A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

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

This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebogartwriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!

Principle One

No two years of homeschooling are ever the same.

Your children get older and change grades. Each child has a unique personality. What worked with one won’t necessarily work with the next (The Brave Learner, 203).

As you think about the coming year, think less about mastery and more about fine-tuning and tweaking. How can you meet the needs of these children who are new again this year?

It’s easy to think: Hey, I already know my children. I know what they like and don’t like.

What do we do with the surprises?

• Your quiet child may have a sudden burst of extroversion.
• Maybe the literature-lover decides she wants to be a dolphin trainer.
• Perhaps the one who hated math is obsessed with sewing.

Be a student again—discover who this child is this year. New opportunities for learning are here. Allow yourself to be surprised. Make adjustments as you go.

I recommend not buying all the curriculum in the summer. Get to know your children’s needs again in the fall. Make some purchases in December or January that reflect what you’ve learned about your kids during the early months.

Remember: even though a system or schedule feels reassuring to you, it may be overkill, may be too centered on what you need to feel comfortable, or may not grow with the child.

Lead with confidence, but embrace the surprises along the way. See them as a chance to enhance homeschool not as invalidations of your plan.

All 5 Principles

This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebogartwriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!