Dear Homeschool Mama, It’s NOT About the Curriculum
Dear Homeschool Mama,
Homeschool is not about the curriculum. But this is the first question every new homeschooler asks:
“What curriculum should I use?”
Then you get 100 different answers from 100 different people.
You do a lot of research and got even more overwhelmed.
There is so much out there, how will you know what to choose?
It’s not about the curriculum. It really isn’t.
There is no perfect curriculum.
So, just decide what you think you might like and go for it. What resonates with you?
I know you’re afraid of making the wrong choice. You might.
You might just start using it and find that your kids hate it. Or maybe you hate it.
That is ok. You’ve just learned what is NOT going to work, and it’s a-ok to change.
You might just start using it and even though you and your kids hate it, you spent good money on it so you feel like you absolutely have to keep going on it.
This is not ok. This is what creates power struggles, and starts making you feel like you are failing.
This is not ok, because homeschooling is NOT about filling your kid’s mind with the knowledge of the all-powerful curriculum.
Homeschooling is all about helping your kids know who they are, to feel confident and successful, to know that they are good, and can do good. If they know that, they can learn any bit of knowledge they need to.
You might start using your curriculum and there are 5 lessons every week, and you find that you literally cannot stay consistent with that pace. So you start feeling guilty and like you are failing your kids.
This is not ok either. Sure, curriculum is going to help you teach your kids, but what we forget is that it is a tool. Don’t let it be your master where you feel so stressed out in making your kids do it at someone else’s pace (even if that’s what the curriculum says.)
Curriculum should be your servant, not your master.
Maybe you chose curriculum and you find that the person who wrote it has never homeschooled before so it’s not realistic for a mom to actually implement in her home.
That’s ok. You can still either adapt the curriculum so you can actually make it work for you. Or you can learn what you didn’t like and try something new.
After homeschooling for 20 years, I know what I like, and I know what works for me as a busy mom now. But I didn’t know that when I started — how could I?
Give yourself some grace. If what you chose isn’t working, it’s ok. You are still enough, you are still learning. Making mistakes is part of the process. You don’t have to be perfect, and it’s not going to be.
You’re not going to mess up your kids. You’re doing this because you LOVE your kids, and because you love your kids you can be willing to learn. Stay focused on the fact that because you love them, you will figure it out.
Instead of stressing out over getting all the information into their heads, focus on helping them love learning, because kids who love learning are going to learn so much on their own and you don’t have to do it all.
Believe in their goodness and their potential for greatness, and they WILL learn.
Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats