Making the Curriculum Work
Is your curriculum getting you down? Before you get rid of it, try these ideas first.
By Kristen Kindoll
It's fall, and the weather is quickly starting to have that wintery feel. The holidays are upon us, which brings with it a distraction that is both good and bad. It can be a welcome distraction if the curriculum your family has purchased is not working. However, this can be frustrating for both the parent and child. Packaged lessons, workbooks and texts can be costly. It usually makes it harder for the homeschooling teacher to give up on the program. Before the curriculum is dumped, the family should make some careful considerations.
Why Curriculum May Not Be Working
In the past, many families found success with one type of curriculum. Besides providing ease for both the teacher and student, it produced learning results as well. It can be a bitter pill to swallow, however, when the next year it seems as if all has gone wrong. It is important to note that as grades change, so does the maturity and interests of the child(ren).
It is important to understand that the entire curriculum doesn't have to be thrown out altogether. Stepping away from the provocation and getting distance would be beneficial for everyone. It may not be the texts which are distressing; it could simply be a lack of desire on the child's part to not do anything related to classwork. Are other subjects generating the same feelings? If so, other remedies are needed and purging the curriculum isn’t necessarily one of them.
Finding the Right Fit
While I believe in the structure of workbooks to reinforce concepts, some children simply do not excel under those parameters. A verbal, visual and/or kinetic methodology may be more to their sphere of liking because everyone learns differently. It is important to find the right fit for your child.
Many programs have several elements to the packaged system. Choosing the parts, rather than use the whole, may be beneficial and help salvage some of the initial cost. The public library is a resource that should always be utilized. Parents can find historical and/or literature that is appropriate to the topics. These can be used in substitution for other curriculum materials. In our home-schooling, I may stop for a while in a certain workbook and then after several weeks, we begin again.
Alas, if all seems lost for your investment, there is still a way to recoup money. Many areas have "Used Curriculum" fairs and these are great places to network as well as sell old materials. While you may never get back what you paid, you will receive something in return. Many internet sites and/or chat groups offer curriculum selling areas as well. A trade with another family who may be in the same predicament could be the answer. You both could benefit each other and gain a new perspective.
Other Lesson Plans:
This lesson has debate topics for children. It can make for a fun afternoon to discuss the pros and cons of that time period.
This lesson will provide a needed laugh. You can get a good chuckle as your child tries to create up some scary jokes for fun.
Here is a neat way to remember the other available teaching aides in your home. The dictionary, magazines, newspaper, etc are all ways to learn. They are important tools that are used through out life, too.
Fun Ways to Teach Word Families
This lesson is for the beginning reader. It gets the creative juices flowing and might inspire other subjects, too.