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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: Jan 29 2013 at 1:43pm | IP Logged
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The spirit of St. Therese sums it up best I guess, hence the subject line. I really DO choose all! And, well, maybe that is part of the problem. I have a lot of things I WANT to do. I always pile my desk up with cool options that I "hope to get to", and in reality, never will because I am choosing too much. So, I end up feeling overwhelmed and sometimes am paralyzed with the indecision. How do you go about actually just deciding what to do when you want to do everything? (I want to have ALL of these nature books to use with the kids...well..that is not going to happen...so, which ONE? Then, if I were to choose the ONE, I would think I had probably made a mistake and the others were probably better.) This is a personality trait of mine...a bit of indecision, a bit of wanting it ALL, then, once the decision is made, doubting my decision. I pretty much do this in every area if I think about it. (Take 50 items of clothing into a dressing room. End up with one t-shirt that I can stomach, and then doubt if that was the right choice the whole way home.) With the older kids, I used a boxed curriculum. Sort of helpful for my personality "weakness" (  ouch! That hurt!) But, with the younger set, I have more of the CM philosophy and methods in place, but do stumble in the area of "settling" for a few well-loved books. If any of you more decisive types could walk me through how you choose and set aside all those other equally good options, that would be helpful! Understand what I am trying to say? An example would be I really LIKE the idea of Intermediate Language Lessons...I use this part of the time, but the more anal side of my personality thinks that I should also be doing a more rigid grammar course, so I try to throw that in as well. Then, a conflict of WHICH one to do with the girls comes up. And, a bit of overkill. Part of me wants to be more CM, but then my super ego comes crashing the party and complains that that might not be thorough enough. I guess I am riding the fence with two different school philosophies and am having trouble choosing that too! 
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Jan 29 2013 at 2:05pm | IP Logged
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Kim, I think that regarding the grammar question, you *can* choose all, just not all at once!
JennMack has shared her language arts and overview plans over the years, and she chooses to do a formal grammar course twice, once in fifth grade or so and once in high school. This plan has made a lot of sense to me.
In terms of choosing books to use formally, I try to weigh economics and the choices made by sources I trust. I compromise, usually favoring economics.
I also try to remember that just because I don't use a source formally does not mean my children can't be exposed. For instance, I like This Country of Ours, but it was a little hard for my 2nd grader to read and narrate independently. I chose a book he could use independently, but my plan is to burn the librivox or Audible recording of TCOO so that we can listen to it on our long car ride this Spring as we've used it for A Little History of the World in the past. My oldest also has read LOTS of the books I see on booklists for formal studies independently for fun. 
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Jan 29 2013 at 4:10pm | IP Logged
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Oh, boy, Kim I know what you mean! There is SO MUCH out there now to choose from. It can be overwhelming!
In a way it was easier when I first started homeschooling many years ago. There were a few major suppliers of full curricula(Seton, Sonlight,Oak Meadows, Calvert) and a few smaller ones with materials to pick and choose from (Timberdoodle, Neinhuis Montessori,etc), but overall very limited choices.
No online classes, no Kindles full of hundreds of free out-of-print books, no lapbooking printables, notebooking downloads, streaming services, educational websites, iPad apps... Just a few books and a small group of us trying to make a go of educating our kids the best we could.
In a way it was simpler to make choices. But it was also frustrating to not be able to find what you wanted or needed.It was so limited.
When I am tempted to be overwhelmed by the abundance I try to remember that this is what so many of us prayed so hard for over so many years-to have more options and opportunities to tailor our kids education to the vision we saw for them. And God answered our prayers (as He always does) with abundance--full and overflowing! More than we ever could have imagined! He is so good!
But at times it does feel sort of like I am at an all-you-can-eat buffet with so much abundance. I want a taste of everything offered, even if does mean I leave feeling bloated and fat!LOL!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: Jan 29 2013 at 4:47pm | IP Logged
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 Have you been spying on me? 
I overthink everything and always get more than we can use or try several different things when it comes to homeschooling. I feel overwhelmed to pick the right thing for my boys that I either won't make a decision or I buy several different things and end up with more than we can use. I don't have a cure, yet! Prayer has been very helpful. Not only am I praying for what we should use, but for listening skills to hear what God wants us to use and not to doubt my choices.
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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Claire F
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| Posted: Jan 29 2013 at 10:37pm | IP Logged
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pumpkinmom wrote:
Have you been spying on me?
I overthink everything and always get more than we can use or try several different things when it comes to homeschooling. I feel overwhelmed to pick the right thing for my boys that I either won't make a decision or I buy several different things and end up with more than we can use. I don't have a cure, yet! Prayer has been very helpful. Not only am I praying for what we should use, but for listening skills to hear what God wants us to use and not to doubt my choices. |
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This could be me too!
I am such an overthinker, and I too suffer from I-want-to-do-it-all-itis. There are so many great books, ideas, and opportunities, I tend to get overwhelmed by the possibilities and it takes me a while to make decisions. Things often sound good when I first look into them, and aren't always what I thought in practice. I'm learning - learning how much is too much, how much is right, and what kinds of resources resonate with my kids.
And then they get a little bigger, and things change. Sigh.
No great solutions, just a lot of commiseration!
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Claire
Mom to DS 12/04, DS 5/07, DD 8/09
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Jan 30 2013 at 7:32am | IP Logged
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I'm joining the crowd here, too.  The Rainbow Resource catalog is like Christmas all over again! As soon as it arrives, I can't wait to grab my highlighter and a quiet corner of the house and just dream of all the resources I would buy if I had the money.
One thing that did help me several years ago was that I realized, in my attempt to "choose it all", my kids were actually missing out. If I had too many resources I was trying to get to, I was trying to take from everything and while my kids were exposed to a lot of great stuff, they were never really able to go deeper into it. There just wasn't enough time.
An example of this is American History. When my oldest started 6th grade we started studying ancient history. He was disappointed. He loved American History. One day he said, "Mom, we've been learning about American History for several years but we never even got to the Civil War!" I had so many great resources about the Revolutionary War we never had time to go beyond that.
So by forcing myself to choose one resource for history, the child really uses that resource and gets the fullness out of it - eating the apple to the core, not just the outer layer - but there was still time for rabbit trails when something really interested him.
In planning our science this year I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to use. I forced myself to choose a spine, buy one coordinating activity and then wait before I bought anything else. It's working because he's really getting into the topic, really reading the spine - every nook and cranny of it - learning so much more than if I had him jump from resource to resource because they all looked so good. I am just now to the point where I want to add a second supplement so I will order it.
So science is my success story, but I'm afraid that's the only one. I need to apply this idea to the other subjects, I think! On the other hand, some things lend themselves to the sampling idea or just broad exposure. Maybe you could choose a few things you really want your child to have a very broad exposure too, say in the arts, and gather all those great resources, but then pick a subject that you are going to limit yourself to one spine and see how it goes.
Lindsay makes a great comment about Jenn's language arts. I think keeping the big picture in mind, which I know Jen does, helps a lot! Knowing that the other great resources we want to use will be waiting for us in the future makes that choice a lot easier.
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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mamaslearning
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| Posted: Jan 31 2013 at 4:25pm | IP Logged
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I've been pondering this for a few days, because I can identify with the abundance of choices and wanting to use everything I see. 
Lately, a thought has filled my mind that is useful in all areas of life, so I wanted to share my small revelation. It came to me as I was cutting our food budget drastically (okay, I promise to let this go one of these days and stop talking about financial issues ). I was overwhelmed that I could not afford all organics, all grassfed/hormone free meats, etc. It was depressing me, but then I had the revelation that God expects our best and he will do the rest. If all I can afford is to stick with the dirty dozen checklist, then I have to trust that he will care for our health. My best is to choose as healthy as I can, then trust that God has my back.
So, how does this compare to curriculum? Well, there are so many choices, but if I establish my budget and my nonnegotiable items (quality religion resources, literature, etc.), then I will trust that God will bring about good from our home school. I will have gaps, I will miss something, but I can adapt each year and add in those things I miss as we go along.
Now, don't think this means I'm all super relaxed.  I still have anxiety days where I'm sure that I've ruined their education, but I keep turning those thoughts over to Him and reach out in prayer for guidance and discernment. It's such a hard and ongoing process! Oh, and I also have recently limited the places I lurk online in regards to curriculum. This helps tremendously with the assault of *new and improved*itis.
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Lara
DD 11, DS 8, DS 6, DS 4
St. Francis de Sales Homeschool
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asplendidtime
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| Posted: Feb 15 2013 at 12:29pm | IP Logged
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Oh wow Kim! Now I see why your posts are always so helpful to me, your weaknesses you mentioned I share. I can so very much relate to what you wrote. Thanks for asking this, I always struggle in this area.
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Rebecca~Mama to
Noah 17,
Katie 16,
Mary 14,
Tim 13,
Jonah 12,
Josh 10,
Zoe 9,
Will 7,
Peter 6,
Laura-Mae 4,
Emily-Joy 2,
Genevieve & Gabriella 1
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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: Feb 15 2013 at 4:33pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, Rebecca! I guess we are "kindred spirits".
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: Feb 15 2013 at 4:35pm | IP Logged
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I also noticed that a lot of our kids names are the same! LOL! I have also always wanted to name a little one Joy, but my husband won't seem to agree to it for some reason. (Who wouldn't like the name Joy??  )
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: "I choose all!"
