It’s no secret that I have used an all in one curriculum for the majority of my homeschool years. I have been often asked why I have as I am a curriculum junkie and love planning. I was once asked by the author and designer of a curriculum why I would ever use one as I could just as easily put one together myself. The answer is pretty simple, time and priorities. I did write and put together a year of elementary for Connor and it took me 10-15 hours a week of curriculum design. Chores didn’t get done, dinner was often cereal or pb&j’s and I didn’t get to do what I actually loved, teaching. My priority was to teach my three kids and if I found a curriculum that matched about 80% of my goals, then I was happy. Once I had a base, I could tweak it but it didn’t take me near the amount of time that writing from scratch would have.
My husband and I had three main goals in the education of our kids.
1. It had to have the Bible integrated.
2. It had to be engaging and needed to help our kids to love to learn.
3. It needed to be academically rigorous.
After that, I wanted it to follow a Classical philosophy of education. I wasn’t a strict Classical Educator, nor am I now, but I most closely identify with that philosophy of education.
At the time, there weren’t as many options that fit these goals as there are now, but I think I probably would choose the same now as I did then.
My Father’s World – We have loved My Father’s World and it has more than met all of our goals for our kid’s education, particularly in Elementary and Middle School. I still think the Biblical foundation and the missions outreach focus is second to none. It helped my kids to love God and to not merely be hearers of the Word but doers of the Word. We also loved all the hands on projects, family meals and games that it brought into our lives. It was thorough without being over kill and had a short enough day that I could add other things in if I wanted to, while still allowing my kids to explore, play and have a fun childhood. My kids were reading by the time we hit MFW K and 1st but we did them all the same while adding in other reading because of the amazing Biblical foundation that they provided. They were also a gentle, fun and engaging way to step into education. We often ( me included) try to push our oldest kids too far, too fast and this ends in burned out 2nd and 3rd graders who hate school. MFW taught me how to allow my kids to enjoy school and not to push them beyond what they can emotionally handle even if they can academically. We loved the family learning cycle, and all the hands on projects/meals/festivals allowed us to learn as a family and made connections for my kids that just academics wouldn’t have. They remember Roman culture because we made the togas, ate the food and learned about the weapons. It is still my number one recommendation for Elementary.
However, there are others that have come out or been revamped since my kids were in Elementary that I would be remiss in not mentioning.
Sonlight – Had I just been educating Connor and not the twins, who were movers and shakers, I think we might have ended up with Sonlight. Both Connor and I love to read and loved nothing better than a pile of books to read together. Sonlight is a solid choice but it is not for kids who need to move, do a project or can’t sit still. I do and have used Sonlight readers and Sonlight’s Summer Reading Packages through out the years. They have also revamped some of their Cores to better combine kids and would be on my top list if I was choosing Elementary curriculum today.
Heart of Dakota – This curriculum wasn’t available when my kids were younger but had it been, I think it would have been a very strong contender. The Bible is excellent, it has more of a personal relationship bent than MFW which isn’t bad, just different. Much like a church that is more relationship oriented than missions oriented. Both Biblical but with slightly different priorities. You can combine children, although they follow the youngest child rather than the oldest as MFW does. It is also far more Charlotte Mason than Classical. This might have been a deal breaker for me, although the really pretty notebooking pages and TM might have swayed me.
I think any of these choices are good, solid, Biblical choices. It may be more about the personality of both the teacher and the students as to what would be the best choice but I don’t think you could go wrong with any of them.
