I was wrong. Oh, so wrong.
This was, by far, the most difficult decision. Certainly more difficult than the actual decision to homeschool. Countless hours were spent wading through forums and blog posts and articles. I spoke to people actually implementing specific curriculum. I guess I thought that 1st Grade would mean 1st Grade. No matter which we chose, he'd still be learning the same key points.
1 +1 will always equal 2 . .right?
Um, sort of?
Not really.
Who knows . . .
What I DID find out was there's plenty of different homeschooling methods to choose from.
Traditional Method
Just as the name implies, it's, well, traditional. The child is doing the same things, only in your home as opposed to a school.
Little Bug likes to revolt against anything 'traditional'. Little Bug likes to revolt, period. (sigh) I knew from the start that what we'd be attempting to do would require a different approach. At least, if we wanted to do this homeschooling thing without a roll of duct tape for him and a bottle of Zanax for mom.
Unschooling or Delight-Directed Method
No written curriculum. The child 'leads' you to what their interests are and it's your job to follow. I guess you try to eventually form unit studies based off their interests. It's a method highly debated in "homeschooling circles" (Oh yeah. Those exists. I imagine it's all very Sopranos-like, except people are armed with sharp #2s and a dangerous level of exhaustion as opposed to heavy accents and loaded guns).
I didn't have to give this option a second thought. There was no way this would work for Little Bug. We'd do nothing but talk about trains, Plants vs. Zombies, and Minecraft.
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| When I read her books and quotes, it's always in a dry British voiceover. |
Alas, the winner . . .
Charlotte Mason Method
Why'd we chose to teach our child based off this British woman's teaching principles? If you gloss over her bio, you'll see she really did have a passion for igniting a love of learning in little ones. And for us, that's big. I don't want a kid who can make good grades just because he's expected to. I want him to never stop being curious. To love learning and to want to learn everything under the sun so he can understand the hows and whys of the world.
There are plenty more cheesy, well-meaning parenting sentiments that I won't force you to endure.
But really, it came down to this:
Little Bug LOVES to read and be read to.
Have you ever met a true ADHD boy? The phrase 'bouncing off the walls' isn't far from the truth.
If there's one thing that will get him to pay attention and focus, it's books. But not just any books--Charlotte Mason uses Living Books--and LOTS of them. The CM Method is also heavy on being outdoors. What better way to learn about the world around you than to use your senses and experience it?
CM also believed in keeping lessons to an appropriate length for the age. Little Bug won't be forced to listen to me drone on for half-an-hour. And the literature-heavy curriculum allows for plenty of breaks.
We're following the booklist at Ambleside Online, a website that offers up all things CM, along with a forum. Seriously, these folks have done almost all the work for you. You just have to download the planner for the Year you're looking for (they do Years, not Grades). Most books you'll be using are available for free online via the Gutenberg Project and Ambleside even links directly to them.
We did have to add on our own Math and Spelling/Language programs. We asked around, checked reviews, and went with Math-U-See and The Wilson Reading Program. It was beyond what I could hope for when I met a former teacher with experience with LD kids who offered to help with the reading lessons and some math.
Naturally, this could all go out the window next week. We won't know what works until we try it, but I have a feeling it's going to be a pretty close match in what we're looking for.
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