Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Choosing the right curriculum

Since I'm new on this journey into homeschooling, I'm still trying to figure out what "fits" my daughter's learning style and our family's daily rhythms.  I originally chose a curriculum that I thought would help us start off in an organized manner, but I've found myself feeling quite like I did about public school expectations.  The content of our current curriculum is great, but the requirements make me want to rebel.  I'm still reporting to someone and having to do things they're way, which makes me feel that I still have little control.

Instead of diving into a subject and spending as much time there as we like, I am constantly hurrying us along to check off the assignment and complete some impersonal daily agenda.  I'm skipping fun stuff, like field trips and art projects, in order to maintain what they deem as "progress."

And so I'm returning to the valley of prayer and research as I consider other avenues for learning.  I was really pushing to stick with this curriculum for an entire school year, but one experienced homeschooler advised me to "go with that gut feeling" concerning my kids.

I am looking for options that involve less sitting and obviously aren't chained down by the state's standards.  Afterall, if we really step back and check out the ratings, the state isn't doing so great.  My daughter loves stories, writing, and art.  She wants to cook more and take piano lessons, and I haven't had a lot of time to squeeze these things into our week so far.  With that being said, we still need structure and shouldn't avoid any subject.  I just think we can do addition problems in 15 minutes, without boring Bella out of her mind with more and more instruction time on it.













What curriculums are you familiar with?  Please, give me your opinions and your suggestions.