My Father’s World Creation to Greeks

Join me while I take you on a photo journey of our 2019/2020 school year. Our curriculum this year was My Father’s World Creation to Greeks. It is the second year in the My Father’s World’s family cycle. The family cycle allows the entire family, grades 2-8, to learn the same thing but on different levels. It makes teaching so much less stressful. 

This year we started at Creation and learned about ancient history through the Greek empire. The Bible was our main history source however we also used other texts as well. It was amazing to see how some of the ancient texts referred to events that happened in the Bible. I can’t put into words how rich our study has been this year. It’s crazy how much we’ve learned this year.

I have four children. When we started in August of 2019, their ages were 10, 9, 8 and 7 years old. My 10 and 9 year old were doing 4th grade work and my 8 and 7 year old were doing 3rd grade work.

Here are a list of their subjects.

Subjects done together:

• Bible/Biblical Feasts
• History
• Geography 
• Science
• Greeks roots/Vocabulary
• Art
• Music history 
• Foreign Language (we started Spanish but dropped it mid year, it wasn’t the right timing)

Subjects done individually:

• Math
• Language Arts
• Spelling
• Cursive
• Writing (4th graders only-we weren’t happy with our writing curriculum this year. We will attempt another curriculum next year).

********************************************

Biblical Feasts

 

One of our favorite parts of this year was celebrating Biblical Feasts.

We started the year observing a true Sabbath. I was overwhelmed by the amount of work it took in order to prepare for a day of full rest. But it was worth it all to have an entire day free of work. That day of rest was so nice.

Preparing for Sabbath

Our Sabbath meal

The next celebration was Rosh Hashanah or the Feast of Trumpets. 

After that was the Festival of Booths or also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot. We built our own Sukkah (booth/tent) on our front porch. We spent time in it reading the Bible and doing our schoolwork.

The kids loved our Sukkah! 

We even attempted to sleep in it overnight. We lasted half of the night.

My favorite of all the celebrations was the Passover. It was such an awesome way to start the Easter weekend. As Christians, the Passover beautifully aligns with Christ’s sacrifice and defeat over sin. I seriously want to make this a part of our Easter tradition in the years to come.

In preparation for Passover we played a game to rid the house of leaven.  Leaven is a picture of sin and this was a reminder to examine our lives and realize our need for Christ’s forgiveness.

The main focal point of the Passover meal is the Seder plate. On it are reminders of the Israelites history of bondage and their hope of an ultimate redemption. Also, the unleavened bread was a picture of the coming Messiah. We made an unleavened  Passover cake for dessert.

The meal included ceremonial readings. I was worried that it would be too long but the kids seemed to really enjoy it.

Our last celebration of the year was Purim. We made Hamantaschen cookies and we acted out the story of Esther.

********************************************

Bible

& Geography

 

This year we read through most of the Old Testament. After we read each scheduled passage, we read the corresponding pages in The Victor Journey through the Bible. This book really helped us understand life in Bible times as well as showing us the location of the events we read about.

We made many maps this year in school.

 This was the first year we started memorizing large portions of scripture. By the end of the year we all memorized...

• the order of the Old Testament books
• the 10 commandments 
• 2 Timothy 3:16-17
• Psalm 23
• Psalm 1
• Isaiah 40:21-31

********************************************

History

 

We loved learning about the many different ancient civilizations. In addition to the Bible and Journey, we also read out of  Streams of Civilization, Ancient World and Ancient Egypt.

The kids loved acting out what we learned. 

The kids acting out Moses & Pharaoh and the 10 Plagues. We also made manna (popcorn) and imagined eating it for 40 years.

The battle between the kings of Upper and Lower Egypt.

The kids dressed up as Egyptians for Halloween.

A local museum had a free day and they had an exhibit on ancient Egypt! This made me so happy.

We built an Egyptian boat.

We made a model of the Tabernacle.

We took a field trip to see the Indian mounds (Pyramids) in Georgia.

We made Phoenician alphabet cookies.

We had our very own Ancient Greek Olympics. The kids had a blast.

The kids learned how to play the Ancient Greek game of Knucklebones.

 

End of the year Greek Feast.

********************************************

Science

 

This is the first year that we really enjoyed Science. We were successful in completing the majority of the experiments. Each kid kept a science journal this year. It was so fun looking through everything they’ve studied this year. 

We used YouTube a lot this year. If there was an experiment that we didn’t have all the supplies for, we were able to find the experiments on YouTube.

We built pyramids out of toothpicks.

********************************************

Art

 

  

********************************************

Math

 

 For math all the kids were in Teaching Textbooks this year. This curriculum has been a wonderful decision  for us. The kids were able to work independently the majority of the time.

********************************************

Greek Roots 

Vocabulary 

At first, Greek roots was a struggle but after some time the kids have flourished in it. All together, they have learned almost 40 Greek roots and their meanings. We have used it many times outside of school to decipher words they’ve never heard before. It is amazing!

********************************************

Spelling

 

All the kids are in Spelling Power this year. I love this curriculum. My oldest daughter has made the most improvement this year. She went from being a struggling speller to helping out her younger siblings. I’m so proud of her.

She only missed two words! This was a breakthrough day.

She did it again!

********************************************

Other

Activities 

 

********************************************

Literature 

We had some great read-alouds this year. I’m so glad My Father’s World schedules read-alouds. I don’t read a lot and this forces me to read to the kids. We really enjoy and crave this time together.

********************************************

Cursive

 

My fourth graders finished this book during the beginning of the school year and my 3rd graders finished it by the end of the year. We’ve tried 3 cursive curriculums and this is by far our favorite. 

********************************************

Language Arts

 

We have used Language Lessons for Today since 2nd grade and we love it. It is a slow approach but it is so rich. 

********************************************

Spanish 

 

I tried really hard to make TalkBox.mom work but after 3 months I had to let it go. It’s a subscription service and I love the concept of learning the language together as a family but it wasn’t the right time for us. We may pick it back up in a couple of years.

********************************************

Writing

 

I also tried really hard to make this Writing curriculum work. My kids disliked it so much and I even had a hard time figuring out the lessons. We will try Institute for Excellence in Writing next year.

********************************************

Thank you for following our journey!