Confession - speak encouraging words to me, please!

[SorrelZG]

:banghead: I really suck at making good decisions. I try to pray through things, give it time, think clearly, talk through it with DH, etc. but I blew it again this year! I am embarrassed. I don't even want to talk to DH about it in detail because I'm so embarrassed at this happening again. At this point I am banning myself from purchasing workbooks until I've at least completed one or teacher's guides (of the multi-subject schedule variety) ever. My oldest is 6 and I have bought six of these guides, sold five (one is still listed for sale), four were actually the same two twice, and I have completed precisely zero of them (didn't come close). This is why I am cut-off. This last guide I bought new, too. Oh, the pain! :svengo:In order to buy anything for any new plans I'm having to sell stuff and as I'm going through books to list for sale or trade-in at Amazon I am experiencing all kinds of grief and remorse. I'm ashamed to admit how many books I have bought on a complete whim either because it was mentioned here or just because it was listed with some multi-subject curriculum I decided to dive into whole hog ... and then never read or used. :leaving:

 

 

Tell me there is hope for me!

[blakereese]

There is hope for you! :001_smile: Don't worry, it happens to the best of us. The first step is admitting the problem, so you are on your way. ;)

 

Seriously, though...keep going with your selling and clearing things out and then buy things ONLY if you need them. And no impulse buying, give yourself a time limit of 48 hours or even a week to think about it. A lot of the time you will be over "needing it" after a few hours. Keep track of what you have in a spreadsheet or even in a notebook so you do not buy duplicates and so you can see what you have for each subject.

 

Find things that are working for you and then don't go looking for other options. It is SO easy to do that here, I know, but be strong!

[AimeeM]

My name is Aimee and I'm a curriculum addict :glare:. Impulse buyer.

You are NOT alone. Lol.

[lindblomnest]

Don't give up! ;)

I always try to find someone who has used the curriculum before and ask them about it. I shop at used curriculum sales for two reasons- one, it's cheap and two, I can take a good look at what I'm buying and ask the seller questions about it.

[alisoncooks]

Yeah, I feel your pain.

I'm currently trying to sell some impulse buys (a 2nd math curriculum? what was I thinking?!)

 

... AND I'm kicking myself right now because I *just* purchased a phonics reader for DD but found a 2nd copy for much cheaper, so I bought the 2nd and tried to cancel the first order. Can't cancel. So now my bargain buy isn't such a bargain, LOL, because I have 2 copies of the same reader coming to my door..... Bah! :tongue_smilie:

[mommymilkies]

My name is Aimee and I'm a curriculum addict :glare:. Impulse buyer.

You are NOT alone. Lol.

 

:iagree: I was about to post about this same thing. I am really bad about overresearchuing and/or impulse buying and selling/rebuking curriculum many times. It's sad.

[RootAnn]

Well, at least you have an excuse. I can research something for YEARS, ponder, pray, and then buy it. It can still look great when I'm "planning," but once we start to use it .... UGH! I could just KICK myself. Yuck! Ptooeh!

 

This mostly happens to us with science, but this year it was with Megawords (which isn't at all a fit for my oldest & I). :banghead:

 

:sad:

 

I don't know if there is hope. Are you the kind who learns from your mistakes? I know I do. (I just keep coming up with new mistakes!)

[serendipitous journey]

:grouphug: I myself am looking at heaps of unusable or unused stuff.

 

... Are you the kind who learns from your mistakes? I know I do. (I just keep coming up with new mistakes!)

 

!!! tons of new mistakes here too! I don't seem to run out. I suppose it keeps me humble. But really, I think I'm humble enough already, I'd like things to go smoothly for a while now ...

[JaneP]

Sometimes you just don't know what a curriculum is really like until you have used it and used it for a while....

 

Sometimes one year of a curriculum is fantastic for you and your dc but the next is a complete disaster.....

 

You are definitely not alone. :grouphug:

[SorrelZG]

It's even more depressing when I list it all out individually for sale ...and notice all the books still not on the list. I'm tempted to just ship them off to Amazon for the pennies they'll pay for them just to get the pain behind me quickly.

 

I would like to think I learn from mistakes but I, too, keep making new ones. Oh, and there is always a good reason why THIS time is different.

 

I'm enforcing a cooling off period before purchases, using the library, keeping myself busy reading or using what I already have, and this is helping. For school stuff I've been trying to analyze the reasons for success in the subject areas I don't have problems with to see if I can find some principles to apply to my problem areas.

 

Maybe I need to put myself under a full purchasing freeze for a few months. DH would love that.:tongue_smilie:

[CatholicMom]

:lol: sorry. I hear ya. I have kicked myself many times for buying things I didn't need. Teacher's manuals I never touched (sometimes you don't know until you use the program, though), curricula I have raved about to others and convinced them to buy it and then I switch the next year :svengo:, buying Sonlight's LA for the SECOND year even though the first year didn't work and I quit half way through :001_huh: (man, they are good advertisers)... Using just about as many spelling programs as the years I have been homeschooling...

 

Yeah, it happens more that people would like to admit, I'm sure.

 

What I tell myself is that as homeschool moms, we are making constant decisions (and big ones), so with the sheer number of decisions we are making every single year, we are bound to make a lot of mistakes even if they are the minority.

 

A mistake I'm trying to not make anymore is buying the most awesome, most thorough, most amazingly ideal curriculum... that I don't have time or energy to use, when there is a simpler (though arguably less awesome) option that will actually get done. :glare:

[Soror]

Ahem, I'll just say, STAY OFF the CURRICULUM BOARD, seriously. Use some combination of what you have for now and sit back and watch your kids and think about your goals. Focus on the basics, your oldest is still so young, no need to worry about every little thing yet. Don't research unless there is some glaring issue.

[SorrelZG]

Ahem, I'll just say, STAY OFF the CURRICULUM BOARD, seriously. Use some combination of what you have for now and sit back and watch your kids and think about your goals. Focus on the basics, your oldest is still so young, no need to worry about every little thing yet. Don't research unless there is some glaring issue.

 

 

Thankfully my impulse buys are not typically curriculum (most have been books more likely mentioned on the general board - and I rarely even go there! :tongue_smilie: ). And I DO only research real needs. :lol:

 

Here's the thing: out of these six guides I've (not) used, three (or five, depending how you count) have been HOD and the other LBC. It came close to being 4-2 instead of 5-1 but on top of all my thoughtfulness regarding what would most likely get done, the thought did cross my mind that HOD was a little cheaper to begin with and would be easier to resell (so much for whole hearted commitment, right?). I HAVE to face the fact that I have a high need for super flexibility.

 

For instance, I had CW Aesop core text on hand and started using that with DS. The extra books for it would have made it a flop for me but the core text I can bend to my own will. Now, Primer was an impulse buy. I have some thoughts as to why I may have bought it but no really good ones.

 

I'm thinking of trying to force myself to use Primer (it's only 12 weeks - I can make it 12 weeks, right? :tongue_smilie: ) while on a purchasing freeze. My problem areas are history and science (I keep thinking I don't care about them and want someone else to schedule them for me but apparently I do care and have some simple though important goals I don't need a whole lot of help with after all). I'm thinking of working through Primer (unless someone wants to buy it before Monday, I can just keep doing what I'm doing) and continuing to read through CHOW while I decide on where I want to go (I already have ideas but not enough money which is good right now!)

[TengoFive]

I think someone should start a trading site for impulsive curriculum buyers. It would only be for unused curriculum and would be run like bookmooch. You would get the retail price as a credit and things would then cost the retail price, but could only be paid for in your credit.

 

Can you tell I have this problem too? I have way too much unused curriculum on the bookshelves.

[mommymilkies]

I think someone should start a trading site for impulsive curriculum buyers. It would only be for unused curriculum and would be run like bookmooch. You would get the retail price as a credit and things would then cost the retail price, but could only be paid for in your credit.

 

Can you tell I have this problem too? I have way too much unused curriculum on the bookshelves.

 

:lol:

[kandty]

I hate to admit you are not alone! I have HOD Bigger sitting her completely unused! I also bought MFW packages last year and didn't use it. Here is what I have learned from my mistakes. I have to see, touch, read, and think over the material. And I have to get this done before the return policy expires!! For next year I won't be buying the material until 2 weeks before I am ready to sit down and plan our year. It will be returned if it's not going to work. Waiting to buy will be hard for me. I usually buy in March, but I don't start my planning until May/June. I am sure this will be a challenge this year. Best of luck to you!:001_smile:

[SorrelZG]

I didn't even think for a second about return policies. :banghead::banghead:

So much for being smart. :glare:

 

 

I have learned quite a few things from this latest experience. I need to write them down and read them daily. It doesn't numb the pain of the money lost but I'm at least somewhat distracted from it by the excitement of feeling closer to knowing and doing what really fits us as a family.

[kolamum]

:grouphug:

 

A quick way to help yourself is right down what you need, how your son learns, & move forward from there. ;) It narrows your choices less for one thing. :D

[SorrelZG]

 

A quick way to help yourself is right down what you need, how your son learns, & move forward from there. ;)

 

 

I was just talking with DH about that last night. I realized that what I truly needed was just better rest and the personal discipline to get-up-and-go in the morning and that DS learns best by having me mentally present and actively involved. I truly thought the right pre-planned guide could pick up the slack for me so I could focus on fewer things. What I learned is that even a pre-planned guide needs me so .... Next time I will recognize the need for a break to refocus and I will take one and save my money. :)

[mothergooseof4]

I've been at this for over twelve years. This has been the worst of all years. We are barely over a month into our school year and I have replaced almost everything, some subjects twice. Part of it is the curriculum junkie in me. I love to own it. I want to use it ALL, or at least have it on the shelf for reference. Then I see something else I want, so I clear the shelves by selling off. Rinse, repeat. Some doesn't work and some loses it's shine when we start using it. And, to tell the truth, I like researching and planning more than actually using.

 

I consider it teacher training. I have learned a ton from curricula that I never actually used or only used for a short time.

 

ETA: In my first five years of hsing, I made no changes. I was hsing step-dd and we started with Sonlight. I used their history, LA, science, and recommendation at that time for Saxon. Sure, the LA was terrible, but I didn't know any better and we made it work. When I started hsing ds, I bought SL K and got started. I didn't work as well for him at that stage. That is when I started my unstopping internet and curriculum addiction. I am a junkie! Sometimes, I wish I would got to a convention, make my choices, and just make it work for the year. Other times, I am so thankful that there are other choices out there and we are always just a few shipping days away from a MUCH needed change.

Edited September 28, 2012 by mothergooseofthree