How I Organize My Father's World Kindergarten (God's Creation From A to Z)

We've been using My Father's World God's Creation From A to Z with Titus, my just-turned-five-year-old! (His birthday was July 30.) We are on Week 15 this week. We started this when he was 4 1/2 years old. He has really done well with it! He is starting to blend words and can read lots of CVC words. He is recognizing words he knows and will point them out. He tries to sound out everything! We really love My Father's World.

I've seen many blog posts that have very elaborate filing systems for organizing the papers and such for this curriculum. I don't have the time or space for that! With five kids and five sets of curriculum, I need to streamline as much as possible. I want to share my very simple and easy way of organizing My Father's World God's Creation From A to Z.

I found the best plastic container at Walmart! It has a lift-out tray perfect for holding the small things needed daily and pretty deep storage area. It was about $8! I even went and bought another one (and I'm sure I'll buy more and more, haha) for my own "teacher" supplies.

In the tray, I have the following items:

• the picture card envelopes (each week, they have picture cards to cut out and store in the envelopes - they are used several times weekly)
• the small alphabet flashcards (I keep the letters we have learned and are learning in the envelope - I use them for daily review and games)
• short vowel cards (also in an envelope - they are used weekly to reinforce the short vowel sounds)
• pencils, markers, crayons, scissors, glue stick, pencil sharpener (we use these daily)
• a small clock with moveable hands (learning to tell time, it's nice to have on hand)

Under the tray in the storage area, I keep:

• the teacher's guide
• a red folder that holds his worksheets for the week, his blend ladder chart, calendar and number chart
• his math workbook (there is very little math in MFW, so I do supplement with a kindergarten math workbook)
• handwriting tablet (I use a yellow marker to write letters and he traces them - there is only one day of handwriting in MFW, so I do like him to practice often)
• extra flashcards (in a zipper bag, I keep the flashcards we haven't learned yet)
• alphabet flashcards (we use these almost daily, but they won't fit in the tray - I keep them in a zipper bag)
• bingo cards (in a zipper bag)
• words to remember cards (again, in a zipper bag - the ones we haven't learned yet)
• badge patterns
• worksheets (I keep the ones we haven't used yet paper-clipped by week in the bottom of the storage container - I can easily grab next week's worksheets and slip them into his folder on Sunday)

There are a few things that won't fit into the tub - Cuisenaire rods, textured letter puzzles, and other manipulatives. I keep them close by on a bookshelf. I actually keep the puzzle right on top of the storage container because we use it all the time.

He also has a binder that holds his completed work. I have dividers for each week, and I label them by letter and theme (for example C- Cow or W- Water). Each week, we have to make a badge that will help us remember the Bible lessons and letter/theme. I glue these to the front of each divider. Everything he completes goes behind the correct divider. He loves looking through his binder! I usually hole-punch the worksheets at the beginning of the week to make a quick transfer each day.

If you'll look at my Teacher's Guide, you can see that I write tons of stuff inside! I like to add in some fun hands-on math activities as well as crafts and extra worksheets for each theme. I don't have to do this, but Titus is always asking for more school, so I try to find some simple and fun things he can do. I simply write them in pencil on the schedule. I try to include the books we read each week to go along with the theme, but sometimes I forget. It will be a great record of his Kindergarten year!

I also keep small Post-It flags on the current week and on the reading lesson instructions (which are in the back of the teacher's guide). It makes it easier to flip to the right pages!

We are really happy with My Father's World! Titus has learned so much and I have had so much fun teaching it!