The summer days are flying past, and with them comes the panic of a new school year…well at least for some. When will we start? What curriculum will we use? Will it be enough? Should I put them in an enrichment program this year? What about our co-ops; which ones should we do? Is this a testing year? Do I have enough money to purchase everything I need to give my kids the best education I possibly can?
Whoa, whoa, Eisley (I say to myself). While these questions are valid and go through the brain of most homeschooling parents, they really aren’t cause for panic. One of the best reasons to homeschool is getting to do all those things on our own schedules and with our children’s needs and desires meshed in. However, what happens when your year is over and you realize the curriculum just did not work for your child? Now do we get to panic?
Nope.
Now comes the exhaustively overwhelming and eternally exciting fun part -- a curriculum search! Those of you who aren’t homeschoolers might not understand this statement, but those of us who are understand completely. We love to search for the perfect curriculum, but quite frankly, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack! There are so many good companies out there that meet our family’s needs and learning styles that it’s very hard to pick the right one. It’s like that old game show, The Price is Right. Door number one, door number two, or door number three? All three contain glorious prizes, but which one will be best for you? The only way to know is to try. Most curriculums have samples online and the publishers will even send you samples in the mail.
If finances are an issue for your family, there are programs in most areas that will help you. There are many Virtual Academies out there that cost little to no money for enrollment. They offer free curriculum and testing services for your child. When we homeschooled in South Dakota, the district I was in offered me access to every book and consumable being offered to the public school kids. So if I wanted, I could have taken their Saxon Math materials and had free math curriculum. Do a little research. There are many programs to help homeschoolers with these costs.
There is another option for curriculum that a lot of homeschoolers don’t realize is actually valid. It requires a little more work on the homeschooling parents’ part, but it costs cents a day and is accessible all around the world. It involves the Internet and your local library. Believe it or not, I have many friends who don’t pay a dime for curriculum, but use the free resources all around them. There are literally hundreds of websites out there for every subject on the planet. When you run out of resources on the Internet (Ha! That will never happen!), head to the library. They have curriculum available for rental and books on every topic imaginable. Then you can do a unit study (Google that one) on whatever you want!
Now that the needle in the haystack has been found, we have another decision we need to make. Will we enroll our kids in an extracurricular program? A lot of charter schools around the country offer a homeschool enrichment program they call “Options." What is Options, and how do you decide if it’s right for your family?
Options is an enrichment program designed to help reinforce the learning your child is doing at home. Most of them offer things the normal household doesn’t invest in, like foreign language, art, science labs, and more. These programs are not meant to be the only meat to your week, but more like the cherry on top of your dessert.
If you are new to homeschooling, the word “co-op” probably sounds a little strange. Co-ops are an excellent way to get some extra enrichment without enrolling your children in an Options program (or you can do both, which a lot of families do). Co-ops are formed when a group of homeschoolers offer a different enrichment opportunity to each other and you are only allowed to participate if you offer a class. Classes range from American Sign Language all the way to Owl Pellet Dissection. It’s a great opportunity for your child to learn and for you to give back to your homeschool community.
It’s a lot of work to start the homeschooling year off on the right foot, but being armed with the knowledge of the options you have will make it that much easier. Digging through the haystack might not be what you want to do with your time, but with the encouragement in place from fellow homeschoolers, you can do it and have a great homeschooling year!
I know that’s our plan.
| |||||
More articles by this author
Why I Started Homeschooling
Homeschool Burnout
Homeschooling and Socializing
