My Father’s World- Exploring Countries and Cultures
We’ve just finished up another year of homeschool, (YAY!) and I want to share what we used this year. Last year I used an eclectic mix of subjects so, this year I wanted to try using a boxed curriculum. I lean more towards a Charlotte Mason and slightly Classical approach, so I went with My Father’s World – Exploring Countries and Cultures.
We visited 15 countries around the world, studied different people groups, learned how to pray for these people, cooked ethnic foods, and studied the ecosystems of these areas.
We made pinatas and cooked fajitas; crafted Chinese lanterns and ate Chinese food.
We learned of the missionaries who have went before us, spreading God’s word, and made disciples of all the nations. It was great.
I’ve created a complete Exploring Countries and Cultures resource page that includes every resource I used throughout the year, country by country. This is a huge list with picture books, read alouds, educational shows, and movies that brought the cultures around the world to life. Get it below.
How My Father’s World Works
My Fathers World is set up to as a family cycle from 2nd grade through 8th grade. No matter what year you enter into My Father’s World, you start in Exploring Countries and Cultures.
My Father’s World has a strong emphasis on missionaries around the world. In Exploring Countries and Cultures kids learn geographical terms, ecosystems, and of course countries and cultures around the world.
The Teacher’s Manual
I didn’t follow the teachers manual word for word. I used it as kind of a guideline, so to speak. The teacher’s manual is very easy to read and understand with a simple grid for the schedule.
In the beginning are preparation and teaching tips for every subject. The author has also given an example of their day to show how they fit it all in.
In the back is a gold mine of suggested books for each country studied and also a recommended list for general reading categorized by age.
It’s a 5 day week grid, with the 5th day being set up for a nature walk. Of course, we live in nature and are out in it all the time, but we took some intentional walks, drew some pictures, and talked about what we saw.
Bible
The bible focus in ECC is the book of Matthew, Hero Tales, and Window on the World.
Beginning week 3 you will start reading, studying, and memorizing the book of Matthew. You will also use these passages for copywork and dictation.
I went through this somewhat, but mostly used Window on the World and Hero Tales for bible since we do a bible study in the evenings.
We loved Window on the World. It brings to life the religions and cultures of 92 countries across the world with stories of families and how their lives can be changed through prayer. It gives you information, true stories, maps, and tips to help you pray for specific people groups. This book works wonderfully with ECC.
Hero Tales is just that. Non-fiction tales of great missionary heroes through our history who have changed the world for the better.
Geography
This year’s focus is on world geography. At the beginning of the year your kids will take a pre-test to see how much they know. My kids knew very little. Savannah knew a few from North America and South America, but that was it. Royce knew just a few more.
We moved from continent to continent studying the geography, the countries, the cultures, the traditions, and I threw in a little history, just because the culture and tradition stems from the history.
Included with the student sheets is the geography game. This game is great to help kids learn the countries of the world.
Around the middle of the year it got so long to finish, I substituted it with an app called Seterra Geography. I even enjoyed learning all these countries with the kids. All these years, I’ve heard of these places, but never knew where they were. We made a competition of it to see who could beat Mama.
Science
The science portion usually coordinated with the geographical area being studied using Properties of Ecosystems and Living World Encyclopedia.
The first several weeks, Properties of Ecosystems was a little advanced for my kids, but as the year went on it got a little more interesting and easier to understand. Living World was chocked full of great, kid-friendly information.
Art
A weekly craft project was from Global Art corresponding with the country we were studying. For example, for Mexico we made pinatas. These definitely require gathering materials ahead of time. A few of the projects are a little advanced, but you could easily substitute with some pinterest projects.
Read Alouds
The read alouds for ECC are Kingdom Tales and the Christian Heroes Then and Now series.
We read Cameron Townsend and Nate Saint and supplemented our own read alouds the rest of the year. Get my resource page here.
I think the Christian Heroes series are geared toward older kids. I would say 6th grade and up.
We enjoyed Nate Saint, but I suggest using the Trail Blazer series or Heroes for Young Readers books if you have young kids.
We haven’t gotten through Kingdom Tales yet, but have heard great things about it. It’s going to be one of our summer read-alouds.
Over all, we thought Exploring Countries and Cultures was great and broadened my kids horizens. My husband was impressed with all the kids have learned through the year.
Remember that pre-test they took at the beginning of the year? They took a post test at the end of the year and scored around 75% on every continent thanks to the geography game and Seterra Geography.
Living in the rural “Bible Belt”, my kids aren’t exposed to many different cultures. Exploring Countries and Cultures opened my kids eyes up to a whole new world of people who are completely different than them and helped them to see that the world does not revolve around them, The United States, or even North America; and that there are millions of people out there who need to hear the Word and know the Truth.
They now know that there are thousands of people groups who don’t even have a bible in their language and there are missionaries working tirelessly to provide this for them.
One of the things I love about My Father’s World is that they have made a commitment to fund bible translation around the world. If you would like to give also, you can go here to learn more.
I hope you enjoy this year and because I love ya, here is a list that I used to correspond with every continent and country.
Thank you for this, I’m glad I stumbled across you on Pinterest. We did Exploring Countries and Cultures when my daughter was in 2nd grade. She is now going into 7th and I have another 2nd grader and Kindergartner too. I’m excited to do it again and see how much we can learn! I’ve always wondered if I would actually reuse my curriculum, and now it is happening;) Have a good school year!
I love talking to families who have used it before to see how it worked for them. Last year was our first year. We’re using My Father’s World Kindergarten this year along with Rome to Reformation. I’m getting geared up to start the school year in a couple of weeks.
I was wondering if anyone uses MFW alongside Claritas memory work? My family has been in classical conversations for 3 years now but we, alongside several other families, are forming a new co-op for next year, using Claritas as our spine. I have three kiddos, ages 9, 7, and 4, and I would like to streamline our schooling for next year when my 4 (soon-to-be-5-year-old) joins his big sisters for school. We’ve used an eclectic approach until now but I would l really like to get us all on the same page, as much as possible anyway. Any thoughts would be appreciated!
I’d love to use your recourse page! I signed up but don’t know how to find and access it-help?