MFWK: Creation unit

The creation unit is a simple, gentle introduction to the My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum.

This unit is a bit different than the 26 that will follow. The letter and number activities are a bit basic. Some kids will enjoy and need to review letter names and number information, but I chose to skip this entirely for Johnny. If Vivie decided to join us, I would have her do those things (or maybe have Johnny ask her to name whatever letter, etc.).

She had no interest -- she instead played nearby. One day, a pan of dry pasta and some measuring cups kept her busy for the longest time.

We customized this unit to suit our family, and we read some storybooks about creation, mostly from the library. Here are a few:








Johnny worked on a page for his creation book each day. The guide instructs us to do something separate with the included numbers, by making a number line, but Johnny thought he wanted to include the numbers within his book. Worked for me, so we went with that. I laminated the pages (and had to trim them first since the construction paper is larger than lamination sheets). I wanna keep this book! On the back, he wrote: "Made by Johnny age 5."

If it occurred to me, I asked him which day we were on, and how many we had to go so he could do some math.

On day 5, we took a trip to a nearby pet store. It was cold out -- too cold for the zoo, but we still wanted to check out some birds and fish. So boom, pet store. Have you ever seen blue parakeets? They are beautiful!

We enjoyed watching the birds, and seeing which fish were really slow and which ones seemed hyper.

After that, we paid a visit to my grandma (and aunt, who happened to be at grandma's already). Love living near them!


I am glad we did this unit the way we did. We could have beefed it up with more crafts, or themed snacks or whatever. I figure we should just ease our way into it, rather than starting out too heavy and needing to pull back. Plenty of time for beefing it up with future units if we want to go that route.

He is proud of his book and can't wait to show the finished thing to his family. I think I'll hole-punch it and tie it together with something to bind it.

Movies:

We watched "Buck Denver asks: What's in the Bible? Vol. 1" and it was sort of a good match -- the first episode discussed where the Bible came from in the first place and more generalities, and the second episode was more about creation, but also other things that happened in Genesis.

We viewed "God of Wonders" on Netflix. This movie has lots of beautiful imagery from around creation, and takes a created-by-God approach. Did you know that only natural snowflakes (as in, falling from the sky) are the beautiful, unique ones?

Man can create snow, but the flakes aren't those beautiful hexagons -- they're more like blobs.

Check out these pictures of snowflakes under microscope for more, including the man-made stuff.

I asked him why God might have done it that way. Johnny thought it was to show that God was real. We talked about how God loves creating beautiful, unique things all around creation.

Other things for the week not at all related to MFW:

- My husband took Johnny and Vivie to their very first movie at the theater! There are a few local theaters that offer free movies on Saturday mornings. These are not current releases. We figured it would be a fun experience for the kids, and way better than spending a bunch of money and have them either not like it or want to leave early for whatever reason. They saw Chicken Run. I'm told Vivie was initially scared of the dark theater and loud noises, but she got over it fast.

Amelia and I went shopping for swimsuits. What could be more fun than trying on swimsuits a few months after having a baby and in the winter?! I told myself, no body shaming. Just find a suit that will stay put and allow me to enjoy myself and my family at the pool this summer.

- The kids and I stood in line for 3 hours while waiting to purchase a 10-visit pass to a local aquatic center (see, I need a swimsuit!). It was $10 per person, whereas it was normally $58/person for a 10-visit pass. The wait was insane and if I realized just how long it would be I probably would have chickened out. But the kids impressed me with their patience. It helped that they could run around in the gym while the line winded around there, and that they made some new friends.

I was so happy to meet TWO moms in line who both had experience with MFWK! One was in the middle of it right now with her daughter, and the other had finished it not long ago with her son. I hope we can all hang out soon. :)

- Johnny and Shane attended a little basketball clinic. It's just a 4-time deal, aimed at introducing some physical education skills to the preschool set. We thought it would be good for them to have some father-son time. Plus, we wanted him to have some opportunities to follow directions from another adult, play with some kids, practice some gross motor skills, and have fun.

I am not big on organized sports at a young age for our family. But I like opportunities such as these -- short-term classes that can add a lot of value to my kids. J&V will do swim lessons next month, for example.

I'm not sure about sports for the future, if Johnny will want to try something out on a more structured basis. Maybe martial arts? Maybe soccer. Maybe we'll just enter him in a 5k lol. Seriously though he does like running. We'll just have to figure it out later.

Vivienne seems to be naturally quite athletic. When she gets a little older, we'll do some of these types of things with her, too.

Oh and I should include a baby Amelia update while I'm at it -- the girl is 5.5 months and last week weighed 20.5 lbs (weighed by me standing on a scale holding her, and then not and doing math). She is in 9 or 12m clothing, but depending on brand even those are too small. Size 4 disposables fit her best. I had a few months of disposables from a baby shower and I guess I should get her back into cloth for a little while, at least until we introduce solids and get past that horrible transition baby poop phase.

She is such a happy thing! Loves being worn, loves seeing what her brother and sister are up to. Can roll from back to belly, but not the reverse. But she can spin herself in a circle using her arms, sorta walking herself around. I hope she can figure out the rest of rolling over soon. She can do a quick tripod sit, but if she notices that she's sitting she usually tips fast.

My kids are really awesome!