What Curriculum Do You Use?

This is a trick question. Well, sometimes.

What Curriculum Do You Use?

Believe it or not, in the homeschool world, your method of homeschooling can easily be turned into your identity as a homeschooler.

As a nation, we love to identify & relegate things to where they belong - or at least where we think they belong. . We have bumper stickers & t-shirts proudly proclaiming whose side we are on. Who we are for. We do actually judge a book by its cover. This way of thinking stifles the imagination and minimizes reality. We are literally putting people, situations, & circumstances in a pre-labeled box we’ve stored in our imagination. After putting them in a box, then whatever ideas were previously packed away in said box are automatically assigned, and so it accumulates. It’s a shame, really, but it is true. Life simply isn’t as simple as we want it to be.

Anyway, the concept of being identified by what method or curriculum I chose for homeschooling my first kindergartenerwas terribly intimidating to me. Was I locking myself into some kind of club or group that I wouldn’t be able to get out of if I didn’t like it? That was a bizarre thought, but I had it & several others that just led to more confusion and insecurities.

When I would tell another homeschooler “what curriculum I use”, I was in fact telling them what our school day looks like, what our beliefs are, what kind of mom I am or what kind family we are - at least according to whatever definition they already had stored in their box. I know, that’s not really fair, because I’ve said over & over how everyone’s homeschool will be completely different, regardless of methods or curriculum, but we all have formed our ideas based on the requirements- rigorous or not, scope & sequence, flexibility etc. of any particular curriculum. Sigh. They might ask for specifics, because maybe they were intrigued by that style/method and are thinking of trying something new. Or they might just be rude & snub their nose because we didn’t fit into the right profile to be friends with their kids. Whatever. That was a fear of mine at the beginning of our homeschool career. It was soon kicked to the curb.

Not that I still don’t have doubts & worries like anybody else -I do. Usually every year around November & again in February. But not a fear of having my identity stolen by someone else’s definition of who they think I am - especially when it comes to how we homeschool.

This struggle is ongoing, but some days are easier identifying the nasty thoughts of comparison & throwing them in the trash.

Homeschooling is definitely a journey. Ours has travelled over everything from dirt & gravel roads to the 85 mile an hour interstate. Knowing where we’re going has made the potholes and construction along the way well worth it.

#homeschool #curriculum #gpshs