Sep. 29, 2009 - Educational Experiment
My husband is taking an economics class, and last night he showed me something interesting. Experiments have shown that people are happier with their choice if they have fewer options to choose between. (People are least happy if they have no choice at all.) If there are more choices, people are less certain about whether or not they made the best choice. The experiment was done with chocolates, but I think it applies to homeschool curriculum, as well. There are so many options available that I could spend all my time researching curriculum instead of teaching, and I would still second-guess my choices.
Having said that, I would still love to try out more than one curriculum. I wish I did not have to pick. Since I have three children, I am so tempted to do a little experiment and pick a different curriculum for each of them. Of course, they are totally different people, so what worked for one might not necessarily be the best fit for another, anyway. Right now, this is what I think I would try.
Beth, my oldest, seems to enjoy projects and crafts, so I think My Father's World seems to be a good fit for her. I love the focus on the Bible. I see a lot of my personality in Matthew, my middle child. I think he would thrive on something that is "just the basics." I would like to try a 3 R's approach with him, using the Robinson Curriculum. Nathan, my youngest, is quite curious but seems to be more sensitive than Matthew. I would like to try a Charlotte Mason / literature approach with him using Ambleside Online.
For now, I'll see how this year with Beth using MFW 1st grade goes. Matthew is only three years old, and Nathan is not quite one, so by the time they reach school age I might change my mind ... again.
