We’re in the home stretch of our school year, working hard to finish up for a small summer break before the new school year. I’m excited just thinking about the upcoming year. *But really what homeschooling mom doesn’t get giddy over the prospects of a fresh start and new material?*
This year is a little different for us. It’s a transition. For the past 5 years we’ve been a Sonlight family. Core K through 3- we’ve taken two years to get through Core 3 – Sonlight has been our main course and we are very grateful for the faithful way the Holzman’s have served us and the homeschool community by providing such excellent curricula. I can’t say enough how much we’ve enjoyed the books in our Sonlight Cores.
So why say goodbye to Sonlight if we love it so much?
Well, I’ll tell you that as of March, we had no intention of switching curriculum. Looking ahead to Core 5, I was considering whether we would keep on with Sonlight or try something new like Tapestry of Grace or Mystery of History. But honestly, that was a whole ‘nother Core away! I had a whole year to figure that out, right? So I thought.
For years, I’ve listened to my fellow homeschool moms in our local group talk about My Father’s World. Every year on curriculum review night, there would be a new convert raving on and on about what an amazing treasure they’d stumbled into with this new program. Reputation had certainly preceded My Father’s World when my husband and I stepped into the booth at our local homeschool convention ‘just to see what the fuss was all about’. I’d walked past their large displays for three years now and never stopped to talk to them. I was a Sonlight girl. Nothing was gonna change that. And I promise you, with my husband by my side (he’s my spending conscience! hehe) I had NO intention of purchasing a full year’s curriculum and jumping the Sonlight ship. But. That’s just exactly what we did.
As I pour over the planner and the materials (I can’t believe I’m about to say this) I seriously think we are going to love this even more than Sonlight. My only beefs with the Sonlight programs are 1) language arts – don’t even get me started and 2) the restricting feeling of the schedule. It really was a burden to me and by the third year, we had to abandon it. Now it’s more just a guide for us. The notes, while extensive, are spread out among the various appendices and it makes for a lot of shifting back and forth through the schedule. I abandoned all those wonderful notes too by year 4.
The My Father’s World planner – it’s only an inch thick. Seriously. There is no monster appendix and the notes for the week are right in the schedule. I’m much too scatter-brained for all that flipping back and forth – I admit it! I don’t need a separate binder for science. It’s already in the schedule. And it’s creation science. Another thing I didn’t like about Sonlight was the heavy reliance on Usborne books. My Father’s World uses Usborne too but not to the extent Sonlight does. If you’ve ever used Usborne’s history books you’ll easily recall the vast amounts of nudity and millions of years spread throughout. *Before you send an email – yes, my kids are aware of body parts and yes, they know what evolution and old earth theories are but I really don’t feel the need to cover these topics 3 – 5 times a week.*
What I’m looking forward to with My Father’s World this upcoming school year is a more cohesive study program. Unit study-based learning that incorporates Bible, history, science, art, music, etc. Sonlight tried to do this but I just don’t think it ever really worked that well. It was the deciding factor for us. Many of the things Sonlight has attempted to do – Charlotte Mason, classical education, Biblical training… I believe My Father’s World just does it a little better. Starting with Exploring Countries and Cultures, we’re excited about a good geographical foundation for the olders as they enter into their second cycle of history. Mags, who will be 7 at the start of the new school year, will enjoy the fun aspects of the program like the passports and stickers, science experiments, etc. I’ll certainly be referring to some of my Core K &1 items for her though.
One thing we won’t be giving up from Sonlight is the delightful readers. And one of the things we are happy to see is that many of the books we’ve loved in Sonlight are used by My Father’s World as well. I’m telling you, the programs seem very similar. I guess by the end of next year I’ll have a better idea of just how similar they really are.
Have you used My Father’s World? Sonlight? Both? What has been your experience? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
-Sara O’
*photo by Jef Bettens
I've not used My Father's World… Only done Sonlight but we've just used it for History until this year and I will be adding Science A to our mix and supplementing with Considering God's Creation for the older two. I will be doing 2 Cores this year and just wanted to say, I read a previous post, thanks for reminding me, it doesn't have to be done all in one year!!!!! I look forward to reading your workbox posts as well. Not ready to sink more money into organizing and planning, still trying to figure out a way to use binders instead of workboxes, lol
I really appreciated this review. I am a sonlight girl…love the books and heart warming character building stories. I'm overwhelmed with the flipping around. I don't even go to the back appendices any more…I'm always weeks and weeks behind.
I would love to incorporate art and music into my history…does mfw do that? I have an enormous research project ahead of me but it might already be neatly pkged and I don't realize it!!
I can relate to all those feelings and I too gave up the appendices after a while. The art and music programs do coincide with the history in MFW. They are not very heavy programs, I will say. You may even find yourself wanting to add to them. But hey, better to add special things here and there than to feel overloaded all the time!
I feel so torn recommending these companies, one over the other, because I really do love them both so much. But I think My Father's World might be a good option for you to look into. It's a good time of year for purchasing curriculum too! Between now and April you will probably find the best deals on new and used curriculum since convention season is upon us.
Let me know, if you make a change. I'm eager to hear how it goes!
Thanks for visiting The Homeschool Project!
I have been searching for an extensive review such as this one. Thanks so much for your honesty. We will be homeschooling our 4 year old in the fall but couldn't decide which curriculum would be best for her. This post really gives me validation to try MFW. Thanks again!