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Hello! and question about MFW


mamiof5
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Hello everyone! first, let me introduce myself. My name is Wendy, and we have 4 wonderful kids. This is our first year homeschooling the 3 younger ones (prek, 1st and 2nd grade), so the last month or so has been a lot of trial and error. The whole "curriculum" thing is just confusing at times, and can be overwhelming. We got Catholic Homeschooling Curriculum, thinking it was the right fight, but our 1st and 2nd grader come from a very good school and their 1-2 grade materials were too basic. Besides, most of the material I found it dry, just didn't care for it. Then I ran into My Father's World (a great friend of mine uses it), I love what I see in the catalog and how much you get for your money. And it looks like the materials are fun and enjoyable! But then, looking at their catalog I ran into the whole evolution dilemma... UGH!

 

I guess my main question for all of you is, can you use My Father's World and still teach an evolution perspective or not really? I really like their lesson plans, and all the extra books and materials that come with their deluxe package, but I also can tell from the catalog that it might come from a different perspective from what we want to teach to our kids.

 

Is there a way to do MFW and mix evolution in there or would that definitely be a bad idea?

 

I would REALLY appreciate any help on this matter! I have looked at so many curriculums (I've been thinking about homeschooling for about 8 years now, since my oldest was in second grade!), so by now I am just tired of looking at stuff, reading and thinking about it. It feels like when I run into something we might like then for some reason or the other it doesn't seem to work... I want to try MFW, but not sure if it's doable from an evolutionary perspective.

 

Thank you in advance!! I have been reading quite a few of your curriculum threads... I am hoping I can find some very well needed guidance :confused:

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Bumping for you.

 

But, at least in the younger grades, you can switch their ideas for yours when evolution/or not crops up. I just finished MFW Adventures and I cannot remember any beginning of the world being discussed. I do know they use Apologia Astronomy for one of the years and that is young earth, but you can skip that part in the book.

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If you want to teach along the lines of: God created, but the earth is older than 6000 years, and God used evolution to do it, then you'll be fine using MFW with some modification.

 

in Kindy - age of earth is not really dealt with in the basic program. In the deluxe program, toss out the Dinosaur book. But it is "God Created"... when that happened is not really brought up. In fact, some of the science books recommended in the manual will have "millions" of years in them.

 

in 1st: again, age of earth is not an issue. God created it. Even the timeline doesn't have dates on the earliest pieces.

 

Adventures - it's not going to be an issue.

 

ECC - you will probably modify some sentences and some passages in the book called Properties of Ecosystems. That's a young earth creation book. The other book, Living World, was modified by MFW to go from millions of years to "long ago". not thousands.. but "long ago."

 

CTG: there is only a brief point in the program where age of earth is discussed. Again, it is more about "created by God" and less on "thousands vs. millions". Some modifications might be needed in some sentences here and there. even in the book, Streams of Civilization, where age of earth is discussed in chapter 1, MFW doesn't schedule that part of the book.

I like how they put in in their FAQ "As a company we hold to a literal 6-day creation and this belief is reflected in our programs. We also understand this is a topic of debate in the Christian community. Our goal is to hold to our beliefs without excluding anyone from using our curriculum. This is a decision that each family and ultimately each person needs to make. The Bible is handled much in the same way. Scriptures and other books are provided, but interpretation is left up to each family."

 

interpretation is left up to you the parent. edit to add... maybe leaving out the dinosaur book, or use it to teach that not everyone believes like we do on this topic.... (again.. minor part of the overall year)

 

RTR: the only cringe thing I can think of would be some of the paragraphs in the Astronomy book.

 

EX1850, the cringe point would be some of the tone of a few sentences here and there in Botany book. even as someone who tends toward young earth views, I didn't like how Jeannie Fulbright was snarky in that book.

 

1850MOD - I can't remember anything with age of earth.

 

you can change out jr. high science if you wish. Apologia is recommended, not required.

 

and by the time you'd be at high school materials, you'll have a better feel of it.

 

 

Overall, for something like this, it will be a very tiny part of MFW for "old earth age vs. young earth". easy to modify.

 

I know MFW has the marketing thing in their catalog about it, but like any company out there, they have marketing to make it sound like it is a lot more than it is. They got a few publishers to change a few words or leave out a sentence here and there in a handful of books without changing the content greatly at elementary level of science. They could do that only because they were the largest retailer of those individual items of that publisher.

 

 

hope that helps.

 

-crystal

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