This week I want to talk to you about thinking outside of the box - the curriculum box!
If you are like me each year before school starts you have a nice list of all of the curriculum you are going to use for the upcoming year. You purchase it, stack it nice and neat and start making plans. Then school starts. You work away at your plans and then the bumps start. Then you hit the road blocks. The days end in tears (and your child is crying too!). Sound familure? Well I have been there. As a matter of fact I was ready to throw my hands in the air recently and so I stopped and prayed. Then it hit me... I am homeschooling! I call the shots! I can change things up to make school work for us not us work for school. So I talked to S. She told me what she liked about our current situation and what she didn't. Turns out what I thought she was enjoying was no fun at all for her. So we cut out lapbooking and the way we were doing reading. Instead we started using notebook packs (I got the horse one from Hands of a Child - more on that in another post) and we got a 1 year subscription to Reading Eggs (more on that in another post as well). So far we have had great success in our homeschool days. Saturday S joined me in the classroom, fired up her laptop and started a reading lesson. When her Daddy stepped in from outside she was none to happy with me for allowing her to do school work on a Saturday! lol!! That just tells me that she is liking the new direction we are heading.
I say ALL of that to say this... Do not let your curriculum drive the bus. If things are not working do not be afraid to change them up. How do you change things up if things are not working for you? I would love to hear about it. Please leave me a comment...
Also, don't forget to grab our button from the page "Inspired Wednesdays" in the nav bar above!
Featured Post from 2/13-
I loved this posted because I use routines instead of schedules myself. I am not one to be tied to the clock on a daily basis. It just doesn't suit my personality. To learn more about how she uses a routine in her homeschool and her daily life go check out her post.
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Winner of the Custom Blog Siggie Is:
Renee Gotcher - Renee, you will be contacted via email by Amy at A Nest in the Rocks.
Giveaway:
This week our giveaway is from Amy at A Nest in the Rocks, and let me tell you, it is AWESOME! She is graciously giving away 2 copies of Praying Circles Around Your Children by Mark Batterson. (I am currently reading and reviewing his new book about prayer! ;) ) Enter below and make sure to go to A Nest in the Rocks and thank her for this great giveaway!
Hi Stephanie! I have two questions/comments - 1. I don't want to be selfish - if I have already entered this giveaway on Amy's blog, should I not do it here?
ReplyDelete2. A friend of mine at church is helping to homeschool her two granddaughters, as the mom does work part time. She shared with me today that the older girl (around 12) might have a learning disability, but it seems unable to be diagnosed. My friend described her as "borderline intelligent" - I dont' know what that means, and I know my friend didn't mean it in a mean way - perhaps it means at the borderline of some IQ benchmark? At anyrate, the younger girl is around 6 or 7, and is working ahead of her age group. My friend is very worried about how to deal with the seemingly very real possibility that at some point the younger daughter will pass the older one academically....also, the daughter is unfortunate enough to live in a school district without very good resources for special learning needs kids. The daughter was told by the local Lutheran special education program that nothing was available for the girl through them because she wasn't "bad enough" (Again, I know that sounds awful, but I suspect that that is not a direct quote, but rather my friends interpretation of the event). this has been a long post, but I would be grateful for any insights or resources you and your homeschooling community could suggest. Thanks so much for your help ~ this is a field I have such little knowledge about, but I'm learning alot from all of you!
Hi Lynne!
DeleteI just posted your question on my page! I will notify you of any answers! You will want to go ahead and reenter the giveaway. It isn't showing your entry. Can you let me know when you reenter?
Thank you,
Steph
There has been a great reply to your question. Here is the link...
Deletehttps://www.facebook.com/whereheleadswefollow/posts/471558436243861?comment_id=4346516¬if_t=feed_comment
Thank you so much - I am always amazed and grateful at how willing the blogging community is to help out.....I am finding that the homeschooling community is very willing to share their knowledge as well.
DeleteAs far as the giveaway goes, it is totally possible that I only thought I entered, but never did (sadly enough.....) BUT - I have entered now on your blog!
I am so glad that you have found the homeschool community to be helpful.
DeleteYAY for getting entered in the giveaway! We use the same widget on both blogs so either one you enter on counts on both! Same for the link up. We would love for you to share this with your friends.
Thanks!