When I first became a home schooling parent, I was advised not to purchase a “home school in a box” program. The reason was the great expense involved, and the high probability that the first program I purchased might not work. So, I decided to come up with a curriculum plan myself.
I also integrated history based unit studies which studies included spelling, reading, vocabulary, grammar, geography, and more. For math, I searched for a good interactive online math program, or CD run program because math had to be visual for Jordan. My son also followed the same unit studies but at a more in depth level. I used the fourth grade Hirsh book to write his curriculum as well. He also wanted a computer program for math. For phys Ed, they were already taking Tae Kwon Do. They were both taking piano and my son was planning to add the flute to his music program.
Next, I made checklists for each item we planed to cover, and allowed extra line items for impromptu additions so my year-end reports would pretty much do themselves. Finally, we were ready to start homeschooling!
It is nice to have a plan, isn’t it?
Too bad it did not work. We had one main problem. My kids did not see or accept me as their “teacher”. They preferred to use me as a math tutor, and a walking Encyclopedia. So I had to adapt… a lot.
The online interactive mathprograms I found ended up covering every subject completely. The children loved it because they could work independently of me and of each other. Since they have each been using educational computer games since 18 months of age, it was a natural thing for them to do all of their subjects online. The music and phys-ed classes have gone exactly as planned and they had the opportunity to try new things like fencing, swimming and track.
Although many of my well laid out plans have been set aside, this was not done haphazardly. I worked with and observed the children over time, and as long as I knew that they where meeting or were above their grade level in the work they where doing, I let them learn in a way that was natural and fun for them. I had to decide what was better, my ruined plans, or the children having an enjoyable learning experience. I chose the latter.
I originally wrote this at the end of our first year or homeschooling. Since then few more things have changed. We are now using time4learning online interactive curriculum for Jordan which is actually an adaptation of the same program we started using two years ago. Jackson is in middle school and taking local classes on Thursdays. They have music classes at home, and phys-ed classes locally. Me, I am still their math tutor and walking encyclopedia.
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