I really enjoy checking over in the homeschooling section to see what new topic or idea Valorie is discussing.
As a teacher and as a parent, homeschooling has always been an interest to me. I have never really considered doing it but I find it intriguing and I am always up for learning more about it.
One of Valorie’s more recent articles discusses how homeschooling parents can find a curriculum that meets their children’s educational needs.
I think that this is one aspect of homeschooling that I would definitely enjoy more than public school teaching. When teaching in a school, the county usually adopts a curriculum for you. While teacher’s have some say in the textbook adoption, the voice is usually not very strong. We are typically given several options to check out and must choose the best.
The one curriculum is chosen to be used by every teacher and every student. No individuality is considered. The adoption does not take into consideration that what works for one class and teacher may not be the best choice for another.
The math series that we are currently using does not by any means meet my curriculum needs. In kindergarten, we have a work book with many pages. This book is too much for the children to work with and teachers are found that they only work if we tear out all of the pages. We then use the book in the form of single pages.
The directions are also not consistent enough for kindergarten children. In some cases the directions change several times on one page.
In addition to these holdbacks, I am also not pleased with the way that some of the material is presented. While I must use the book because it was adopted by my county, thankfully I can also use supplemental materials and activities of my own.
So in this case I can definitely say that I feel homeschooling teachers have an advantage because they can choose the curriculum that works best for them and their children.