CathyCDK Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I've been reading and thoroughly enjoying Clay and Sally Clarkson's book Educating the WholeHearted Child. It is revolutionizing how I think about our homeschool. It's given me the ability to take the vision of how I thought life, parenting and homeschooling should be and to put it into action! Even though we've been homeschooling for 7 years, I've never felt so encouraged, energized, and excited. I feel like I truly get it now! So now, I feel compelled to re-evaluate our curriculum choices against this new vision, and I know I need to let some (a lot) of it go. I don't know what method (ecletic, living books) we really used up until now, but I know is wasn't Charlotte Mason, except those things that might be CM by accident. How do I decide what to let go? We've been doing a separate spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and handwriting program because I never felt confident enough to integrate language arts with our reading. I love the idea of unit studies, integrating as many subjects as possible, but again, that confidence factor creeps in. I've also duplicated some things. One Math Curriculum as our main spine, and another for review. Cherry picking the components that I like from several history and literature programs, when sticking with just one would be so much easier. I have one foot each in Sonlight and Tapestry of Grace. Wish I could do both! Then, we added 3 more children this year after we adopted 3 siblings. What was a great choice for my older two girls wasn't working as well with my 3 youngers, so I tried something else (Heart of Dakota) with them. Problem is, everyone loves it and wants to do it! So I am trying to teach all 5 kids the younger curriculum and then cover more with my older girls at their level. (I have thought about letting my older girls teach my youngers, but then felt jealous that I would miss out!) One more consideration: My husband has been working one full time job and 2 part time jobs just to make ends meet. This week we learned that one of his part time jobs is going to be cut 50%, so there is no extra money to buy any thing else. I have a lot to chose from, so I should be able to make due with online resources and what I already have. Besides, knowing me, if I bought something new, I'd just have something else I couldn't let go, lol. :) Is there an easy pain free way to get things under control? Blessings, Cathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thowell Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 If you like the CM method have you looked at Simply Charlotte Mason? They have a free curriculum guide and there is Ambleside Online which is also free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evergreen Academy Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Congratulations on your growing family! Our three youngest joined us through adoption as well, and as you know, bio or adopted, they all learn differently and goodness that makes it interesting trying to teach a bunch of them! I can tell you what we did this year, and how we're working to make things more CM in our home; it's been a process, and finally I feel I've been able to shift the paradigm, and for the first time am not trying to do classical, CM and who knows what else, all at the same time. Phew. We started the year doing HOD CTC for my two ds11, A Living History of Our World for ds8, and Beautiful Feet Ancients for ds (almost) 14. It didn't take me long to realize this would need adjusting. We dropped the BF books for ds14, and let him use the extension books along with the HOD program to beef it up for him. We all do geography and the fun projects together, and while we read the poems in HOD, our real poetry study time is during Tuesday Poet-Teas, when each of us chooses a poem to share over tea and snack. No deep analysis, just reading, listening, enjoying. I've added in a few chapters a week of Child's History of the World, read aloud over breakfast usually, and ds8 is enjoying learning a bit about the Ancients along with his brothers. We've dropped formal spelling and all four boys are using dictation, usually using a passage from one of the books they're reading. We've dropped reading programs, and they're reading books from lists of classics I've compiled from Ambleside Online, most bought for change at library book sales. We use narration for reading comprehension, and I believe they get a ton of vocabulary through reading. We always have one book we're reading aloud together, and when doing this, or preparing for Littlest's readings, I scan the material and introduce words they might not already know; some people use white boards for this. For history, what's worked best for us is to choose one time period in history - perhaps the time covered in the younger kiddos' HOD program? Then, we've tried to choose books at the different kids' levels, and Sonlight and AO are super resources for titles you could find at the library. I say this, but am still doing American history with Littlest, and actually, it is more CM to be learning about several time periods at once, and not doing everything tied together in a unit. It's interesting, this year I'm reading WAY less for history than I did in our Sonlight and Biblioplan years, the kids are reading a bit more on their own, but in smaller bits, and I am so excited about what they are learning - as are they! Perhaps you might find the same, inadvertently? Here is a good resource for learning more about CM-style LA, that you could likely implement without buying lots of new things: http://wildflowersandmarbles.blogspot.com/2010/07/considering-charlotte-mason-and-our_05.html Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 That book changed our homeschool so much. :thumbup1: I read it when they first came out with the new edition and I made drastic changes to our homeschool. We have never been happier. I started giving the kids more say/responsibility in their education. We've relaxed a LOT. Also, we already school year-round, but I really want learning/exploring to be a natural part of their day. We also switched to a downtown library. It has a monstrous book collection - every book they would ever want to read! I liked how they would tie in learning with a real-world experience. When they talked about learning a foreign language, they said to have a reason to learn it. My son has asked to learn Spanish because several of our neighbors and their children are Spanish-speaking. Apparently, he was impressed. :D Yeah, for someone (me) who could drive themselves mad planning curriculum, obsessing about scheduling, etc...this book was what I needed. I also use those schedule sheets in the back of the book (ironically). The whole books/living books idea is just awesome, too. Good book - especially for those who are ueber-stressed out all the time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CathyCDK Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 Thank you for your replies and reassurances. I'm looking forward to checking your suggestions. I definitely feel like I spend more time planning lessons than actually doing them! I'm looking more closely at CM. Hopefully I can find the simplicity I am searching for and experience an easy transition (for me). Have to be comfortable with letting go....less is more. Going to read more of Educating the WholeHearted Child...love this book! Cathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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