eclectic curriculum

[leeannpal]

How difficult is it to work with an eclectic curriculum? I've been looking at the major boxed sets, and while I like a lot of what I see, there isn't one that seems to fit me or my daughter well. Ideally, I would like to use portions of a few curriculums like TOG and Winterpromise, but that might be too confusing. I would love to hear ideas on what others who are eclectic home schoolers do.

[Mandy in TN]

For science and history I find something that I want to use as a spine and then I divide it over the number of weeks that I want to use that spine. Then, I add in any books or activities that I want to include.

 

Some years I have scheduled LA material and some years we just move on to the next lesson and keep going unti we are finished.

 

I try not to schedule math any further than knowing what I want to use next. With math you never know when a child will totally get a topic and zoom ahead or when he will need to squat on a topic.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[Just Robyn]

There are a lot of different ways people organize their materials when they don't have a boxed set (and only a boxed set) with everything already scheduled out. (Do they even all come with schedules? OM has weekly "schedules," but not daily plans. Anyway....)

 

There are people who do filing.

 

There are people who have plans in binders with numbered tabs like Sonlight sells.

 

You can use Home School Tracker, My Homeschool Plan, the SCM planner, or various other planners.

 

Some people just make lists of things to do without putting a date to each item and go down the list - maybe a list per subject.

 

I have everything on a bookshelf organized by subject and I just have it all in my head because a lot of what we are using this year has daily lessons. For next year things are getting more complicated and I'm in the beginning stages of putting together very thorough binders.

 

Personally, though it's a lot of work, I rather enjoy gathering all my materials, lining up the pages of book A with the activities in book B, and scheduling things out. I also think it's totally worth it because I guess the control freak in me just wants everything to be my way, and I think putting together the plans of many people or companies has so much potential to be better than the plans of just one person or company (a two heads is better than one outlook).

Edited April 10, 2011 by crstarlette

[Aurelia]

I keep all of our school materials on one shelf, and simply keep track of what we have done each week. Some subjects (math, reading) are done daily while others, like grammar, history, science, etc, are done 1-4 times per week depending on the subject. We're fairly flexible around here and move on to the next level of subjects once we have finished the current ones, so we're still working through varying parts of ancient history, but have moved on to chemistry, nature study, and Shakespeare's stories for example.

[Dana]

You can see what we're currently using in my signature.

There are definitely days I'm envious of a boxed curriculum, but I can't imagine I'd find one that I'd be happy with.

 

I do spend a lot of time doing prep and pulling together different resources. I am very happy that I have some completely "open and go" programs: All About Spelling, Artistic Pursuits, MCT somewhat, WWE, next year Latin for Children :)

 

I think anything you do is hardest the first year. It gets easier as you learn more. I know the first year curriculum was really overwhelming for me since I was figuring out EVERYTHING! After that, I was able to see what was working (continue with handwriting, continue with Singapore math) and what wasn't (needed to switch spelling).

[Ellie]

I don't know why it would be more difficult to work with materials from different authors/publishers than buying a box of books from one place. :confused:

 

I never found a single source that I liked for everything, especially since I used few textbooks.

[ocelotmom]

The hardest part for me is having too many ideas, and trying to keep it reasonable. I'm sure the planning is more work than with a boxed curriculum, but I honestly enjoy that part. (My approach involves reinventing the wheel entirely, not simply using premade curriculum from different sources subject by subject (though obviously from my sig, we do that for some subjects and don't eschew curriculum entirely :)). So yes, it's much more involved than using open-and-go curriculum.)

Edited April 10, 2011 by ocelotmom

[Joyofsixreboot]

We just do the next thing in each book until we're done. If it take more or less than 36 weeks really doesn't matter.

[SnMomof7]

I don't find it difficult at all :). I just keep on going till it's done. For skill areas I don't schedule lessons at all. I just open our English book, do a lesson, open math, do a page, do some copywork, etc. In content subjects we just follow the plans at our own pace. There isn'y ANY entirely boxed program I would EVER like for all subjects because I have strong ideas about how I want to do math, LA, etc.

[Just Robyn]

Whether or not you can "just do the next thing 'til it's done" depends on what you're using. If you use several curricula, each with daily lessons and an open-and-go format, then there really isn't much to plan. If you are using three or four different things for each subject (per child) to approximate your ideal, things may require more planning. Additionally, some curricula do not have daily plans, or even weekly plans.

[texasmama]

We used "boxed" (SL) for history, literature read alouds and readers. I add in our own Bible program, language arts, math, science and spelling. Next year the boys will take a co op class for Latin. They take piano lessons. They play basketball. I think that about covers it.:001_smile:

 

I like the ease of the scheduled parts of SL that we use. I like the flexibility of the rest of our curriculum. I schedule all of the rest, which is incredibly simple and take very little time.