Why change something that's working?

Well...


Maybe it's because the end of the year is approaching or it could be the new bibles the kids got for Christmas - Or, it just could be the attitudes I've been seeing that I know need work, but...

I want to rearrange school a little. (just a little.)

I LOVE My Fathers World. And, I chucked everything to focus JUST on that. And, I still love it. And, I still think it is complete in every area - Except establishing a personal relationship with the Lord.

See, I've been spoiled in that area since we used Student of The Word for awhile. And, I saw the fruits of that curriculum.

I want that back.

Why don't I just use SOW?

Hmmm, well...

It was just too much for me. Too much preparation, too many decisions, and too many materials to buy. It wasn't as "home friendly" as MFW. Meaning I can "slide by" pretty well with MFW - I don't have to do much planning or thinking each day. I can just sit down & do what needs to be done, but still deal with life at the same time. When we were doing SOW it seemed that I needed to be available to figure out what it was we were doing. And, I have a home to take care of so it made me choose too much between home and school. MFW is "school in a box." That is VERY nice!!


Ok, so why am I bringing this whole subject up?


I had originally planned that NEXT year I would try to implement some of SOW into MFW - at least the bible study portion. Since I have VOL 1 of SOW, which is studying Genesis to Deuteronomy, I figured when we began to study Creation-Greeks in MFW I could find some way to interweave the two curriculums.


That was the plan.

But, now I'm longing for the depth that SOW gave us.

Yet, I don't want to leave the stability of MFW.

Anyway, while I think on where to go next, I have made a way for us to establish prayer & reading in our day. (this idea is actually stolen from SOW) After breakfast I will have the kids work on a "prayer page" - it is essentially a page for them to draw a picture of what they'd like to talk to God about. I made my own. I made three different kinds: Praise/Thanks, Pray for someone, Personal Prayer Requests. So, they will just decide what they'd like to talk to God about and make a little picture on whichever page corresponds. I did it with Superkid when he was about 5 years old. And, those pages are precious! Not to mention a foundation and building block to his faith. He still remembers some of those and recalls how God answered his prayers. I am also stealing another idea from SOW, which is to do an "outline" from our daily bible reading. Whatever we read, I will have the kids draw a picture of what the learned or remembered. Depending on the reading, we may actually do an "outline" of what happened, but mostly I just want them to do something to help them remember what they learned.

So, that will help fill this hole I see in my "training them up in the way they should go." BUT, on the other hand, this takes away from my time each day with them. Meaning, I can't do it all... And, I may have to work slower through MFW or something...

Why oh why can't there just be a perfect curriculum? :-)

Math Choices

So, we just have a few more weeks of superkids math book left. I really want to maybe just focus on getting him through it for awhile. (Although knowing how I work, I'm sure that when baby comes we'll work plenty on math then.)

But, the real dilemma is where to go next?

Part of me just wants to switch to Singapore Math, which is what MFW recommends. Then another part of me says what we are doing seems to be working pretty well, so why not just stick with Horizons? THEN, I look on my bookshelf and see that I have a few math books we could use. We have Mastering Mathematics which I really like, but my problem is that I only have one child. If I could tell him to practice his math with his sister, this curriculum would work out great. I feel like I spend a lot of time working with him in other areas for school and math seems to me to be more of a self-directed subject. Not that Mastering Mathematics is not self-directed, it's just that there are flash cards & games you are supposed to do along with the workbooks. I do better with just plain ol' workbooks. We also have the old style Saxon Math 65. He's not quite there yet. Although he picks up VERY quickly on most concepts, I think he needs a little more work on his basic math skills first. Awhile back I picked up Dorling Kindersley "Math Made Easy" 2nd grade which would be the most logical from here to go to. But, is it complete? Will it work for us?

Oh the decisions we have to make!