MFW K Creation Unit

{CLICK HERE} to view the rest of our MFW K unit posts.

{CLICK HERE} to view our post explaining WHY we chose MFW K for our family.

{Day 1 has its own post…CLICK HERE to see it}

My Father’s World K’s Creation Unit has very short days.  I’ve seen some complaints about that on the MFW message boards, but quite honestly, I find it JUST RIGHT!  For little ones who haven’t had much structured learning yet, this is PERFECT! 

They may desire more, or they may be ready to finish after 30 – 40 minutes of learning time.  Whatever the case, it’s such a GENTLE way to introduce a young child to a more structured learning time.  I could hug Marie Hazell (the MFW author) for starting the program off in such a sweet, gentle manner!

For the record:

• Alex is 4 years and 8 months old as we begin.
• Max, who is just turning 3, is tagging along when interested…and wandering away when he isn’t.

Day 2

• Alex did the calendar number and pointed/counted to 21 (today’s date: 8/21/2012)
• Alex asked Max to add the straw to our hundreds chart today, so Max wandered on over from the toy shelves.
• We sang the Days of the Week song, and Max used a popsicle stick to point to the days of the week.

 

• We reviewed what God created on Day 1, and then we read about what God created on Day 2.  We found out that God separated the skies and the waters. 

(Yes, we are wearing our pajamas…I had a sore throat & was feeling a tad bit lazy!)

• We sang the ABC song while Alex pointed to the correct letters. 
• He then used an O-shaped magnet to find all the letters shaped like circles – his own idea.

• We sang the alphabet song again while I flipped through the MFW alphabet flashcards.
• We set out A, B, C, and D cards.  Alex used a popsicle stick to “drop” the O-shaped magnet on the letter that I called out – his idea again ;)

• The kids were anxious to head to the table and do today’s creation book pages.  I had precut “sky” from shiny, light blue paper.  They glued the sky onto the sheet of dark blue construction paper (water).

• Then they colored their #2 pictures and glued cotton ball clouds into the sky.

 

• We left all our sticky-gluey pages to dry, and I’ll go upstairs tonight to add these pages to their creation books.

• We prayed to thank God for the light & dark, the skies and seas.
• We came downstairs for a snack of “clouds” (marshmallows & popcorn) and “water” (a little bit of blueberry flavored Mio in water cups).

Day 3

Alex and Max *RAN* upstairs today when I announced it was time to do school.  It makes my heart happy to know that Alex is so excited for this!  We tried something with a little bit of formality last fall, and Alex either cried or pouted every day for a week.  I knew he wasn’t ready, so we quickly backed off.  This year, I know he’s ready…he’s loving it!

• Before I could even suggest that we begin with calendar, Alex pulled open the closet door and plopped on the floor.  (Our calendar hangs inside the closet door so baby sister doesn’t pull off all the numbers!)
• He immediately flipped over today’s number, announced that it was twenty-two, and proceeded to point and count from 1 – 22.  Then he figured out the day of the week and I reminded him that it is the month of August.
• Alex put another straw in our hundreds chart, and then we counted to 3 for our three days of school.
• We watched the Days of the Week video on YouTube, and Alex sang along while Max watched.
• After that, we watched “This Is My Father’s World” by GoFish.

Here’s a 13 second video clip of Alex singing the days of the week
(and Max being cute…)

• Alex grabbed a popsicle stick and the ABC chart so we could sing the ABC song.  I’m telling you, he’s taking charge!  Three days in, and he’s got the routine all figured out :)
     
• We reviewed what God created on Day 1 & 2, and then we read to find out what God created on Day 3.  I love the way that “God Made It For You” sticks with the Biblical truths of creation, yet words in a way that is very appealing to a preschooler.

• Max was already waiting anxiously at the table to begin today’s picture page.  I had cut everything out in advance, and the boys glued and put down stickers wherever they chose.

     Alex’s page…

coloring their number 3s…

• After a super-quick review of the three days, we prayed and then headed downstairs for our snack.  Today we had chocolate pudding cups with crushed oreos on top to represent the LAND that God made.

(psst ~ I  *do* dress my children!  Alex is going through a phase of pretending his pajamas are dress-up clothes, so he “gets dressed” by putting on different pajamas.  I guess he’s Lightning McQueen today…)

Day 4

Today was Max’s 3rd birthday!  Alex turned over the calendar number, and then Max got to add the “Happy Birthday” number cover!  He was SO PROUD!  Alex & I sang “Happy Birthday” to Max, and he just beamed with pride.

(If you’re very observant, you’ll notice that we did not do school on August 23rd…I babysit once a week, so we are skipping Thursdays for now.)

Alex took charge, leading us in counting to 24 and singing the Days of The Week song.  After that, Max *INSISTED* that we watch the YouTube video of the Days of the Week song…TWICE.  Alex sang it perfectly, while Max belted out a cute little version that went something like this:  “Sunday, Thoysday, Fri-dah-day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, SAT-AH-Day!”

 

We also, at Alex’s request, watched the This Is My Father’s World video.  It’s amusing to me, as he was totally bored by it the other day.

Alex seems to be taking turns with adding straws, as he asked Max to do it today.

We learned that God created the sun, moon, and stars on the fourth day.   In a great moment of irony, we received a Glow In The Dark Space Stickers sets yesterday in a Prize Package from GoodNites (for a blog giveaway).  That was really convenient for doing our art project!

Max (3) did an awesome job of gluing on his sun!
I wish I’d gotten a picture of all his stars –
he stuck them on in one REALLY long line!

     

We ended by singing the Alphabet Song and learning the A-A-Apple Song.  There are YouTube videos for that one, too, by the way…who knew YouTube would be such a great resource!

I planned to make sunshines out of orange slices & blueberries (for a smiley face) as a snack today, but sadly, the oranges were getting moldy.  (ICK!)  Instead, we’ll have sunshine sandwiches with (dyed-yellow) cream cheese, carrot stick rays, and raisin smiley faces for lunch.  (I’m writing this while waiting for the baby to wake from her nap so we can do lunch!)

I’d hoped to put days 2 – 10 in one post, but it’s just getting TOO LONG!  I think it’s time to post this & give the remaining days their own post! :)