Tips for NOT Overthinking Your Homeschool Curriculum Choices

not overthinking homeschool curriculum choices| homeschool fears

We’ve been homeschooling for about 9 years now, and every year I tend to overthink my homeschool curriculum choices. This year has been worse than usual. For one, my oldest is starting high school (hear me hyperventilating?) and, with all the COVID limitations, I’ve had far more time to think and rethink and rethink again.

Don’t get me wrong, researching the right curriculum takes time; that’s perfectly normal. There is a normal part of gathering facts, reading reviews, and previewing samples that comes with wise shopping. But when I begin to rethink and second guess the items in my cart, not because of facts, but because of my own fears and insecurities, I’m overthinking.

So if you just can’t bring yourself to click that “purchase” button, or you’ve replanned your homeschool year for the hundredth time, how do you stop overthinking your homeschool curriculum choices and move on? Here are a few reminders that help me.

Middle School Homeschool Curriculum Favorites

homeschooling ADHD | Middle School Homeschool Curriculum | Homeschooling Junior High

This homeschool year, I have two of my kids in middle school—6th grade and 8th grade. To say I was nervous about these transitions would be an understatement. Though I definitely miss the lower elementary years of crafts and messy projects, adventurous learning and cozy read-alouds, these years of growth and independence and deep conversations have been a blast as well. I actually love homeschooling my middle schoolers. And while settling on homeschool curriculum for middle school has been a little bit of trial and error, I’m pretty happy with how our year has wrapped up.

Hands-on Homeschool Language Arts curriculum: review & giveaway

Guest Hollow Language Arts | Homeschool language arts curriculum | Beowulf's Grammar

We’ve recently finished the entire Nessy phonics program, and I’ve been on the search for a grammar and writing program that fits the parameters of my son’s personality and dyslexia struggles. His learning style is humor, (and no, you won’t see that on any learning style list, but trust me—it’s a thing). That was one of the key successes with Nessy for him; the humorous videos helped him to finally remember the phonograms we’d been struggling to learn for a while. For grammar and writing, he needed something visual, humorous, and creative—a hands-on homeschool language arts curriculum that was fun.

Finding Guest Hollow’s Language Arts program was like having someone read my mind. Her Beowulf’s Grammar activities and lesson plans are full of picture books, drawing lessons, finger puppets, and projects tailor-made for my son.

(Disclaimer: I received elements of this program for free in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for a positive review. All opinions are my own.)

Second Grade Homeschool Curriculum Favorites

Homeschooling Dyslexia | Homeschooling Second Grade | Homeschool Curriculum

This homeschool year, my youngest began second grade. It’s hard for me to believe that after all these years, I’m done with rainbow counting bears and letters of the alphabet. I’m savoring every moment of these younger years with him; they are some of my favorite in the homeschooling journey. These are the years of enthusiastic wonder, and lots of energy! I love his boyishness and his sense of humor, and how these characteristics play a part in all of his learning.

He has his own set of struggles, working through some mild dyslexia and dysgraphia. And with a family full of ADHD, it’s hard to tell right now how much is second-grade boyishness and how much is his own potential ADHD presenting. He’s my clown and a regular performer, and often after our once a week class at a local charter school, I was informed of his frequent interruptions. When I questioned him about one of those incidents, he answered so matter of factly: “It was interesting and I had lots of questions!” I have no doubt he did, too.

So here’s what it looks like to homeschool a second-grader like mine and the homeschool curriculum favorites that worked well for us this year.

Simple Steps to a Successful Routine

Successful Routine | Homeschooling ADHD

Change often means chaos, executive function failure, and total upheaval for those who live with ADHD, whether that change is summer break, winter break, or coronavirus quarantine, it really doesn’t matter. ADHD makes self-regulating extremely difficult, particularly when life changes suddenly and the systems we had in place to motivate and anchor us unravel into uncertainty. We lose our natural rhythm and face insurmountable odds trying to lasso the winds of change and ride out the storm. So how do you have a system in place that can withstand change, a system that can ride with the storms and yet help us all to stay anchored? For our family, I’ve learned that a successful routine can make all the difference.

Simple Ideas for Homeschooling Unexpectedly

 

homeschool resources | deschooling | new to homeschool | homeschooling unexpectedlyDeciding to homeschool is usually an intentional, carefully-weighed decision with time for research and preparation. But when homeschool is forced upon you suddenly and unexpectedly, what do you do? First, take a deep breath, pour yourself a cup of coffee, allow yourself that extra splash of cream, and relax. Though this might not be what you would have chosen, homeschooling unexpectedly can be a memorable time of learning some valuable life lessons.

  • Life Lesson #1: Learning is a life-long process that doesn’t end simply because we are not at a school building. It happens all day long, every day, all around us.
  • Life Lesson #2: Life is full of the unexpected. Embrace a growth mindset and make the best of it. Your kids will learn from your example.
  • Life Lesson #3: Don’t try to copy what someone else is doing. Be yourself. Don’t try to replace your public school curriculum or schedule right now. Instead, think about who you are and who your kids are; capitalize on that!

Yet regardless of these practical life lessons, there’s still the problem of what to do

If you want something simple and straight to the point, try Starfall.com for both reading and basic math practice for your younger kids (k-3rd) and Khan Academy (all the subjects) for your older kiddos. 

Looking for something a little more creative and “family-style”? Here are a few additional ideas to help make this time of unexpectedly homeschooling both manageable and memorable.

ADHD & Dyslexia Summer Reading Recommendation

I was compensated for my time reviewing this product, 
writing this review, and hosting the giveaway. 
I was not compensated for my opinions, and all opinions are my own.

 

summer reading list | help for ADHD | help for dyslexiaHomeschooling a child with learning disabilities is no small task, but perhaps the hardest part of it is facing down all those fears that what I’m doing won’t be enough, or that I might even make our struggles worse. Part of my strategy for facing these fears is knowledge: I read a lot. Each summer, I spend a portion of my summer reading on “professional development,” just a couple of books that help me to understand my kids (and husband) better. Specifically, that means I’ve always got at least a couple of books on my ADHD-dyslexia summer reading list. This year, one of those books was Helping your Child with Language-Based Learning Disabilities by Daniel Franklin.

Honestly, this book easily made it into the list of my top five on the topic. It’s encouraging, positive, and filled with great info! Best of all, I love that his approach focuses so much on relationship.