As my son rapidly approaches seventh grade, I’ve given more and more thought to how we will proceed in our homeschooling.  Thus far, we have taken an eclectic approach to choosing our curriculum and learning methods, as you might guess from the title of this blog.  You see, I’m just never totally satisfied with any one curriculum; I just go around gleaning ideas from everyone and everything.  I’m like a prospector, shoveling along looking for gold. 

            I think I’ve waded through just about every program out there, mixing and matching.  I’ve pieced programs together using AmblesideOnline, Abeka, Mater Amabilis, and just about every reading list out there, to create a something tailor-made just for us.  I tend to lean toward a Charlotte Mason/semi-classical approach, with history at the core of our studies, a book of centuries, and lots of living books using a history text as a framework.  We study Latin off and on, do living book science with experiments at our teaching co-op, dip in and out of various math books and software, although I just recently purchased an old copy of Switched On Schoolhouse Math 6 on Ebay, and this is going well, although I think we will never get past fractions, EVER.  I just cob it together as we go, working off a basic plan that I come up with at the beginning of the year to keep us moving forward.

            These people that plod through workbooks day in and day out just puzzle me.  I would have hated that, and so would ds.  Now, I’m not saying workbooks don’t have a place in my house, but I could never be a slave to them.  We use them more for remedial work for concepts we don’t pick up along the way.  However, it is amazing how much grammar a kid will pick up just from lots of reading and being taught to speak correctly. This year, I’ve been dipping into a Spectrum Language Arts book and doing proofreading exercises to prep for standardized testing.  I like Cindy Rushton’s lesson planning ideas, simple, easy to implement, and frequently cross-curricular.  Anything you can use for more than one subject is A-OK in my book.  I can’t imagine anyone who is reading this not knowing where to find her blog, but she’s listed in my friends section if you’re new around here.  Check her stuff out, she’s right on the money!

            As homeschoolers, we don’t need to be slaves to a pre-digested formula, a one-size-fits-all program.  We might be social creatures, but we don’t have to be herd animals.  Just because it works for our best friend down the street doesn’t mean it’s the answer for us.  It might be, or maybe it would be super with a little modification, but we have choices.  Nobody should ever feel locked in to one program; if it doesn’t work, pitch it, and prayerfully start looking for the better option.  We were all led to homeschooling for a reason, so don’t waste one day with anything less than the best for choice for your family.