Many of us are in the throes of trying to finish nailing down our homeschooling plans for fall. Recently, I’ve been seeing lots of posts from my fellow bloggers about their various plans for the coming year. These posts are fun to read. My curiosity often gets the best of me and I do enjoy peeking through the window that each of these posts reveals about the lives of other homeschoolers.
These posts are so fun that I thought about writing a Curriculum Reveal post of my own; however, there are 4 reasons why I decided not to do that.
Here are 4 Reasons Why I Don’t Post a Curriculum Reveal:
1. Â Our purpose is different
God has called us all to homeschool for different reasons. He has created our kids uniquely. He knows what our homeschools need to be doing more than anyone else. I think it’s important that we all listen to what God wants us to do for the coming year rather than following someone else whose plan looks intriguing.
2. Â I can’t endorse things I haven’t tried
Some of the stuff we’re tackling this year is new for our family. I wouldn’t want to put it out there as an endorsement and have it not be as good as I’m hoping. I want to try it before I write about it!
3. Â Not yet determined
Some of our subjects aren’t necessarily curriculum choices but are lists of books and those lists haven’t been completely determined, yet. One of my sons will be reading a mixture of books written by American authors and British authors. I have an idea of which books I’d like him to read; however, I will most certainly change my mind on some of them based on how it goes with the first books he reads. I like to base some of my choices on things I think will be more interesting to him and that will no doubt vary throughout the year.
4. The comparison/pride trap
One of the biggest reasons I won’t be writing a curriculum reveal post is because of the comparison/pride trap. If I post a detailed list of what we’re studying for the year, some readers compare my list to theirs and think that they aren’t doing enough with their kids. This may cause them to do even more with their kids than they were planning and for them (or their kids) to eventually feel overwhelmed.
Some readers would compare my list to theirs and think that I’m not doing enough with my boys. This could cause them to feel prideful with their own choices which is a sinful trap I don’t want to cause anyone to fall into.
By the way, this is the perfect time for you to create homeschool records, if you haven’t already. If you have younger kids, homeschool record keeping is pretty simple. If you have kids who are high school age, record keeping is still manageable as long as you don’t let yourself get too far behind.
So, if you are still working on coming up with your homeschool plan for the coming year, I would highly recommend that you listen to God’s leading over what everyone else is doing. Â That is the best way to be sure that your kids will get the right education for them!
Question: Â Are you done making your homeschool plans for this fall or are you still trying to figure things out? Â Please leave a comment below.
These are all great reasons not to do a reveal. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks! No offense to anyone who DOES post a curriculum reveal… 🙂
Great post and so refreshing! Yes the curriculum reveal has gotten me in trouble over the years. I have done those very things you talked about: comparing and feeling like I’m not doing enough. It led me on a wild goose chase for a few years only to end up back where we started. Thank you for your blog! I don’t have time to follow many blogs but yours is a definite for me! Very practical and real! Thank you!!!!
Thanks so much for your kind words, Keri! I pray all of the time that God will use me to minister to others through my blog… and it’s encouraging to me when I hear that He is working through me in that way. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I hope you and your kids have a fantastic year!
This is an interesting perspective, thank you for sharing! I have had personal friends of mine tell me exactly what you said, that they compare their homeschools to mine and others. I would NEVER want that. I share mine anyway, but always try to post “real” and “honest” posts that show that I am NOT someone to compare yourself to. I think it is a hard balance as a blogger, and I totally respect your choice (and KNOW you respect others).
Yes, I definitely don’t mean to say anything negative about someone who does a curriculum reveal. You do a good job at being real and honest, Misty! I love reading your posts. 🙂
We’re on our third day of homeschooling (we started last Friday), and it’s going pretty smoothly. I was a bit leery of my “plan” this year, because I’m using a mixed curriculum choice from various publishers, plus a bit of our own added book lists and software so I could tailor what my kids are learning to their learning styles. I think your reasons for not doing a curriculum reveal are spot on! If I were sharing mine, it’d go something like, “Well, I used this from these people, but then I taped some pages shut. Then I got this software from these other people, but I deleted some of the lessons and assignments because I’m planning on teaching those lessons from THESE people….”
LOL Love it! Yes, I’d have to do the same thing… Sounds like we’re two peas in a pod! Thanks for the smile. I hope you and your kids have a great year. 🙂
I decided not to post a curriculum reveal either. The past has taught me that I don’t really know WHAT we will do/use/read this year. 🙂 Instead, I posted a review of the past year. That is going to be my goal from now on–looking back on what we actually did. 🙂 I feel better (more true) about it.
Good idea, Ami! That makes sense. Writing about the previous year will also help you to have all of the information organized making it easy for your homeschool record keeping. 🙂
Thanks! I especially appreciate you are not pushing products you haven’t tried. Two thumbs up! I would be perfectly happy to read about what products you are trying and what went into your decision to try them; however, I understand completely why you want to wait. Have a wonderful school year!
Thanks, Leslie, you too! 🙂
I understand your reasons. Sometimes when I read someone else’s curriculum post, I do ask myself “are we doing enough…” and I start to worry. But at the same time, I found a lot of interesting recommendations this way. Things I wouldn’t have necessarily discovered on my own since I didn’t even know that was what we needed.
Yes, if we keep ourselves from some of the above things I mentioned, then curriculum reveal posts can be very helpful. Just like almost everything else in life – there are beneficial aspects as well as harmful ones.
I wonder, if you would like to add your blog to my Homeschooling Directory. I would love my readers to discover your wonderful ideas.
http://www.kidminds.org/p/top-homeschool-blogs-directory.html
Yes, I certainly would. I just added it. Thanks so much!
Michelle, I truly enjoyed your perspective on revealing homeschool curriculum! You are so right-all homeschool families are unique. It can be overwhelming to see what others plan out-and the comparison game starts. Thanks for giving permission to not reveal-often others need to hear that’s okay to not do what everyone else is doing! Also, thanks for linking up to Learning From Each Other!
Thanks, Amy. Yes, I know that comparison is one of the traps I fall into if I’m not careful… And I usually compare my weaknesses to other people’s strengths. Not good for my morale! So anyway, that’s probably why I’m more aware of it and try hard not to cause others to compare themselves to me or anything I’m doing. 🙂
Great article! I don’t publish a curriculum reveal either. I do not use a lot of purchased curriculum. I tend to piece together and create my own curriculum from various resources for us to use. Therefore, stating what I use would be pretty difficult. I also change what isn’t working. I have found that we might try a particular curriculum and if it doesn’t work, I nix it. That would be too much updating and revamping for me.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
The first reason is why O never did it…thought about doing a curriculum review at the end of the year but it only happened once.
One reason I DO like these is it helps me find blogs to follow using the same curriculum I am (which they may post tips for during the year).
I always enjoy reading them because it can let me know about what others are trying and see if there’s something I might want to try another year.
That being said, I totally get all of your reasons, and for that one about “it’s new and don’t want to recommend what you haven’t used,” I like to go in afterward and update them with what worked and what didn’t. It’s fun to do.
Going back in and updating the post with your actual experience is a great idea, Ticia! 🙂