Finding Curriculum for a Home Setting

There are many excellent curriculums, carefully designed to teach in a logical, meaningful way. As a home educator, the problem was rarely finding good material. Over the years, I used lots of excellent curriculum. However, it soon became evident that those curriculums were written for a very different setting than mine—a traditional school classroom.

Here is what a traditional classroom looks like:

• 150+ full days of school per year, starting at age 5 or 6
• 60+ minutes of math, writing, etc. per day, 5 days a week
• Often large classes with a group of children that are all born in the same school year
• A fulltime, paid teacher whose sole responsibility is to teach the class

Here is what home-centered learning looked like in our home:

• 360 days per year, starting from birth, with variable/minimal days looking like a traditional school
• Very short periods of uninterrupted time (in my case, I could rarely make it through a lesson without having to stop and change a diaper, check dinner, etc.)  
• Multiple kids spanning a wide range of years (in my case, 6 kids spanning 10 years)
• A teacher/parent that is unpaid and has many other simultaneous responsibilities.

I had six children and it soon became apparent that recreating a traditional school setting was not going to happen. Furthermore, even if I could have recreated a classroom, it would not have taken advantage of the many benefits of teaching at home. We spent many years toggling between “unschooling”, which had many unique benefits, and the heavy-duty, college-prep study needed so my kids would be ready for college. We home-schooled through high school. All six kids graduated from a university (the majority with scholarships) and several went on to obtain advanced degrees. From an academic viewpoint, we all lived “happily ever after”, but it was a rough and frustrating road.

During those home-school years, it became evident that I needed a simple program that looked like this:

• Minimal teaching required by a parent and lots of student-directed learning activities.
• Allowed multiple ages to be taught at the same time so the family could have fun learning together.
• Not dependent on completing a full book each academic year.
• Instead of having grade levels, focused on ensuring each child mastered each concept, allowing them to move as quickly or slowly as needed.
• Allowed material to be presented in various orders and different ways to match the child’s interests and abilities.
• A “grab and go” program, requiring little or no preparation.
• Clearly identified all the concepts and skills needed to master each subject and an easy system for tracking progress (a progress chart for each child).
• Fun and engaging activities that made learning an integrated part of life, rather than drudgery; providing a balance between “play” and repetitive mastery.

Whatever curriculum you choose, be realistic about the constraints in your home. Find a curriculum that adequately addresses the limitations of a home environment, but also maximizes the advantages. One of the first steps to successful homeschooling is learning to be realistic about what will work and what will not in a family setting.

To assist in this endeavor, Simply Smart provides many resources for families. Simply Smart is what I wished I had when I was teaching my kids. It is designed to help parents teach in their unique home situation – whether homeschooling or supplementing public education. It helps parents shape their child’s perceptions about learning by creating a fun, stimulating home environment, that clearly presents concepts and makes it easy to ensure there are no gaps in your child’s education.