Choosing Boxed Curriculum Wisely: Tips for the Seasoned Homeschool Mom
- By Tina Robertson
- Sep 12, 2017
Choosing boxed curriculum wisely is daunting enough when you’re new to homeschooling.
Years of homeschooling through a pregnancy or two, having a mix of older and younger children, and a few house moves, it’s not easy to admit as a seasoned homeschool mom that homeschooling is more grueling now than ever.
Choosing a boxed curriculum later in your journey does not mean sacrificing your goals or ideals. It can, however, mean the difference between faltering and finishing the course.
From one seasoned homeschool mom to another, I hope to gently nudge you to consider the value of choosing boxed a curriculum even when you are not so new to homeschooling.
Are Do-Overs Harmful or Helpful?
Having regrets is part of homeschooling, but that is not something we learn right away in our journey. What we do learn is that a new year can bring a fresh start and do-overs are a welcome part of homeschooling. After a bad experience teaching my son, a boxed curriculum restored my love for teaching reading.
The laid out lesson plans and reading tips given by teachers were needed tidbits I lapped up even though I had taught one son how to read already.
The Cost of Not Using a Boxed Curriculum
Besides gleaning practical teaching tips, the cost of a boxed curriculum needs to be considered. Let’s face it. At this point in your journey, you may have loads of books and curriculum sitting unused on your shelves.You have paid hundreds and hundreds of dollars over and over again to plan the perfect curriculum, but life happens and there the curriculum sits.
Whether it’s money or your time, homeschooling has a price. When you put together your own curriculum, you have poured hours and hours of prep work into it, and something else was sacrificed.
How much time have you spent through the years researching and reinventing the wheel?
The biggest savings now come in the form of your sanity and precious time. Look at these nine sanity-saving advantages of using a boxed curriculum:
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Hours are added to your day by not planning every assignment.
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Accountability and record keeping for an older child can lighten your load.
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A solid teacher’s manual of tried and true teaching tips can ease the stress of teaching a child who is just not getting it.
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How many years have you had over-ambitious plans? A predictable schedule prevents you from over-planning.
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How many times have you started planning only to find the books you needed are out of date? With a curriculum package, you have all the materials needed to kick off your year.
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How many times have you started a science experiment only to find out you are missing one ingredient to make it happen? You can look ahead and plan to have all the ingredients within reach to perform the hands-on science kids clamor for.
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You can easily hand over the teaching reins to an older child who craves independence.
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If an assignment is not a good fit for your child, then structured curriculum doesn’t necessarily mean a stranglehold. You save time when you skip or adjust a prepared assignment to fit your child’s needs rather than outlining one from scratch.
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Because it is predictable, a structured curriculum can be a breath of fresh air for a teacher or child who likes an organized and structured approach.
Not Failure–A Fresh Start
The scariest part of homeschooling is the decision you made in the very beginning to homeschool. The toughest part of homeschooling to the end is letting go of the past and moving forward tenaciously despite criticism and judgment from the homeschool world at your choice in curriculum.
We all need help at one time or the other in order to get a fresh start.
When you choose boxed curriculum wisely as a veteran homeschool mom it not only can renew the enthusiasm and eagerness you felt in the beginning, but it gives your child a top-notch education.
About the Author
Tina Robertson celebrated the graduation of Mr. Senior in 2013 and Mr. Awesome in 2015. Because of her love for new homeschoolers, she mentors moms through her unique program called New Bee Homeschoolers. She loves all homeschoolers, though, as she shares her free 7 Step Curriculum Planner, unit studies, lapbooks and homeschooling how tos. She can't sing, dance, or craft, but she counts organizing as a hobby. She is still in the homeschool trenches blogging at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus.