Are any of you *not* curriculum junkies? Downsizing curriculum....

[Stacia]

So, I'm a recovering curriculum junkie. ;) Over the past couple of years, I've gotten rid of lots of our school books & bought very few new items.

 

Now, we're at the point that one child will be heading to a brick & mortar school in the fall & I'll be hsing just one child.

 

I'm trying to do a serious final cull of books & curriculum here. I'm just tired of being overwhelmed w/ the choices & having too many books on the shelves, for one thing.

 

For those of you who school w/ a basic set of materials, please encourage me & tell me how happy I'll be to reduce our amount of stuff even further. :001_smile: (I need the extra push....) Any advice, tips, or happy stories of minimalists would be greatly appreciated. :D

[Plucky]

So, I'm a recovering curriculum junkie. ;) Over the past couple of years, I've gotten rid of lots of our school books & bought very few new items.

 

Now, we're at the point that one child will be heading to a brick & mortar school in the fall & I'll be hsing just one child.

 

I'm trying to do a serious final cull of books & curriculum here. I'm just tired of being overwhelmed w/ the choices & having too many books on the shelves, for one thing.

 

For those of you who school w/ a basic set of materials, please encourage me & tell me how happy I'll be to reduce our amount of stuff even further. :001_smile: (I need the extra push....) Any advice, tips, or happy stories of minimalists would be greatly appreciated. :D

 

Sell it, give it away to other hsers, donate to goodwill. Really, I love getting rid of stuff. When my youngest goes through something I put it on our hs loop either free or a very small amount depending on the market.

 

I don't buy much anymore. I also don't peruse the curric board much because I am usually content. I don't want to mess that feeling up. :D

[Karen in CO]

I don't have any experience, but I'm right there with you. My oldest is about to graduate from college and middle is going to a classical charter school next year leaving me with a second grader. I have books saved from when my oldest was homeschooled. I have more books than my youngest could ever read. My voracious middle child still hasn't read all of the books I have for her. It is just too much. My very best IRL homeschool friend manages to educate her kids with only a few purchased items each year. I need less and not more.

 

My plan for this year is to read to my youngest more and talk to her more. We'll continue doing the basics that we've gotten really got at - reading, writing and math - and we'll spend the rest of the year reading together. Second grade will be easy. I'm also getting rid of everything homeschool related I have that isn't just a good book. I don't need the rest of it, and I know I won't use it. I'm also getting rid of everything the youngest has outgrown.

 

You can do it. You can simplfy. Figure out what is important to you and what you want to accomplish and focus on that.

[Belacqua]

Sell it, give it away to other hsers, donate to goodwill. Really, I love getting rid of stuff. When my youngest goes through something I put it on our hs loop either free or a very small amount depending on the market.

 

I don't buy much anymore. I also don't peruse the curric board much because I am usually content. I don't want to mess that feeling up. :D

 

Yep. What she said.

 

Over the past ten years or so, I've collected many, many books (I volunteer at the library's used book sale, so we have both motive and opportunity). Anything I thought we might use at some point during homeschooling was fair game.

 

But my only student is just finishing Grade 10, and we have a pretty detailed map of the next two years. So everything I don't think we'll use, goes. Out with the geology texts that nobody will read. Goodbye to the German dictionary, all but the best of the ancient history books (and, as we all know, there's really only one worth keeping :)), and approximately nine hundred copies of The Iliad.

 

It feels magnificent. I've allowed it to spread to non-homeschooling books, some of which I've carted through five moves. Haven't regretted tossing a thing.

[Mommyof4ks]

I used to be a junkie, but I had no idea what I wanted to use. Now I know what works for my kids, so most of our stuff fits on a shelf now except manipulatives, the microscope, and things like that. It is ver freeing, and everything I have gets used rather than forgotten.

[Stacia]

It is ver freeing, and everything I have gets used rather than forgotten.

 

This is what I'm hoping for!

 

Please continue the good stories & advice, everyone. :001_smile: And, thanks to everyone who has already posted. :thumbup1:

[missmoe]

I'm a recovering junkie. I've found it very freeing to not have shelves and boxes of books I should be using. And now there is actually empty room on my shelves! Who knew that could happen! :001_smile:

[PentecostalMom]

I'm a recovering junkie. I've found it very freeing to not have shelves and boxes of books I should be using. And now there is actually empty room on my shelves! Who knew that could happen! :001_smile:

 

Me too. I have gotten rid of so much stuff! Like a pp said, the things on our shelves actually get used and I don't have that "grass is greener" syndrome because I am content with our choices.