In the last few years, we have spent several hundred dollars on curriculum. We work diligently throughout the year working our way through our curriculum. Then, each year in March I begin to think about the next school year, exploring new curriculum options, thinking about what to add, what to change, what to do differently. By May, I am all ready to move to our new school year, leaving those last pages behind.
So… what about the unfinished curriculum?
Unfinished curriculum feels like a huge waste of the hundreds of dollars spent each year. It’s a burden that can weigh us down. In fact, in our three years of homeschooling so far, we have only managed to successfully complete one curriculum.
But I think that ultimately, it’s not a big deal. In fact, I don’t think we should worry about it at all.
First Things First
We should also consider that school years are frequently organized in cycles so that every other grade level is a “review” year to help students fill in the gaps before building on further. Most review years spend at least the first half of the year reviewing the previous years. Now we have cut the available time in half every other year.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that it is impossible for a teacher to get through an entire curriculum in one school year.
But fear not! As homeschoolers, we have a few benefits over the more traditional schools.
The Homeschool Difference
We are also not limited to 45 minutes a day, 5 days a week. The freedom with homeschooling to take our time and do the work we need to get done as we need to get it done.
Change is Good
Homeschool families can (and often do) switch between curriculum during any given school year. As you probably already know there are hundreds or even thousands of curriculum options. Sometimes we get started with one curriculum that for all intents and purposes looks perfect only to find later on that is much more in line with our teaching style, or our child’s learning style, or our morals or values.
Kids learn differently at different times in their lives. What works now for a child may not work in a month or in 6 months. Also, different kids learn in different ways. Explode the Code may have worked fabulously for child 1, but doesn’t work at all for child 2. Different kids bring a different attitude to learning, a different emotional response to their world, a different interest in a new subject.
The bad news is that means curriculum often doesn’t get finished as changes are made. The good news is that sometimes what goes unfinished for one child could be finished with another.
Don't Worry about Gaps
Ultimately, I think if we don’t finish curriculum in one year, I guess it’s ok. Because sometimes you just don’t. And we continue educating our children.
