I find myself often planning the next step in our curriculum and pushing so we don’t get behind. I was thinking this past week just that ‘we need to keep up with our lessons so we don’t get behind’. Then it dawned on me…behind who?
Most curriculum include about 36 weeks worth of lesson plans. Enough lessons to properly educate a child in that subject for about 180. These curriculum are designed to move us forward from one task to another with no real wiggle room for exploration. You can really get lost in trying to finish all the lessons by a certain time that you forget to enjoy what your teaching.
That’s what I was doing. I was trying to keep up with some imaginary numbers that could never define my children anyway. I mean does my first grader really have to complete all the assignments in the first grade curriculum before the 180 days are up? What if she only gets two-thirds of the way through?
The great thing about homeschooling is that you don’t have to meet anyone’s standards. There’s no rules for you to follow when it comes to educating your children. You are meeting and exceeding every expectation as long as you are creating an environment for learning to take place.
So, what if we spent an extra day reading The Tales of Peter Rabbit. We simply like the story and want to experience it over again. We can discuss our favorite part, watch the video, and possibly draw a picture of our favorite scene. We’re not blasting past an awesome story just to check another assignment off our list. We are engaging with the story, lesson, and each other. Something our children may not get being educated otherwise.
So take your time when teaching your young ones. Move through the lessons you wish and stop and linger in the lessons/subjects that your children enjoy. Always remember you are free to flow in a way that best suits your family in your homeschool.
We are creating an educational experience that is uniquely tailored toward our families and our children. In creating these environments, we should never feel bound to stay on someone else’s timeline. I’m not telling you all to slack and not comply with the law. I just don’t want us to be so focused on checking the assignment off the list that we forget to engage in and experience the lessons we teach.
Naja Coles
I’m most importantly a follower of Christ by who’s blood we believe there is salvation. We believe in biblical Truth only. Being led by the Spirit of God, we seek to raise our family by that Truth. I am a wife of 7 years, and mom to 8 wonderful children ages 6 years-9 months. We have been homeschooling for 2 years officially (6 if you include preschool). I enjoy music, gardening, and learning to live a healthy, non-toxic lifestyle.
Matthew 4:17