Selecting a curriculum can be a truly overwhelming task each year for homeschooling mothers. So many times I have said to myself, “if I could see that book, I’d know if I want it!” Right? Then you hop online look through blogs of perfect homes, with perfect mom teachers, that have the perfect school rooms, and then there is Pinterest…then you are headed to Confession, jealousy is a lousy sin. No seriously, is it not just frustrating? :D How do these women just *KNOW* that’s the right Math book? Why did it not work for *MY* child? :) Well, here’s why: There IS NOT one set curriculum that is perfect for everyone. There I said it. So here’s another secret that lady that introduced you to homeschool forgot to mention, the beauty of homeschooling is that you are able to create a custom curriculum that is beneficial to *YOUR* family. What works for another family may not be the best fit for another, or *gasp* what works for one of your children may not work for another. Okay, so now lets take a deep breath and investigate how these ladies on their blogs look so with it. I confess many times I have said, “when I grow up I want to be just like Jessica from Shower of Roses.” Don’t laugh, I have said it..even to her.
Over the years our family has tried a variety of things – ranging from being an eclectic homeschooler, to using a complete curriculum package to creating things to use, and it has morphed into a combination of pieces that we now use together as a family and components that we use individually to round out the various subject areas. So how do you decide what is the right fit for your family/homeschool?
The ability to use what is right when it is right is one of the unending beauties of homeschooling! We are eclectic homeschoolers because that allows us to choose what works best for my daughter. So far I have not tried a complete boxed curriculum. We have homeschooled for 7 years our core curriculum has stayed the same, but we choose lots of different places for our "enrichment" courses, which include music, Spanish, and art. I have run across a number of homeschooling parents who sometimes forget the idea that what works for their kid might not work for mine. Or the other way around. Workbooks would bore my daughter to fits of tears, but she loves working online. We have to remember not to blame the curriculum, sometimes it really is that our kids just can't learn from a curriculum, no matter how "great" it is! Thanks for reminding us that it is ok to make different choices than our homeschooling friends.
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