It’s April, and your friends and favorite homeschool bloggers are already talking about their curriculum choices for next year.
You’re thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” right?
Your kids haven’t been focused since Spring Break, and you wonder if adding one more thing to your schedule might just break you. You’re having a hard enough time finishing this year’s schedule.
“And you want me to think about a whole new year?”
Well, yes.
And, no.
Let’s make this simple.
Here are 11 ways you can choose next year’s curriculum without losing your mind.
1. Finish this year’s curriculum.
I used to believe that everyone completed their curriculum every year. And then, one year I didn’t finish mine. Even bolder (for me), I admitted that I didn’t finish. All of a sudden, mommas started coming out of the woodwork to join virtual hands with me and sing the song of their unfinished curriculum too.
It is a sweet melody of freedom from guilt.
If it isn’t already clear, many homeschooling families do not complete the curriculum they set out to complete. If this is you, it isn’t because you are lazy, incapable or have stupid kids.
More likely, it’s because you planned several curriculum-related field trips or have children who dug in and asked for more than just the textbook version of stories or experiments.
Maybe you did need to hang out in a specific area of study until your child completely grasped concepts. That’s awesome. Good for you AND them.
In some cases, your family may have experienced a death, or someone is fighting a long-term illness. These unexpected occurrences can wreak havoc on the best-laid plans.
So, what do you do?
You do the simplest thing imaginable.
Start next year where you left off this year. Yep, that’s right. You simply close up shop for the summer and pull it all out again in three months.
It’s that simple.
2. Review what did and did not work.
Then again, maybe you are going to finish. You have dotted all your i’s and crossed all your t’s.
But, you just weren’t a fan of the Science curriculum. Maybe you didn’t like the labs or thought the explanations a bit too light. Maybe it was just the opposite.
If the Science was awesome, perhaps the Math didn’t set right, or the writing program for English.
At this point, you make a basic Pro’s and Con’s list. And once you make it, you move on to #3.
3. Ask your kids what they did and did not like.
You have your Pro’s and Con’s list, but what about your kids? They are the ones working through the curriculum after all. Let them see your list.
Ask them if they agree or disagree with it.
What do they think needs tweaking? Is there anything in particular they love or hate?
Update the Pro’s and Con’s list and skip to #6.
And if there were only Pro’s listed…here’s when it gets exciting.
If YOU didn’t have any issues and THEY didn’t have any issues, then there is nothing to fix.
4. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
I don’t even think I should have to write anything under this number, but I’m surprised every year by families who try to fix a perfect scenario.
They love the curriculum.
Their kids love the curriculum.
Then, little Ms. Susy Q down the street gets this awesome new curriculum with all sorts of bells and whistles.
It slices. It dices. And, all of a sudden, you forget how good you had it, and you find discontentment stirring in your heart of hearts.
Don’t.
If what you have works, YOU ARE SO BLESSED.
Stay put.
5. Don’t feel guilty if you are willing to compromise on one subject because everything else works wonderfully.
What I’m saying here is if 99.9% of your homeschooling curriculum is working, but that one little teensy-weensy thing is a little bit off… don’t change everything to make it right.
Oh, this is hard, so hard – but, this is not a perfect world.
We like to think that we can fine tune our homeschooling until there isn’t a need left unmet.
That’s simply not true from my experience.
Homeschool families love to talk about how we can meet our child’s specific learning needs. And, for the most part, that is true.
But some subjects are just HARD.
Some things we just have to push through.
Sometimes it isn’t the curriculum; it’s us or the kids or us and the kids.
And sometimes, we just need to realize that if 99.9% of what we are doing is working, that is as good as “fixed” and leave it alone.
6. You can pick and choose.
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, for some of us, homeschooling is a buffet.
I like Apologia’s Science, The Write Foundation’s writing programs, Sonlight’s History, and Alpha Omega Publication’s Monarch Math.
Yes, it appears it would be a pain to pull all that together, but it isn’t because it works for us.
You do not have to order from a single menu. I find that single menu ordering works well for first year homeschooling families, but then you may feel like branching out.
Just don’t feel you owe any particular company your undying loyalty. Your loyalty lies with the children in your home.
7. Find a curriculum that matches your lifestyle.
If you are about to travel across the nation in an RV, don’t buy an online program.
“Honey, we need to pull into that truckstop for three hours so we can do school.”
Ummm…no, please. That just isn’t doable.
You’d buy books or DVDs because your sanity is important to your family.
And if, like us, you have intermittent, sloooooooow internet, a completely online program doesn’t make sense.
If you have limited space, but you have high-speed internet, don’t purchase boxes upon boxes of books and binders. Where would you put them? Why even worry about that? Consider an online program and get a library card.
There’s a balance. Strike it.
8. Have a local co-op? Sign-up. They probably already picked the curriculum.
Joining homeschooling cooperatives can come with their issues, of course, but curriculum usually isn’t one of them.
Most of the time, the classes have been set up already by the co-op board, and you and your kids simply select the classes you want to enroll in.
You buy the books they tell you to buy.
You buy the supplies they tell you to buy.
You show up.
It can be as lovely as that. Just know, at some point you will be asked to do something, so don’t think of it as a free ride.
9. Interview your “real life” or “online” friends about their curriculum.
Call them up and invite yourself over.
Ask them to show you what they are planning to do and why.
Get your hands on their curriculum. Flip through the books. Check out their binders. Let them log you in (if it is an online program) and show you around.
If your friends are online, read their blog, email them, ask if you can call. Do the same thing, but with a bit less “hands-on” experience.
Many times we are attracted to people with the same mindset as ours; so, if you are confused, reach out to someone else to walk you through the process.
And, if it is especially daunting, try #10.
10. Let someone experienced pick for you.
Yes, there are homeschooling coaches out there. Sometimes this is a requirement by law, and other times, it is simply someone who can both listen to you and your needs and assess what type of curriculum you need.
There are homeschooling coaches available online, but you can also refer to veteran homeschoolers.
If someone has managed to homeschool their children through to graduation (sometimes multiple children), the likelihood is they know their stuff.
They’ve been around the block.
They can help you.
Ask them to tell you what they would do, and then do it. What can it hurt?
11. Never go to a conference to choose curriculum. Use conferences to solidify decisions.
I strongly encourage parents to attend homeschooling conferences. They are exceptional ways to gain new insight, get inspired for a new homeschool year, pick up odds and ends at discount conference prices, or to see your favorite authors, bloggers, and curriculum companies.
However, the exhibit halls in some of the larger homeschooling conventions can be the most confusing places imaginable. I NEVER recommend going to a homeschooling conference without already having your curriculum purchased, or at the least, decided.
Enter the exhibit hall with a plan for the next year. Then, you use that time to flip through some books, talk to the distributors/publishers, sit in a few workshops.
Doing this will either solidify your choices, or you’ll see you need to keep digging.
I promise you that if you go into the homeschooling convention without an idea what you want to do the upcoming year, you are going to walk away entirely more confused than when you entered.
Also? You’ll spend more money.
The kids and I are counting the weeks down until the summer. Since we started two weeks late, we are going two weeks longer. I’m not excited about it, but it is what it is.
That said, I know what I’m doing next year just because I’ve learned to cling to #6.
You do what works for you, but remember–keep it simple.
There’s no need for all that fuss.
About the Author: Heather Sanders is a work at home mom who homeschools her three children. If you’d like to learn how to pursue your passions and earn an income while staying home with your kids, subscribe today.