I've mentioned before that I might be a little obsessed with checking off items on my to do list. I might have a bit of a problem. If I leave a box unchecked...well, it makes me a little crazy. This has served me well in some areas of my life but, unfortunately, homeschooling is not one of them.
Lately I've started to see our curriculum as a to do list...compulsively checking off each box everyday...even if that means letting other things slide. And that is just what has happened. I started to notice it in the beginning of November. We would run out of time and wouldn't get to the craft I had planned or our outside time would get cut short. By the end of November, we were all feeling a little stir crazy and that to do list I had created had started to feel a little bit like a prison.
When I started homeschooling, I chose to do it because I wanted flexibility. I wanted the ability to follow my children's interests and create an environment that fosters a true love of learning. I saw that innate curiosity in my children and I wanted to do everything I could to nurture that and watch it grow. But its hard to do all of that when you let the curriculum take over.
Curriculum certainly has its place but I don't think it needs to be number one in our homeschool. There are so many powerful learning opportunities that happen naturally that will be missed when curriculum is all that we do.
It's all about finding a balance.
So what can you do when you find the scale tipping to heavily in favour of your curriculum?
Be flexible.
Curriculum does not have to be a to do list so don't look at it that way. There are some things that will not suit your family and that's okay. Take what works and leave what doesn't. And there you go! You've just opened up some room in your day!
Forget your timelines.
It alright if it takes you a little longer to finish this stuff. The public school's calendar doesn't have to dictate your school's calendar. You can go longer into the summer if you need to or do some stuff in the evenings. If you're having a bad week and are seeking balance, take a few days off of spelling and spend that time doing something else.
Make time for the other stuff.
Spend some time in nature, read aloud together, get active, do something creative, do some fun experiments just because, research something your kids are interested in, go on a field trip...
There are some things that are just as (and often more, in my opinion) important than sitting down to do lessons. These are the things that encourage learning in a natural, unforced kind of way. Make these things a priority and watch your kids as they do them, its kind of amazing what they take from it. You might be surprised at just how much they can learn all on their own.
We're taking the month of December off. Daddy is home and we are enjoying just being together again. At first, I worried that taking a break from our formal lessons would be a problem but really, the learning hasn't stopped. And we are really enjoying ourselves as we learn. That's the kind of learning I want for my kids.
We'll go back to using our curriculum in January but in a less militant way. I think we will all enjoy ourselves a whole lot more when I'm not letting the curriculum take over.
What about you? Do you find it tough to balance it all? What do you do to keep things from taking over?
What about you? Do you find it tough to balance it all? What do you do to keep things from taking over?
