I have a friend who never takes field trips. She never ventures to the zoo with her kids, doesn’t frequent any museums (and I have to interject here that given that we live in New York City–there are ample museums to go see), nor does she go to co-ops or anything else on a school day. IF on the rare occasion she does allow a field trip to sneak into their school day, she spends the next day or two making the kids do double the work because she says that field trips don’t count as a regular school day. She doesn’t want to get behind in the curriculum and the thought of not finishing in a single school year (she follows a public school schedule) really bothers her. If you ask her kids what grade they’re in, they have less than enthusiastic responses about being home schooled. In short, they hate it.
Does this sound familiar? If any of my home schooling friends were to read this blog. . .they may think I’m talking about them! So many of us feel like we have to get through our curriculum in a regular 180 day school year. We think that if our child is in 2nd grade doing a kindergarten reader, he’s behind. So we push, and we prod, and the result is we plod along with our kids feeling like we’re pulling out our hair.
When people first started home schooling, back when it was illegal, there were few curriculum options. Home schooling pioneers had to forge their own way, creating curriculum, deciding what was important for their kids to know and making opportunities out of every available resource. Now there is an ample supply of pre-packaged curriculum but I have to be honest: I wonder if it is to our detriment rather than our benefit.
Don’t get me wrong–I am all for pre-packaged curriculums–in fact we buy one. It encourages a lot of people to home school who wouldn’t have considered it otherwise and it provides a yearly plan so I don’t have to think beyond tomorrow. However, we do not need to recreate the classroom experience to be successful in our home schooling endeavors. Learning can and does occur without desks, chairs, absolute silence and bulletin boards! Classroom education is designed to meet the middle. Many teachers will tell you that teaching kids who fall outside of the middle curve (either being gifted, or struggling) is a real challenge.
But you can and should make your curriculum work for you. You do not need to miss out on other educational opportunities just so that you “finish your curriculum.” Field trips, internships, volunteer opportunities, even co-ops are equally as valuable as the curriculum you purchased. You can work with your schedule to skip some assignments you deem the least important, you can homeschool at different times of the day (it doesn’t have to be from 8-3), or you can even take longer than 180 days to do it! In our house, we skip assignments that don’t somehow help my kids. If they already understand the concept, or don’t need the practice–we don’t do it.
You do not have to be a slave to the curriculum you bought. If something doesn’t work. . .don’t do it. If the curriculum gets in the way of taking good field trips, ditch it for the day! It if takes longer than a technical school year. . .that’s o.k. too! If it’s too easy–find something harder and if it’s too hard–find something easier. If you go off on a tangent that leads you into studying something else. . .go for it.
By choosing to home school, you have the opportunity to tailor your child‘s education. Don’t let a publishing company tell you what your child has to be learning. Set expectations, but feel free to go with your child’s interests and give assignments based on their needs. Kids who have fun learning, learn a lot more than kids who hate it and do the work to get it done!