What’s your homeschooling style?
Our homeschooling style, if I had to label it, would be academic/Charlotte Masonish/hands-on/eclectic/hodgepodge.
As a new homeschool mom, I found a curriculum that we loved, but I soon discovered that we needed to branch out from it for some subject areas. Letting go of the compulsion to check off all the boxes, and learning to use the curriculum and not let it use us were a struggle, but once I did, I finally “got” it.
Much of our curriculum choices have come about through trial-and-error, and because each of my boys has a different learning style, not all of my “hand-me-down” curriculum has been successful with the younger ones.
A new homeschool mom with young kids on a support loop I am part of has struggled this year with trying to “do it all,” resulting in her and her kids becoming miserable. Once she relaxed a little and stopped requiring them to do everything, they are all much happier. She was questioning her choice with the curriculum, but several veteran homeschool moms encouraged her to cater it to her needs and the needs of her kids: don’t require all the copywork, skip some of the questions, let them narrate and you write for them.
The important things are to find your groove, immerse yourselves into learning, enjoy this time with your kids, and adapt the curriculum to fit you.
With one child in an elementary grade, one in a middle grade, and one in high school this year, I am certainly having to take that advice. Also, while looking at the bigger picture (transcripts anyone?), I have to remind myself to take things one day at a time. Even a high schooler benefits from one on one time, hands-on projects, discussion, and shared learning, so we do a little bit of this/a little bit of that, and sneak in extra things when we can.
One year, my high schooler’s curriculum included: Beautiful Feet U. S. and World History for Sr. High, Beautiful Feet Geography, IEW Writing for American History/for Literary Analysis/and for Geography, Movies as Literature, Wordly Wise vocabulary and English from the Roots Up flash cards, Teaching Textbooks math, Apologia science, Rosetta Stone Spanish, an on-line film course, a literature discussion group using Progeny Press literature guides, listening to The Story of the World CD in the car, homeschool art classes, homeschool history museum classes, guitar, and whatever else I am forgetting right now. He also writes scripts and writes a blog. Do we check off all the boxes in the instructor’s guides? 🙂
Sometimes you just have to stop and build card houses.
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We are eclectic as well, using a bit of this and some of that to meet our homeschooling goals. Isn’t it great? 😉 I’d love to win the planner, thanks! fannyloo (at) msn (dot) com.
Thinking outside the box to me, is trying to do things for free or nearly free off the internet. I have no extra $$ to spend after 2 major car repairs, and 3 wisdom teeth removal (at 37!!). We went to a used book sale, and bought pieces here and there… Literally didn’t get a box to even think outside of here 😀
Thinking outside the box is a new concept for me, but I think I am doing well at trying new things and letting go of traditional way for a more hands on, what my kids like, way. After all, I already know it, they need to learn it, and only they know how they like to learn. 🙂
-Liz Williams
I would love to win a planner! Great post!
I would love this planner! I need something to keep me focused.
My girls and I had to take a quick trip to Florida last week, to joyously transport my 20 yo son from rehab to a new life in Florida at my parents’ home… We are using SOS computer software this year, so during this *break* from their curriculum, they took turns reading aloud in the car from a literature textbook, as well as from the Bible, and we listened to Mystery of History cd’s… I am so thankful for homeschooling outside of the *box*! Blessed be!
It’s encouraging to see other moms have struggled with the “check off every box” thing. I really want to make this school year different and am entertaining a variety of changes. (like year-round school of 5 weeks on/1 week off) Thanks for the post!
Thanks for sharing, great ideas! I would love to win the planner!
This is my first year homeschooling, and I am definately hodgepodge. I am once again changing language arts and trying to figure out what works best for my child.
Would love to win the planner!
Thanks for the post! I would love to win the planner to keep me organized!
I could really use an outside-the box planner!
Oh. My. Goodness. I love the picture of the cardhouses, that is so something my boys would do. FUN!
Thanks for the post, and for the chance to win the planner!
Thanks for the encouragement and the chance to win this planner.
I admire your creativity and willingness to think outside of the box.
Thanks, Tangela. I appreciate your comment!
wow! That is an awe card house building thing! you sound like us. A little this, a little that, whatever is working. When it stops working for us, we try other things.
That’s what makes homeschooling so fun! Thanks for stopping by, L. E.!