From: Random fellow homeschooler asking how to integrate her curriculum into her routine; Wanted to know if I had any suggestions. Since I had never used her particular curriculum, I had only this to say:
Gosh. I've never used that curriculum before so I can't give specific feedback on what "worked" for me. I can say some general things about homeschooling that might be helpful-
1. The best program for your family is the one that works. I actually LOVE rod and staff for English and think there is no better complete English program out there. However, my son hated it, and it made work range from tears to impossible drudgery to threats, so we gave it up went with a different program that, for whatever reason, he enjoyed better and now he's doing well on English mechanics. So the best program is only the best program if your kids get the most out of it. Not to say that the kids get to pick every little thing they do (not in my house anyway.), but a certain amount of co-operation and enthusiasm is necessary for learning to really take hold.
2. Seriously, there's always next year. One year, many years away, there won't be, and I realize that as well as anyone with a 10th grader can, but don't assume you need to teach them every single thing they will ever need to know in one year- or in one single subject- in one unit study. It burn everyone out, including the kids. When I hear from moms who are really, really trying and saying to us that they don't know what they're not doing well- it's typically that they feel they need to get 100% of the curriculum done and covered in a short amount of time. Another mom asked me this early on in our hsing journey- "How many books did you ever see the last page of in public school?" I can assuredly say none of them. We made half way through our 8th grade civics book, but most texts were about 70-80% covered. We homeschool for a superior educational opportunity, so we while we don't need to use the low bar that public school set for our kids, it is helpful to remember that we are (mostly) well educated adults and we did not need to cover each text/subject 100% each year in order to get there.
3. Once you've bought the curriculum it's yours to use as you like, in any way you like. Don't let the curriculum, even a great one, tell you how to educate your kids. You are the one using the curriculum and you get to decide, when and how much of it you use. I got a call a while ago form a mom who had bought a super expensive on-line course, and it wasn't working for her student at ALL. Instead of giving it up and moving to different one, because understandably they didn't want to waste their money, their child is back to doing pre-cal this year with the curriculum that he could have been using last year. So in the end, curriculum is like all things, you spend time or money, and if you beat a dead horse long enough, you'll end up spending both.
Again, I'm not familiar with (x curriculum), but if it as all encompassing as Sonlight or Oak Meadow, you may just need to scale it back- a lot. I honestly feel they give students more than they could ever do in a year. Certainly more than any private or public student would do in one year, and I have to think they are trying to offer a buffet for you to choose from and tailor to your child's interests and needs. My child has 14 subjects they take each year, but most are not everyday subjects. Spelling and math are the only 4 day a week subjects we have. Lots of subjects are once a week events- art, computer skills, logic, writing, carpentry, history, robotics, so scale back to teach subjects once a week and just get as much covered as you can in a reasonable amount of time.
4. Give yourself time to find your groove. - or Your kids are far better at home learning with you then are at school. Nothing worth doing is easy the first time, and homeschooling, and all that that encompasses, is totally worth doing! I homeschooled for 5 years before I actually felt like I knew what I was doing; 5 years before, I stopped reading the Rainbow resource catalog on a weekly basis looking for workbooks and curriculum that would help my children "reach their potential". The proof is in the pudding as they say, and I gained confidence as my kids got older and I could finally visibly see I hadn't destroyed their educational futures by not giving them that extra Analogy work page, or because we hadn't watched the entire hour of the animal planet documentary. Seeing that my kids were happy, and that they did know some stuff, made it ok.
I help run the co-op in Williamsburg, and none of the kids have the same path, even ones in the same family. But they're all terrific kids and knowing that that variety exists out there, has given me confidence in what I'm doing.
So I have no idea how to integrate (your curriculum) into your routine, but I say if the curriculum is what's keeping you from being full participants of your community or your family's happy week, then don't integrate, scale back. Having taken both paths in different years, I discovered it was covering less that gave my kids more.
5. Ask your question on the larger Homeschooling-in-hrs board, or look to see if your particular curriculum has it's own yahoo group and ask there. Sorry I couldn't offer any concrete suggestions, but good luck!
Regards,
Brandy
Gosh. I've never used that curriculum before so I can't give specific feedback on what "worked" for me. I can say some general things about homeschooling that might be helpful-
1. The best program for your family is the one that works. I actually LOVE rod and staff for English and think there is no better complete English program out there. However, my son hated it, and it made work range from tears to impossible drudgery to threats, so we gave it up went with a different program that, for whatever reason, he enjoyed better and now he's doing well on English mechanics. So the best program is only the best program if your kids get the most out of it. Not to say that the kids get to pick every little thing they do (not in my house anyway.), but a certain amount of co-operation and enthusiasm is necessary for learning to really take hold.
2. Seriously, there's always next year. One year, many years away, there won't be, and I realize that as well as anyone with a 10th grader can, but don't assume you need to teach them every single thing they will ever need to know in one year- or in one single subject- in one unit study. It burn everyone out, including the kids. When I hear from moms who are really, really trying and saying to us that they don't know what they're not doing well- it's typically that they feel they need to get 100% of the curriculum done and covered in a short amount of time. Another mom asked me this early on in our hsing journey- "How many books did you ever see the last page of in public school?" I can assuredly say none of them. We made half way through our 8th grade civics book, but most texts were about 70-80% covered. We homeschool for a superior educational opportunity, so we while we don't need to use the low bar that public school set for our kids, it is helpful to remember that we are (mostly) well educated adults and we did not need to cover each text/subject 100% each year in order to get there.
3. Once you've bought the curriculum it's yours to use as you like, in any way you like. Don't let the curriculum, even a great one, tell you how to educate your kids. You are the one using the curriculum and you get to decide, when and how much of it you use. I got a call a while ago form a mom who had bought a super expensive on-line course, and it wasn't working for her student at ALL. Instead of giving it up and moving to different one, because understandably they didn't want to waste their money, their child is back to doing pre-cal this year with the curriculum that he could have been using last year. So in the end, curriculum is like all things, you spend time or money, and if you beat a dead horse long enough, you'll end up spending both.
Again, I'm not familiar with (x curriculum), but if it as all encompassing as Sonlight or Oak Meadow, you may just need to scale it back- a lot. I honestly feel they give students more than they could ever do in a year. Certainly more than any private or public student would do in one year, and I have to think they are trying to offer a buffet for you to choose from and tailor to your child's interests and needs. My child has 14 subjects they take each year, but most are not everyday subjects. Spelling and math are the only 4 day a week subjects we have. Lots of subjects are once a week events- art, computer skills, logic, writing, carpentry, history, robotics, so scale back to teach subjects once a week and just get as much covered as you can in a reasonable amount of time.
4. Give yourself time to find your groove. - or Your kids are far better at home learning with you then are at school. Nothing worth doing is easy the first time, and homeschooling, and all that that encompasses, is totally worth doing! I homeschooled for 5 years before I actually felt like I knew what I was doing; 5 years before, I stopped reading the Rainbow resource catalog on a weekly basis looking for workbooks and curriculum that would help my children "reach their potential". The proof is in the pudding as they say, and I gained confidence as my kids got older and I could finally visibly see I hadn't destroyed their educational futures by not giving them that extra Analogy work page, or because we hadn't watched the entire hour of the animal planet documentary. Seeing that my kids were happy, and that they did know some stuff, made it ok.
I help run the co-op in Williamsburg, and none of the kids have the same path, even ones in the same family. But they're all terrific kids and knowing that that variety exists out there, has given me confidence in what I'm doing.
So I have no idea how to integrate (your curriculum) into your routine, but I say if the curriculum is what's keeping you from being full participants of your community or your family's happy week, then don't integrate, scale back. Having taken both paths in different years, I discovered it was covering less that gave my kids more.
5. Ask your question on the larger Homeschooling-in-hrs board, or look to see if your particular curriculum has it's own yahoo group and ask there. Sorry I couldn't offer any concrete suggestions, but good luck!
Regards,
Brandy
