How does one go about the overwhelming task of deciding which curriculum to use? There are about a million different options and about a billion opinions about why one is better than the other, what should be done each year, what is not good about a certain program etc etc etc. It can be a big (if not more) overwhelming.
Then throw in ranks, ratings, awards, opinions, options and I honestly don’t know how everyone makes the choice. Then there are a ton of blogs not to mention pininterest boards, facebook groups and online forums.
And then there are the different styles of homeschooling. Everything from Classical, to Charlotte Mason, to Enki (I have no idea what that is!), to Unschooling, to Online options.
It’s a bit crazy. Probably more than just a bit. As I have swam through all this info and opinions the last few months as I decided what we would use this year there were times when it was hard not to think “oh no, am I making the right decision?” “what if there is a “better” science (math, handwriting, history etc) out there?” Many times I had to calm myself down and remind myself that there might in fact be a better option out there and there might not be. And what I think is better may not be better for someone else. Ultimately I had to choose something and since I’m a rather decisive person it wasn’t all that hard for me.
Is it the right choice? Should I have chosen something different? What if it doesn’t work? Honestly I don’t know. But I do know that the only way to know is to jump in and just try it. I may decide I like part of this but not that part, or I love this, but not that, or it may be a great fit for our family. Or it may not. And I could either read a million more people’s opinions or talk to more people or look at more samples, or I could just take what we’ve decided on and go with it and see where it leads us. Nothing is set in stone and nothing is concrete. We are talking about kindergarten here.
Will it work? I don’t know yet, but I do know we are all going to learn a lot this year and I’ll know a little more next year going into the process and go from there. I firmly believe there is no “perfect” curriculum for each person, but there is a curriculum (and actually a number of them) that will work great with each family and student. And enough with the worrying and over analyzing, it’s almost time to jump in and go!
Hiking Mommy 