Can I Create My Own Homeschool Curriculum?

EP184: Ever find yourself drowning in a sea of homeschool curriculum choices, or feel like you've just not cracked the code on how to teach your kiddos at home? Listen up as we pull a favorite episode from the Art of Homeschooling podcast archives to guide you through the maze of curriculum planning. We're not just talking about picking a pre-packed set of books off the shelf; we're crafting a living, breathing educational journey that meets your children right where they are. No more feeling behind or overwhelmed by curriculum. Whether you're at the beginning of your homeschool journey or longing to reignite creativity, this episode is your ticket to charting a personalized homeschooling journey and navigating curriculum choices with ease. 

Find the Show Notes Here (www.artofhomeschooling.com/episode184)

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

You're listening to the Art of Homeschooling podcast, where we help parents cultivate creativity and connection at home. I'm your host, jean Miller, and here on this podcast you'll find stories and inspiration to bring you the confidence you need to make homeschooling work for your family. Let's begin. Hello homeschooling friend. This week we're bringing you an Art of Homeschooling podcast classic from the podcast archives. As you consider your curriculum options, gather resources and plan your homeschool lessons, I wanted to remind you that you can create your own homeschool curriculum rather than purchasing a curriculum package, or you can customize the curriculum you already have. This episode will help you wrap your mind around what exactly is curriculum, how you can build your own homeschool curriculum and be the leader in your homeschool. If you want my support along the way, check out the Inspired at Home community, where you'll find courses, coaching and community to help you build a homeschool life you love. That's simple, inspiring and doable. Inside Inspired at Home, there's a treasure trove of over 40 masterclasses, including Plan it Out, my signature course for planning an awesome homeschooling year without needing to purchase expensive curriculum packages for each of your children. If you wanna find links to everything I mentioned here, please check out the show notes for this episode at artofhomeschoolingcom slash episode 184. And now onto our conversation about homeschool curriculum.

Speaker 1: 2:09

Today we're digging into a conversation about homeschooling, curriculum and a question that comes up especially after you've gotten started on your homeschooling journey. So let's start off with a little description of our relationship to curriculum as we become homeschoolers and then start on this journey. So the first question that we often ask ourselves after we decide to homeschool is what curriculum should I buy? We then go purchase a curriculum after doing some research and think we're all set. We think the curriculum will arrive, we'll open the box and we'll start homeschooling. And then we get started and realize that using a purchased curriculum isn't quite as cut and dry as we thought it was. We miss a day. And then what do we do? A lesson doesn't seem like it's worth the time it takes and we choose to switch gears. We wonder why the curriculum writer chose a particular story or a particular activity and, most of all, we feel like there's no way to finish it all. So after about two weeks some people last a little longer we begin to feel like we're behind, like there's something wrong with us and maybe we're just not cut out for this homeschooling thing after all. And then, after a meltdown or two, we're ready to regroup, right, because of our conviction that homeschooling is a valid choice and it's the right choice for our child or children, our family, right now. So then we regroup, we think, oh, maybe there's a better curriculum out there. So we do some research again and we go purchase another one. If this is you, or if you can relate to any part of this, just know that you're not alone. I did this very thing and so many homeschoolers I talked to go through this as well, just buying another curriculum and then another and sometimes even another.

Speaker 1: 4:24

But at some point we start to wonder is it possible to homeschool without a curriculum? Or a related question do I even need a curriculum to homeschool? Or, better yet, we sometimes even let ourselves start to wonder if we could create our own curriculum or customize using the resources we already have. So short answers here yes, you can homeschool without a purchased curriculum package. No, you do not need to use someone else's curriculum to homeschool. And yes, you can create your own curriculum or homeschooling plan using the resources you already have. Okay, so let's take a step back for a moment, let's zoom out for a moment to define curriculum, just so we're on the same page, because it's not actually a singular thing.

Speaker 1: 5:21

When we talk about curriculum, what we're usually talking about is that package right, the binder, the packaged curriculum that you purchase for a specific grade. But I just want you to know that there's more to this discussion of curriculum than that. Let me explain here briefly. There are really three different levels of curriculum, or three different facets to curriculum, and I think understanding this will really help you begin to craft your homeschool lessons in a more personalized way so that they actually meet the needs of each of your children.

Speaker 1: 6:01

So first there's the planned curriculum. That's the one you purchase right, or the one you write yourself. That's the plan on the paper. It's what you have in mind to teach to your child each day and, yes, you can create it yourself. So when homeschoolers ask the question can you homeschool without a curriculum? My answer is always yes, you can homeschool without purchasing a grade level curriculum package. And when I'm asked, do I even need a curriculum? I say not necessarily. When I answer those questions that way, I'm referring again to that purchased curriculum package.

Speaker 1: 6:41

Then there's the taught curriculum. That consists of what you actually end up teaching from that plan, or it could be what emerges in the moment as a valuable learning experience. But let me just say that plan, whether you created it or someone else created it, it's never going to be carried out exactly as it was written on that piece of paper. In the emergent curriculum, this is a newer pedagogical term that I find really fascinating. It's really a whole philosophy of teaching that encourages being responsive to a child's interests and needs and adjusting the learning and the teaching as you go. I think that's what many homeschoolers are aiming for. We all know that life is fluid, it's dynamic, and teachers rarely teach exactly what's planned, no matter what setting they're in, whether it be a classroom or a homeschool, the goal is not to take a plan on a piece of paper and then robotically carry that out right, just so we can check things off. We want that plan to guide us, but then we want to be present with the children in front of us and really respond to their needs, and that's why I love this idea of the emergent curriculum.

Speaker 1: 8:01

Okay, finally, there's a third piece to this, and that's the learned curriculum. This is what the children actually take in from what we teach, and this is really the most important element of the whole curriculum discussion, because this is what matters in terms of the learning that's happening, and it's also, of course, the trickiest one, because we don't actually know what a child learns from the lessons that we teach. We cannot see inside their heads, right. So from the lessons we teach, the activities we lead them through, we don't actually know what sticks. We don't even know what they will retain from the lessons. So it's just another reminder that learning is mysterious and magical. So we want to just keep in mind that that end step is what our children are actually learning from the plan and the activities that we're doing.

Speaker 1: 9:01

All right, now that we've clarified the many facets of curriculum, let's get back to the question can you homeschool without a curriculum? And I say a resounding yes, and by that I mean you don't need to purchase a curriculum package. There's nothing wrong with purchasing one. But I'm going to give you a few hints and a few tips here about what that might look like. So, in fact, sometimes it's easier to create your own plan than it is to follow someone else's plan, and, truthfully, the children themselves are the curriculum. And here's what I mean by this.

Speaker 1: 9:37

One of my favorite quotes from Rudolf Steiner, who is the founder of Waldorf Education. In one of my favorite quotes, he talks about how our mission as the teacher is to look at the children before us and discern what they need right now. And what better setting to do this in than our homeschools? So here's what Steiner said, quote where is the book in which the teacher can read about what teaching is? The children themselves are that book? We should not learn to teach out of any book other than the one lying open before us and consisting of the children themselves. End quote.

Speaker 1: 10:19

Now this quote, interestingly, was interpreted to mean that we each create our own curriculum from scratch as the teacher. And so when my children, my children, are now in their 20s and 30s, right, but when they were in elementary school, especially my older two, there was no Waldorf homeschooling curriculum out there to buy. You could not purchase one, it didn't even exist. And everyone said that the reason was because Steiner wanted each of us to create our own curriculum. Now the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction and there's so much out there, right, there's curriculum, there are resources, there's so many homeschooling products to choose from.

Speaker 1: 11:08

So I just want to encourage you to not stop with the curriculum right. That is not the be all and end all. It can be helpful, but don't stop there. I want you, I want to encourage you to find your own path, and that's really my goal in everything that I do, in the support that I offer at Art of Homeschooling, because I know that that's what's most helpful to you for you to learn your own way of bringing the learning alive in your home for your children. Your own way of planning and engaging and enjoying your homeschool life is what's going to bring the learning alive the most right. So my mission is really to help you keep homeschooling simple, inspiring and doable.

Speaker 1: 11:58

And honestly, I just think this whole conversation about curriculum is so important for homeschoolers to know and understand. Turning everything over to an expert by purchasing a curriculum package and expecting to use it as is, that's not the perfect solution. It isn't even realistic because we don't use all of the curriculum. In fact, I have found, in talking to probably thousands of homeschoolers over the years at this point in my career, that we end up using anywhere from about 30% to maybe 75% of a curriculum that we purchase. So you won't use it exactly as is, and that's okay. You need to make this homeschooling journey your own. So here's my best advice Make some decisions yourself before you even open that curriculum and empower yourself.

Speaker 1: 12:54

Give yourself permission to change things up as you go along, and at some point you can even begin to create your own curriculum and lesson plans. That's what I help homeschoolers do, because now that you know the most important curriculum there is is the learned curriculum, what your children take from the lessons then you have a starting point right. So let's start with that in mind and work backward from there. I know you just want someone to tell you exactly what to do. I wanted that too, believe me, and a curriculum can give us guidance. So can an experienced homeschooler right, who's a little bit farther along on the path than you. But the rest is up to you, and that's why it's better to think of a purchased curriculum as an example of how someone else taught a certain subject or grade, and then, after looking at that example, you decide how you will do it.

Speaker 1: 13:58

A homeschooling mom recently told me this. She said I find that if you start with detailed block planning or simply following a curriculum as is, before you create your own framework or overarching plan, you reach for too many resources or tend to overthink everything. This is really the recipe for overwhelm, my friend. Buying more and more curriculum and resources does not help us find clarity. It actually can confuse the situation. So my biggest takeaway for you today is this no matter what curriculum package or resources you own or choose to purchase, you are the leader in your homeschool. You will find your way. You will find your way and grow as the leader over time. So just start where you are. That's all any of us can really do. Just as Maya Angelou, the author, said do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better. Your children are so fortunate to have you in their lives and you are doing such important work in this world, my friend, so please reach out. Reach out to me if you want any support as you go along.

Speaker 1: 15:19

I have a few previous episodes here on the podcast to recommend you listen to if you want to explore this topic further. So check out how to customize your homeschool curriculum and invite more engagement. If you're interested in tips for bringing more hands-on learning, no matter what curriculum you're using, and that's in episode 54 here on the podcast. If you want to embrace the fact that there's really no such thing as open and go curriculum, then have a listen to episode number 51, so you can discover what to do instead. So you can discover what to do instead. And if you want more tips on how to use that curriculum you purchased, check out episode 28, where I remind you that the two most important skills we can learn as home educators are the skill of flexibility and the skill of observation. That's all for today, my friend, but here's what I want you to remember Rather than perfection, let's focus on connection. Thanks so much for listening and I'll see you on the next episode of the Art of Homeschooling podcast. Thank you.