- One of the biggest mistakes I made early on in my homeschooling was thinking that the curriculum I had purchased was “school”, and that everything in it needed to be done in order for me to have fully and appropriately “done school” with my children. If I missed a check box, or several check boxes, and over time as those boxes of missed items grew, I would panic and stress and feel like a failure of a homeschool mom for not doing everything I was “supposed” to be doing. The boxed curriculum I was using at the time, while beautiful and worthwhile in and of itself, was too much for the season I was in (see my previous post on this topic). I was in the middle of a series of moves with two young kids and a toddler, and with all the life changes and distractions, I was not able to finish everything in the teacher’s manual. And it made me feel like a failure, like I wasn’t cut out to homeschool. What I know now is that it’s okay if you don’t get it all done. Sometimes, just doing some (of history, of geography, of art, of reading, of writing), is enough. Homeschooling is a marathon, not a sprint; with many years ahead of you, there is room for revisiting the civil war, or memorizing state capitals, or knowing which colors are primary or secondary – at a later time. Maybe you’re about to have a baby. Maybe your husband just lost his job. Maybe your father-in-law was diagnosed with cancer and you have to help care for him. Life throws you many curve balls, and your homeschool must flex with those changes. I know it can be hard to see it at the beginning of your journey, so please remember that you don’t have to do it all! Sometimes just doing some, is good enough, especially when you’re first starting out and when you’re in a difficult season.
- I also found that within a specific boxed curriculum, some pieces worked well, but others didn’t. We loved the history and read aloud selections, but we didn’t like the language arts. Or we liked the memory work but didn’t like the science. Over time I learned that I could switch out components of a preset curriculum with choices that better fit my children’s learning styles. I have hands-on kids who learn best by doing and with lots of audio visual components (videos, documentaries, audio clips, hands on projects, etc). If my kids weren’t thriving with certain pieces of the program, I simply changed those pieces. That is okay to do! It doesn’t mean that the program you purchased was the wrong one or that you made a mistake. It simply means that you are teaching your children, not the curriculum. Did you catch that? Your curriculum is a tool you use to help educate your kids, but it is not your master. Feel the freedom to modify, replace, tweak, and adjust all pieces of the curriculum you are using in order to fit your student’s needs and learning styles. You make the curriculum fit your student – not the other way around. In public school, your child must conform to the curriculum being taught. Not so in your homeschool! You don’t have to do it 100% as written if it isn’t working for your children.
- That being said, to offer some balance, I also wanted to say that changing things up too often isn’t always good either. This is particularly true of cumulative subjects — subjects that build upon themselves, such as language arts and math. Math is a cumulative skill that requires mastery of prior material before moving on to the next level’s material. Your child must master addition facts before learning how to multiply. Your child must master multiplication facts before learning how to divide. Switching math curriculums often may lead to gaps and lack of mastery in key skills, which will hinder your child in the long run. For this reason I don’t recommend switching math curriculum often (and btw, I also recommend NOT moving on to the next level until your child has mastered his or her current level) – but I do understand that sometimes it takes time to find the best fit for your child. So once you do find the best fit, stick with it! Additionally, some programs follow very different scope and sequences (such as Math-U-See), vs traditional math programs, such as Saxon. So if you’re student is doing well with Math-U-See, even if it may not be as “exciting” as the shiny new program that Apologia just released, for example, don’t be swayed! Stay.the.course. Consistency is a good thing. You won’t regret it!
- To expand on that idea, every year there are “shiny new curricula” released by new companies. Homeschoolers now have an abundance of options and choices for every subject required at every grade level. I know it can be very tempting to switch to what you think is the “latest and greatest”, even though what you’re currently using is working fine. FOMO runs strong among homeschool parents; believe me, I know! I have spent thousands of dollars trying new programs for each of my kids earlier on in our homeschool journey. Some were good moves, but most of them weren’t. Take it from me and save your precious pennies. If what you’ve got is working for you, stick with it! New isn’t necessarily better!
- And lastly, when thinking about curriculum as being a tool in your educational resource toolbelt, try to let go of finding “the perfect homeschool curriculum”. Truth be told, you probably won’t find the “perfect curriculum” for your child. Yes, don’t get me wrong, you do want to find the best fit possible for your child – and adjust your course as needed. But perfection may not always come, and if you do happen to stumble upon that unicorn for one of your kids, be aware that that same unicorn may not fit your other child in the same unicorn-ish way. Sometimes good enough, is well, good enough. A good enough curriculum is one that gets the job done and allows your children to thrive and learn and grow academically, emotionally, and spiritually. Remember that the enemy of progress is perfection; let go of expectations that the curriculum will be perfect. Now with all those caveats in mind, let’s move on and chat about how to choose curricula in our next post in this series!
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