I can honestly say that my first year of homeschool has FLOWN by! And while we still have a couple of months left of school I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I can hardly believe it is here already. So where does that leave us for next year? By the grace of God we will still be homeschooling hopefully, but what do I do about curriculum?
This is a question I have been tossing over and over on my hamster wheel for quite some time. There are so many options out there, how does one possibly choose which one is best for their family? What we started with this year, is definitely NOT what we are ending with.
Some families choose to attend their local home school convention to browse curriculum and educate themselves by attending the workshops. I really wish I would have attended a convention before starting down this path, but it just wasn't meant to be. Although I have already decided on our curriculum for next year I plan on attending our local conference in May.
How do you decide on curriculum when you know it is time for a change? Do you talk with friends? Order a plethora of catalogs to see what is offered? Download free lessons when available? I'd love to hear how you make your curriculum decisions.
For my oldest who will be in 4th grade next year I have decided on Exploring Countries & Cultures from My Father's World. For my younger son who will start 1st grade I have ordered My Father's World 1st grade. I will actually be starting my youngest son on 1st grade material in May because he is finishing up Kindergarten this week and then for all of April I have planned a unit on nature and animals. In addition to My Father's World for both boys, I am also adding in a strong component of classical education. We will be learning latin (the whole family) as well as numerous other components recommended in The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home
. As the textbooks and workbooks arrive I will write another post detailing more everything I plan to use next year. I have high hopes for our second year of homeschooling, but I am also realistic that we might end the year very differently than we started.
. As the textbooks and workbooks arrive I will write another post detailing more everything I plan to use next year. I have high hopes for our second year of homeschooling, but I am also realistic that we might end the year very differently than we started.
I am just getting started with homeschooling so by no means do I have any thing down. I can tell you how I choose the curriculum we are using. I read homeschooling blogs and I ask ask ask. When I start to lean in a particular direction I actually would like to thumb through and see it in action. So I went to a friends house to get a visual of what I would be doing. Remember this is my very first steps into homeschooling so I wanted a clear picture of a family that that is already walking it out. I too have chosen MFW. I am so excited! I hear so many wonderful things about it. My main reason is it's strong emphasis on scripture and godly things.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few other supplamental things I will and do use but it is mostly from reading about the details in other peoples blogs and reviews.
I found that confernces aren't the place to decide but it can be a place to thumb through what you are leaning toward or to have made your choice and BUY!
I am having so much fun leading our children in the way they should go!
How awesome that you are going to all learn Latin! Very very cool! I think it is so great you guys get to homeschool, you know I wish I could do the same. Hopefully we can get into the charter school and at least be out of the public main stream school.
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