Make me feel better about not using packaged "curriculum"!

[ALB]

I can't help feeling guilty and like we could be missing something. I do NOT do well with schedules or pre- made lesson plans! It seems like whatever I buy, I end up tweaking entirely or substituting my own ideas instead of using. We started SOTW with AG, but we decided we'd rather just read tons of books about the time period, with narrations and projects kind of randomly thrown in. I was doing Elemental Science, but again we'd rather just read tons of books and discuss! We don't have any "real" reading program, but we do read a LOT (independently and as read alouds) every day. We're finishing up 2nd grade and will soon start 3rd and K (with a newborn in the mix), but I wonder whether we need to add more structure into our school.

 

Math and Language Arts are fine. We have no problem doing every subject consistently every day, its just that I get bored with curriculum for the content subjects. Are we okay with mainly just reading for history, science and literature? At what grade do we need to buckle down for these subjects?

[PachiSusan]

Coming from a boxed curriculum gal... You will be just fine!

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I spent this year discovering how much I dislike "scripted" and scheduled curriculum. This fall, we will be dropping a lot of that in favor of developing our own plan. As long as you are covering everything you want to, I don't see a reason for a schedule. If you want to make history more cohesive, you could continue what you are doing, but just add a timeline book to the routine, so that you see how the pieces are fitting together in the big picture. I tend to think of science as just a matter of exposure and piquing interest for early elementary, so I wouldn't worry about that much either!

[Crimson Wife]

Your kids are little, don't sweat it. I didn't use a "spine" with my oldest until she was in 3rd for science and 4th for history because of (A) very tight budget in my early years of HS and ( B ) not finding anything I particularly liked for the early grades at the time. We just did unit studies using library resources. She was fine transitioning to a "spine" later on.

 

With DS, I did start him on Mr. Q science during his "transition" year between K & 1st. History I'm planning to start him in on SOTW 1 next year for 2nd, but if he winds up not liking that, I won't hesitate to just continue having him read books from the library.

[LadyMandy]

I've been wondering the same thing...if I'm missing something good by simply picking my own resources and then scheduling them out. I get irritated with most lesson plans though that plan out all the subjects for each day. Then if you don't get to every subject in a day, you feel like you can't go on until everything's caught up. I like planning out each subject independently. But of course that means I may be missing things that complement each other with the different subjects. With so many options I'm really having a hard time just going with one rather than trying to get in all the "not-to-be-missed" resources.

[Ellie]

I can't help feeling guilty and like we could be missing something. I do NOT do well with schedules or pre- made lesson plans! It seems like whatever I buy, I end up tweaking entirely or substituting my own ideas instead of using. We started SOTW with AG, but we decided we'd rather just read tons of books about the time period, with narrations and projects kind of randomly thrown in. I was doing Elemental Science, but again we'd rather just read tons of books and discuss! We don't have any "real" reading program, but we do read a LOT (independently and as read alouds) every day. We're finishing up 2nd grade and will soon start 3rd and K (with a newborn in the mix), but I wonder whether we need to add more structure into our school.

 

Math and Language Arts are fine. We have no problem doing every subject consistently every day, its just that I get bored with curriculum for the content subjects. Are we okay with mainly just reading for history, science and literature? At what grade do we need to buckle down for these subjects?

 

 

Understand the true meaning of the word "curriculum:" The course of study offered by an institution of education. IOW, it is the content, not the methods or materials.

 

Your *curriculum* would be science (and maybe you have a more definite description or idea of what you'd like to help your dc learn). You can use whatever you want to cover science--trade books (the books you get from the library), or textbooks, or Internet, or field trips, or making nature notebooks ala Charlotte Mason. IOW, your *curriculum* is science; Elemental Science would be instructional material, not curriculum.

 

Your *curriculum* would be world history (and whatever that means to you, or whatever direction it might take); SOTW would be instructional materials, not curriculum.

 

Your *curriculum* would be literature; you use good trade books instead of textbooks, but you still have *curriculum*.

 

So don't kid yourself. You have a curriculum; you just don't have a stack of textbooks or other published instructional materials. :-)

[FO4UR]

 

 

So don't kid yourself. You have a curriculum; you just don't have a stack of textbooks or other published instructional materials. :-)

 

 

 

Yes.

 

If your dc are engaged in learning, excited about learning, and retaining any of it, you are doing fabulous. Don't fix what ain't broke.

 

 

 

You might feel more confident about it if you journal what you read and do instead of preplanning it. It's amazing how much content you can go through when the kids are driving the learning. You are probably covering more than any package.

 

 

Besides, there is no harm in a gap here and there in elementary history or science, and you simply cannot cover everything even if you try. Consistency really only matters in the *skills* of learning, and there it's of utmost importance. tbh, I think finding an interest, researching the library, following through on a self-planned project are vital skills. It doesn't really matter whether or not that interest is in botany or pirates.

[mumto2]

The kids and I have done a whole bunch of formal curriculum since we started home ed. I am a bit like you and have never not tweaked a bit. Our favorite home ed time ever was the year we just used the library for everything except math. They were 7 and 9. We learned so much. I would not worry a bit. Just make sure you write down the book info so you can find it later!

[ALB]

Thanks! I know my dc are learning a lot and that they love to learn. I like the idea of journaling what we have done after the fact. It's funny how much I have learned about myself (teaching style and personality) from homeschooling.

[IceFairy]

We recently shelved SOTW1 with AG and Elemental Science...for the same reasons. It felt too scripted and I felt like a robot teacher. I cannot get with the program of just drilling the facts in. We are giving FIAR a shot over the summer so I can let the kids have a starting point while still allowing them to follow their rabbit trails....plus I am having joint replacement surgery and need to give my parents something to do with the kids while I am down for a bit.

[Hunter]

I am incapable of finishing a "full" curriculum that brags about being "complete", but I have enjoyed using correspondence curricula that are based off of what NORMAL children can complete in the hours brick-and-mortar students spend ON-TASK.

 

Too often a box of textbooks from a single publisher, would take at least 4 times longer to complete, than the time typical brick and mortar students spend on-task. Giving me detailed plans that are not realistic are more unhelpful that no help. What good is "complete" if it can't be completed?

 

I like using ORIGINAL Doubleday hardback What Your _ Grader Needs to Know series as my spine for content subjects. It's designed to be completed in 20 minutes a day in 1/3 of a school year. I can do this! Yeah, I supplement a LOT, but it gives me a plan that absolutely can be COMPLETED.

 

In the past, I really like using American School Correspondence School for high school. CLE Homeschool Plus was okay in my opinion, not great but okay, and it's changed too much in the past 15 years for me to comment now. CLASS looked completable (with some effort) from what I saw from my neighbor's daughter's experience (early 2000s), even though the girl was NOT able to complete it. Susan seems to be having good luck with Seton so far. I don't know much about the new Calvert, but it was a good program.

 

A box of Abeka, BJU, Rod and Staff, etc.--someone just take me out and shoot me!