Homeschool Sanity: Principle Two
Principle Two
You get bored.
“Just because a curriculum is effective doesn’t mean you must keep using it. If you’re ‘sick to death’ of the reading program, find a new one for the next child. Years pile up—what you loved doing in year three may feel like overkill in year seven” (The Brave Learner, 203). In fact, boredom is a great sign that it’s time to mix it up.
How do you know when to quit or switch?
First: read the program text and teacher notes. Learn how to use the program; try it yourself first. It’s okay to use the middle of the day to get comfortable with the program before introducing it to your kids. Give a new program a full try from full understanding, first.
Then the next day, clear the decks and take a chance—implement with your kids. It’s okay to experiment, to adapt it to the child.
Give a program you were excited about a six week try.
If you’re still bored and find the program uninspiring, ditch it! No guilt. Chalk up the expense to research and development. It takes spending some money and a lot of experimentation to know what works best.
So no guilt: if you need to toss a curriculum, just because you find it tedious, you get to! You have one life. Don’t waste it on duty and drudgery. There are so many amazing reaources out there. Go find what works for you!
ETA: We lived on $29K w 7 people in southern CA and this was still my philosophy. Made me rely more on the public library, magazines (pre-Internet), co-ops with friends. The idea is: boredom = tedious experience of learning. Switch it up—however you can.
All 5 Principles
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Tags: Homeschool Sanity
