** Blessed Adventures** Users share their experiences

[Karen in MN]

Hello,

I just wanted to share with you the enthusiasm my kids have for Adventures. We are in our second week of school and the kids "can't wait" to do history every day. Today we did the "sailing ships" activity where we made Columbus's ships out of foil, added sails and sailed the Atlantic Ocean (in our kiddie pool) The kids absolutely had a great time! In fact, they are still "sailing" (and its 5:30 pm), making bigger and better boats. My first grade son said, "Mom, this is a great idea--thanks for letting us do this!" The best is hearing them role play, as their ships get into storms, what happens when they land in America, etc... I know they are learning so much...but don't even think of History as being "school". It's just fun to them (but I know better):)

I better get supper on the table...I could just go on and on with how much we are enjoying this curriculum.

Blessings,
Karen

[DEB_Alexis]

I too LOVE this. This is my first year homeschooling and was so unsure of myself and with much prayer came across this site and knew it was a God send. It's so well laid out and I feel confident in teaching my daughter and look forward to each and every day.

Blessing to all

Deb
Mother to Alexis 6 and wife to Perky
Michigan

[heathpaiva]

I just wanted to let you know that we are doing Adventures with my 3rd grade daughter and my first grade son !!!!!! They both love it !!! Esp. the history !!!! I do other things both geared more for their grade level !! But for the most part history and Bible we work together ...........they love all the activities !!! My kindergartner get in on it too.........actually the whole family did the candle activity on week four yesterday even my 3 year old !!! Each day is new !!!!
I would recommend it to anyone !!

[TurnOurHearts]

We are in our 7th week of Adventures, and I just want to highlight a couple of things that have blessed us:

The focus on Jesus: This week & last have been all about Jesus as the "Bread of Life." I can't even begin to tell you the spiritual ground we've covered! So many good questions, so much to absorb - and they're getting it (my 5 year-old Kindergartner is always in on the Bible times). And while we're talking about the Bread of Life with Adventures, my daughter's MFWK is centered around "Living & Growing in Jesus," in our Leaf unit. We've talked about how taking in our "daily Bread" helps us to stay "living & growing in Jesus!" Just WOW.

The Read-alouds: We've completed Squanto, and we're in chapter 6 of The Courage of Sarah Noble. If the rest of this year's literature is anything like these first two books, I won't be able to keep my eyes dry! The way the gentleness of Christ is displayed in these books blesses me each time we read.

That's all I have time for at the moment, but I wanted to share. There are so many more things that have been sooo precious, in Adventures and MFWK so far.

Isn't God good?

Paige in NC

[txquiltmommy]

Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 5:28 pm

I can't resist letting you know that I am doing Adventures right now with 7 and 8 year old boys and it is hands down the absolute BEST year of homeschool I've ever had! (This is my seventh year to HS.) We love every single thing about this.......it is wiggle friendly, the hands on projects are completely manageable and necessary for my boys who love DOING things, I can supplement when I'm feeling inspired but I feel fine with the amount that is written so on the weeks that we don't supplement we are doing just fine. (I should have made that three sentences!) The books are winners. Our notebooks are growing and are FUN to look through. My boys are learning, and remembering, and have a great attitude about coming to the school table in the morning. I am loving my adventure through Adventures and it works really, really well for us at ages 7 and 8.5!

[4Truth]

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:41 am

Can I just say... Ditto? :o)

My girls (7 and 10) LOVE their Adventures notebooks, even my 10yo for whom I had do extra because Adventures alone is too light for her. Adventures is a perfect overview of American history for anyone!

[NHMom]

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:44 pm

I just wanted to say how thrilled I am with Adventures. This has been our easiest & best school start we've ever had! The kids were so dreading starting back, but now they're looking forward to school every day. What a blessing this has been!

Gayle

[txquiltmommy]

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 6:33 pm

Gayle,

I couldn't agree more. We actually got a head start on Adventures last spring. This fall, no one minded when summer came to an end. We were all anxious to get back to it.

My "Top Ten" reasons for loving Adventures

10 - The book basket recommendations are great books. We end up reading many of them aloud at bedtime.

9 - I love how the book basket is both structured and unstructured. I dictate when they sit and for how long, but they are free to experience the books any way they wish.

8 - I love that I can FINISH what I am supposed to accomplish each day. The work load is very manageable. (As a mom who used to overburden her kids with school, I can say it is nice to know when to stop! We cover what is in the schedule and my kids are still happy. Imagine that...I don't have to exasperate them!)

7 - I love how forgiving the schedule is. Since Fridays are light days, I can use that time to catch up on art, finish work from earlier in the week, or add in extra books and activities on topics we enjoyed.

6 - I love the notebooks. That one bears repeating. I LOVE the notebooks! It is so much fun to have a growing record of what we are doing, and the boys constantly get a kick out of going back through what they have done.

5 - The USA study is sweet and gentle, yet really effective. Even though the TM states learning the locations of the 50 states is not an official goal, we can't help but learn them the way the program is designed. The learning just happens!

4 - The sense of community on these boards is really special. I look forward to logging in each day to see what my MFW pals are up to, and I have gotten great encouragement and advice here.

3 - The hands on projects are just plain FUN. They are simple enough to actually happen, they hold my boys attention, and they create great memories.

2 - I love how precisely the materials meet our academic needs. The books, activities, and lessons are complex enough to be challenging, yet I don't feel as though I'm constantly speaking above their heads as I have felt in the past with other programs. They really grasp what we are doing and they are able to articulate to their Daddy at night what they "did in school today".

and the #1 reason I love Adventures.....

1 - Jesus Christ is the center of everything we do. As our Jesus poster grows and our memory verses accumulate we constantly find ways to apply what we are learning in Bible to our history, science, and reading.

Gayle, I'm glad your family is having as much fun as we are!
________________
Brooke
dd (14)
ds(9) - ECC
ds(8) - ECC
and one on the way in December!

[southernshae]

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 9:54 pm

Brooke,
What a great post! I vote that you copy this over into the *sticky* "Share your experiences in Adventures"!

I share your enthusiasm....we're having a great time and as our notebooks grow, so does my children's pride in their work.

Have fun, Gayle!
Southernshae

[Blessed Beth]

Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:03 pm

This is my first year with MFW and I love Adventures for all the same top 10 reasons. Last year, I did not enjoy teaching because it was so laborious to get my ds to do his worksheets and then we never had time for good books. Learning was not fun. Now both my ds and I look forward to each day and I am learning too. I love reading all the books and I love the simplicity of the projects. It is also wonderful that the Bible Lessons correlate with our CBS study on the book of John. My ds's favorite subject is ART. After we finish the lesson he draws for another 30 minutes on his own. He also begs to do the foreign language lessons each day on the computer.

Beth

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:58 pm

We are on week 11 with Adventures and still loving it. It only gets better.

[Toni@homezcool4us]

Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:18 pm

We're having a blast with Adventures as well. We're lapbooking some of the history and dd is loving that (and MFW lends itself so easily to lapbooking). All 3 kids (ages 7, 4, 3) are enjoying the "air" science experiments and the Pioneers and Patriots stories.

[jocelynaz]

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:05 pm

I just wanted to share that our first week with Adventures has been so great so far!! The TM is wonderfully put together and easy to follow -- it totally suits my personality and style. I'm totally loving it and so has our son! I absolutely love the organization, flow and structure of how MFW is laid out.

Thank you MFW for such a wonderful curriculum!! I know it's only our first week, but I have a feeling this curriculum is "IT" for us. I'm very optimistic. Heheheh!

God bless,
Jocelyn

[hsmom2five]

Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:22 am

We are on week 5 and loving every bit. I enjoy the awesome layout as well, and how it so gently and gradually adds in everything. The children love all the little activities and such. Thank God we finally settled on MFW!!! Glad you are having fun!

Kim
Homeschool mom to five

[Julie L.]

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 12:50 pm

It may be too early to say this, only in our first week, but it is awesome. MFW makes notebooking so easy. It is wonderful how all the subjects can be fit in so easily. And it is so age appropriate- ds 8 really is getting into the coloring and notebooking and this is amazing because he never liked to color. We are using Adventures deluxe package and all their math. LA Spelling suggestions and it is just the right amount of work and quite effective. Can't wait to report back later in the year.

Julie L.

[scmlg]

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 1:02 pm

We adored Adventures. We did it last year, and I just can't say enough wonderful things about it. It was our first year with MFW, and our best homeschool year!

We moved away from a public school like textbook/worksheet program to MFW last fall. WOW was our year different. It was filled with so much wonderful reading and excitement.

I'm itching to start our year. You will have a great year!

[warriormom]

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 9:30 pm

I'm glad to hear of y'alls success with Adventures. My ds (7), has been begging to start school for almost a month, and can't wait until next week, because he will be studying American history. I even have reminded him that there are still other subjects (that he can be balky with)!

He is looking forward to our second year doing MFW!

Melanie
ds (7, Adv)
ds (6, 1st and sitting in on Adv)

[RJ's Momma]

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:00 pm

We also just finished our first week of Adventures and my dd loves it!! She has even said that this year may not be too bad!!! (we just switched from another program). I am so looking forward toward the rest of the year, and this excitment was soooo very needed after the last 2 years of struggling and fighting. There hasn't been any fighting yet!!! (Yes, we had tears at this time last year!!) We are SO happy with MFW!!
Shannon

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:19 am

I've mentioned in several posts now that we are starting MFW (Adventures) this year after having done 1st and 2nd with another program that was very 'book-work' intensive. I've also mentioned LOTS AND LOTS :) how many tears were shead in the last two years from said program.

So I just wanted to update how this year has gone now that we are in our 3rd week. NO MORE TEARS!!!! Okay, she has had her time of 'Do we have to start right, now?', and 'Just a little longer to play.' But once we've gotten started she's done just fine.

And even better. We started out the year saying that her notebooking was going to be something that we could show her grandparents and that she should try and do her best work. Well, writing is her 'hard' subject. Up until about 6 months ago, if she was writing something on her own she was still using scribble marks (this is when pretending to make a list, a story etc. during play time). Now, she could write, but she choose not to.

But yesterday she was doing her summary on John Smith and she told me that she wasn't doing her best handwriting and that she wasn't going to. I just said "That's okay, but it's going into your notebook." And you know what? She fixed it, on her own!!! She didn't even tell me until she was done!!! I can't tell you how much of an improvement that is!!!

Also, while she will complain about having to do school work at all, she has said several times so far this year that school really isn't so bad now that we've changed curriculums. Oh, that is such a load off my shoulders. And even more, she is remembering what she's being taught (and I've already learned a lot as well!!).

Just wanted to share.
Thanks
Shannon
'RJ' 8 years old dd

[lisa062797]

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:00 am

Wow, our first day is going so well! Vincent is doing his book basket time right now, so I thought I'd get on and post an update. :-) He loves having his own bible and wanted to look up John 3:16 (his key AWANA verse). It took him awhile to page through, but he found it on his own.

Learning all the books of the bible in MFW1 really helped. He was able to determine that John was in the new testament, and once he found Matthew, he knew he had to go past Mark and Luke to find John. Then he found chapter 3 and then verse 16. Then he read it. He already has it memorized, but this bible is a little different than what he has memorized, and he read it as it is.

I was really in for a surprise in spelling, because I thought I would have to read at least some of the lesson to him, but he was able to read everything himself and completed the page correctly! I was really pleased with this, as we have not practiced during our break as much as I would have liked to, but he seems to have picked up better than where he left off!

Well, time's almost up, and then we will make our patriotic snack. :-) This is so fun!



Having fun in Adventures!

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 1:38 pm

We are in Week 3 of Adventures and having a blast! The history reading and notebooking is wonderful. I love the little projects and science experiments scattered throughout. Oh, yeah, and Vincent is having fun, too! LOL! We made the bead necklace today. He had fun making it, but he will not wear it, so we made a few more and plan to give them out as gifts to the grandma's and such. :-) He is very excited to give them away. We also both love Squanto! Just like Pioneers & Patriots, the end of each chapter leaves you hanging on the edge of your seat!

All that to say, God is doing wonderful things in our home! Yay!
Lisa in MN

[StarrMama]

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 1:16 am

We too are having our best school year yet. I post weekly updates (with photos) on my blog in regards to home school and what we did for the week. My in-laws and other relatives love to feel like they are a part of our lives and this way they do. I have yet to post for this past week but, it was so fun! We are a day behind, but can catch up easily.

We wrote with our quill pen and blueberry ink, made hasty pudding, laughed at the Yankee Doodle song, did a dictation sheet from Sarah Whitcher's Story, enjoyed book basket books on the declaration of independence, put a bible verse on our water pitcher, did fun science projects, went to the library and a bunch of other things. Too fun!

For my son, we have one day left to finish the Sun unit in K. He did two days of school this week and making the sun dial was way cool. His favorite thing...drawing and writing in a bunch of salt on a cookie tray. We are taking it slow with him...he's a young 5.

Some days are great...some are hard...all are a part of God's plan for us!
~Rose

[TammyB]

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 6:12 am

Rose, thanks for posting! I love your last line. I actually just shared a similar thought with a friend who is considering hsing. :)

Your description of your week with Adventures has excited me about what is coming! One thing that has really thrilled me this year is that I NEVER hear, "When are we done?" in regards to our Adv work. My son is so thoroughly enjoying the program that he has become quite the content seven year old. :) Isn't that exactly how a seven year old should feel?!

We are in week 5 of Adventures and in the moon unit in K, and are enjoying the programs more and more. My only struggle remains that it is hard for me to say, "ENOUGH extra reading....Let's move on!"

Anyway, we are having our best school year yet, and I am so incredibly thankful the Lord chose MFW for us this year. It is just what we needed!

Tammy