7 Tips for Buying Homeschool Curriculum

It is spring and the end of school is near; the planning of the next year has begun. Auditions, registration deadlines, and curriculum fairs abound along with the sunshine, rain, and flowers.

On the one hand, it is hard for me to plan for next year because I am so focused on finishing this one; it takes most of my energy just to do school daily because my attention is divided by the many year-end events, the need to finish high school credits, and the sunshine begging us to come out and play.

Yet, on the other hand, I am still in 'school mode' which makes it easier to know where we're at in our different subjects. I have a much better idea than I will during summer about what needs to get done: whether it is just simply ordering the next level or that some area has been unduly neglected and is need of serious attention. 

Another benefit of having the coming school year planned before this one lets out means my books are either here, or will be soon, and then I don't get stuck in the back-orders of August, and we can begin school right away in the fall. With that reward in mind, it is worth the effort to do a little planning now.

This is my list of 7 tips for buying homeschool curriculum, or some thoughts on buying school books. My background is this: a homeschool mom who is finishing her eleventh year, who loves a Carole Joy Seid approach, and who is eclectic and literature based.


1) Embrace that there is always something new, no matter how long you have home-schooled.

Every year that you homeschool, you will need to buy books for the next school year. There is always something new  because, until you've graduated a student that you have home-schooled from birth to graduation, you are at least teaching one new grade each year. There is always something new because you're children's needs change as they grow, silly little creatures that they are.

However, after a few years of schooling, you will begin to gain confidence in how to pick books that work for your family's schooling style, even if it is new to you at that moment at the curriculum fair when you pick that book up. You've never seen it before. You haven't spent hours researching that curriculum on-line and then asking your friends if they have used it. Instead, you pick it up, look at it, buy it, bring it home, and it works. Wow! What an amazing sense of accomplishment and a gratifying feeling of success. If this hasn't happened yet, it will come after an unknown amount of failed decisions. They won't all be great but you'll eventually find your groove.

Although if you're on a roll, beware because you might be just like me. I was feeling confident in my homeschooling, having found a groove that was working for us. Then, BAM. I came up against something new that caused angst again. It was called high school. It came a bit as a surprise how much angst I had as we began high school and how uncertain and new I felt. It was uncharted territory and I did not like feeling like a new-comer all over again. However, I found relief in trusting the Lord anew, embracing the uncertainty, and then just doing it. It's a good reminder that there can always be something new enough to keep me humble.


2) If it's working, don't change it.

Now, I just said to embrace that there is always something new because it is always changing and now I am saying, "If it's working, don't change it." There is a difference between the changes that come due to children changing grades and having new needs, which is different than changing for change sake. Or changing because we are wondering if it is working, or if we could do it better, or if we're missing out on the latest and greatest new curriculum choices that have created a stir in our homeschool circles.

There are many voices out there saying this is the best curriculum. This can feed my insecurities or my desire for creative change, depending on the day. However, in these 11 years I have come to respect that it has taken a lot of time and energy to find a good homeschooling groove.

If it's working, don't change it.

I learned this the hard way by changing several subjects all in one year.  I couldn't do all of them. It felt like starting all over. We didn't accomplish a lot but I did learn not to do that again.  I have found in general that I only have the energy to take on one or two changes in a school year. So instead of trying to change everything or a lot of things,


3) Only change the part that isn't working.

Keep the parts that are working. For instance, if you buy a full curriculum set, and nothing works but the read alouds, keep the read alouds. Or on the other hand, if everything is working in the set, except the read alouds, skip that part and find some other great books to read.

This leads to the next point:


4) Make the curriculum work for you.

It is only a starting point. It is a guide. It is not the law; it is a help. I have found in the subjects that I am more comfortable such as language arts and history, I can be much more free-flowing in the curriculum. Whereas, it has taken me a lot longer to feel comfortable and find a direction in the math and science department.

My sister-in-law is just the opposite of me. She found math and science curriculum that worked for her and has hardly changed her course in that. But that is because she can adapt the curriculum to make it work for her. Whereas, it has taken her much longer to find language arts curriculum because she feels weaker in that.

Making the curriculum work for you leads me to my next point that:


5) In the world of student-learning styles, you must remember that teacher preferences count.

Being able to individualize education to each student is a wonderful benefit to homeschooling. And exhausting. Remember: you are the teacher; you are one person; and how you are made is an important consideration when it comes to curriculum decisions. 

You, the teacher, are the driving force. The curriculum that has you passionate and fired up, or that simply works for you, is the very best choice for you and your family. Even if no one else you know uses it. Even if everyone else is using a different curriculum. Especially if it is the newest, and latest, and greatest, and you just heard about it. But remember, if what you are doing works, keep doing it. Don't change it. The teacher's enthusiasm and interest count for much more than the individual students preferred learning styles.

You need to do what works for you so that you can get the schooling done.

In time, any teacher can learn to adapt the curriculum to the student. Remember it is a guide, and a help and should work for you.

The teacher makes the curriculum work...not the other way around. So, you need to also remember that:


6) It's okay to hate the curriculum you bought, discard it, and start fresh at any point in the school year.

It is okay to try it and hate it. Eventually you'll be okay with that. The more expensive the purchase, the harder it is to admit that it is not working and that you need to just embrace it as part of your learning curve. Sometimes I have found that I need to just try that bell and whistle. And I do. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it flops. Even now, we have four sets of empty work books on my shelf reminding of just such a decision. I just need to sell it and move on, or give it away and move on so that it can stop making me feel guilty. The sooner you can get it off your shelf, the sooner you can stop feeling guilty for that decision.

Yes, you need to stop feeling guilty and remember that:


7) You'll never have the perfect curriculum but if you keep pursuing the calling that God has given your family, you will have great memories with your children. What an honor and a privilege. That's what we will really remember anyways: all this wonderful time with our children. This curriculum buying headache: it's worth it because it means time with our kids.

What tips and insights do you have to share about buying homeschool curriculum?

From Dreaming of Books to a Homeschool Curriculum Plan

A favorite reading corner.

'Tis a favorite time of year for this book-loving gal who also enjoys being inspired by others. Homeschool curriculum fair season is here! Books and speakers galore!

I've been dreaming about new books and supplies that I get to buy...soon and very soon. New books in our hands to read. For. A. Reason. We just have to buy new books for school. An excuse to buy books can nearly put me in a state of delirium.

And to think that what I once thought that which I never would be able to do is one of my favorite parts of homeschooling -- choosing books for each subject rather than selecting a pre-packaged, already tied together curriculum. It sounds so much easier to buy a grade! But...ahh...I haven't been characterized by picking by the easy way in my life. I enjoy challenges.

Besides, as you may have guessed, books are one of my very favorite things in the whole wide world. I've added a page on the top of my blog listing the books we're reading this year . And my books, books, and more books post is one of my top read posts. So book dreaming is a lovely component of homeschooling for me. (It is not necessary, though, to love this part to be called to homeschool. Just sharing one of my favs.)

A need for school books, plus money in the budget, combined with permission to buy said needed books, is simply a set-up to over spend on drool-inspiring books and yet not end-up with what we truly need for school, like...say... math books. They are not nearly as intrinsically interesting to buy as a good read aloud, or new art supplies, or a learning game.

But in the end, we still need to do math.

We are a family of book-worms.

So...in my efforts to navigate curriculum fairs, I created a form. This has helped me to plan my school year. My sister-in-law, who also homeschools, makes me feel like the greatest home-schooler ever because she oohs and ahhs over my forms. So, because at least one person in my life ohhs and ahhs, I decided to post it here since it might help someone in addition to her. Either use the chart as is or to do what creative types do best, see an idea and tweak it for themselves. Click HERE to look at or print a blank Curriculum Decision Chart.

This is a picture of an old chart in use.

It has a place for each child, their grade and a column for each subject. I have four children so  you would need to modify the form based upon how many children you have.

I also have a space for family to note items that we'll use together as a group and one for me, the teacher,

 so that I can note teacher's guides or supplies that I need for that subject or our school in general, such as measuring tapes and rulers for math or our the record-keeping notebook that I buy each year. (Click HERE for the link to the record keeper that I use called A Record of the Learning Lifestyle by the Notgrass company. I only use one for our whole family, even though the vendor recommends one for each child.)

The Curriculum Decision Chart also has a place to write down a theme for the year. This helps me decide whether or not to purchase discoveries that I happen upon at the fairs. Such as the year that we were studying early American history, I found a neat book that was Christopher Columbus' log of his journey to America. I purchased that and not Hillyer's A Child's History of the World, even though I had pined after that book for years and hadn't seen it before. (It had just come back in print.) Instead, I waited until the year we studied Ancient History to buy the longed for book and bought the timely one instead. 

The theme for the year can even help decide on which extra-curriculars to make a priority during a school year. That same year a replica of the Nina came sailing two hours near us. We made it a priority to see that. And it's still a treasured family memory.

Some years the focus or the priority has been to teach a certain child to read or teaching the children how to do chores. The theme is not always fancy or frilly or academic (such as the chore year). It is not the only thing we do but it helps me to know where to focus my energy even beyond the curriculum fair.

I have found that I can be a frugal homeschooler and navigate hectic curriculum fairs with the use of this form. It also helps me keep track of my ideas that I think of as we go in our school day in the spring as my thoughts turn toward the fall and the next school year.

What are some of your tools that you use to navigate curriculum fairs? Or something that you do to keep a crazy love of yours from getting out of hand?

Love,
Kathleen

Linking up with the Hip Homeschool Hop. Hop on over for some more encouragement HERE.

Erase the Inward Groan or Enjoy Reading to your Preschoolers

Welcome to anyone who has come to visit from Jamie's Avant Garde Parent blog. I'm glad you're here.

I love to read to my children. Reading aloud is an important and a large component of our homeschooling days. Today I have written a guest post about the key element of loving to read to our children with no inward groan at Avant Garde Parenting. Check it out here.


If you went and read that post, you will appreciate that I read Big Red Barn last night to all four of the children. Usually daddy gets the evening read aloud slot, but he was on a deadline to finish a project. So I had that privilege. My oldest said, "I remember when you read that book all the time. And you could say it by memory. " And then the best part was that he said, "I love that book."

I replied, "Me, too."

So we read Big Red Barn, which they helped me quote when I paused. Then we read Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman. (Another book we read a lot in the days after clearing off the book shelf.) Then we dove into the big chapter book that needs discussion for the older three to understand it all.


With the way all of the children looked at the pictures and enjoyed the books, it shows that one is never too old for good quality children's literature.

And thank you my friend Kristi for nominating me as Parent of the Week and thank you Jamie for inviting me to your blog.

p.s. For those that visit the guest post, the wise tip came from Carole Joy Seid the first time I went to one of her seminars.

This must decrease , so that That can increase

Build relationships over the phone or in person. Use the computer to transmit information. Spend more time outside. These are some of the nuggets I've been pondering due to at least two women: Rachelle Gardner's post about her vacation and Elizabeth Foss' post that answered a question about Time Spent Online over here.

These posts resonated deeply within me and also the Carole Joy Seid conference that I attended two weeks ago. They have helped me to consider what I really want to be about. I've been thinking about how much time I really want to spend blogging. I've aspired to post 4-5 times per week. But that has never even remotely happened.

I thought creating a blog would help me write more often. Perhaps it has on occasion. But I'm not truly focusing on writing, which is a desire. At times, the computer seems to be a greater distraction to writing (there are so many cool things to read & look at here on this world wide web!) than a help.

And so as I consider how to spend more time with these guys:

...and manage time at the computer, I'll be posting less than I was.

I know, I know it is hard to imagine even less postings from me OR spending more time with the children that I home school... . Nevertheless, I want to officially declare to the blog world that is is my plan to decrease my amount of entries. It is intentional to do less and yet not eliminate it entirely.

If you know me, call me and let's do coffee. Or come & over and we'll linger & laugh over a meal. And then just maybe, I'll post your picture here (as long as that's okay with you). Less time on the computer, more time face to face.

Joyfully,
Kathleen

p. s. The flowers are all from our yard and are pictures taken by me.

Carole Joy Seid Inspires Again

My new friend Hope, Carole Joy Seid & me

Last Saturday, hubby & I went to hear Carole Joy Seid speak for the 'many-nth' time. (I'm not sure just how many times we have heard her.) We brought along some friends who hadn't listened to her before. They went away as refreshed as we did. Hearing again, "Read, read, read to the children; take them outside; and bake cakes with them" resonated deeply within the heart of Kip & I. It is more than a way to home school; it is a way of living.

We have implemented many of her recommendations. We have decorated with books. The highlight of our day is Reading With Daddy. We have purchased real tools for the children. We have turned off the TV and most media (at least for them). We try to praise them for their work ethic and character. (I always need reminding to do lots more of this.)

We still have more things to work on especially spending more time outside and just being comfortable in nature. (Even though we all enjoy the outdoors, I find it difficult to go outside much. Part of it lately has been how hot it has been -- whew!) .

Even though hubby recently lost his job, we were able to purchase some new books. What a huge unexpected treat! Not only are we watching each and every dime that goes out the door (let's make those savings last as long as possible), this was also the first time in a few years where there have been any books left to purchase. Most of the time the books have been sold out before the seminar has started.

In addition to books, we also brought home two Seeds CDs. (The kids were so excited about this. If you haven't listened yet, go and listen HERE. You'll be blessed.) I must confess we were somewhat persuaded by the quote, "Wear the old coat. Buy the new book." We bought these books: The Keeper of the Bees by Gene Stratton-Porter, Stephen Foster And his Little Dog Tray by Opal Wheeler, and Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie & Charles E. Roth.

I am hoping to do more nature walks and simply observe outdoors in our yard during this school year. We have already begun! Just today, we had a big snapping turtle in our creek. We verified it in our field guide. We tried to get it into a bucket. We watched it swim away and then speculated on where it's hiding. I'm thankful for our yard that has such outdoorsy, woodsy kind of atmosphere right here in the middle of the city. It is possible to go right outside our door & enjoy nature. That's good news! May we keep it up all year long -- actually, may we keep it up all of our lives long.

Joyfully,
Kathleen

Click HERE for the link to Carole Joy Seid's website, but I will warn you there is not content from her seminars but mostly a schedule of where & when. You can get a little flavor of her speaking on the radio interview and hear her style.

Books, Books and More Books

McGooger Academy will launch its 2010-2011 school year on August 23rd with the theme of Books, Books, and More Books. I loosely follow the 'Carole Joy Seid' method which combines the best of Charlotte Mason, Dorothy & Raymond Moore, and a little bit of classical methodology. This translates into math, nature exploration, chores, time to create, some writing and MUCH reading (i.e. on their own, read-alouds by mom, read-alouds by dad, and some group reading out loud to each other and to their youngest brother).

My main plan is to use already purchased curriculum but not yet finished. Some of the books I hope to dent heavily:
* Considering God's Creation
* English From the Roots Up, Vol. I by Lundquist
* A Child's History of the World by Virgil M. Hillyer
* Five In a Row Vol. 1 (for the pre-K student but all will enjoy, I'm sure),
* Emma Serl's Language Lessons (Both Primary & Intermediate depending on which student)
* Catherine Vos' The Child's Story Bible,
* Life of Fred: Fractions
* Making Math Meaningful by David Quine (three different levels),
* Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks
* Creating Books with Children by Valerie Bendt (oh.. to finish this project! it is up first!)

Additional items:
** nature & field trip notebooks (they draw a picture & write a bit (varies based on age of the child) about our nature walk or field trip)
** global puzzle, Rummy Roots, math games (Yahtzee, cribbage, muggins)
** AWANA handbooks
** sign language class
**Unit Studies Made Easy by Valerie Bendt (for further ideas, just in case (gasp!) I finish all this and need more to do!!)


And we'll read, read and read some more some great books. I'm sure there are more books that I want us to cover for there are many on our shelves and those of the library that we would like to read. But this looks like a good place to start.

May we be encouraged to walk out the path before us.

With joy & peace,
Kathleen

p.s. For more curriculum choices look at Heart of the Matter Online's Not Back to School Blog Hop and with Angie at Bring the Rain. I found these links through Edie's blog at lifeingrace.