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This last homeschool year, we traveled the World with My Father’s World Exploring Countries & Cultures. Here is my honest review of the curriculum and our experience with it.

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If you are unfamiliar with My Father’s World, it is a Christian homeschool curriculum that is a mix of Charlotte Mason, classical education, and unit studies with a Biblical worldview and global focus. Their Curriculum is broken down into three age categories: Discover (PreK-2nd/3rd), Investigate (3rd- 8th), and Declare (High School). One big difference with this curriculum is that it allows/encourages you to teach multiple ages together. Of course, math, reading, language, and spelling will be done per grade level, but the whole family can learn history, science, and Bible together. Win, win right?

How we got started with My Father’s World

We have been using My Father’s World since my second child was in Kindergarten. Her tender spirit needed a fun and gentle style curriculum. I have to say that My Father’s World Kindergarten was just what she needed, and it was my favorite year of homeschooling!  We had SO MUCH FUN! The themed units allowed us to learn the alphabet, as well as incorporate plenty of hands-on activities and field trips. I also found the Teachers Manual layout very user friendly, it just made sense to me (that is a must, for a homeschool mom!). After that year we were hooked on My Father’s World (MFW).

Since that first year with MFW, we have stuck with it as the spine of our studies. My Daughter worked through the phonics of Learning God’s Story and we all learned about the Bible stories together. The following year, my two oldest children did Adventures in US History. That also was an amazing year. My oldest son LOVED American History and loved keeping a History binder. That binder is a treasured keepsake of his.

Should I stick with it?

My Father’s World Exploring Countries & Cultures is the first curriculum in the Investigate section (and the Family Learning Cycle). That means that this year was going to be different than the years before it. That is always a little scary. I also noticed, through my Facebook research, that Exploring Countries & Cultures had mixed reviews. Some people said that it was their favorite year, and others said that they liked the Discover years better. It was time for me to go into full research mode.

Every year, I  do this! I spend hours researching what curriculum is out there and reading the plethora of different reviews on them. This is an important decision. The curriculum we choose for the year is an investment in our family and I want to make sure that it is right for us.

There is always a new “shiny” curriculum that everybody is talking about and loves. I fall into the temptation and have to check it out too, printing out the free samples and scouring the internet for reviews on what others like and don’t like about the curriculum. Then, I  remember to stop, pray, and think about what we like, and why it works for us. I always go back to My Father’s World. I know that it works for us and is a solid curriculum. It is so easy to get lost in all the new things out there.

After several weeks of looking through all the options, I decided to stick with MFW. I am glad that we did too. Here is my honest review of My Father’s World Exploring Countries & Cultures.

My Honest Review

My Father’s World Exploring Countries and Cultures (MFW ECC ) was a different year for us. As someone who LOVES the thematic units that My Father’s World does, I felt that this one took me a little longer to get the hang of.  I am not going to lie, I did struggle with it a little bit. It felt very open-ended to me, maybe a little too much for me. I am always the mom who adds in crafts, extra projects, and videos to each unit. And although my type B personality is okay with not following the schedule exactly I do like to have a rough schedule to follow.

The Teacher’s Manual gives you a guide on what to read each day (for 5 days). Our family strives to do school 4 days a week and I am always trying to group things together to get done in that time period. With that being said, we did not always follow the weekly schedule by the book. We did not read any of the chapter books of Christian Hero’s Then and Now, although I am happy to own them and include them in our library. My focus was on reading realistic fiction books that took place in the Countries we were studying. Remember this is “your homeschool,” make it work for you!

It took me several weeks to get a grasp on how to handle the year. What basically worked best for us, was for me to go through the teacher’s manual, pick a few major things I wanted to do, and work at those projects at our own pace. I also searched through some of the amazing ECC Facebook Groups (here is one and then another one) to find additional projects and ideas. If you use ANY of the MFW curriculums, the Facebook Groups are a MUST!

After several weeks of ECC, I was still not sure that I was into it. That was until we received our copy of WorldKids in the mail (if you purchase the curriculum through mfwbooks.com, you will get a free years subscription to this magazine). My kids never cared to look at these magazines. It’s a Christian children’s magazine that discusses current events happening all over the globe. I think it is very well done and would read a few articles aloud to my kids, but it never intrigued them.

Then one day, the magazine arrives with The Great Wall of China on the cover. I strategically left the magazine on our living room coffee table and walked away. I hear my oldest son yell to my daughter in shock, “The Great Wall of China is Crumbling.” This was BIG news to him and he was worried.  Why was this one article so important to him? How did I finally catch his interest?

Why this year is so important

Why had this struck him so? Well, several years before this, we decided to learn about China over the summer.  We read some books, played ninjas, and made a craft block Wall of China. We then moved on to learning new things. Little did I know that this short Summer study would help my son connect with the World. And that was when I realized how important this year was. I am not just teaching facts about the Countries, I am teaching my children about where things are in the World and helping them relate to that.

From that moment on, I looked at our school year differently. Yes, I do prefer to have a history spine, but learning the different Countries is the foundation to really understanding the history you will learn in the next few years.

It also allowed us to see how fortunate we are to live in our blessed country of America. We learned how God is working around the World and had a purposeful prayer. I found us touching on several tough issues in World History simply from reading books and discussing them. For example, World War 1 and 2, slavery, and refugee camps.  The conversations were all very natural and comfortable. And best of all, you are in charge of what you discuss with your children. If your kids are not ready for some of these tough topics, you don’t even have to go there.

Really, it was a great year full of learning!

What we didn’t like

I asked my son this question and he said, “I liked it all. But, if I had to pick something, I think that the science books were kinda boring.” I would agree with him. The science readings were a little dry and I usually tried to cram them into one day. We also are not really science lovers. Properties of Ecosystems is a more advanced read and may need to be summarized for younger learners.

I was also not a huge fan of the art projects in Global Art. I found myself looking through the book and then going to Pinterest to find something that might fit us better. We did enjoy Paper Dolls, Rosemaling, Grigi Charms, Chinese Lanterns, and a quilt project. That was all we did from the book.

We fell behind on reading the Christian Hero’s Then and Now Books. They are wonderful books but I found myself reading from Hero Tales (which we LOVED) and other books from the booklist instead. I am happy to have these books on my bookshelf and would love to read them later but they did get read during the school year.

My son also wished that we would have read more folk tales from each country. We did some but he loves to read and loves stories. He would have wanted more.

What we did like

Flight Simulation!

My kids have never been on an airplane before. It is something that we would love to do sometime but with 6 of us, it can be pretty costly. And truthfully, we love driving and being able to explore. Anyways, my kids really want to go on an airplane so I wanted to make this flight simulation as realistic as possible.

At the beginning of the year, the kids have to fill in a pretend passport application. I played this up big time! We filled in their passport applications (included with the curriculum), I pretended to mail them out, and when it was time to start the new school year they really thought we were going on an airplane.

On the first day of school, I had them pack their bags, grab their passports, and get ready to go. They were a little disappointed when the airport was only in our living room. I pretended to have them go through customs, checked their passports, asked them questions, and then had them find a seat. I turned on YouTube and we played a flight safety video, and then we watched a flight takeoff video. While they were “flying,” they watched different travel videos on the Country we were going to and I handed out snacks. We then watched another video on landing and the kids grabbed their bags and left the plane. “Flight Attendant Mom” would put the correct flag on their passports and give them their new currency.

We did not do this every time. By the end of the year, we no longer played videos of flying out and landing and we did not do the currency anymore. However, we would still board the plane and watch travel videos. It was a great start to learning about a new country. We also really enjoyed watching Flight Safety Videos from each country that we were going to. Some of them are so funny!

The Book List

My Father’s World is known for its amazing book list. I use our local library hold system to the extreme. With my library account, I am able to log in from home, search for book titles in our entire state library system, and put them all on hold.  The library system ships them to my local library, they are put on the hold shelf, and I am able to quickly pop in and check them out. It’s a HUGE TIME SAVER! I have also been known to max out my library checkouts; which in case you are wondering is 100 books. Eeeks! We love our library!

Hero Tales: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heros– As I mentioned above, we LOVED this book. This book gives you a brief biography and 3 stories of some missionaries around the world. It is short and sweet and gives you a look at how God is working to reach people across the globe.

Wee Sing Around the World– My kids loved listening to these songs. It was a great way to break up the day and have some fun dancing in our kitchen.

John 3:16 Coloring Pages for Each Country– After the kids got their passports stamped, we would move to the dining room and color in their John 3:16 sheets for the new country. These coloring sheets showed a person dressed typically for that Country and had John 3:16 written in the main language of that Country. The student sheets also include a picture of that country’s flag and the children would write what the flag stood for and then put these sheets into their Student Binders.

Geography Game-The Geography Game comes with the curriculum and is a really fun way to learn about the Countries of the World. You are provided with two maps of each Continent and two sets of names for each of the Countries on the Continent. You cut out the Country names and put them in a pile for each student. The players then take turns selecting a Country name and choosing where they think the Country is. They flip over the Country name and can see if the spot they chose was correct (because they are labeled with numbers) and then they can choose another Country if they were correct or if they are incorrect the next player gets to try and guess where their Country is.

Making Food From Each Country– This was a wonderful way for the whole family to experience the Country. Sometimes we would just make a snack and other times we would make a full-fledged 3-course meal from that Country.

 

Some good additions to the Year

Writing to the Embassies– This idea came from the MFW ECC Facebook group. Someone in this group found all the Embassy addresses and created a letter that you can send out to the embassies asking for information or resources on that Country. This was a great thing to do in the summer before you start your school year.

Give Your Child the World– This book is filled with more great books to read. The titles are newer and it also breaks down books for younger, middle, and older children. If you are looking for more fictional books, this is a great addition.

YouTube Videos– Are We There Yet, Disney’s planet Earth, Flight Safety Videos from each country, videos on animals from that country

The Complete Book of Animals– This is a suggested book to add from MFW if you have younger siblings following along. My kids loved learning about all the animals. The book includes pull-out informational books on animals, coloring pages, extra work pages for labeling animal parts, and review questions. I would rip out the small animal books included in it and we would all take turns reading the pages.

Children Just Like Me– This book lets you step into the life of a child from a different country. It goes over housing, food, family life, and hobbies.

Movies– Our family loves watching movies together and this was a great way to learn a little more about each Country. We watched Cocoa, The Incredible Journey, End of the Spear, Frozen, The Lion King, Hundred Year Journey, Seven Years in Tibet, Mulan,  and Adventurers Down Under. For science, I think the DisneyNature movie series has a lot of biome information. You can find several small clips of these on YouTube or can rent them from the library.

Geo Puzzles– These are great for learning and reviewing the Countries. A hands-on, independent activity.

Eat Your Way Around the World– A cookbook that includes recipes and fun information on each Country. We tried several of these recipes and enjoyed them.

Stories from Around the World– This is a Sonlight Book and it has several folklore stories from around the world.

A Year Full of Stories: 52 Classic Stories From All Around The World– We did not read this book but I wish we would have. Especially, since folk tales were something my oldest son wished we would have learned more of.

Atlas Crate Subscription– Our family has fallen in love with Kiwi Co Subscription boxes (read my review here). They have an Atlas Crate (for ages 6-11) that would be a great addition to your world studies.

Universal Yums-This is a monthly subscription box that sends you snacks from different countries. How fun is that? We have not personally tried this one but many people from the MFW ECC Facebook Groups raved about it.

Make an Advertisement for that Country–  This is a creative way to research that Country more and to add a fun writing project. I had my two oldest choose a product or natural resource that can be found in Brazil and then they had to research the product and make an advertisement for it. My son chose coffee and my daughter picked sugar cane. Even at the end of the year, they remember this project. They learned about the product and it’s benefits, how to research things on the computer, how to advertise, and had a great time doing it. I also think you could have the kids advertise for that particular Country. Why should people travel there, what are the best spots to visit, etc.

Final Advice

By the end of the year, my goal for each country was to watch some YouTube videos on the first day of travel, read a few good books from that Country, learn about the science ecosystem, read about a Missionary in Hero Tales, eat a little food from that country, and do one craft for that country. I had a lot more success when I simplified our study that way. If I could find a movie that would tie into that country, then we would watch that for family movie night.

Although I did do my own thing most of the year, I do feel that the Teacher’s Manual is essential and kept me on track. I like the student sheets, the weekly Bible verses, the discussions, the booklist, the science readings, and the page numbers for incorporating the other books and resources.  It would take me hours to come up with that on my own. I like having it all at my fingertips and then I have the option of using it or not.

If you are on the fence about whether to use My Father’s World Exploring Countries and Cultures or not, I would go for it! You and your family are going to be learning far more than textbook facts. You will gain compassion and understanding for people around the World. Your children will make connections with the world around them and be able to understand world history. You will have some deep and meaningful conversations with your children. Empathy will be gained for others in our local community and the rest of the world. You will see how God is continually working and why our prayers and missionaries are still in demand. And most of all, you will have fun!

This really is a foundational year of learning and we felt blessed to be able to learn so much together as a family.

In Conclusion

I hope this review helps you in deciding if Exploring Countries and Cultures will be a good fit for your family.  My Father’s World Curriculum has really been a blessing to our family. I am proud to support them! After writing this post, 2 years ago now (edited 8/2021), we have continued with My Father’s World Curriculum and the family cycle. I love it more and more each year. My own faith and knowledge of the Bible are growing right along with my kids. It is solid, it is biblical, it is Christ-focused.

Another thing I love about this company is My Father’s World’s focus on missionaries and bringing the Bible to all languages. 50% of their profits go towards bible translation. Read more about that here. If you purchase directly through the company, you will receive a few calls from them, they will ask if you have any questions, and then they will pray for you. It’s very touching and always makes my day (week) when I receive their message. It speaks volumes for the company!

Can you please do me a favor? If this is your first time ordering through MFW and you found this review helpful, enter my code at checkout: W039423

 

If you found this review helpful and are going to order My Father’s World Curriculum for the first time through the company, please add me as a referral.

Use code: W039423 at checkout

                                 

That will help our family to continue sharing our experiences with My Father’s World. Thank you SO MUCH!!!

If you have any questions or would like more information, please comment below or send me a message. I would love to help you with your homeschool. If you are interested in learning more about our homeschool, you can read our 2018-2019 Curriculum Choices and Why We Homeschool.,

See what we are using next!

Another program that we have really enjoyed is Around the World with Picture Books by Beautiful Feet. If you are looking for something less structured, with endless possibilities for rabbit trails, this might be just the program for you. Click on the link below to find out more about Beautiful Feet Books.

Blessings,

-Lindsay