Don't be afraid to mix it up

Don’t be afraid to mix it up

While a boxed or complete homeschool curriculum might be easiest for the parent, it is possible that it just doesn’t fit your child’s learning style. Homeschooling is all about flexibility and that means that sometimes you just can’t force your round student into a square curriculum.

It is perfectly acceptable to pick and choose each subject and the manner in which that subject will be taught. Maybe your child is dyslexic and so a traditional language arts/reading program just won’t work, but the math from the same curriculum provider is a great fit for your student. You might have to have a more specialized language arts from another provider.

Those homeschoolers who choose their curriculum from many different sources are known as eclectic homeschoolers. Being an eclectic homeschooler means that you can individualize your child’s education and make each subject into just what your child needs to succeed.

Consider this, my daughter’s core curriculum is an interactive online curriculum, her foreign language is from a popular provider of foreign language instruction that comes in a yellow box. Her science is currently from a provider of traditional science curriculum for middle schools, and her physical education is at a dojo and a stable. We use each of these sources of instruction because it is what works for my daughter today. If tomorrow she needs something else, I will feel free to change to what she needs. Ah, the beauty of eclectic home schooling!

Choosing a homeschool curriculum

Choosing a homeschool curriculum

So you’ve decided to home school. The next thing you need to decide is what curriculum to use. For most new homeschoolers it is difficult to imagine the amount of work needed to make a complete course of study for each subject their child needs to study.

It can be overwhelming and I am not downplaying the stress it can cause. I was at the place some of you are now. Midway through a school year I pulled my daughter out of public school because it was just not working. I cried for weeks about becoming a homeschooler and didn’t know where to start.

If you are in that same situation then I have two pieces of advice for you. First, find out your child’s learning style. It is hard to believe but you might not know what your sixth graders learning style is if they have been educated away from you since they started school. Choosing a curriculum that will assist you in planning lessons and keeping records.

There are a number of online homeschool curricula to choose from, and there are also box curricula that provide you with traditional school type materials such as text books. Just match your child’s learning style.

The other piece of advice I can give you is that you should look for a support group in your area. They can be invaluable when it comes to sharing their experiences, and having people to go on field trips with. I would not have survived the first year of home schooling without more experienced parents telling me and showing me that home schooling was possible.