bbcovert@juno.com

Every now and then I hear a homeschool mother lament about a curriculum that "doesn’t work." She’s asking advice about what to try (buy) next. Oftentimes, I find that she’s been trying and discarding educational materials for years! It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that the "perfect curriculum" exists somewhere out there. It’s the one that will make learning easy and fun! If only you could find it, your kids would beg to work ahead instead of falling behind, and they would graduate at age 16 and start college on a double major soon afterwards!

There is no perfect curriculum. There, I said it. The program that makes learning easy for one child may discourage another. Some children will be bored by the subject no matter which curriculum you choose. (I never liked math no matter how it was presented! Brightly colored manipulatives couldn’t disguise the fact that we were working on math. I learned it, but I didn’t enjoy it.) God created each of us as unique individuals. That makes it difficult for a publisher to put together a program that makes learning easy and fun for everyone.

Rather than discard a failing curriculum mid-year, you might try making adjustments to suit your needs. This is less costly than purchasing new curricula. For instance, last year I switched from books to a computer program for our history lessons. My children love working on the computer, so I reasoned that they would enjoy learning their history on the computer. I quickly saw my mistake. Both children, in their rush to complete the assignments, would forego reading the material. Instead, they pulled up the questions and then searched the material for the answers. Sometimes they merely guessed -- especially on the multiple-choice questions -- until the program told them that they had the right answer. Very little real learning was going on. How frustrating!

Instead of throwing out the program and kissing more money goodbye, I made an adjustment with how we used this particular history program. You see, the kids didn’t NEED to do the work on the computer. I could print out the lesson and give it to them to read. Then I could print out the questions and have them write-in the answers. I could also ask the questions and accept a verbal answer. I could then input their answers at my leisure or have them do it so that the program could work up the results.

This year we’ve returned to history lessons by book and oral discussion. We still use the computer for math, because it works for us. Over the years I’ve researched and tried different programs for different subjects. I’m in no way suggesting that you pick one program and stick with it forever after. Sometimes it makes sense to choose something new and different, and sometimes you come to the end of one publisher’s curriculum and have no choice but to find something new. However, the best time for change (in my opinion) is before starting a new year.

Just as I made adjustments so that we could use the material I bought for 7th grade history, you can make adjustments to any program you feel isn’t working. You may read the lessons aloud rather than have silent reading, or vice versa; you may have oral discussions rather than written tests; you may opt for more or fewer hands-on activities. Never forget, YOU -- not the educational materials -- are the teacher. You can tweak and adjust any program to suit your child’s needs and finish up that year. Then when you’ve finished it, you may be ready to try a new program. On the other hand, you may find that the adjustments you made were all that was needed to have a successful year. You may feel confident enough to continue working with a particular publisher’s curricula.

Just as there are no perfect individuals, there is no perfect curriculum. Sometimes you need to work with what you have. In those times, prayer is a must. God can bring to your mind ways to use the materials you already have. Perhaps someone blessed you with free educational materials; you didn’t choose them, but you want to be frugal and use them. Ask your Heavenly Father to show you creative ways to teach your children. Because He led you to homeschooling, He will supply all the help you need. Claim Philippians 4:19, which says that God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. That surely includes your educational and teaching needs!

Happy homeschooling in 2006!

Copyright 2005/2006 by Brenda B. Covert