On the Great Curriculum Huntby Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger 16 Jan 2008 06:00 AM Yesterday, I got my first homeschooling curriculum catalogs in the mail. The first of the season that is. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, I am sure that I will continue to accumulate a growing pile of homeschooling curriculums all of which claim to meet my child's needs. If you haven't been inundated yet, let me encourage you to take a few minutes to sit down and think about it. Why? So you won't be tempted to spend more than you need on "cool" stuff. What Do You Really Need? The truth is, there are tons of very cool educational products out there. I am of the persuasion however, that it's not the curriculum that makes or breaks the homeschooling year. Homeschooling works and works well because your child is getting a one on one education. They are getting individualized attention and a curriculum that's tailored to meet their needs. This means both that strong points can be challenged while their academically weak points can be worked on without the fear of out right failing. With that said, I do think that there is a right way to homeschool for each family. I have many, many friends who use a very rigid classical method to homeschool. For us, it was too intense and we opted for something that emphasized reading out loud. So figure out what it is that you really need with confidence. You are not going to "mess up" by making the wrong choice. (You might spend too much money, but you're not going to mess up.) The "Other Curriculum" Something that I've found as I've gone through my homeschooling years is that there seems to be this 'cache' of other, unrelated but fun curriculum calling my name. What I mean is that I know I need language arts, math, science and social studies. Then there's the k'nex educational materials. There are games galore and all those cool lapbooking supplies. There are also these cool geography books that I've had my eye on for awhile. How do I decide what and if I'm going to purchase? I have one rule that I will pass on to you: I squeeze in most of my homeschooling in four days. On the fifth day, I still do language arts and math, but then I take the afternoon or a few hours to do one (just one) of those "other curriculums" that look like so much fun. In this way, I don't buy a bunch of stuff I don't need and I am able to keep focused without overburdening myself with a bunch of 'extras'. This is one case when more isn't better. So plan a strategy before all those cool homeschooling catalogs arrive and you'll find navigating the curriculum choices to be smooth sailing. . .well sort of. Related Articles: How To Avoid the Curriculum Flip Flop Learn more about Valorie Delp  Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line. Relevanthomeschooling tags User Comments johnegood (25) 17 Jan 2008 06:29 AMValerie - I like your blog and am looking forward to your comments on picking curriculum. At Time4Learning.com, we promote "eclectic" homeschooling. Our experience is that it's a challenge to select a curriculum that meets the needs of each child. Many families find that what fits one child, may not fit another, or that what worked well one semester, may feel stale and stop working the next. Or in some cases, what works for one child in one subject, does not work for the same child in another subject. We find that often, a family's educational needs cannot be met by a single curriculum. And that blending several homeschool programs and approaches can increase effectiveness. However, to keep life managable for the parents, the key is to work with quality curriculum and resources that can flexibly be matched by grade and subject.  Valorie Delp (49340) 17 Jan 2008 06:40 AMThanks for your comments. In the days to come I will be writing more on the upsides and downfalls of many philosophies of homeschooling. johnegood (25) 17 Jan 2008 07:04 AMSpeaking of the philosophies of homeschooling and all those "...isms"....Are you familiar with the concept of accidental homeschoolers? The idea is that there are many families who homeschool for dogmatic reasons such as religious belief or they're against the regimented approach of traditional educational. These groups tend to be vocal and visible on the web. Yet, there are many families that do not have any particular philosophy about education or approach (although many are people of faith), but they put their children in school and found that....it just didn't work. Many changed teachers or schools a few times but after awhile, they decided that the best thing for their child was to homeschool. They do not as a first choice but through a process of elimination. What's funny about these people is that they seem to transition in their first year from hesitant to enthusiastic homeschoolers. Having studied the stats, I believe that this might be the silent majority of homeschoolers. Valorie Delp (49340) 17 Jan 2008 08:19 AMI am familiar with the idea. I am not convinced it's the majority. . .but I do believe that there are a lot. I think I would tend to split hsers into two groups. . .those who homeschool for dogmatic reasons (and there I would lump together both those secular homeschoolers who are opposed to the institutionalization of children through ps and those who hs for religious beliefs) and then those who are 'accidental homeschoolers'. I'll have to see if Andrea wrote about this. . .thanks for the blog topic idea! ;-) I'll have to think on this one a little more.  Andrea Hermitt (5512) 20 Jan 2008 10:41 AMHey there, I did mention Accidental Homeschoolers in the homeshooling glossary I did last year... just a line or two. I also mentioned and used Time for learning until my kids pretty much aged out of it. It's kind of no muss, no fuss. Discuss this article
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