With last week being our first week using My Fathers World (MFW), I feel like there is going to be a huge learning curve on my part. The curriculum we used last year was pretty cut and dry, there were workbooks for every subject. In my mind that made sense, you just completed the page and then moved on to the next page the next day. This year, that's not the case, which is a good thing!
So last week, I kind of felt like I was stumbling over myself in certain areas. I am hoping to improve on those areas as we move through the year. One thing that I felt was hard for me to get, was the laid back approach! I love it, don't get me wrong, but it was hard for this Type A personality to grasp at first. All summer I was struggling with how I was going to make this work, then I finally decided that I was just going to have to dive in and go for it.
Here is what we worked on last week, remember that I am not adding all subjects at once. Last week for Elijah he worked on Week 1 in Adventures, that included Bible, History and Science. I also added in some light math work, just to refresh his memory a bit.
This week we will be adding in Math, Handwriting, and Typing; and then next week we will add in English, Spelling and Latin.
For Noah's Kindergarten work, we focused on the first 4 days of creation. We would briefly go over alphabet and number activities, but I feel he has a good grasp on those concepts. Since he is my reluctant learner, we took it really slow! His lessons lasted about a half an hour, and then we did some reading together.
This week for Noah we will continue the days of creation, learning about days 5-7 and then more letter and number recognition.
For Tot School this week, we did a lot of one on one reading, and puzzles. He joined in with us for a few art projects, but he is still very much a mover! He want to be involved, kind of! I am hoping to get some activities planned for him soon, and then start more focused learning with him some time in September. I really wanted to get a good flow going with the other two before I added in Tot School.
Even with all of my trepidation I am so excited about what God has in store for our homeschool this year.
Hi Sasha! I just stumbled upon your blog and love it. I'm also using MFW Adventures and Kindergarten and would be so grateful to know how you schedule your day (because you seem a LOT better at that than I am!!). Basically, I just don't seem to be able to get through all of the material for each of them and take care of my two year-old. We are also following the GAPS diet, so I have to spend a good deal of time cooking/cleaning, so any advice you could give would be much appreciated. Thanks, Rae
ReplyDeleteHi Rae! I am so glad that you like my blog! First let me tell you our days are crazy here! I am constantly making adjustments to our schedule, because of the two year old! I have found though that flexibility is key. I am focusing more on my 3rd grader right now, and including the kindergartener when he wants to. Over the summer I sat down and wrote out a schedule that I thought would work, making sure I was getting everything in and giving everybody some one on one time. SO on paper I have it down to a science, but in real life, well, not so much! Because the moment I sit down to read to the 3rd grader the two year old runs into the wall and then is in a crying fit for about 5 minutes. So there is flexibility in my schedule. I do some schooling in the afternoon when the two year old is napping. My final thought of advice to you is to give yourself some grace! My experience so far with MFW is, that there is a lot of hands-on activities but if you find that those are too much maybe just choose 1 to do in a week. Also maybe do the read aloud time in the evenings before bed time. Just be creative and keep playing around with your schedule until you find what is going to work. The motto at my house is trial and error! I hope something here helped you!
DeleteOkay; I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one struggling with crazy days! It helps to realize others are going "off schedule" to make it all work for their household...I have been feeling like a failure because I can't seem to keep my two year-old happy enough to let me follow my schedule. I can't even get her to nap unless I lay with her, so I haven't been able to carve out time during that window, either. The advice of doing one activity a week may be a winning ticket - as well as moving some others to the evening time. It helps so much to hear it from another mom! Thanks for your time & I'll definitely be visiting you here often!! God bless you, Rae
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that something I said sounded like it might work for you! Sometimes its just comforting to hear someone else tell you that its ok not to do everything!
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