My Journey

My journey with My Father's World started one spring approximately 18 years ago. I had my first child, Ezekiel, and was reading Genesis of a Legacy by Ken Ham and Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson. In both books they assert that you should know what your children are being taught. Dobson would have homeschooled his son if he had even known it was a choice. My reading started a discussion between my late husband and me. He brought up the normal socialization question we are somehow programmed to ask, which was funny to me because neither of us liked public school specifically because of the socialization. We both loved to learn and had both gone on to pursue college educations in engineering, but we had never liked the ridiculous behavior in public school or on the school bus.

We decided to attend a homeschool convention near us to help us make a decision regarding homeschooling or public schooling. We lived in KY at the time, so we attended the Cincinnati Homeschool convention. We joked that we could tell the people in the parking structure were homeschoolers because of the number of children each family had. I came prepared with my spreadsheet highlighted for each speaker and booth that I wanted to visit. The result of attending that convention was the decision that we wanted to pursue homeschooling when our children reached school age.

A few years later, we attended another homeschool convention and I walked away with a PreK curriculum that looked very polished and nice. But, as Ezekiel grew, I knew it didn't suite him. So, I began searching again. At some point God laid it on my heart that I could easily spend all my time researching curriculum and going to conventions to see the newest and shiny things, but that isn't what He had for me. I'd enjoy the process of research, but ultimately that would compete for my precious time with my family. Not only would it cost time, but it would also ultimately cost, our now one income family, money by continually changing things. I asked the Lord to bring me to a curriculum we could use for all of my years homeschooling.

We attended another homeschool convention, and I heard David Hazell speak about homeschool curriculum options, using roads as an analogy.

• Interstates are like reproducing public school at home.
• Tollways are Christian public school at home.
• Route 66 is a classical education.
• Scenic Routes are unit studies.
• Residential roads are unschooling.

All of these roads have a purpose. However, they don't really serve the homeschooler if you always stay on the same type of road. He explained that My Father's World is a mix of the best of each of the types of roads. Most importantly God's word is central - not an afterthought, not squeezed into weird sections, but the curriculum is centered on God's word and everything else is built around it.

One of the examples David gave was from the kindergarten curriculum, God's Creation from A to Z. You start teaching the letter sounds in kindergarten and they are taught in a unique sequence with My Father's World. You first learn the "s" (sound) for sun and the biblical lesson that the sun is the light of our world just like Jesus is the light of the world. Then the next unit is the "m" (sound) for moon. Just like the moon is a reflection of the sun, so we should reflect Jesus. David gave some examples of the lessons that went along with the units. After that session we went and purchased the My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum.

We did try that original PreK curriculum only because My Father's World did not offer a full PreK curriculum at that time. They offered a few activities but they were not enough for my precocious Esther. Furthermore, that PreK was written more for a large group of students and would have required too much work for me to modify. Others who like My Father's World recommended another curriculum, so, I tried it, but Esther asked if she could stop a week or so in because it was "dumb". I have to agree it had too much twaddle and that didn't suit my youngest at all. Even though it wasn't recommended, we started My Father's World Kindergarten and just took our time. She loved the My Father's World curriculum and still does — she just finished 10th grade.

I've seen so many homeschoolers jump from thing to thing trying to find that perfect curriculum or wear themselves out trying to put one together. Others even try adding things to the gentle approach in the younger years of My Father's World. Let's just be honest a perfect curriculum — it doesn't exist. But...

Does this one help you teach (no teaching experience here)? Yes. Does it do all the hard work, and prepare your children well both academically, but also in knowledge of the Lord? A resounding yes.

I absolutely believe My Father's World was the answer to my prayer. I don't regret using the curriculum or knowing that my purchases have helped other's receive God's word in their heart language. I have two children who have graduated high school, and two that are still in high school. The lessons that we have learned together will forever be in my heart ... and since I've moved to Missouri, a frog from when we studied the plagues somehow ended up at my new home!