How I Choose Curriculum

Curriculum collects on shelves in our living room and peaks from boxes in the shed. A glance in either place reveals more stuff than we can realistically use. I’m so thankful for the options, but options can paralyze.

So how do I choose what to help me teach my children? How did these books end up in our possession instead of others?

Please continue reading at Curriculum Choice…

Carnival of Homeschooling: Winter in Idaho Edition

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling! If you are unfamiliar with this weekly event, let me introduce you.

A carnival sounds fun, right? It is! Each week homeschool bloggers are asked to submit a post to share. Then the host reads, organizes, and presents them to the community.

I offered to do this in August, but we were in the middle of selling our house in Texas and moving back to Southern Idaho. This carnival features a few of our adventures since we arrived.

Remodeling- Sometimes we make changes

Sweet Pea watches Grandpa install a subfloor

The New Year lends itself to reflection and plans to be better organized.

• The Thinking Mother Looks Back Upon the First Half of the Homeschool Year 2009-2010.
• While thinking about the year, it might help to have some music. Beverly’s Homeschooling Blog has a link for The Year in Rap 2009.
• Eclectic Education shares helpful hints and links to help Get your Homeschool Organized in the New Year.
• Special Needs Homeschooling Reviews The Homeschool Organizer.

Hiking- Sometimes we need new perspective

Bug hikes in the Snake River Canyon

• Raising Arrows talks about drowning in guilt in The Shame On Me Sea.
• A Day in the Life opens up an honest discussion about a Startling Revelation.
• The Legacy of Home gives us a peek into A Housewife’s Pink Mood. What color is your happy self?
• Homeschool Idaho shares a humorous Letter from an Imperfect Homeschool Mom.

Laughing- Sometimes we simply enjoy family life

Sunshine smiles behind my gift

• My Domestic Church encourages with the post Homeschooling to Build Family.
• Crazy Homeschool Mama writes about a new season of life in A Different Kind of Christmas.
• The Mommy Earth has a story entitled Girl Meets World.
• Free to Learn and Loving It shares Life Lesson # 221: Never mix lights with darks.
• Real Life Montessori has a creative way of Making Cookies for toddlers.

Conversing- Sometimes we defend our crazy ways

"Are you sure the bookshelf is a good bed?"

• Homeschool Distractions answers a question about dealing with distractions in the post The Cons of Homeschooling.
• A Tings Thinking Corner examines Robin West’s controversial anti-homeschooling article “The Harms of Homeschooling”.
• Home School Online shares ideas for answering typical questions about homeschooling.
• Why Homeschool found the same questions put to music in this funny video, The 14 Days of Homeschool.
• Our Curious Homeschool has lots of questions to discuss other than the socialization ones. See if you can answer one or two.
• Alasandra congratulates the winner’s of the Homeschool Blog Awards.

Learning- And now it’s time to curl up with the books

The view out my back window

• Abundant Harvest shares the Reading Journey of Child #3. See if waiting and relaxing can really work.
• Laura Grace Weldon wonders about All Day Every Day Video Game Learning?
• Little Green Blog writes ‘Teaching maths’ with home education – 10 Tips.
• Our Journey Westward created Simple Machine Stations. You can, too.
• Topsy-Techie has helpful hints for teaching writing.

Thank you for visiting! I hope you enjoyed your tour through these homeschool blogs and perhaps found a new favorite or two.

The next edition will be published at the carnival founders’ Why Homeschool. Consider submitting a post at Blog Carnival.

Request for Submissions to the Carnival of Homeschooling

I hope your Christmas was full of wonder and hope. The first Christmas in our new home was blessed by family and friends.

Sled at Top of Run

When my sister walked in with sleds on Christmas Eve, my little girls’ eyes furrowed in confusion. Their older brother announced the welcomed gift, but my Texas girls still don’t get it. I can’t wait to see their faces when we finally get to the sledding hill.

In the midst of Christmas clean up and New Year’s preparations, I’m honored to be hosting the next Carnival of Homeschooling.

I’ve neglected blog reading lately, so please submit a post for me to read and share here on December 29th. Anything related to homeschooling and family life is welcome.

It’s simple to participate, just fill in the form located at Blog Carnival. If that doesn’t work for some reason, you may use my contact form.

Is Education a Race?

I eliminated certain words from my vocabulary for freedom’s sake.

When I created scrapbooks, the stacks of pictures caused frustration. How could I ever get all those images into albums? I’d never catch up. The negative thoughts robbed me of the joy of the process. Scrapbooking suddenly became a race against time. A race I could never win.

Jogger

Instead of being stressed, I set aside the terms behind and catch-up. Scrapbooking was a hobby. I would simply finish what I could by working on it a few hours a week. My albums are still mostly empty, but I enjoyed putting color and texture behind a few memories. The guilt was gone and what I did capture will be special to my children.

I wonder if we need to do something in regards to education.

Homeschooling shrouded with guilt impedes the joy of learning. Are we doing too much or not enough? Is this curriculum a good fit? Would that one be better? Can we fit one more thing into our schedule?

Planning and judging are necessary, but most of our time needs to be spent learning not planning to learn and then doubting the whole process. Yes, there are learning thresholds. Yes, there are certain things our children need to know, but who determines whether they are behind?

Is education a race?

Education is important, but so is the child. What if a child doesn’t learn to read by the age of 6 or 7? What about those who struggle to learn? Should they try to push themselves beyond their capabilities to meet an arbitrary standard? Watching the backs of peers leap ahead, it would be hard to stay enthusiastic and motivated.

And what if your child is the one leaping ahead? Will he enjoy the rewards of diligence if lessons are always easy?

I propose that education is an individual thing. No one has the exact same knowledge. We all have different interests. The universe is immense, and we cannot know even a speck of all the treasures within it.

Perhaps, the race is really against ourselves. Perhaps, it is an internal measurement of growing in character and learning to learn.

Is education a race? Does every homeschool feel behind? What do you think?

Boxes of Books Scare Homeschool Mother

I wrote this post for Our Lifestyle of Learning’s newsletter. If you haven’t already created an account on this network, check it out. There are lots of giveaways this month and encouraging words always.

Boxes of books tower in my garage. Lesson planning resources are tucked away to wait for moving day, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking about the school year when I should be sleeping.

As I try to quiet my thoughts, the mental checklist reveals a gaping hole in our planned subjects, science. How did I forget something so important?

Then I remember all that is tucked in those banker’s boxes: Math, English, geography, art, history, Spanish, literature, penmanship, spelling, and yes, even some science.

So many wonderful books. So many tentative plans.

But there are not enough hours in the day to do it all. If I scheduled each day minute by minute and crammed it into my children’s brains, would it even stay?

I take a deep breath. The books are not my master. The curriculum doesn’t have to be completed as directed. I examine the motives of my heart. Why are we homeschooling? Why did I choose this curriculum? Why are we reading this now? Sometimes it is serendipity, but more often than not it is a choice made by love.

Love requires discipline. Love asks for sacrifice. Love is hard work sometimes. But it is also the foundation of life, of everything creative, of joys unimaginable. And when I remember that, the boxes of books and gaping holes cease to threaten.