Monthly Archives: August 2012

Re-inventing the Wheel

I must be honest — I’m really struggling with the process of designing my curriculum. I totally understand why someone would buy a boxed curriculum. But, I’m stubborn, and I know I wouldn’t be satisfied with someone else’s product. Also, my daughter is all over the place when it comes to grade levels. She’s third grade for science, eighth grade for reading, somewhere in the middle for math. No pre-made curriculum is going to meet those disparate needs.

But, what happens when you find yourself designing, then re-designing, and then again re-designing just the first unit? What about the rest of the year? I’ve always had a perfectionist streak, and I try very hard to answer my critics with success. I feel I must get this just right or those who doubted our choice to homeschool will say, “I told you so.”

I don’t know if anyone has been in this place, but I’d love to hear your thoughts. We are “starting” school next week, and I feel like I’m back at square one.

Just a FYI: We are loosely following a Charlotte Mason-style method, although I am all for experimenting with other ideas. Also, I’m back in school myself, one day a week, and I have a lot of reading to do, so I don’t really have time to keep re-designing everything.

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Aurum Science web site

I just wanted to share a link to this fantastic science education web site that I found earlier today. It’s called Aurum Science, and though I think it is geared toward older students, it has some fantastic worksheets about evolution that I will definitely be using during our first unit on prehistory. They might be too difficult for a young child to do independently, but I think they will be great for us to do together. I’m looking forward to learning something new! Aurum Science has units on Anatomy & Physiology, Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Science.

Here’s the link: http://www.aurumscience.com/

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