Learning to be Flexible with Curriculum Choices by Candace Edwards @candacescalling
Candace Edwards is a mama of four—ages 2 to 9. She spends her days homeschooling, snuggling, and laughing with her crew near Kansas City, Missouri and can be found @candacescalling documenting their days.
When we first began homeschooling four years ago, I sought out all the advice I could from seasoned homeschool mamas. I asked all the questions—what curricula they liked, what their schedule was—and I went to their houses to flip through their books and to get a feel for how their days flowed. I read The Well Trained Mind from cover to cover—that's NOT a short book y'all—and went to Mardel to flip through more books in my hands. I wanted to find the perfect curriculum—the one that would ensure we were doing everything to the best of our homeschooling abilities. Those first books we chose were great; our oldest daughter thrived on whatever we gave her. She was a teeny first grader taking notes from The Story of the World, and flying through her math, advanced grammar, and whatever science books we could get in her hands. She drank up books like they were kool-aid and in true first-child fashion, finished her work in type-A perfection.
Then our second daughter began kindergarten the following year, and we struggled. Her learning style was much different—she'd rather paint or color or bake, than sit down and learn to read. She wasn't interested in the curriculum without colorful pictures and engaging activities. It was like pulling teeth to get through grammar and phonics, and I was feeling overwhelmed by the pressure I put on myself to get her "caught up" with her reading level + engaged in learning! We tried Bob Books, How to Teach Your Child to Read,and other highly recommended programs, all without that little lightbulb going on for her.
I finally decided to toss out what "worked" so well for our oldest and switch up a lot of our curricula the next year. We also backed up a level in grammar, and y'all, we were blown away by how much better our days were. She enjoyed school time, I enjoyed teaching her, and soon she was reading strongly—a thought that almost brought me to tears the year before. We were able to get through two levels in grammar that year—because she was flying through her work and glowing as she read her chapter books! I'm so thankful for the privilege of tossing out what doesn't work, slowing down for a kiddo who needed a bit more time, and taking the time to figure out her learning style. It was amazing how changing what we were using for a few subjects and backing up a bit, was the perfect fit for her.
When we began our homeschooling journey, we made a plan and we stuck with it (hello type-A first child Mama)—to the point of feeling stuck in our curriculum decisions, and the schedule we had set for ourselves. For example, we quickly learned that our crew does school better without waking up early because neither my husband nor I are morning people. Plus, we added a baby after we began. But now that we feel more confident in our decisions and the flow of our homeschooling days have fallen into a nice rhythm, we often change the books we are using, add to a subject with books from the library, or take some extra time on a certain unit or concept. Of course these additions come after some adjustments from year to year. Homeschooling is about what works for each specific family.
As requests for "homeschooling helps" flooded my inbox this past year, I think the best piece of advice is to be flexible. Try something, and if it's not a fit for you or your kiddo, try something else! What works for one kiddo might not work for another, and what takes one kiddo a year to master, might take longer for their siblings. That's one of the most amazing things about homeschooling... we have the privilege to take into consideration each child's learning style, and the things they don't feel as confident with and find what works best for them!