5 Easy ways any curriculum can work for your homeschool

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Are you and your family struggling with a curriculum and unsure whether or not it will work for you in the long run? You are not alone! In fact, a lot of families face uncertainty when it comes to following along with a curriculum.  While I don’t recommend any single curriculum for families, there is one recommendation I will make—if a curriculum isn’t working, don’t be too quick to give up! Before you consider switching or ditching a curriculum, follow these steps to see if it improves the experience for you and your young learners!

Be Open to Changing the Pace

Although not every curriculum has a specific pace, quite a few of them do include their own timelines. While this can be beneficial for moving along through the coursework, the fact is that the timeline may not align with what is best for your child. 

Ask yourself if you are moving too fast or too slow, and consider what this might mean for your child and their learning process. Adjusting your pace can help you to better accommodate your child’s unique learning style! 

Modify and Skip Sections That Don’t Work for You

Sometimes a curriculum works best when you pick and choose what works for your family. Remember, with a few exceptions, the only person who decides what will and will not be taught in the home is you, and that means you can decide when it is best to modify or skip certain sections. If something doesn’t align with your child’s interests or needs, work around it instead of against it.

In our home, we LOVE to skip:

• Sections we have already mastered

• Lessons that don’t fit our approach on a topic

• Sections we don’t like with concepts outside of what we would consider “specific curriculum topics”

• Sections we don’t like with concepts within our “specific curriculum topics” that we opt to approach in a new way

• Pages that have taken us past our work time after a reteach on day two

Adjust How You Teach

Each curriculum you encounter will be unique, and not every curriculum will align with every teaching style. With that said, it is equally important to note that so often, our teaching styles will not align to our children’s preferred methods of learning! If you feel like the lessons just aren’t landing with your child, ask yourself how you can adjust your teaching method.

To be successful, explore some of the different teaching methods, techniques, and tools that are available. This can help you to cater to your child’s learning preferences, and you might be amazed by what a difference it can make. Incorporate music, make it hands on, take them outside for a lesson… Sometimes shaking things up can take a curriculum from a poor fit to the perfect match.

Use a Supplemental Resource to Strengthen the Curriculum

A curriculum is made for teaching at home, but premade curriculums are not made exclusively for your child. Fortunately, you can use supplemental resources to bridge the gap. If your child’s curriculum isn’t hitting the mark, try bringing in some other resources, like online classes, videos, books, and even activities, to see if that helps. 

It is always best to give your child a little extra support when they need it! Stay tuned on my Instagram page this week, highlighting some favorite resources and approaches we take, specifically in our home.

Open Communication Up With Your Child

Although you are responsible for overseeing your child’s education while homeschooling, no one will understand the experience quite like your child will—and you can use this to help them in a huge way. Ask them about their thoughts and feelings on the curriculum. Learning what does and does not work for them can help to drive your decisions and make it easier for you to tailor their learning experience to best accommodate them.

Your family’s homeschooling journey is dynamic, and being able to make thoughtful adjustments can have a big impact on the effectiveness of a curriculum. Before you switch or ditch your curriculum, see what you can do to improve the experience and meet your child’s needs!

Xoxo,

Mandy