How to Make Your Homeschool Curriculum Work for You Like a Pro
Many of us homeschool moms suffer from not being able to relax in our homeschools. We look at a curriculum we’ve purchased and feel like we have to do every single page or activity. After 11 years of homeschooling, I have finally loosened up to the point where I realize I no longer want to be a slave to my homeschool curriculum. I don’t need to stress my kids or myself out. I want to make my homeschool curriculum work for me–and for them!
3 Ways to Make Your Homeschool Curriculum Work for You:
I have some ideas of how to do that with two curricula from Homeschool in the Woods I’ve been using with my kids the last two months:
Project Passport World History Study: Renaissance and Reformation
When I received these two studies in order to review them, I knew that we couldn’t do everything they contained. There is simply too much! (And, it’s all wonderful, by the way). So, my plan was to pick and choose some things from each that complement our present studies.
Pick One Activity from the Curriculum That Reinforces Learning You Are Doing with Another Curriculum
From Colonial Life: Time Traveler, I chose to do the lapbook activities with my kids. Our last unit of history with Tapestry of Grace (that we do with our co-op) was about the colonial period in the United States, so I knew that having my children do a lapbook would fit perfectly along with the books they were reading and the more hands-on activities they were doing at their co-op.
I’ve always loved Homeschool in the Woods lapbooks. We have done several:
- Composers Activity-Pak,
- Old Testament Activity-Pak,
- New Testament Activity-Pak,
- Time Travelers: The Civil War,
- Time Travelers: The Industrial Revolution Thru the Great Depression, and
- Project Passport: Ancient Egypt.
Colonial Life Lapbook
Below are some pictures of the Colonial Life lapbook that my 8-year-old daughter did.
Pick a Unique Part of the Curriculum That Isn’t Part of Any Other Curriculum
The unique part of the Homeschool in the Woods curriculum we chose was the Audio Tours. It’s so much fun to learn history if you feel like you are really there! That’s what the audios are like in Project Passport: Renaissance and Reformation.
They are recorded onto MP3 as if a tour guide (Agatha) is taking a group of tourists (including your kids who are listening) to different places around the world to experience the world-changing event, see the sights, and meet the famous people. There are eight audio tours in Renaissance and Reformation. You go to Florence, Italy; “see” Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel in Rome; visit with Shakespeare and hear his drama troupe rehearse a play; talk with Sir Francis Drake and learn about his adventures; find out what happens when Martin Luther nails the 95 Theses to the door in Wittenberg, Germany; attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn; learn the history of the Pilgrims (Separatists and others) who came to Plymouth in America; and experience the Battle of Lepanto with Miguel Cervantes.
Pick a Part of the Curriculum that is for Enrichment
One area of enrichment that we have been lacking in this year was art instruction. Project Passport: Renaissance and Reformation has some amazing art lessons. They also have some activities for crafts, music, and geography. So, what I did was match up each of the 8 audios with one of the many available projects for the kids to do.
Here are the ones we chose:
Conclusion
