Curriculum is a Servant, You are the Master

This is Chapter 6 of the book “The Basics of Learning and Homeschooling” and the course by the same name, which includes videos and more.

Curriculum is a Servant, You Are the Master

Curriculum is a servant.

You are the master of what you teach in your home. You have the right to decide what to teach, how to teach, what materials to use, how to use them, and every other thing that happens in your homeschool. You can use textbooks, library books, historical fiction, biographies, reference books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, movies, documentaries, comics, the internet, real life experience, internships, computer games, and projects.

Curriculum is a tool.

It is a tool in your hands. You are to wield it with skill and precision to guide you in presenting topics in the most learnable way for your student. The goal is to help the child learn information, knowledge and skills so that they remember it, and they can add it to what they knew before and build on it to learn other related information.

Many times this happens in a very natural way through real life experiences.

For example, if you want a child to learn about fractions, you can have them follow a recipe to cook something. Have them measure the ingredients with measuring spoons and cups. Point out to your child that the spoons and cups nest in each other. Show them how the tablespoon is the biggest, then the teaspoon, then the 3/4 teaspoon, then the 1/2 teaspoon, then the 1/4 teaspoon, etc. Show how the measuring cups work the same way. Point out to your child that the 1 teaspoon is bigger than the 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 teaspoons and the same way with the measuring cups. They make connections so much easier that way with concrete, practical, useful projects than abstract pictures on a page or some silly story that doesn’t mean anything to them. Be on the lookout for chances to teach concepts that open up naturally.

Cooking is really a great way to teach math. Double recipes, triple them, quadruple them! This is especially great and sometimes necessary if you have a big family or you want to freeze leftovers for future use. There is another great concept to teach. Preparing and storing up for the future...

And there are many real-life ways to learn reading and writing. Reading in order to play a video game has been a big motivator for many of my children to learn to read, and many times they get some practice with manipulating numbers and understanding how numbers work. Reading to find out how to take care of a pet. Reading a recipe so they can make some yummy food that they want. Reading subtitles in a TV show or movie. Reading signs to know where they are when the family takes a road trip or some place the child is excited to get to and wants to know how close they are.

Writing happens in real life, too. Writing letters to friends and family. Writing lists. Writing stories. Writing a recipe. Writing notes to help you remember things that you want to remember forever. Writing in a diary or journal. Writing a to-do list. Sometimes kids will incorporate writing into their imaginary play or their games. One time my kids played a game that involved two teams of pirates. They sent notes back and forth to each other (talking in pirate language) threatening and demanding booty and calling each other hilarious names. I found their notes later and had a good laugh, shaking my head at their wit and humor and intelligence.

I happen to give my kids lots of freedom and time to do whatever they want. I don’t micromanage their time or try to manage their lives. They have a lot of independence (within limits) and choice to control their own time and what they choose to do each day. I have a few requirements that I consider necessities to take care of their own needs and to bless the family. I do some things to check on how they are doing and what they are learning and insert some of the things I feel that they need to learn more about or get more practice with. I provide a few books to help them keep moving forward in basic skills. This is after they are old enough to do things independently, and that age differs with every child.

I’m not saying everyone should do it this way. I’m just presenting this as a way that you might choose to conduct your days so that you don’t overdo and wear yourself out. I find this to be a sustainable way for me to handle so many students and so many years of doing this. Being a micromanager of everything your children do can make you weary and overwhelmed. And you risk frustrating or overwhelming your children with too much work, too much busywork that doesn’t produce anything meaningful, and causing them to hate learning and set them up for bad associations with anything having to do with reading, gaining knowledge, learning or so-called schooling. Always remember what the end goal is. You want your child to love learning and to become a life-long learner. You want them to learn what they need to know for their life and future.

You can combine this approach with any kind of curriculum you choose. You can use your curriculum as a spine and then add to it or take away according to the needs and interests of your child. You can use it as a guide for topics to learn more about and then learn it however you want. Use the library a lot! There are tons of books to cover virtually any topic your child may be interested in.

You are the teacher.

You don’t have a teacher standing over you telling you what to do. You decide what to teach.

You decide how to use the curriculum. You are the master. The curriculum is the servant.

You can follow it rigidly or loosely. But please be sensitive to the needs and preferences of your child. Some children need a lot of structure and support from someone else. Others need a lot of independence and control of their own learning process.

Not every page has to be completed. Not every activity has to be done. Schools do not finish the whole book, and we don’t have to, either. They run out of time. We have to be careful not to get so caught up in our desire to do a good, thorough, complete job that we push our kids to do more than they really need to do. If they have the same desire, then it’s okay to let them go at it. Let them do it their way! Look out, Frank Sinatra! :) Some of the stuff the curriculum tells you to do is just busywork anyway. Don’t feel obligated to complete it all! Some, especially those that are designed with homeschoolers in mind, are intended to be a smorgasbord to choose from. The author never intended for you to do everything suggested. Choose the type of curriculum that works best for your child.

Keep the goal in front of you of leading your child toward independence.

Keep the level comfortable and at a level so that your child can do much of it on his own. Sometimes you may have to use a lower grade level of Math so that your child can do it on his own with very little help from you. The review will not hurt him, and it will probably build his confidence and self-esteem to be able to do it so well and easily. Unless your child is a more impatient type of person who would be bored and frustrated by that approach. Maybe he sees everything as something to be conquered and delights in every new challenge and works hard to overcome it and feels victorious when he has mastered a new skill or concept. You need to know your child and adapt to his personality, his learning style, and his bent or interest.

The child needs to feel that they are in charge of their learning. They need to feel that the knowledge they are obtaining is their own and is valuable and meaningful to their lives.

I love the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education, and I use many of her methods.

You might want to read some of her books and some books about her philosophy and methods. I use narration, discussion, copywork, reading aloud, unit study, delight-directed learning, and providing a feast for the minds of my children through beautiful stories, music, art pieces, and an inspirational and creative atmosphere in our home. I try to encourage and inspire original, creative thought and use of imagination in everyday life.

So What Curriculum Do I Use?

I use lots of different curricula to help me reach these objectives for each child. But I don’t spend much money. The library is my biggest source of curriculum. And I buy lots of art supplies, paper, pencils, pens, and notebooks. I use a few workbooks, such as handwriting, phonics, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and math. That varies from child to child and from year to year. We have clothes and costumes and masks and props for the kids to use in their creative play. And stuffed animals. Lots of stuffed animals!

Part of the Charlotte Mason approach involves having the child narrate what they just read or heard someone else read. I incorporate this into my day by reading aloud good classics or stories that have been around for a long time because they are such good stories or biographies or historical fiction, and then I ask the kids the next day to summarize what happened the day before so we can get into the next part of the story easily and remember where we left off. This shared time of reading aloud the same story to all of us at the same time is a bonding time that holds us together as a family like nothing else can. This has been the most important, unifying, and pleasant part of homeschooling for our family. And anyone can do this, even if you don’t like reading aloud or are not very good at it. Listen to an audiobook together. The bottom line is that you should enjoy a good story TOGETHER. The shared experience is what matters. You can let one of the older children read or listen to an audiobook, but make sure that you, the mom, are right there with them during the reading time. This will enhance your homeschooling experience more than any other practice I know of.

Remember to be the master of the curriculum instead of a slave to it.

Get what you feel is the best fit for your child. Ask the Lord for wisdom. Tweak it, use it as a guide, use as little or as much of it as you want without guilt for not doing the whole thing page by page. And let your children help you decide what curriculum to use. After all, they are the ones who have to use it.