My Father's World - Adventures in U.S. History

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

We were so incredibly blessed to be gifted the Deluxe Package of Adventures in U.S. History from My Father's World. Titus used God's Creation From A to Z for Kindergarten and then followed up with Learning God's Story for 1st grade. Last year, I grouped him with Silas and Mercie and we did something different. I'm so excited to use Adventures in U.S. History with him for his 3rd grade year!

WHAT IS ADVENTURES IN U.S. HISTORY?

Adventures in U.S. History is a one-year course for 2nd or 3rd graders. This curriculum starts at the Vikings and Leif Erikson and ends with Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers, and emphasizes the biblical character of the people who founded our country. Science lessons correlate with the names of Jesus, which your child will be studying. There are weekly scripture memory verses as well as daily Bible readings.

WHAT COMES WITH THE DELUXE PACKAGE?

I received everything listed below.

• Teacher's Manual
• Student Worksheets
• American Pioneers and Patriots
• Birds, Nests, and Eggs
• First Encyclopedia of Science
• Fun With Magnets
• Map of the US and World
• Map of the United States Sticker Picture
• NIrV Discoverer's Bible for Young Readers
• North American Indians
• Patriotic Songs of the U.S.A.
• Red, White, and Blue
• Science in the Kitchen
• Science With Air
• Soda Bottle Bird Feeder
• The Fourth of July Story
• The Story of The U.S.
• The Thanksgiving Story
• Acrylic Paint Set (three colors)
• Farmer Boys
• I Can Do All Things (art book and paint/marker cards)
• I Can Do All Things DVD
• In Grandma's Attic
• Mountain Born
• On the Banks of Plum Creek
• Pilgrim Adventures
• Sarah Whitcher's Story
• The Best of Tchaikovsky
• The Courage of Sarah Noble
• The Nutcracker Ballet Book
• The Story of Tchaikovsky With Music

That is a ton of books and resources! We also received math and language arts from My Father's World. I talked to David at My Father's World and he recommended which math and language arts to use. The customer service is great! They really helped me with placing Titus for math and language arts. Titus took a placement test for Singapore Math and placed in 1B (even though he is super great at math) because he has not done multiplication yet. They sent me Singapore 1B, 2A, and 2B for Titus to finish this year. He is halfway done with 1B already because it was super easy review, and now he has hit the multiplication lessons and is doing great. We may skip some of the book after multiplication and go straight to 2A. We also received Language Lessons for Today, Zaner Bloser Cursive Handwriting, and Spelling Power to use.

I'm going to talk about a few of the resources in more detail. 

TEACHER'S MANUAL

The Teacher's Manual is one of my favorite features. I've always loved the way MFW has their Teacher's Manual set up. Each week is set up in a grid with small boxes you can check off as your complete each assignment. A couple of pages follow each weekly grid with more details for the assignment. I like being able to open up and see at a glance what we will be doing the next week! At the beginning of each weekly lesson there is also a supply list that not only tells you what you need, but what day you need it. This is extremely helpful! If I see that we need something I don't have, I know if I can wait a few days until I have to make a grocery run to pick that item up or if I need to make a quick trip to get something. There is also a suggested book list in the back for each week. I love this! I can take it to the library and see what books they have. The Teacher's Manual is very user-friendly.

STUDENT WORKSHEETS

The Student Worksheets are also really nice. It's great not to have to print sheets out or make copies from a book - these pages come already printed and wrapped in plastic. The paper is thick and the quality is really good. At the bottom of each worksheet it tells you which week and day you will use each sheet. For example if it says 3M at the bottom of the page, I know it's for Monday of week 3. I really like that because it makes things much simpler if a paper gets out of order. 

I CAN DO ALL THINGS 

I wanted to mention this because it's such a great resource! Titus loves the art lesson each day. The lessons are one page long and very kid-friendly. He has gained confidence in his drawing from completing the lessons. I'd say it's his favorite part so far. We haven't gotten to the DVDs yet, but I'm sure he will enjoy those, too. In fact, I bet Mercie and Silas will want to join him for that part!

HOW WE USED ADVENTURES IN U.S. HISTORY

Titus and I used Adventures in U.S. History every day for four weeks. I'm going to give a very brief summary of each week below.

Week 1 - Titus had a quick overview of geography this week with some mapping activities on a U.S. and a world map. We read about Leif Erikson and he made a notebook page. We talked about what science is and what scientists do by reading from The First Encyclopedia of Science. He had art lessons and we began reading aloud from Pilgrim Adventures. We did math and language arts, and we talked about his name and what it means (honored).

Week 2 - This week we read about Christopher Columbus, colored his timeline piece and did a notebook page. We had a few quick science experiments and Titus made a notebook page about what the experiment was. He also began his Jesus Poster and we talked about what Jesus means - Savior. He worked more in math and language arts and did his art lessons.

Week 3 - We learned about John Smith and Jamestown and he made a notebook page about Jamestown. We did a few experiments in science and made a notebook page. He learned the first name of Jesus this year - Light of the World. We added to his poster. There was an option to make a craft but we didn't have the supplies so we skipped it. He did math, language arts, art, and we took a spelling assessment this week. We continued reading from Pilgrim Adventures.

Week 4 - Titus learned about Native Americans this week. We read from the book 'Native Americans' and made several different Indian houses, a wigwam and a teepee. We continued reading in 'Pilgrim Adventures'. In science he talked about the sun and gravity. We began spelling this week with Spelling Power, completed three language arts lessons, and he worked in his cursive handwriting book. We learned about Jesus being the Light of the World and he added a picture to his Jesus Poster. His memory verse was John 8:12, and he practiced writing it and saying it. 

WHAT WE THINK 

I am very impressed with Adventures in U.S. History! It's a very full, very thorough curriculum. The history lessons are interesting and the book choices are fabulous. I really love how history is told through a Christian perspective. 

The science lessons are a bit short, but they are effective. Easy to implement science experiments accompany age-appropriate science books. I had Titus draw and write about one experiment a week. 

I also love the Bible lessons and that fact that Titus will be learning all of the names of Jesus. The Jesus Poster is a great year-long project to work on and he will probably hang it in his room when he is finished. The Discover's Bible is also a very age-appropriate Bible! The words are large enough for him to read without difficulty and the translation is written at a 2nd - 3rd grade level.

The Singapore math is a great curriculum as well. The lessons are short and easy to understand. There is an emphasis on abstract thinking and it explains math concepts very well. I like the fact that there aren't tons of problems on the pages. This keeps Titus from getting overwhelmed. 

First Language Lessons is a nice language arts book, but I don't think it's enough for a 3rd grader. We are usually finished with the lesson in 5 minutes. I do like some of the activities, like finding singular and plural nouns in one his library books. Some days all I do is read a poem, and while I do like the poetry, I feel like he needs more grammar. I do like the cursive workbook and so does Titus! He is so excited to be learning how to write in cursive.

Spelling Power is a great resource that you can use for any age group. There's a bit of a learning curve in how to use it, but it can be used all the way through high school. There are tons of word lists in the book for all levels.

I also like how four days are scheduled out and the fifth day is reserved for math, language arts, and nature walk. If we get behind one day we know we have Friday to catch up. It's nice to receive everything you need for the entire year in one box! It takes a lot of the guess-work out of choosing curriculum and saves time by not having to search for and buy each book individually. 

Adventures in U.S. History is a really fun way to homeschool a second or third grader! It's very open-and-go and includes so many wonderful books and resources! See what other reviewers thought of each level of My Father's World curriculum by clicking the banner below.