My Change of Heart with Homeschool

Man, we're getting down to about one post a month and I do not like that! It's been so busy around here and I haven't been giving myself the space to be creative. I'm going to try and change that in June! Something that I've been doing a lot of this month is researching homeschool curriculum.

I've known for a couple of years that homeschool was our plan for our children. Josias really felt that it was the route that our family needed to take and after a while I started to see it, too! Then came the part of choosing the curriculum. I never knew in all of my wildest dreams that there are SO. MANY. How is someone supposed to pick?! After much research and review-reading, I had finally pinned down the perfect fit for our family! It was called, "The Good and the Beautiful" and I'm sure you've heard of it if you are a homeschooling family.

It is so picturesque and perfect! It's affordable, beautiful, and classic! There are different books for each subject, but it's made in a structure that your family can all sit and learn together. It was so ideal! I guess I should add in that I've always wanted to be a teacher. I love a lesson plan and the big white board and all of the structure- GAH! It is just my dream. This curriculum is perfect! With me being a planner, I had already lined out the curriculum and personal unit studies that we would do all the way up to second grade. I had put a lot of time and effort into this, and I just couldn't wait for it to start! Then, the wildest thing happened.

A friend of mine had reached out to me and asked me about the curriculums that I've researched and what I chose for Judah. I, of course, gave her my knowledge that I had and referred her to the two best curriculums that I had researched for a more laid-back homeschooling approach. There was The Good and the Beautiful, which is incredibly user friendly and easy to understand, and then there was Gather 'Round Homeschool. Gather 'Round consists of unit studies that contain Language Arts, History, Science and Social Studies all in one. You just have to supplement with math! They have wide units ranging from Oceans to South America. To be quite honest, any time I heard of moms using Gather 'Round, I scoffed internally. For some reason, it just didn't seem like that great of a thing to me. I'm not sure what my disdain for it was, but it never sounded that appealing to me. It felt like cheating or something; I really don't know.

As I started describing it to my friend, my internal scoff disappeared. I could feel myself lighting up about it and the thought of Judah going through the curriculum! I was thinking about how the Ready to Read unit, which would be the one he starts, would just excite him to his core! He is a very broad thinker and loves to think of how things work. Counting with pictures of ants instead of blocks would be right up his alley. Along with the unit studies on continents, space, animals and more! As I wrote all of the pros of this curriculum down, I realized just how many they were. Most importantly, it started to sink in just how PERFECT it would be for my son. That really was a doozy for me.

I sat on my bed, staring at the wall in amazement. I told my husband, "It feels like my world just tipped off of its axis". I hate to be wrong. I especially hate to be wrong when I've RESEARCHED! I knew what I was talking about! I had found the perfect curriculum! That was perfect... for me. It sunk in. I had worked so hard to find the curriculum and study patterns that best suited MY needs as a mother and former student. It was so crazy! I couldn't believe that I had gotten so looped up in this idea of the perfect homeschool with something that I had chosen to fit into my personal box of what was acceptable. It made me ask the question, "who am I answering to, here?" Clearly, Judah's education wasn't something I was letting him have a say in. And, really, The Good and the Beautiful wasn't even something I would have chosen anyway because I love the classical looking books that feel older fashioned.

I had chosen this curriculum because it felt like the right thing to do. Some peers of mine have used it, the reviews are stellar, it is actually a great curriculum that we may end up using in the future! But the thing is, I was deciding to put how we were viewed by others and what I thought of myself in front of what Judah needs. Sure, he's still young and we have time to switch things up in a few years, but these years are formative, too! He's desperate to learn and my desire is to give him the best, richest education possible.

After a bit more research, I have decided to use the Gather 'Round Homeschool books for Judah's first year of school. Isn't that crazy? It is still a bit hard to believe that my heart changed so quickly and that I feel SO SETTLED and so excited for this upcoming school year! All of this is mostly to say this: God knows just what you need and what your children need, despite you and your thoughts!

I wanted to share this short story in case any other moms out there feel at a loss with choosing curriculum, or even something else for their child. Just give it to God! Even if you think you've made the best choice, He may still come in and give you a change of heart. And how amazing it is when that happens! Thanks for reading and have a great weekend, friends.