My Father's World First Grade

My Father's World First Grade

2012-2013

We finished up My Father's World Kindergarten a little early, so I started 1st grade right away since I knew I was having a baby in the Fall, and would rather take our "Summer" then. My plan is to have first semester completed by the time baby arrives last week in September. I had heard mixed reviews about My Father's World First Grade curriculum, but decided I loved the K so much and have heard so many good reviews on their 2-8th grade curriculum I decided to just stick with the same company.

You can see their sample of the daily work for 1st grade here

Pros: [So far]

- Simple, easy to use

- Inexpensive, so I don't feel guilty for supplementing a little 

- Loving the biblical bases of it

- Work can be accomplished within 2 hours [ish]

- Flows well from MFW K [I have reprinted a few things to use again in 1st to reinforce]

Cons: [So far]

- The math seemed confusing, maybe it's not, but I stuck with what we used last year [Singapore Math]

- Not the best program for teaching reading so I ended up ditching it and purchased Explode The Code workbooks [you can buy workbooks on amazon or purchase ETC online games]

- One suggested Art, isn't my favorite, but they do suggestion some others 

- Little heavier on worksheets than K, but that's to be expected, you don't have to do them all I suppose

Thus far, I have followed the guides order for our daily routine:
-Bible first [usually studying bible and mediating on our weekly Proverb]
-Reading [where the worksheets are]
-Math [Singapore instead]
-Activity/Science/Art/Exploration Day [depending on what day of the week it is]

The curriculum is broken down into 160 days, suggesting 20 field trips or your own homeschooling for those additional 20 days. They suggest setting up your week starting first day of the week on Wednesday so your "outside day" or Exploration day falls mid week so you can take a break, but again, like in K, I just prefer simple start to finish to be Monday-Friday. So I just look ahead and start new Proverb on Mondays and end with it on Fridays. If that makes sense.

Good blogs to follow:

Mama Jenn [excellent Proverb printables]
Hey, it's Jade [good week to week]
Whole Hearted Mama [good week to week]
MFW 2011-2012 Blog Hop [look for bloggers who blogged on 1st]
My Father's World Forum [sorta helpful]
A Mama's Story 2012-2013 Blog Hop [look for bloggers who blogged on 1st]


Additional purchases:

Favorite Poems Old & New
Jesus Storybook Bible
What's in the Bible DVD's

My finds for First Grade on Pinterest 

Funny Friday #31

what Charles & I found when we went to get in our bed last night

have a funny picture?

link up below

Thankful Thursday #104

Thankful This Week For...

1. our last week at the beach [bittersweet, missed home, but will always miss beach]
2. reefs right off the shore
3. watching three boys collect rocks
4. giggles from passerbyer's as my boys cover their naked butts and with cutie towels
5. long story...but thankful a piece of sea shell is now out of my foot & infection is clearing
6. 11 hour drive home... made it safely and kiddos were angels
7. Francine River's book "Her Mother's Hope" [listened to the audio of it on drive home]
8. being able to be with Charles will he traveled for work
9. that one day in the future i will have finally unpacked from the beach
10. to be home & see family and friends

Thankful Too? Link up below.

Funny Friday #30

It's been awhile... have a good laugh

Thankful Thursday #103

Thankful This Week for...

1. beach sunsets
2. brothers who snuggle in bed
3. brothers who hold hands in parking lots
4. the silly things my boys do that keep me laughing
5. my dad & half sister visiting for a few days from Texas
6. making it down to the beach a few times by myself with kiddos
7. fish & chips
8. great naps after beachtime
9. never a rained out beach day
10. that my husbands job sometimes takes us fun places for free

half sister Lexi pulling Moses

my dad came in to town to visit for a few days

Nation always liked the beach

Solomon sometimes prefers the pool to the beach ; )

Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science

We met up with a friend in Fort Lauderdale and visited the Museum of Discovery & Science.

It was pretty fabulous.

Gatorama - Palmdale, FL -

Single handedly the most terrifying thing I've ever taken my children to. Gatorama. Which of course means my kids thought it was AWESOME. Maybe even more so than my husband. Tight competition there. I live with 3 boys and one man. I, was imagining them falling over the bridge of death over and over again being feasted on my 100 crocodiles thinking they were a slice of bread...while they, were imagining how awesome it would be to wrestle them. Case study: differences in sexes.

My blood pressure only lowered when we had "walked the plank" and were over the bridge that hung over the water of hungry alligators, and were in the "zoo" area. It's called solid ground, with fences and wires to keep my kids from...dying.

I know I sound like "that mom", which I'm not, but for those few minutes...I was. How on earth can you contain a 2,4, and 6 year old boy from climbing over a few feet high wooden edge [especially when your husband is equally mesmerized]... prayer. And lots of "put your hands back in" "don't climb" "stay close to me" "don't do that", etc etc. We were told the alligators would jump out of the water the length of their bodies--- not comforting as my husband attempted to see if they really would and kids followed in suit.

I may or may not have threatened to take us all back to the car. He stopped. We proceeded.

Spoiler: I later returned home with all 3 boys and a husband. Everyone's limbs still intact.

Beach Boys

28 weeks

Thankful Thursday #102

Thankful This Week For...
[the Florida edition]

what they do

what I do

"how I roll" [literally]
note: row of moms who came to beach without kids in background
[we've made sure to fling sand on them a few times to punish them]

swimming with papaw

what happens to kids after a day like this [at dinner]

1. the pool
2. the beach
3. free breakfast 7 days a week
4. free dinner 4 days a week
5. maid service
6. very few square feet to clean up
7. GA reminders like--- Publix, Costco, Starbucks, Target, and Chickfila
8. thinking to pack--- box fans, legos, dvd player, wii, and toddler mattress
9. free wifi & cable [and all other utilities for that matter]
10. hotel room darkening shades--- my kids keep sleeping like till 8-9am

What are you thankful for this week?
Link up below
Read & Comment #makenewfriends

West Palm Beach, FL

Charles has a 3 week wire project in West Palm Beach, FL so we decided to tag along because we love him so much...well...that and the beach. We are about 1 minute from the hotel pool and 10 minutes from the beach so I can't make too many excuses about staying cool during over the next three weeks. If that's possible while in third trimester.

The hotel room is large enough for us, but small enough for me to have a break from cleaning. They come by and do the dishes, linens and general cleaning everyday. Plus the hotel provides free breakfast and dinner most day of the week. It's a challenge to remind kids to be considerate of their neighbors with their voices, but so far no complaints from the front desk.

Today is our second full day here, it's raining, so we will probably locate the local Target. We found Publix yesterday. The simple things that make you feel "at home". Wait...where is the Starbucks?

Last night we went down to the beach after dinner. We, of course, planned to only take a walk, but the kids couldn't help themselves and before we knew it--- everyone was swimming and digging in the sand. They had a blast.

Below is our hotel room...

[two rooms like this]

We brought a toddler mattress for Moses [sleeps in closet]

three TV's & dvd players [all nailed down thank God]

kitchen

living area

"private pool" aka I guess we are the only ones with kids here...so far