Conferences and curriculum fairs are coming up—before you know it, next school year will be here! Have you thought about what you’ll be teaching your children this fall? Today on Home School Heartbeat, Mike Farris and his guest get you started with the homeschool planning process.
Mike Farris:
I’m excited to introduce our guest for this week’s program. She’s well-known in homeschooling circles as a conference speaker, author, and all-around expert on the topic of homeschooling curriculum. Cathy Duffy, it’s great to have you on the show again.
Cathy Duffy:
Hi, Mike! I’m glad to be here.
Mike:
It may seem a little bit early for some people, but this is the time of year to start planning for next fall’s curriculum. What’s the first thing parents should do or think about as they start choosing curriculum for next year?
Cathy:
Setting your goals has to be the first priority. It’s tempting to just purchase a grade level package where it’s all put together for you and it looks like what maybe you experienced in school. But you’re likely to be more successful if you take time to think about what it is you really want to accomplish and how you want to do it. You might want to use a traditional program or you might want to choose one of your approaches to education that other homeschoolers use—maybe something like classical education, unit studies, or what we call a “Real Books” curriculum.
We also need to make some choices about which subjects we think the most important each year. It’s really about taking control of the curriculum right up front rather than letting it control you. Take the time to set goals for yourself by thinking about what you need to teach, and then consider which methods are likely to help you reach those goals.
Mike:
Cathy, that’s great advice. I’m Mike Farris.
