Oct 18 2008
My Father’s World homeschool curriculum – Rome to the Reformation, Week 3
Here is my review on week 3 of My Father’s World - Rome to The Reformation home school curriculum, and how it is working for us. We love homeschooling!
Memory Work - We actually aren’t going to try to memorize any of the memory work in RTR; but I do plan to go over it and use it for copy work and dictation, as suggested in the TM. We are reading the verses recommended, and my 4th grade daughter is looking up the chapters and verses. This has been wonderful practice for her.
English from the Roots Up - learning these Latin roots this year has been great. I love that we are doing numbers first, and that we are going to tie them in with the Roman numerals. I need to make those cards with the Latin number on the front!
Handwriting - I’m not having my 7th grader review handwriting because it isn’t necessary. My 4th grade girl is doing A Reason for Handwriting curriculum and is learning cursive this year. There are many lessons, so she is just going through those. You know, I’ve never looked at My Father’s World handwriting…I want to be sure and purchase that for my boys. A Reason for Handwriting is kind of “girly.” Anyway, she’s doing great learning cursive.
Spelling - I love that MFW starts you slowly in the Spelling Power curriculum. This week I am reading the Quick Start steps. I believe it is really important to read these steps each year, because, at least for me, I tend to forget the details.
English - I have my 7th grader continuing in her All-In-One English Series book. She continues to do very well in that. I love how MFW doesn’t push grammar in the early years. Whew! That used to drive us nuts with the other curriculum we used. My 7th grader is also doing The Indian in the Cupboard study guide from Progeny Press (as recommended by MFW). I honestly thought that The Indian in the Cupboard would be a silly book, but was I wrong! My 7th grade daughter, who has read more books than I can count, said that this was the BEST book she has EVER read and that she wanted the whole series! Whoa! That floored me! I have never heard her say, “This is the best book I have ever read,” about any book! I love that the guides will help put a biblical perspective into the story. Wonderful! My 4th grade daughter is finishing up Primary Language Lessons. I really love these books (Primary and Intermediate Language Lessons). They have all different types of English learning in them. You can read more about them at MFW under Language Arts.
Math - 7th grade girl is doing very well in Saxon 8/7; 4th grade girl doing very well in Singapore 2A, which she will be finished with next week; and my 1st grade boy is doing wonderful with My Father’s World First grade math.
The Roman Empire - Great book! We’re learning about Roman homes and gardens, mosaics (will be making a mosaic next week with paper-could have used dried modeling clay, but the girls didn’t care about getting that intricate), and frescoes.
I love all of the stuff we are learning about Pompeii! My 4th grader is used Pompeii, Buried Alive! as a read-aloud this week and she thought it was fascinating! We got the recommended movies from the library, as well, and are going to watch those.
Augustus Caesar’s World - We love this book! I had no idea that it would read so much like a story. I feel like we are reading a great novel, not a history book. My 4th grade girl continues to be grossed out by the murders…so my 7th grade girl is being sure to “bloody” up her coloring pages to gross her out even more. Cruel girl!
Book Basket - Many wonderful books this week. I have been fascinated with the whole Pompeii story. My 7th grader always reads almost all of the book basket books, but I haven’t asked her what she thought about them yet. I keep forgetting to have my 4th grade girl (who doesn’t read very often…sigh…the tom-boy!) rummage through them. I need to remember that.
The Human Body for Every Kid - is proving to be a fun science book! The girls are enjoying the experiments, and so am I! We did the balancing against the wall one on Thursday; and the hot, warm, and cold water bowl one on Friday.
God and the History of Art - This book is going okay for my 7th grade daughter. She says she is interested in it, but doesn’t put much effort into the assignments. Sigh.
Foreign Language - We’re dabbling in sign language this year, but I forgot to do it this week! Oops!
Other - My 4th grade girl is learning to type with Jump Start Typing. She’s only done it one day but loves it! She keeps asking to do it, but I figure I shouldn’t let her do it all day or else she will get burned out and get sick of it.
Another great week in My Father’s World!
