Temptation to Change

Dear Homeschool Friends,

My most frequent advice to homeschoolers is to not be afraid to change things up when needed. If something isn’t working, scrap it and try something different. You hit a wall and aren’t making any progress? Look for new ideas. You hate the curriculum you chose? Find one in a different style. Kids aren’t “getting it?” Try a different method. Maybe you haven’t found their learning style yet. The work you have them doing is too easy or too hard? Be honest about that, sell it to someone else (if you bought it), and find work for them at a more appropriate level. Be flexible.

However, I also want to advise you to avoid the temptation to change when you’ve finally found something that works.

I recently realized that we’ve finally found some materials that really work for us! After four years of learning to homeschool, we have figured out what works for us, and what doesn’t. Year Five has been the most productive thus far, and my children have made the biggest leaps this year.

Four years of trial and error, purchases, borrowing, returns, scouring the library, internet, and the homeschool convention, curriculum fairs and book swaps, and peering through friends’ bookshelves and garage sales … guess what I have now? (Besides a store room of unused materials that now need homes.)

I have an email inbox full of sales notices. I have a snail-mailbox full of catalogs. I have piles of temptations! I have thoughts like “Oo, that looks like fun!” or “What a great idea! We should try that!” “I wonder if that would work?” “Oh, that would make an interesting study!” “50% off?? I should try that and see if my kids like it!”

Friends, the last few months have been an exercise in self-control for me. We’ve found materials that are working for us very well, but the temptations don’t stop coming. I really need to keep my focus on taking baby steps forward with what we already have and stop looking at alternatives. I need to wear a sign when I’m with other homeschool friends that says “Got what we need! Don’t tell me about anything else!”

Just to reiterate my top two pieces of advice about curriculum choices: don’t be afraid to change it up until you find something that works; and, once you find something that works, resist the temptation to keep trying out different things!

Happy homeschooling!

~ Courageous Jane

The Year of Learning Dangerously

Book review: The Year of Learning Dangerously by Quinn Cummings

I’m not a professional book reviewer and I’m not getting a kickback from reviewing this book. I just needed to put it out into the universe how much I LOVED this book! Quinn Cummings has somehow read my mind and put into words … good words … what my first year of homeschooling was like. Her research went a little farther than mine, with forays into the world of homeschool conventions and dramatic costume changes, but otherwise, you might’ve thought I’d been living the dream with her.

I seriously laughed out loud, I think I cried once, and I shouted at my husband multiple times, “This woman is writing what’s in my head!!! And she’s using good words!!!” 

Quinn does a beautiful job of explaining most of the homeschooling options that are out there. She describes the types of people who homeschool, their reasons for choosing this lifestyle, and the different methods used. She was very thorough in her research and anyone who has done the same research can easily recognize what she’s describing despite her skill at being subtle.

I think our biggest difference is my choice to be transparent about my Christian walk, but I respect her choice of remaining private on the issue of her spiritual life.

Quinn managed to wrap each chapter up with the brightest, shiniest bow, yet each time I felt like you’d only get what each chapter’s last sentence meant if you truly “got” her. I recognize that there are many in this world who are way more serious than me and Quinn. (Like that? Me and Quinn. Me and my new BFF. Not that she actually knows me, but I’m sure she’d love me if we ever met.) I love her tongue-in-cheek humor, and her self-deprecating manner.

Not only did this author make me laugh, and think, but she also had me guessing to the end about whether her homeschooling experiment would last more than one school year. No spoiler alert here … you’ll have to read it yourself to find out.

I give this book my highest recommendation, which means I’m even taking the time to write this review to share how much I LOVED this book! I don’t bother writing reviews unless something has me gasping.

I heart Quinn Cummings and I heart this book too.

Does this sound like a book you’d enjoy reading, too?

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