We’ve only purchased curriculum once throughout our 16 year homeschooling journey.  Let me just simply say that it was not a good choice for us.  Had we continued on the curriculum buying route, no doubt I would be making furniture with it now, for I’d be dissatisfied and changing it every semester (or even more often).

These past few weeks homeschool bloggers have been sharing what they are using this year for curriculum.  I felt that those of us who choose not to use manufactured curriculum got left out.  I confess that I even had a brief moment of longing as I saw photo after photo of shiny new workbooks and texts.

So, with that in mind, I’m sharing some of the reasons we do not go the curriculum route in our homeschool.

I love the freedom to learn without restrictions.  When we are learning about a topic we find particularly interesting I would not want our study to be limited to only a few pages or an “x” amount of time to get it finished.  Also, I feel that researching a topic from several different sources is a much better way to learn.

I hate “busy work”.  I’m not fond of how some curricula have pages and pages to be completed when only a page or two would get the job done.  And, I dislike how others barely cover a skill without enough practice before moving on to the next lesson.  Sometimes kids will catch on to something quickly, other times it can take a long while.

No matter the curriculum, it isn’t designed for individuality.  And teaching my kids according to their learning styles, interests, speeds, strengths and weaknesses is the best aspect of home education.

For another post about curriculum choices click here. https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/04/09/abeka-lifepac-and-fiar-oh-my/

For more about why and how we school like we do, click here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/05/08/why-and-how/

betty jo