For six years, I’ve used the same core homeschool curriculum with my three kids. For six years, I’ve loved it, promoted it, recommended it, and blogged about it. Then this year, we hit a wall. Navigating my daughter’s dyslexia, increasing demands on my time, adding another child to the mix of homeschooling multiple ages, graduating my son to a higher level of learning within that curriculum—there was a perfect storm of reasons. But bottom line, what has worked for so long absolutely wasn’t working any longer. I dreaded even opening the lesson plans, much less planning the weekly assignments. My son was in tears over the reading. I was constantly overhauling the curriculum to make it work. And we were all tired.
I’m extremely loyal by nature, so leaving a homeschool curriculum I had used for so long felt a little bit like betrayal, like giving up on a relationship. Even looking at other curriculum options felt a little bit like cheating. Saying goodbye was bitter sweet.
But when I finally made the leap, closed that curriculum for the final time, and made the next purchase, there was a huge sense of relief. For all of us! I hadn’t realized just how heavy and burdened we’d all felt by plodding through a curriculum that was no longer working. The difference was night and day. My kids enthusiasm spiked, and my relief quickly converted into increased energy and enthusiasm as well. As hard as it was to break up with our homeschool curriculum, it was definitely time.
5 ways to know it’s time to change your homeschool curriculum
When the homeschool curriculum is failing you—even after adjustments
It’s not uncommon to run into some issues with even the best curriculum. Making regular adjustments is a part of the normal homeschool routine. But when you can’t find success, no matter how many adjustments you’ve made, it’s probably time to look for a new homeschool curriculum. I’ve made adjustments with our curriculum before and found a method we had all loved. But this year, no matter how many times I made adjustments, there just was no good solution.
When planning and using the homeschool curriculum fills you with dread
Homeschooling is hard. There’s no way around that reality. It’s hard work. It’s a full-time job. And just like any other job, there are going to be days and maybe even weeks when you just don’t feel like doing it. That’s normal. But when opening up that curriculum becomes something you hate and dread day in and day out, when it robs you of your joy and enthusiasm for learning and teaching your children, it’s time for something different. We cannot inspire our kids to love learning if we hate it. And our kids will ultimately pick up on our sour attitudes if we continue with something we hate. That doesn’t even mean that there is something wrong with the curriculum, but different methods and curriculum options work better with certain personalities and at certain stages of life. Find something that gets you excited about learning again.
When everyone begins to hate learning
We can all get into a rut. Especially around January and February, there is a period of homeschooling blues we all tend to go through. But when you and your child(ren) both hate and dread each day, it’s time for a change. Maybe it’s just time for a change of scenery or pace, but sometimes it’s time for drastic changes. What does this look like? When something you’ve loved becomes something you hate, it might be time to change homeschool curriculum. For instance, when my son, who is an avid reader, was coming to me in tears about the content of what he was reading, I knew something needed to change. When planning (something I usually enjoy) was becoming something I dreaded each week, I knew something needed to change. When we all dreaded the start of a new week, I knew something was wrong. I’d tried my usual tactics of making minor changes, but in my gut I knew we needed to say good-bye to our homeschool curriculum and try something new.
When you constantly feel like you are failing
I think we all battle “failure syndrome” to some extent. Life is hard. Parenting is hard. Homeschooling is hard. It’s not unusual to feel like I’m failing at something. But when I feel this way, I’ve learned to take a step back and ask: is there a tool I’m using right now that’s failing me? If I’m preparing a meal and I can’t get the knife to cut through my meat, I don’t instantly assume I’m terrible at cutting meat; I sharpen my knife. As a homeschool parent, we have to approach this feeling of failure the same way. I feel like I’m failing because this curriculum is setting me up to fail. For me, that feeling of failure came because I could no longer devote the hours of prep work it took to make the curriculum a success. Because I didn’t have the time to do it right, there was this constant feeling that I was missing things and leaving things out (because I was). I just couldn’t navigate the 50-80 pages of teacher notes each week to pull things together properly. It was time for a change.
When your homeschool curriculum no longer helps you to achieve your goals
Knowing what you are wanting to accomplish with your homeschooling, what your ultimate goals are, helps you to evaluate when something is no longer moving you toward that goal. If your overall goal is to inspire a love for learning—and your kids are hating school—it’s time for a change. If your overall goal is to build character and values through each subject—and your curriculum is presenting a worldview that doesn’t support your own—it’s time for a change. If your overall homeschool goal is college and career—and your child is scoring poorly on assessments—it might be time for a change. We all have different goals, and our goals may change. But the tools that we use within our homeschool should be moving us toward the goals we have set. Curriculum is a tool, not a master. If your homeschool curriculum tool is no longer working, it’s time for a change.
Breaking up with our Homeschool Curriculum
I love Tapestry of Grace and the years of fond memories we’ve had using this curriculum. But for us, it was time for a change. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been using Heart of Dakota as a family, and it’s been such a relief. We love our guides. I love the Charlotte Mason style, the Christian values, and the clear lesson plans already laid out for me. My kids love the books, the projects, and having all the directions included in their daily assignments. Opening our guides each week to discover what’s next is a joy, and I’m no longer spending all my free time trying to plan the next lesson. Deciding to change our homeschool curriculum wasn’t easy, but using a tool that was no longer working wasn’t easy either.
Sometimes, breaking up with your homeschool curriculum can be the best thing you do for your homeschool.
