The best homeschool curriculum
how to trust your children and their innate ability to learn
Monday, November 21, 2022
I’ve mentioned before that when I started homeschooling, I was ready with all the workbooks. We were going to have rigid lessons straight from text books, they’d stay right on schedule with the other kids their age, I even printed out the state tests to make sure they could pass all the things they’d be expected to pass if they were in traditional school. And PLEASE, please don’t take offense if this is how you homeschool. I truly and firmly believe that homeschooling methods are unique to every single family. You are the mother (or father) that your children need, and your methods are the right ones for YOUR family.
We maintained that method of homeschooling for exactly negative 5 days. A close friend of mine introduced me to Charlotte Mason just before our school year started, and it triggered this switch in my brain that would cause me to never see anything the same again.
As I studied her core principles, I began to form my own interpretations or versions of her beliefs. There were some that didn’t feel just right to me, while others caused waves of emotion and inspiration. After all my studies, I put together a single sentence that wraps up my own core belief: children are divinely created with the innate ability to learn, merely by being presented with opportunities to do so.
I believe that deep down, we all know truth, and we feel it in our soul when we hear truth. This idea burned inside my heart as truth.
As I think back on the hundreds of hours I spent memorizing things, just long enough to pass an exam, I find myself wishing I had been encouraged to focus that energy on things like learning emotional resilience, financial independence, and gardening. So upon pondering all of this, I came to the conclusion that I didn’t need to commit to any particular curriculum, and that in fact, I could move forward on my homeschooling journey without any curriculum.
I follow my heart, and the passions and interests of my littles, and we create our own type of curriculum as we go. Our days always start with prayer and scripture study. We study the date in ASL, and in each of the languages they’re working to learn (our 9 year old wants to become a linguist, so for now she’s working on Mandarin, Spanish, and Portuguese).
People wonder how I can teach foreign languages at home, when I am only fluent in English. Here’s my secret: I’m learning at the exact same time as them! I think it’s wonderful for them to see me embracing and practicing lifelong learning.
After that, things get a little bit wild and free. Math looks different every day. We play games, bake, budget, create schedules, build things, and run our businesses together. Multiplication, division, algebra, and geometry all come naturally in each of these settings. Our 7 year old knows that you need two opposite 45 degree miters to create a 90 degree corner. Our sweet 5 year old knows that if we made 24 muffins, each of the kids could eat 8…before walking away with a tummy ache. I promise you they did not learn these things from any textbook or worksheet.
Before lunch the littles paint, sculpt, or sew, while I read a history book, or classic literature out loud.
My youngest does crave a more formal setting for study some days. She begs for the workbooks, and learns really well when we combine that approach with our more free approach. My plan is to continue to follow her lead as she becomes more involved in our schooling. Not every child is the same!!!!
I could spend hours describing our methods for every single subject, but here is the more important thing I want to share: I have found that my children thrive when they’re learning naturally, through work and play. The days when I try to force focus and rigid study can quickly become heavy and painful.
I know this might not be the guidance you were hoping for when you found this space. But I do hope you found some peace, or a small weight lifted if you’re not sure yet which direction you should take. Because, in case nobody has told you yet, it’s ok not to know. Your child is learning every day, just by being alive.
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