Time for the third week of Home Educating Family's Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop! Each Friday there will be a new topic, and a giveaway for you!
This week's topic is about homeschooling outside the (curriculum) box. When I first started homeschooling seven years ago, I was very comfortable inside the box. In fact, I was terrified to even get near the edge of the box! I felt insecure and confused about what I was doing and lacked the confidence to think for myself.
Now, I still like to have a loose plan or course of study, but I'm the polar opposite of how I used to be. I know what my children's strengths and weaknesses are, as well as my own and that helps me adjust our studies accordingly. Knowing how your children learn also does a great deal in helping to figure out what to teach and when, and you don't need to buy an expensive curriculum to do it.
To be fair, I did choose a curriculum this year that was pre-packaged. However, I don't feel like that was essential, just convenient. Even though I'm using My Father's World for our core studies, I feel free to edit, omit or add to any given lesson and even completely change things to suit our tastes and abilities.
So, yes, having a pre-made curriculum or schedule in front of you can be helpful, but you shouldn't have to feel stressed or overwhelmed to follow things exactly as they're printed. The most important thing is to make it work for you.
If you don't like the idea of using a prepackaged curriculum, here are some resources for you.
Unit studies are a fun and engaging way to teach and can be very inexpensive. You and your children decide what topic of study is most interesting or essential and build your own curriculum around it. Libraries are an excellent place to get wonderful picture and chapter books on just above any given topic. Valerie Bendt's Unit Study Idea Book is a great resource for planning a course of study, and Amanda Bennet's site has a ton of unit study topics that are ready to go for simplicity.
If you can't or don't want to fully plan out your entire curriculum, I would urge you to consider a more relaxed, hands-on approach. Most of you know that I'm a big Charlotte Mason fan and a believer in using living books. One of my favorite resources for CM style learning is Queen's Homeschool Supplies, a homegrown business fully devoted to CM materials made by their own homeschooling family. Another place to check out is Living Books Curriculum, also committed to learning through doing and life experiences.
Remember, children learn by doing so don't be afraid to get outdoors, go on field trips, explore hands-on workshops and activities when you can and read, read, read!
Now, I still like to have a loose plan or course of study, but I'm the polar opposite of how I used to be. I know what my children's strengths and weaknesses are, as well as my own and that helps me adjust our studies accordingly. Knowing how your children learn also does a great deal in helping to figure out what to teach and when, and you don't need to buy an expensive curriculum to do it.
To be fair, I did choose a curriculum this year that was pre-packaged. However, I don't feel like that was essential, just convenient. Even though I'm using My Father's World for our core studies, I feel free to edit, omit or add to any given lesson and even completely change things to suit our tastes and abilities.
So, yes, having a pre-made curriculum or schedule in front of you can be helpful, but you shouldn't have to feel stressed or overwhelmed to follow things exactly as they're printed. The most important thing is to make it work for you.
If you don't like the idea of using a prepackaged curriculum, here are some resources for you.
Unit studies are a fun and engaging way to teach and can be very inexpensive. You and your children decide what topic of study is most interesting or essential and build your own curriculum around it. Libraries are an excellent place to get wonderful picture and chapter books on just above any given topic. Valerie Bendt's Unit Study Idea Book is a great resource for planning a course of study, and Amanda Bennet's site has a ton of unit study topics that are ready to go for simplicity.
If you can't or don't want to fully plan out your entire curriculum, I would urge you to consider a more relaxed, hands-on approach. Most of you know that I'm a big Charlotte Mason fan and a believer in using living books. One of my favorite resources for CM style learning is Queen's Homeschool Supplies, a homegrown business fully devoted to CM materials made by their own homeschooling family. Another place to check out is Living Books Curriculum, also committed to learning through doing and life experiences.
Remember, children learn by doing so don't be afraid to get outdoors, go on field trips, explore hands-on workshops and activities when you can and read, read, read!
And, be sure to enter to win this week's prize: the On the Go planner from Home Educating Family! Just fill out the easy Rafflecopter link below and that's it! They're all optional so enter once or enter more--it's up to you.
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