Curriculum Confession

I've been going in circles trying to decide on a curriculum plan. Since January, I had been planning to do-it-myself once we finished our grade one curriculum. I've been collecting books and formulating thoughts all year. All of a sudden, I got nervous. I had all of these books and ideas, but no idea how to organize them into a plan. I decided to begin looking for help.

I thought long and hard about following the free curriculum guide at Simply Charlotte Mason. It is a general guide with lots of room for change. I compiled a list of resources needed and figured out the cost. Still, I needed to plan out a few more details.

Then April came. April has been a reality call for me. I have been busy studying for two lessons I gave and a Bible bowl coming up next weekend. I've also been working on the week of camp Scott and I direct in August and a VBS to be held the week before. Finally, I've been seduced by the sunny weather. I can hardly get any housework done, much less thoughtfully plan out any homeschool lessons. We haven't been to the library since the middle of March. We finished most of our grade one curriculum from My Father's World in the beginning of April. Needless to say, homeschool has been done very half-hazardly lately.

This is my problem. My availability goes in spurts. I'm speaking of my attention span. I work hard to focus my ministry in my home. (With much criticism, I might add.) There are a few things outside the home, however, which I enjoy and even get passionate about. Camp being one of those things, public speaking another. Both require study time. If I'm going to be any good to my family and give the kids the consistent education they need, I can't stress myself out with the extra burden of planning my own curriculum. As much as I dislike being tied down by the structure, I've been reminded this month that my kids thrive in structure.

Therefore, I have searched far and wide for the curriculum package to suite our need for a plan, yet with the flexibility we also need. I think I've finally made a decision. Living Books Curriculum is based on Charlotte Mason's methods, which I love. It is a bit more expensive than My Father's World, but includes all the books you need for the lesson plans. It is similar to Sonlight, but less expensive. Unlike MFW and SL, LBC has a weekly plan. The other's have a daily plan. I enjoyed MFW for K and 1st, but hardly stuck with the daily plan. Some days we needed to focus on a specific subject. I really like the idea of having weekly goals set out for me. Even more so, I like the ability decide how and when we will meet those goals. I also like the fact that the books are sent with the complete package. Although MFW supplies many of the basic resources for the curriculum guide, the living books for individual lessons are not included. While living in a city, that was fine. Most of the books I needed were at the library. Now, in a small town, I find we go to the library less frequently and find what we need even less. Overall, LBC looks like it will be a good choice for us.

I've decided to wait until September to get started. Today, I quickly sketched out a summer plan for our studies. I'm continuing the year-round education because we all need it to stay motivated. Not to mention the review we'll avoid in the fall! It will be a light schedule, though. Math hasn't been our best subject grasped this year, so we need to include that, along with reading everyday. Poetry, Art, Music, and Nature Study are subjects we enjoy. They will be a part of our weekly schedule. Literature, of course, will be daily. I plan to get Canadian history and geography in through our literature. (LBC teaches American history, not Canadian.)

So there it is, my plan. What a relief!