwbooks.com/

Review: MFW is a chronological based history program that integrates the Bible throughout the program. The teacher’s manual is laid out in a weekly grid format with daily notes for teaching from the “spines”. The manual also contains an extensive listing of recommended library books that enrich the unit study in geography, history and science. It includes easy hands on projects that use common household items. The weekly lesson plans include a materials list for those projects. Notebooking is a primary method of review and “testing” in history and science. God’s word is a central theme to unify many subjects. Scripture reading and memory are scheduled. But doctrine is left to the parents to teach instead of from any specific denominational point of view within Christianity.

A quote from the website:

• Recognizes the Bible, God’s truth, to be the foundation of wisdom and education.
• Utilizes hands-on, unit studies with daily lesson plans that are easy-to-teach.
• Enables families and multi-age groups to learn together. Many of our programs may be taught to a range of ages simultaneously.
• Combines the best of Charlotte Mason’s ideas and classical education with a Biblical worldview, an international focus and our own observations of how children learn.
• Uses a comprehensive sequenced learning program beginning with preschool learning toys to develop readiness skills. Our complete unit-based curriculum includes a phonics-based learning-to-read program and focuses on God’s amazing creation (kindergarten), the world of the Bible (first grade), and U.S. history (second or third grade). Then a year of geography sets the foundation for four years of chronological world and U.S. history.
• Provides easy-to-teach, integrated curriculum that is enjoyable, academically strong, and focused on character development.
• Is committed to the Lord of All, who tenderly searches for people from every tribe and language. A portion of our profits helps support mission work overseas, especially Bible translation projects. Our heart’s desire is that someday soon all people would be able to read of God’s love in their own language.

Strengths: The teacher’s manual is easy to follow with daily lesson plans to combine 7-10 subjects over the course of the day. Strong at integrated Bible with history. Hands on projects are easy to do. The planning is done for you. Designed to help combine students in one main program for grades 2-8 to study as a family.

Weaknesses: Some families do not like to use libraries. MFW encourages library use for enrichment reading in the unit studies. However, all required books for the program are sold in either basic or deluxe package.

Comments: David and Marie Hazell lived in Russia for eight years working on Bible translation and returned to the U.S. in 2000. They now devote the majority of their time to the development of My Father’s World curriculum with the dual goal of providing support for Bible translation and raising up a generation of children that see God’s hand in all of history and share God’s heart for the nations

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