I am on a Yahoo board that buys and sells My Father's World curricula. So awesome! It has been such a gift to us since our finances are really tight with the close of our adoption and our two trips to Africa in a matter of weeks.
I was poking around on there to buy the Hillside version of Primary Language Lessons, or at least the teacher's guide, and Spelling by Sound and Structure and a few other odds and ends (I am still using MFW suggestions for language arts, math, music, and drawing.)
In doing so, I was astounded at the terrific deals on curriculum packages. I must have been living under a rock, but nonetheless, it was ridiculously fun to see how I could stretch my home school curriculum budget.
Our Viola is such a good little reader, especially for 5 years old. It's really wonderful to witness how much she loves books and loves to read everything she can get her hands on. Having taught MFWK before, I know that she is going to *want* (not need) more than it provides, but I love it so much and it establishes such a strong framework for the following MFW years, that we wouldn't miss it for anything. While MFWK will give her the phonics foundation she will always need, and the beautiful literature and Bible, I will also make sure she has as many books as she wants to read and at her level. I figure she can also read to Josiah and take him under her wing a little.
In the spirit of wanting her to have a little more umph to next year, I'm going to fold her into Mae's lessons even more, at her level, of course. She loves to listen to stories so I believe that listening to history read aloud will be a perfect way to blend the girls together while meeting them each where they are at.
To the good deal part ... I found a used MFW Adventures package for $100, WITH all of the read-alouds and the patriotic CD. I already own the read-alouds (and the CD but I would love to have one in the car), so I found a MFW mama who needed the read-alouds and I sold her my set for $20. Thus, I got the Adv basic package for $80. Seriously. Good day here, I tell ya. Since I am using so many of MFW suggestions, I thought about buying the TG alone so that I don't have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to scheduling spelling, music, art, activities, and the like ... plus, while I think the state study may become tedious, I think it is paramount for my kids to learn about their immediate "world" around them now before jumping into ECC.
Since I really want a more literature-rich and CM curriculum, but we are a MFW family at heart, I figured out how to blend the best of both worlds. I have all but maybe five books to complete the Ambleside year 2 literature, poetry, hymn study, nature study, and church history. We are going to study Adventures in My Father's World over two years ... second grade will be through week 16 which covers up through the 13 colonies, The Revolutionary War, Daniel Boone ... and a week for a Thanksgiving unit study and a week for a Christmas unit study ... and third grade will take us from the 13 colonies through inventions and flight, along with the rest of the United States studies, with AO year 3 for literature, poetry, hymns, nature, and church history, again.
This allows us to spend two weeks per scheduled week of Adv, so we can really dig into the people, events, and church history of the time. I am hoping that we can begin collecting the YWAM Heroes of History biographies, too, for free reading as well.
Instead of the US history spine from Adv and from AO2 I am using A Living History of Our World with the student journal. The MFW spine will be good commentary as needed. (I did find a used, in like new condition, copy of the 1951 edition of Hillyer's A Child's History of the World and I plan to follow AO's schedule once per week with this book, as it is a treasure. Not to be missed.)
So, after a couple of months of thinking long and hard about MFW Adv and a purer CM education ... I can do both (thanks in part to my really good deal) and I remained a good steward of the curriculum money my husband sets aside.
Thankfully,
I was poking around on there to buy the Hillside version of Primary Language Lessons, or at least the teacher's guide, and Spelling by Sound and Structure and a few other odds and ends (I am still using MFW suggestions for language arts, math, music, and drawing.)
In doing so, I was astounded at the terrific deals on curriculum packages. I must have been living under a rock, but nonetheless, it was ridiculously fun to see how I could stretch my home school curriculum budget.
Our Viola is such a good little reader, especially for 5 years old. It's really wonderful to witness how much she loves books and loves to read everything she can get her hands on. Having taught MFWK before, I know that she is going to *want* (not need) more than it provides, but I love it so much and it establishes such a strong framework for the following MFW years, that we wouldn't miss it for anything. While MFWK will give her the phonics foundation she will always need, and the beautiful literature and Bible, I will also make sure she has as many books as she wants to read and at her level. I figure she can also read to Josiah and take him under her wing a little.
In the spirit of wanting her to have a little more umph to next year, I'm going to fold her into Mae's lessons even more, at her level, of course. She loves to listen to stories so I believe that listening to history read aloud will be a perfect way to blend the girls together while meeting them each where they are at.
To the good deal part ... I found a used MFW Adventures package for $100, WITH all of the read-alouds and the patriotic CD. I already own the read-alouds (and the CD but I would love to have one in the car), so I found a MFW mama who needed the read-alouds and I sold her my set for $20. Thus, I got the Adv basic package for $80. Seriously. Good day here, I tell ya. Since I am using so many of MFW suggestions, I thought about buying the TG alone so that I don't have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to scheduling spelling, music, art, activities, and the like ... plus, while I think the state study may become tedious, I think it is paramount for my kids to learn about their immediate "world" around them now before jumping into ECC.
Since I really want a more literature-rich and CM curriculum, but we are a MFW family at heart, I figured out how to blend the best of both worlds. I have all but maybe five books to complete the Ambleside year 2 literature, poetry, hymn study, nature study, and church history. We are going to study Adventures in My Father's World over two years ... second grade will be through week 16 which covers up through the 13 colonies, The Revolutionary War, Daniel Boone ... and a week for a Thanksgiving unit study and a week for a Christmas unit study ... and third grade will take us from the 13 colonies through inventions and flight, along with the rest of the United States studies, with AO year 3 for literature, poetry, hymns, nature, and church history, again.
This allows us to spend two weeks per scheduled week of Adv, so we can really dig into the people, events, and church history of the time. I am hoping that we can begin collecting the YWAM Heroes of History biographies, too, for free reading as well.
Instead of the US history spine from Adv and from AO2 I am using A Living History of Our World with the student journal. The MFW spine will be good commentary as needed. (I did find a used, in like new condition, copy of the 1951 edition of Hillyer's A Child's History of the World and I plan to follow AO's schedule once per week with this book, as it is a treasure. Not to be missed.)
So, after a couple of months of thinking long and hard about MFW Adv and a purer CM education ... I can do both (thanks in part to my really good deal) and I remained a good steward of the curriculum money my husband sets aside.
Thankfully,
Sounds like a good plan! Keep up the great work....and thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWould love to hear how this has been working out. I am considering stretching too.
ReplyDelete