As a homeschool mom, every year I reevaluate how that current year has gone. What worked well? What could we do better? Is there a better tool that we could use to help our days get by smoother. Is our environment providing the best resources available for creativity and curiosity? Are those resources easily available? Are the curriculum choices we chose working? Why is something not working?
Step 1: YouTube videos. View many different types of videos. Pros, cons, day in the life, subjects, curriculum reviews, look for families with older children, books, and styles. It's also a necessity to have 100 tabs open in the browser. So while I turn to YouTube, I don't always trust the source. Especially if the poster is highly known in the homeschool world. If they received curriculum in lieu of giving feedback. I don't watch. They never have honest reviews. Sadly, people will say anything for money.
Step 2: Determine which style of learning works best for each child. I've found that eclectic, which is a customized style for each child works well with our current lifestyle. We've tried the all in one curriculum, but it wasn't a good fit. At that time. So finding lessons through many different sources is what works best, right now.
Step 3: Decide on an educational philosophy. This one is new to us this year. While this doesn't seem completely necessary, I think having a backbone to our year will make it a huge success. I'm drawn to the Charlotte Mason (CM) ideology. While I won't be perfect, nor do so 100% of the time, I love the idea of CM. I love that there are three twelve week terms and three exams. It's a huge celebration of what they know and being proud of their work they accomplished throughout the year. We'll display their work, like handicraft, art, music, poetry, and bible. I'm really excited to incorporate this.
Step 4: Find living books. We started using these this school year and have loved them. They are more enjoyable to read and helps engage in the time period we're learning about.
Step 5: Read blogs and homeschool websites. This one is hard because there are less bloggers on the World Wide Web. But, I'm able to find a few. I typically use them to help with our supplemental work on certain topics.
Step 6: Look into your state requirements. Tests. Portfolio reviews. Number of days/hours. What is required?
Step 7: Take a short break and come back to the research. (I'm on this step with Math!)
Right now I'm STRUGGLING on finding a math curriculum for the new school year. I'm researched out and at a complete loss at what the right fit will be. Xander wants to stick with BJU, but Sterling needs something different. We're getting to the point in math where I have a hard time explaining the why. I can show you how to do the problems, but, when why comes up...I flop. So I'm looking for something that has video lessons.
I want my kids to find the wonder of learning and think critically. Ask tough questions and back up answers with thorough research. I look for enrichment activities that they are interested in. If they are interested in something, they will enjoy it so much more. There are plenty of subjects they don't get a say in, so giving options always helps.
I hope seeing how I process a new school year helps someone.
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