The Homeschooling Prayer:
“God grant me the CONFIDENCE in choosing this curriculum;
the GRACE to change when things need to be changed;
and the PERMISSION to choose what works best for myself and my family.”
So many of the conversations I have at Rainbow are with parents needing the “okay” to pursue a curriculum choice, the assurance they’ve chosen what will work best for their students, or the feeling of apprehension of moving to a different curriculum path. These are some of my favorite calls because, as we get to talk about the nitty-gritty of curricula, I also get to learn about the needs of your individual students.
Responding to your students’ individual needs allows homeschooling to become the right fit for your students and family. It plays a big role and is why we developed the FAMILY Way of approaching curriculum.
A grade-level package choice is a quick and easy go-to for families. This option helps chunk out the year’s curriculum for current students and students yet to come. The alternative, piecing your students’ curriculum together to best suit them can seem so daunting and may deter you from taking this route. Each approach to your student’s curriculum journey will present a struggle and feeling that you may be making the wrong decision.
It might be discouraging to hear, but there is not a perfect curriculum out there. There will always be the exceptions found in every curriculum, approach, book, or program. I am sure you have heard, “This curriculum covers everything except…;” “this program worked great for our kids except….” This can sometimes make us shy away from one approach and turn to something that everyone is raving about.
What are we to do?
It is time to work through the exceptions of curricula. It might mean taking an all-encompassing curriculum that is working great for your student, like using most of Abeka Language Arts, and adding supplemental spelling material, like Spelling Workout, for a struggling speller. It can also look like adding something like Beast Academy to your eager-beaver math enthusiasts’ curriculum. Or providing manipulatives to a geography or science program to help field the kinesthetic learner you may have.
Here is a message just for you to hear: “When it comes to the education of your kids, you can never advocate too much or ask too many questions! You know your child’s learning style better than anyone else ever could!”
Keep asking the hard, awkward, silly, redundant, tough, and specific questions. Keep doing the research, utilizing your resources, and developing (and scraping, and developing) a plan for your students and your family. You got this, and we are always here to remind you that you got this! ~ Rebecca
