Today on Wisdom Wednesday, we are continuing our homeschooling series. The most frequent questions I am asked about homeschooling tend to center around homeschool curriculum. What is the best curriculum to use? What type of curriculum do I use? Where do I buy curriculum? How do I save money on curriculum?
There are many factors to consider when it comes to curriculum. The first thing you must consider is the purpose of your homeschool journey. Look back at your purpose/mission statement. The main purpose of our homeschool was to bring God and faith back into what my children were learning. So, we of course went with a faith-based curriculum. However, I know a lot more about homeschooling now than when we first began our homeschooling journey.
We began with our oldest as a first grader. We were also on a tight budget. It takes very little research on the internet to find what typical first graders learn. However, our little first grader was ahead of her time, so in addition to first grade standards we also looked at second grade standards. There are multitudes of free online printable worksheets for handwriting, reading, addition, subtraction, animal science, early social studies, etc. To make things easier, this is where you can start.
If I knew then what I knew now, I would just start developing where my daughter left off in first grade and go from there. I would see what she was curious about, research it, and teach about it. I would let her explore the topic at her own pace.
You see, the problem we run into as new homeschooling parents is we believe that “homeschooling” is “school work at a desk” moved from the classroom to the home. That is not the case. It didn’t take me much time to realize that I didn’t have to go about it the way the socialized public school does. Learning should be individualized.
I realized that all of those times when my then two daughters and I had teachable moments, those were homeschooling moments. Those lessons about tying shoes, caring for a family, doctor and dentist appointment meltdowns, shopping trips, zoo trips, etc. Those were all homeschooling moments. Homeschooling does involve paperwork and book work at times. We have to prepare our children for some of those pesky things they’ll have to endure in the real world. However, that should be a very minimal part of the homeschooling experience.
As our family grew and my children got older, I realized that the expense of printing worksheets and the time involved wasn’t always worth it. So I began researching curriculum. I also was able to find handwriting workbooks and dry erase boards at Dollar Tree and other discount places which were much cheaper than the cost of paper and toner. For those basic years, these types of materials are more economical.
I also invested in unit studies. Those are curriculum studies based on one specific topic, and the lessons for most subjects are all connected to that topic. Unit studies help lesson flow instead of chopping up what children are learning into multiple topics all in one day. They also make things easier for the homeschool teacher.
Next week I hope to compile a list of some of the different curriculum we’ve used over the years and share it with you. Keep praying about your homeschooling journey! God is faithful!