Monica_in_Switzerland Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 I know I just need to get over this. Up until now, I've been designing my own French curriculum (our local language). This has been a lot of work for me, because it's not my first language, though I am fluent. Since I learned the language as a second language, I don't intuitively know how to teach it as a first language. Anyway, re-inventing the wheel has been working just fine, but the time commitment is killing me. I broke down today and walked to the local bookstore and bout the exact same French LA textbook the kids would be using in school. This makes me feel like I should just turn in my HS badge. Which logically is ridiculous, because we do so many things differently that PS. But ugh, I sort of feel like I "gave up" in some way. If only I had an extra 5-6 hours of time and energy to go with it per day... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 (edited) Sorry you feel like that. But it is completely illogical. I assume you use curriculum written by other people for at least some subjects and do not design your own complete curricula from scratch in all subjects, do you? So, you have always been using resources developed by outside experts for their subjects. The fact that one of the resources you have chosen happens to also be used by the public school does not change anything. ETA: When I started homeschooling, I started making up my own math worksheets. I quickly realized that this is completely foolish and a waste of my time when I can buy a perfectly good curriculum where somebody has done the work for me. If making up your own was not a wise use of your time, buying the textbook was smart. Edited July 10, 2017 by regentrude 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 :grouphug: Our best homeschooling year (after the fun early years, anyway) was when I used typical textbooks for world history and environmental science. We were productive, I wasn't stressed out, and we could supplement as we desired. But I know the feeling, cause I felt the way you do at first. It didn't take me long to get over it, though! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 I use a lot of standard schoolbooks. It is so much easier to skip the 'already known' parts and add the 'fun and extra' parts then make everything new... You realise CM did use textbooks in her PNEU programs? For french & german they look a little like Henlo imo. At a certain level school books are unavoible in Europe I think :) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deerforest Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 The best Spanish curriculum I've found is designed for schools, and I have no guilt about it at all. Every homeschool-designed Spanish program was a joke, and I am a fluent 2nd language Spanish speaker and perfectly capable of teaching if I have a curriculum. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Aw, don't feel badly! I always used a mix. There are some really good textbooks out there, and I certainly didn't have time to design all my own curriculum! 😂 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted July 10, 2017 Author Share Posted July 10, 2017 Sorry you feel like that. But it is completely illogical. I assume you use curriculum written by other people for at least some subjects and do not design your own complete curricula from scratch in all subjects, do you? So, you have always been using resources developed by outside experts for their subjects. The fact that one of the resources you have chosen happens to also be used by the public school does not change anything. ETA: When I started homeschooling, I started making up my own math worksheets. I quickly realized that this is completely foolish and a waste of my time when I can buy a perfectly good curriculum where somebody has done the work for me. If making up your own was not a wise use of your time, buying the textbook was smart. I know! I'm just crazy. But this seems to be my method: 1. Buy multiple curricula or texts, plus research methods extensively online. 2. Pull cuuricula/texts, etc, into pieces, reassemble into my own thing. 3. Realize that all that work is already 90% present in one good resource material. Honestly, I think this is part of my personality. I CANNOT use a program unless I know WHY it was built the way it was built. It's one of the reasons I had to stop RightStart math, even though I love many things about it. Not having the birds-eye-view and not being able to flip through and figure it out drove me MAD. I think I had to go through many French LA resources to figure out how French is taught to French speakers (vs. taught to French learners). Now I get it. Now when I open up the school text it no longer looks like a stupid way to do it, pardon my French. :-) It looks awfully close to what I was painstakingly assembling myself. I think really the reason it bugs me is because it is the local school's text. I get to feel holier than thou for using singapore math, but when I use the actual school's text... lol, I just feel lame. But come to think of it, we are also using the school's text for German, but then again, I am not the German teacher, so I don't feel it reflects poorly on me to admit it. :lol: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fralala Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 If only I had an extra 5-6 hours of time and energy to go with it per day... There you go. If you sent your children to school, you'd have time to develop your own curriculum! Although I don't have this feeling regarding using school textbooks, I think I can identify-- this may be the same emotion that churns within (for ultimate melodramatic effect, of course) whenever we buy prepared meals or go out to eat. I can cook! And it is more nutritious! And less expensive. Anyway, I am sure your French textbook is perfectly nutritious and I hope it works out for you until such time as you write one that is even better. :thumbup1: 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Your child is still enjoying the advantages of one on one tutoring, mastery learning, finishing the textbook... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted July 11, 2017 Author Share Posted July 11, 2017 Your child is still enjoying the advantages of one on one tutoring, mastery learning, finishing the textbook... Yes, I'm trying to tell myself that one-on-one tutoring is the real advantage to HS, not the books we use. :-D 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 Give it some time. You just bought the text book, so you haven't had time to see where the weaknesses are in it. :laugh: I'm sure you'll find great ways to enhance things for your family. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 I know! I'm just crazy. But this seems to be my method: 1. Buy multiple curricula or texts, plus research methods extensively online. 2. Pull cuuricula/texts, etc, into pieces, reassemble into my own thing. 3. Realize that all that work is already 90% present in one good resource material. Honestly, I think this is part of my personality. I CANNOT use a program unless I know WHY it was built the way it was built. It's one of the reasons I had to stop RightStart math, even though I love many things about it. Not having the birds-eye-view and not being able to flip through and figure it out drove me MAD. I think I had to go through many French LA resources to figure out how French is taught to French speakers (vs. taught to French learners). Now I get it. Now when I open up the school text it no longer looks like a stupid way to do it, pardon my French. :-) It looks awfully close to what I was painstakingly assembling myself. I think really the reason it bugs me is because it is the local school's text. I get to feel holier than thou for using singapore math, but when I use the actual school's text... lol, I just feel lame. But come to think of it, we are also using the school's text for German, but then again, I am not the German teacher, so I don't feel it reflects poorly on me to admit it. :lol: Apparently we are twins, lol! You are not alone in tearing everything apart first--I tend to do this, and my son learns this way quite well. My kids tend to "break" curriculum--they move faster, slower, need more instruction, need less, so I learned really quickly that I had to find something that makes sense to me immediately so that I could outmaneuver them when things didn't go over the way I expected. I had to basically redirect my energy toward figuring them out and bridging gaps between them and the curriculum options. Sometimes that means a lot of research into where things could go if they went sideways. For some subjects, I still am stuck in the mode you describe, but I'm figuring it out. I think it's part of the self-teaching that homeschool often requires. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 If you want to bring the smug back, find out how much of the book is finished in a year at the public school. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 (edited) I think this is honestly one of the great achilles heels of many homeschoolers. Don't reinvent the wheel. The things that make homeschooling great don't have anything to do with doing everything from scratch. Really. You learned a lesson. Edited July 19, 2017 by Farrar 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 I think this is honestly one of the great achilles heels of many homeschoolers. Don't reinvent the wheel. The things that make homeschooling great aren't don't have anything to do with doing everything from scratch. Really. You learned a lesson. Also, when you think of it, it isn't like the public school teachers are required to create their own curriculum. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tress Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 (edited) If you want to bring the smug back, find out how much of the book is finished in a year at the public school.Mmmm, nog so sure about that. I keep hearing Americans talk about never finishing a text book at school, but in the Netherlands you do finish your text books every year, for every subject. So I would not count on the Swiss not finishing their books. ETA: Dutch textbooks have less pages and less fluff than American textbooks. If our textbooks had 600+ pages, we also would not finish them :D. Edited July 19, 2017 by Tress 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tress Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 I think this is honestly one of the great achilles heels of many homeschoolers. Don't reinvent the wheel. The things that make homeschooling great don't have anything to do with doing everything from scratch. Really. You learned a lesson. I agree. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 But this seems to be my method: 1. Buy multiple curricula or texts, plus research methods extensively online. 2. Pull cuuricula/texts, etc, into pieces, reassemble into my own thing. 3. Realize that all that work is already 90% present in one good resource material. OMG. This describes what I am currently doing for French in the fall. And I'm so sick of spending time on it that the 8" stack of books is just sitting on my coffee table staring at me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.