Why We No Longer Use Masterbooks | The Truth: Master Books to My Father's World Curriculum 

I went from MFW to Masterbooks. I absolutely love Masterbooks, and it may not be for everyone. That is the beauty of homeschooling.

We've bounced between various curriculum for a few years but finally are finding joy with Masterbooks. My 10yo son has hugged me multiple times after finishing a lesson in LA or math. We've tried MFW but it was so expensive and not for us. Praise God these kiddos have awesome momma's like us who invest in their lives 💕🙌📚✝️

I loved MFW. My baby just graduated using them. When I started with MFW they didn't have a high school program. And they announced that there wouldn't be one. But alas, minds changed. As you described, one of the reasons that I moved to MFW (many moons ago) was their Bible curriculum. Also, I loved how they thread Biblical concepts & academic topics through different subjects. Beware, now I have adult children that love to debate on every & any topic - thanks MFW! Recently I argued (OK. let's call it - passionately discussed) with my resident animator about the classical songs that played on old cartoons. I had to smile when I remembered MFW's classical music studies. Now I know some folks get on MFW because they feel they need to supplement the curriculum. I didn't care - my nickname in some circles as "the supplement queen". Because of our family background (very international & deep US roots), I found that I would have to do this regardless of which curriculum was chosen. But again learning how your child learns is key. Pick what fits. And don't be afraid to change, if needed. For some of my kids, certain subjects had to be tweaked. Do what works for your child! And keep it FUN! Remember you are preparing them for a lifetime of learning.

You are not alone! I don’t drive, so coops are out. I’ve never felt the need to do a morning basket. Nature walks are “go outside and play”. Poetry tea time just doesn’t appeal to me. And our little town doesn’t have a library, so used books it is.

Mandy, Thank you so much for being open about your switch. Your Masterbooks videos helped me so much! We have chosen to use Masterbooks this year for 2nd and pre-k because of some of your videos. I hope we like it and it helps as much as it did for your family. Sometimes things only work for a season. Thank you for also review My father's World, as one day we may need to switch. Your videos are so real and truthful, that as a new homeschool mom, I need that. So again, Thank you and never be afraid to be real. God Bless!

Girl I hear ya. Dealt with health issues this past school year and it is hard! Prayers for you. And encouragement to you as well.

I appreciate your review! I love how you explain what works for you may not for another family. I think it's so important for new homeschoolers to understand that (it took me 9 years to figure that out!) Curriculum shopping is overwhelming with all the choices. Ironically, we tried MFW 2 different years because I really wanted to love it, but it ended up not working for us as a family. We thrive on simple, open and go, straight forward curriculum in workbook form. MFW was too teacher intensive for me with 4 kids at very different levels academically. MB was exactly what we needed, and we have used it for 2 years now 💁‍♀️. We do have a home library with literature from MFW and Sonlight reading lists, which we love.

I don't think it's as shocking to hear that you are not using a certain curriculum any more. :) With so many great options out there, anything we pick will be a GOOD pick. There is no perfect curriculum, and with so many choices out there, isn't it nice we have the freedom to choose and change? I'm never married to one curriculum company and feel free to change each year as needed. We aren't a slave to curriculum :) Glad you adapt to your kiddos and their and your needs! We used MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures a few years ago and we loved it! I just can't bring my self to spending money on a box curriculum every year, but I think it's great for large families that need that!

You do not need to feel bad one bit, nor does your son! Abeka is an amazing opportunity for him to have and for him to WANT it, good for him!!! Happy homeschooling, young man!

Just subscribed! Great video! We are using the My Father's World kindergarten curriculum this year, and it has been such a joy seeing our littles actually WANT to learn and do school every morning. We love the Charlotte Mason approach that it has, and are looking forward to using it for years to come! :)

I’m a new homeschooling mom and moved from The Classical Historian to Master Books. I have not relieved it yet but I’m super excited to get it based off of what I have seen and read and what You Tube videos I have seen. I think my 8th grader is really going to enjoy this year in history. For the time being he is going in with his 4th grade brother on The American Revolution and he is loving that too. He adds a lot to our conversations which is really cool! I like having them together! Thank you for you honest video. I actually feel like I made the right choice going with MasterBooks. Thank you very much!!!

There is no one perfect curriculum for everyone. That's why there is so many. Everyone needs to have an open mind for their children. We use MB and love them. I also love other curriculums like Sonlight.

I picked Robinson Curriculum because I have a chronic disease and have required multiple surgeries (endometriosis) and I really wanted to homeschool bit still have them set up that they can work through their day with or with mom feeling well. We do just 3Rs and bible time. That includes spelling, grammar, vocab and I added harp laurel wreath poetry and recitation book along with memory verses and catechism. All our subjects are in books. My youngest is learning to read and write but the older children are independent learner's and then we do group time for bible time and poetry and read alouds. RC gives you k-12 books digital with one purchase. Use as ereaders or print. Way cheaper. I only buy books we really want, others we print it or ereaders. No workbooks. No purchases each year except saxon math books. Ink, paper, binding and your set k-12 all in one purchase.

We love the history and science of masterbooks. Grades 5 and 7

I'm using Exploring Countries and Cultures this year for one of my kids. We've used MFW for K (and LOVED it), but we've never used a history cycle. I'm so excited to use it! We did use Masterbooks this year for history. We really enjoyed the "textbook" but the worksheets they had just left a lot to be desired for us, unfortunately. Anyway, I'm looking forward to this coming year! I have one doing MFW and my oldest is using Mystery of History.

We've been homeschooling for 5-6 years, and I have been known to completely switch cirriculum in the middle of the year because it's just not working for us. Thats pretty much it -- if it's not working for your kids, you need to find something else. Masterbook has been an answered prayer for us though, and the only thing that has worked for everyone. I am so sad it took us so long to find it.

You did a great job with a classy review. Even though MB is not for you, you have done a wonderful job helping me see why this year is perfect for our family to do MB just as your previous reviews sent me to MB. It is so refreshing to have a thoughtful commentary and comparison. For the record I wish ABEKA and MFW worked for us! Anyway, thanks much! Love your channel and I’m so glad to be here! ❤️

I buy books from Masterbooks, but the curriculum didn't work for us.

We’re about to begin our homeschooling journey with Master Books for K and pre-K. I completely understand your decision to switch to a curriculum that works for your kids and your family at this time. Isn’t that why we all homeschool in the first place? Best wishes for a great start to the new school year!!

Can you address how vaccines are addressed in the science curriculum? Perhaps A flip through on that section? I'm curious as to the wording they use and if it's addressed in a balanced approach vs over-glorified nonsense? (what I mean by that is : Does it address risks, informed consent, ethics, morals, etc) As the mom of a kid who suffered a.d.e.m from dtap and almost died this topic and how it is addressed is of particular importance to me.

I don't like messing with the library. We use Sonlight and I just buy any books I want. I will look into MFW, maybe use it and all the Sonlight books.

Thanks for sharing! I am looking forward to the history/bible connection in MFW as we are starting MFW this coming year!

We used masterbooks for a few weeks. I bought a gorgeous set of hardback science books. They're great. The teacher's manual was absolutely awful. My kids were in tears because they couldn't find the answers to questions in the reading. Sucked the joy out of those gorgeous books (which they loved). My kids love doing school so that was a huge bust for us. Plus they're super strict on their fb page. Didn't care for that, and felt like it really inhibited moms from helping each other. 🤷‍♀️

I have used MFW for 10 years. For those who may be new to it, there is one thing to note. Their Kdg and first grade material is different than their five year cycle of chronological history. I first tried MFW when my oldest was in Kdg. I didn't care for it a whole lot because she already knew a lot of the material (such as letter recognition) and I felt it was quite a skeleton framework where I was having to go to the library a lot to get books, etc. So I switched curriculum. When this same daughter was in 3rd grade a friend recommended the MFW five year cycle. I had no idea MFW had something different. Wow, was it ever good! I started with the year called "Adventures in American History" This is a bridge year because I wanted to school my kids together and my son was only in 1st grade. We had a ball! The following year we began the five year cycle and never looked back. That oldest daughter is now a junior in college! :-). Thanks, Mandy, for your post and I hope your health continues to improve!

We went from RHC to masterbooks and i noticed a complete difference in my method of teaching. RHC is not christian based and didnt come with a teaching guide. Masterbooks changed homeschooling for us currently doing grade 1 and pre-k and so thankful for your video in introducing the curriculum more. We looked at TGTB but it was not for us.

Thank you for this video! This year I'm combining MFW exploring countries and cultures with Masterbooks and Abeka (Math for my 5th grader)/ Horizons (math for my 1st grader).

We are just about to embark on our HE journey with masterbooks pre-K and Simply K curriculums (my littles are 3 & 4, oh, and 5 months too but we've a while before we start HE with him 😂). I love their ethos so far and have been torn between them and MFW. Ultimately it has come down to affordability for us, as we live in the UK the shipping fees are pretty high and access to secondhand curriculum isn't easy. MB is lots cheaper and I can get a lot of it on Amazon UK and AIG UK too. But likewise, if we don't get on with it we will try MFW the following year instead. That's the point of HE isn't it? To find the right fit for your family, for your children. There is no one size fits all so it's ok if you try a curriculum only to find you need a different fit. Rxxx

I've decided to do Masterbooks for grades 1-3 and MFW for grades 4-8 (for the family cycle). I couldn't justify the MFW price tag for early elementary when my kids weren't even doing the subjects together (I'm willing to throw down serious money for a family style curriculum due to the sheer convenience of it). I don't even really remember school before 3rd grade, apart from some traumatic moments related to math so...not gonna spend $$$ on it.

I was 90% sure I was going to use my fathers world Kindergarden. I initially found it as a recommendation from a friend and I told her I really wanted to do a Charlotte me some Greek lemon she told me oh it is Charlotte Mason so I checked into it and I have not found anyone who didn’t love it for kindergarten which is what I’m looking at. Most people who used it for kindergarten still seeing his praises of how much they loved it and how fun it was and what a memorable year it was and many people loved it so much they used it with all their kids for kindergarten and so I was super excited and then I started listening to a Charlotte Mason podcast to learn more about each specific topic and what her teachings were and to make a long story short I listened to a podcast on why Charlotte Mason did not like unit studies. And basically she wanted kids to make connections on their own Where in unit studies like MFW is laid out everything is already connected if that makes sense. I personally love how it’s all intertwined. But I started second guessing when I dug more into how kids connecting on their own is important. My husband thinks I a overthinking it. But now I am leaning in a diff direction. So torn. I have an only child who will be 6 this week planning to start kinder in sept

Isn't it sad that people want to hear bad things about a company. When you switch i understood that something may not be working for you and that is okay and your right to switch. We are going into our 3rd year with MB and every year we do things differently, as MB says the curriculum is just a tool. Wishing you a great year ahead and look forward to you MFW videos. God bless

I really like Masterbooks, but I also really like other curriculums as well. We are a bit eclectic. You gotta do what works best for you and your family and your kids. I research and watch so many videos about different curriculums I am interested in but in the end it has to be your decision to use it or not. Making a decision just solely based on someone else's opinions may not turn out well for some so it's really important to educate yourself on different curriculums. I find it silly that people question why you made the switch....not everything works for everyone. That's what's so great about homeschool, its not a one size fits all. :)

I am looking into curriculum for my children going into 2nd, 3rd 8th, and 9th grade. Why do you want to transfer back? ..was considering TGATB and MB as and option for my younger kids. Thx

We use it still only for math. We really love their math

I've been considering Masterbooks for next school year and came across your video. I need something that is short and sweet and not much workbook. Do you know what learning style Masterbooks caters to? Thanks for sharing this video.

WE love MFW it’s the funnest and most engaging curriculum we have used. It’s the only one we gladly finished a whole year with. We use The good and the beautiful for LA and Math. I can highly recommend both

I did not like masterworks history. I love everything from the Good and the Beautiful.

Hi. New to homeschooling actually this upcoming 2024-2025. Leaving abeka which is all my son has ever known since 3K in private schooling. How does MFW compare if you don’t mind sharing w a mom who’s stepping out & winging all of this newness. ❤

Thanks for all these great videos. We too are using mfw this year. Can you share how you organize the book basket books? I am struggling with that. I too am ordering from thriftbooks etc but not sure how to store/organize for the whole year.

So complicated trying to find the right curriculum and what works well...what is too much or not enough..

In 18 years of homeschooling, I change curriculum for every few years, depends on child, family circumstances or just to shake things around

I just watched your video, “9 reasons why I love Masterbooks “... so this video has me super curious

We are getting ready to start our sixth year of MFW with our K, 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th grade little girls. We are doing RTR this year. I also have chronic migraines and they are miserable and I have had them for almost 25 years. I have hemiplegic migraines (it presents symptoms like a stroke) and occular migraines also.

What is a good age to figure learning style?

How independent is MFW ? Can you give him the schedule and have him go to it?

Hello there everyone. With all this covid craziness we are being forced to look into other schooling for my children. They are both completely different in learning styles and there is 6 years in between them. We are at a lost into were to even start this homeschooling thing! please help in any way possible.

We got kinda bored with masterbooks as much as I love them. We got to the end of week 29 and then switched to gather round and SO much happier with the variety it gives and speed it goes at. We still use the math lessons for a living education but we'll probably be changing that as well once we're done with his current level

May I ask what chronic illness you're dealing with? Do you have any videos on how you homeschool while dealing with it? Sorry to ask and I am sorry if that's rude or too direct but I myself am really struggling and homeschool my 3 boys. I've been sick since my oldest was born 13yrs ago. It started with chronic lyme disease then my immune system went nuts and as the years go on I develop more conditions and get sicker and sicker. The "easy" thing to do would be to send my kiddos to school but I don't believe that would be best either, plus my middle son has a chronic illness himself and can't go to school. So I just wonder how you handle it all. How do you handle school and bad days? How do you keep your kids busy without screens on hard days? Would LOVE info and support! ❤

I really feel you lady. Can we be best friends?

Why did you stop using MY FATHERS WORLD originally?

I think I'm going to use MB for Language Arts since this will be our first year BUT I have some Abeka readers and love them so I will be finding Ebay deals and use them as readers along with real alouds and whatever books we read with science or history. I wish I could afford the LA pkg from Abeka but it is waaaaay out of my price range.

Question, do you think i should add apologia who is God ? In MFW ? Or MFW covers it well ?

I went from the good and the beautiful to masterbooks and now want to go back to the good and the beautiful....... 🙁

Why don't you use abeka for all of it instead of just language arts,?

You had mentioned that you went back to Abeka for language arts but then you mentioned using MFW language arts. Are you using both or did you switch to Abeka language arts foe a ahort time and now 100% MFW? Also, MFW doesn't look like it is very good with Math. Do you suppliment for math or do you find MFW up to your standards?

Great explanation! Well done.

I have changed our curriculum a few time and we are only in second grade 🤣. The LA he hated. A lot of copy work. I’m saving it for supplement. The math we finished in weeks. We enjoy the science & Passport. We switched to TGTB LA & math. Some Easy Peasy. Who knows what will happen in third grade. Long as the kids are enjoying the curriculum & you can afford it lol.

What do you use for Math?

Which MFW did you use the first time?

I just discovered your page! Does MFW have science/history/bible material for kindergartners?

This video is very helpful. I also watched your "Take me back, Abeka" video, too. We have used Abeka for many many years, too, and my boys like it, but we are wanting to add in more Charlotte Mason-y literature based history and Bible. So, do you use MFW along with your Abeka lanuage arts? Thanks for your input!

Glad you were able to find something that works for you! I use pathway to liberty which using my father's world as a reference book!

Just your opinion, do you think it would be wise to start a 9th grader with My Father's world if they've never done My Father's world? Tia!!

We have tried Masterbooks 3 separate times over the last 4 years...I wanted to LOVE it...but it was not meeting the needs of my kids. We switched over to The Good & The Beautiful and it was everything we were looking for (LA specific)❤️

I love MB too and still trying to figure out how to navigate with my struggling learner. I did buy LLFLE 3 and Math 3 but, trying to navigate this challenge. I bought The Yellow Book from Common Sense Press and going to try Math U See. I don't know just feel stuck right now.

Awww you’re teasing to make us wait 2 days!! 😯🤣

Is Not Masterbooks fault only your son does not like ….many people love this curriculum …