Homeschooling Recap: Weeks 1 & 2

by Vicki

So, although technically we are just finishing up Week 3 of our homeschooling adventure, I wanted to do a short medium length long recap on our first two weeks.

As I have mentioned, we have chosen to use the My Father’s World Kindergarten curriculum. This curriculum starts the year off with a two week unit on God’s creation. It also does a review of (get familiar with) all the letters and works on teaching the student how to use different tools (like the alphabet chart). I really enjoyed this unit and it was a great way to familiarize myself with how the curriculum flows. It was also a good two weeks for Peyton and I to get comfortable with schooling and to figure out a schedule that works for us.

Each day we read a part of the Genesis story and learned about a different day of creation. I love the creation story – God’s awesome power, the beauty that came from just His words, and the comfort that is encompassed in the “and it was good”. Peyton memorized what was created on which day (not a requirement but she picked it up pretty quickly) and enjoyed the different activities that we got to do. We made Creation Numbers (each number was decorated with what was created on that day), visited the park to look at things that God created vs. man-made objects, talked about light and darkness in the world and in our hearts, visited the Butterfly Conservatory for a Monarch Butterfly presentation, learned the song “This is my Father’s World”, and illustrated our very own creation story books.

For the cover page I wanted to do something different so I went to the idea factory: Pinterest. I found this craft on the blog Preschool Crafts for Kids. It was fun to make, it turned out really cute (I think) and I liked the idea of showing that God has the whole world in His hands. We took the title of Peyton’s book from the song “This is my Father’s World”: His hands the wonders wrought.  I thought it was an appropriate title considering the book contains just some of those wonders.

In the book there is one page for each day of creation. We had fun using different craft items to make our book very special and original. I think my favorite page is Day 3!

Of course Chase is included in our schooling. He enjoyed making the book as well (although, as you can see, he sometimes didn’t have the focus to finish some of the crafts). He did finish the entire book and is VERY proud of it. I only took a couple of pictures from his (I love how his people don’t have bodies…so cute!).

The Day 7(s) were just plain paper saying “God rested.”

I really enjoyed this craft. It was fun to plan (I planned different things for each page beyond what was suggested in the curriculum) and it was fun to watch the kids create while talking about their Great Creator! Both Peyton and Chase talk often now about the different things that God created in the world around us. I love how they name things and marvel that God created it!

We also did a little poster project: God Created vs Man-Made. Such a fun activity and a little confusing for Peyton. She was confused with flowers in a flower garden (but people plant them!) and that God didn’t create cars or toys. We did talk about how God created humans with brains that were able to invent things so really, yes, God is the creator of all things (even cars and toys). It was an excellent exercise for her. Plus it helped with her cutting and pasting skills.

It was a fun first two weeks. And we enjoyed our third week (this past week) as well, learning about the letter “s” and the sun! I really recommend My Father’s World curriculum (not an ad!) for anyone looking for a more guided curriculum for their kindergarten homeschooling adventures!