It's Here!

My latest project has finally come to fruition. Simply Charlotte Mason presents "Laying Down the Rails for Children," a companion book to "Laying Down the Rails." These books help the family with habit training, an important part of a Charlotte Mason education (or any education). "Laying Down the Rails for Children" will lead the parent in helping their children develop 60-plus good habits such as kindness, cleanliness, and thanksgiving. It uses stories, Bible passages, poems, quotations, activities, and discussion to 

Feed Minds ~ Inspire Hearts ~ Encourage Action

May it bless your journey as you give your family tools to help them live a full life of character. 

I Want to Homeschool; Now What? Curriculum

"Multiplication is vexation,
Division is as bad;
The Rule of Three doth puzzle me,
And Fractions drive me mad." 
                                                ~ Mother Goose

Choose Your Curriculum

Believe it or not, school does not have to be forced drudgery.  We have choices now, baby!  Once you know what method of homeschooling you prefer, start researching all the available curricula for that method.  Ask friends, troll conventions, browse catalogs, google it (example: "Charlotte Mason, homeschool curriculum").  There are usually several choices for each method.  Your trouble will likely be narrowing them down and then not fretting that you chose the wrong one.

These are some of the factors you want to consider and check on when choosing curriculum:

1. Do they provide all books and supplies?  Do they offer choices for only core subjects and leave other subjects such as Math or Art to your choosing?  Does it all come to you "in a box" or do they provide the schedule and guide and let you purchase your own necessities? 

2. How does the total cost fit into your budget? 

3. Do they have a discussion forum, Yahoo group, co-op or some other like-minded support of any kind for when you have questions or want to share joys? 

4. Is there a faith element that matches yours? 

5. How accessible is it?  If it's internet based and you are on dial-up, you may have a little trouble getting school done every day. 

6. How well do they carry out the method you chose?  Do they seem to have a firm grasp of its principles? 

7. Is there a trial period where you can return a product if it doesn't work for you?  Can you borrow from a friend to try it out? 

8. Are the books consumable, or can you resale them or use them for your other children? 

9. Is it scheduled and planned out for you already? 

10. Does your child have special needs that are addressed? Does it work with your child's learning style? 

11. Does it cover all grades or just a certain age group such as preschool or elementary?

You will usually need to find a main curriculum that covers most subjects and then also find a math program, reading program, spelling program, etc.  A few states require that you cover certain subjects while some states don't specify.  Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is a great site for checking on your state's homeschool laws.

If you are just beginning your homeschool journey, you may want to start with core subjects and add on extras like art or music later.  Buying the right curriculum can be overwhelming, and you don't want to rush into decisions that are disappointing.

Finding a confident fit involves a whole lot of homework, a little bit of trial and error, and a little bit of stick-to-itiveness.  You will be disappointed in some of your choices.  There is no perfect curriculum for your family!  If you love it, but your kids hate it (or vice versa), give it some time and perseverance. Pray, seek guidance, tweak it, and if you still don't feel something is working, change it.  Too many change-ups can confuse, cause gaps in learning, frustrate, and be expensive; so try to minimize damage.  Don't worry though, public and private schools can't tailor curriculum to fit every child's needs either.

I was overeager when first beginning with Charlotte Mason and didn't want to miss any of the great books recommended by different CM curriculum sites.  So I combined two of them.  And guess what?  It was way too much!  (Shocker.)  I finally settled on using Ambleside Online for my main program and using Simply Charlotte Mason for the extras that AO leaves open to choice.

Friends, co-ops, catalogs, blogs all pop new and shiny choices in front of my eyes on a regular basis.  But I am confident in the path we've settled on, and, after a little research, I rarely switch up.  That's not to say I don't recognize a less-than-stellar approach in some area and change it for the next year or next child.  We always have something to tweak for the next school year.

Once you've chosen and ordered, the fun part begins: Wait for your packages to arrive and have fun opening them up and thumbing through!


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Curriculum
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I Want to Homeschool; Now What? Method

"I thought we'd have a little supper and talk some philosophy."   

              "I don't know a philosophy."  ~ Lonesome Dove

Choose Your Method

Growing up, there was only one curriculum to homeschool with that my mom was aware of, and it was in the textbook genre.  Fast forward 15 or so years and I assumed that same curriculum was my only choice for my children.  My world was simple.  Then I discovered the internet and all its research capabilities, and I immediately didn't have a clue what I was going to do for homeschooling.  I felt the textbook method was a little boring and wanted a more interesting path.  I dabbled with unit studies for the preschool years and did a year of eclecticism (what does that mean?!!).  This was a bit better than worksheets and fill-in-the-blanks, but I still wasn't satisfied.  One day I came upon a website that laid out several methods for homeschooling.  An epiphany!  I didn't realize there were more than two! Reading summaries of these different methods and seeing right away which one seemed to most fit our family was a breath of fresh air to my info-drowning mind.

A method of homeschooling is kind of its philosophy of education.  It's the thoughts behind what you do.  It answers the why questions.  ("Why do we do it this way?")  There are only a handful of educational methods that I'm aware of (and I'm not an expert, by any means).  Most of us probably have very distinct thoughts on our preferred method and don't even realize it.  We may recognize what we don't like, but have no guidance as to what we believe is good.  Some of us just use a curriculum peers are using without thinking about it.  

Choosing the right fit is important because school should be an extension of your life.  If you love sitting on the couch reading with your kids, choosing a self-paced curriculum where your child sits at the table with little input from you will shrivel your spirit.  Curriculum comes out of someone's thought process.  So before you choose curriculum, choose your method.

So what methods are out there from which to choose?  Some that I've heard of are Textbook or Traditional Method, Waldorf, Eclectic, Unschooling, Literature, Classical, and Charlotte Mason.  There are many sites that provide brief summaries describing each method, but a few that I found simple to use were:

Simply Charlotte Mason  

Successful Homeschooling

eHow 

A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling  

Be aware that any person who wrote these summaries will have a personal bias (as we all do) and may not represent all the methods adequately.  But by reading several sites, you should get a basic idea of the methods.  Read the summaries, see what clicks with you, and then do more research on your top two or three choices.  

I right away recognized that the Charlotte Mason method was the fit for our family.  I had never heard of her before, but I felt at home with her ideas.  From there I read all I could about Charlotte Mason homeschooling and was able to narrow down my curriculum choices.  Which brings you to the next step:  Choose Your Curriculum.

Method
Go to Curriculum
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