In what ways have you let your materials be the driver in your homeschool instead of yourself?
What ways have you tweaked your curriculum to make them work for you instead of you for them?
One reason it’s often the best choice to start with a curriculum provider’s list or teacher manual or package is that it’s all thought out with the end in mind and from the perspective of someone who thoroughly knows the subject. I like to write my own lists and make my own plans, but there’s no way I could list my way into competent Latin instruction. I don’t know Latin, so of course I can’t teach it without help and guidance!
I personally do know grammar, and could teach it without a workbook or a program, but I also have a lot of details besides grammar to track and accomplish. I’m not only a grammar teacher. I’m also instructing in reading, math, Latin, history, and everything else we do. On top of that, these people insist on eating three times a day, so I’m also cook. Then there’s laundress, chauffeur, shopper, not to mention wife and mother. If I have to create the scope and sequence and lesson plan for every single grammar lesson, how often would grammar happen and how coherent would it be? Not often and not very.
Start with a garment, a material, you like and want to play with, and feel free along the way to nip and tuck, let it out a little, hem it up, or add an extra panel or a cute embellishment. Make it yours in your own way, but don’t feel inferior for starting with something off-the-rack.
What are some ways you’ve tailored your curriculum to fit you and yours?
- Don’t Be a Curriculum Slave by Brandy Vencel
- On Driving Your Curriculum by Mystie Winckler
- Teaching Writing Without a Curriculum
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