athena1277 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 How long did it take you, as a homeschooling parent, to move beyond set, here is what you will teach today, curriculum? How did you begin to be able to pull from various resources to give your dc more variety in the ways they are taught? This is only my first year hs'ing, and I wish I could add in more creative, engaging learning, but it makes me nervous to stray from the curriculum. I have a great fear of leaving something out if I go on my own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 8 weeks. I bought Calvert and used it for 8 weeks. While it was a HUGE waste of money for us, the one thing I did learn was how to make my own schedule. Just seeing it done and seeing how it fell into place helped me tremendously. Now I have no worries at all with scheduling our own ecclectic mix of curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 I never used boxed curriculum, either. I did buy a scripted Language Arts program, once. I think we lasted less than 8 weeks. (Wow, Tree House, you're cool) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 About half way through our first year. It was very freeing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Days, lol. My dd started with a cyber charter and I found myself improvising almost immediately. After we withdrew, I did purchase a LA curriculum. That lasted a couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 How long did it take you, as a homeschooling parent, to move beyond set, here is what you will teach today, curriculum? How did you begin to be able to pull from various resources to give your dc more variety in the ways they are taught? This is only my first year hs'ing, and I wish I could add in more creative, engaging learning, but it makes me nervous to stray from the curriculum. I have a great fear of leaving something out if I go on my own. I never even started it. I waded into it is as kiddo grew up. I encourage you to take the subject you feel most facile with and start with that one. Add subjects as you gain confidence. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 From day 1! ...But, I've been a volunteer remedial reading tutor since 1994, so I had years and years of practice adapting various different phonics programs and developing my own phonics lessons for my adult students who needed a bit more and a different pace and sequence than the phonics programs I was able to find when there was hardly any internet and not as many phonics choices as there are today. For those thinking about homeschooling in the future, go practice on someone else's children by teaching them to read! (Also, 70% of prisoners are illiterate, but unless you have family in the area who love to watch your children, prison ministry is not generally a good choice for moms with young children.) Here's how, as a volunteer and for $: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76393 http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76388 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 About half way through our first year. It was very freeing. Me too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 We started out that way. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLHCO Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 In truth, what I finally did is give up on trying to be creative unless it spills out naturally from life. I know that sounds lame, but I just can't stand goofy little crafts, lap books, etc. My kids like them, but I just can't seem to follow through with anything and stay on task if I try to incorporate those things into the learning, because I think I'm far more likely to blow off school to avoid it. We go from page one to page two when we do school. If life naturally pops something up that fits into a subject, I will count it for that day. It's not at all dry because I'm a pretty relaxed homeschooler so my expectations are easy on the little kids. I beef it up more for the older kids on what I consider a ditch worthy learning experience, but it still happens. Besides, we do creativity in a different way, through music. We're working on an American History folk song program I would like to polish enough to perform for libraries or other locations. These things will stick far more if you find out what works best for your family. That takes time though so just play around with it now and then. If you can't stray from the curriculum, so be it. Perhaps it's not your teaching style. Your kids will gain a good sense of commitment we may struggle more with. I don't think there is a right or a wrong as long as there is learning going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keptwoman Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 It's been a slow process just gradually working out what works for us. Some things we have relaxed on. Others we have given up being creative like Cheryl because it feels forced. Others I'm using a curriculum because I found not having one didn't work. I suspect DD will get a far more relaxed education than the boys just because I will have had them to practice on and I can already see myself kicking back and letting things happen in their own good time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 How long did it take you, as a homeschooling parent, to move beyond set, here is what you will teach today, curriculum? How did you begin to be able to pull from various resources to give your dc more variety in the ways they are taught? This is only my first year hs'ing, and I wish I could add in more creative, engaging learning, but it makes me nervous to stray from the curriculum. I have a great fear of leaving something out if I go on my own. Funny, for me the journey has gone sort of the other direction. I started out using a number of different curriculum and for history I was always trying to combine things to get to some perfect place. I never quite found it. I've been drifting towards using more packaged stuff (especially in things like grammar and history). It reminds me of a conversation in A Wrinkle in Time about poetry. They are discussing sonnets. One character complains that it is two constraining. The other points out that within the structure, one can write absolutely anything. I guess for me, some structure has given me the mental rest to improvise when and where I choose to. If there are area that is working well, then rest in it. If there is an area that isn't working so well, tweak it. Or if there is something that you just love and want to do more of, then do that. I think that it also comes from knowing your child and knowing yourself. And of course, just when you think you have a kid figured out, then they change and you get to figure them out again. BTW, I love the blog Guilt Free Homeschooling for discussions on topics like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Well, I have nevr used a boxed curriculum but I would use various curriculum for history, math, science, etc. Over the past 5 years, though, I am finding that I am gaining confidence in not using curriculum at all for some subjects. I am not using any curriculum with my youngest who is in K and I am not planning on using any with her for next year, either. This has been so freeing for me. It is scary but fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 We were never like that because we couldn't afford curriculum the first year we HSed. It was just kindergarten so I figured I couldn't mess it up too badly if I just winged it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria/ME Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I think as your list of resources grow whether they are books in your home,familiarity with your library, or online, you'll remember things or know what to "pull" for them. Don't forget you don't have to pull information for them and have it lined up "just so" in a certain chunk of time on a certain day. A day after learning about the rotation of the earth, say you find something online to show them, or a book at the library...grab it and incorporate it. It doesnt' have to be in your allotted "science time". Kids love to learn "outside" school time, too, of course, so as they grow they'll grab books on what interests them and incorporate on their own. It does take some extra "mom" time. To cull through books, book sales, resources etc. Too much of my time is spent that way. But as our library grows and as my bookmarks grow I find that I have a million options (that is probably a literal number :) ) and can't do them all! But one or two will really click with my daughter. I felt that I was figuring out homeschool and my childs learning style for three years (!) and am just starting to feel a rhythm. So don't be hard on yourself feeling you'll leave something out. Trust yourself. Trust your children. "Holes" in education are pretty easy to fill when you are a homeschooler! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 BTW, I love the blog Guilt Free Homeschooling for discussions on topics like this Thanks for the link - I'm adding it to my favorites! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Maybe its more of a personality thing than a time thing, to some extent. I have never really been able to follow curriculum very well. I have always tweaked. Having a LD kid probably helped. I have sometimes envied people who just get their kids to use the curriculum they buy first and do what is put in front of them- sure would have saved me a lot of time and money :) However, in retrospect, I was quite frightened for a long time, that they weren't getting enough, that I wasnt doing it well enough, and to some extent having a few years under my belt has helped that, for sure. And, I was certainly more rigid in the beginning. I remember having arguments about Latin with another classical mum and in retrospect I was being slightly fanatical and didnt really know what I was talking about. I am a lot more relaxed, dont care so much about the classical label, worry less about gaps, and freely drop things that arent working or feel like busywork. I feel I am in charge, not the curriculum. It wasnt a sudden change though, its been gradual over the almost 6 years since I started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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