Have you purchased your “perfect” homeschool curriculum but it is not working for you? Are you frustrated and don’t know what to do next? Then this article is just for you.
Sometimes, even after doing much research and purchasing the “best fit” curriculum for your child, things just don’t go as planned. In my many years of homeschooling experience I have never met a family that was always 100% happy with their chosen curricula. As a matter of fact, the issue of homeschool curriculum not working is so common that some of the homeschooling groups and forums voted October 1 as the day for determining which curriculum changes should be made.
So then what should you do when things are just NOT working for you? Before you decide to completely switch your curriculum, make sure you understand WHY your current one is not working. There are many reasons why this may be happening and purely replacing it with something else may not solve your primary issue.
8 Possible Reasons Why Your Homeschool Curriculum Is NOT Working
(And What to Do About It)
1. Time of the day when the curriculum is used:
- Internal clock:
Each individual functions within the framework of their internal clock. This is one of the principles time management gurus work with when teaching people how to be more efficient. Even though everyone’s clock may not be identical, the general consensus is that work done in the mornings produces the highest efficiency. Why? Your body is rested, your mind is fresh, and there is more enthusiasm to get things done. Later in the day, the sharpness of the brain seems to come back sometime after 5 pm. Therefore, if your math curriculum is not working after lunch, give it a try in the mornings for a few days or even weeks. - Easing into your daily schedule:
If your child is slower in getting going in the mornings, easier subjects that do not require full brain power may help them start off better than, for example, math.
2. Not having enough energy:
- Lack of sleep: When your child’s body is deprived of sleep, their mental capacity slows down. Make sure they get enough sleep each and every day.
- Lack of food or lack of quality food: Even though your child may not be necessarily starving, many times they cannot focus because their food energy levels are depleted. Too many carbs and sugars can put them to sleep so will long breaks between meals. If your child loses their focus while working with a particular curriculum, try giving them a healthy snack and see if it makes a difference.
3. Not having a break for a long time:
- Breaks in your day:
When comparing US educational system with that, for example, in Europe, you will notice that European schools provide their children with more and longer breaks between classes. Even though it may seem like a waste of precious “school” time, it actually serves as a brain-empowering exercise. Ensure your child had a break before conquering a not-working curriculum. - Breaks in your year schedule:
Whether you start your homeschool year in July, September or January (the privileges of homeschooling), make sure you take weeks off at a time. The children need a break in their routine and so do you. Their motivation will increase significantly once you come back to your rigid school schedule.
4. Teaching approach:
Some of the awesome curricula require a teaching approach that may not be suitable for you and/or your child. If you take the curriculum and tweak the approach, you may still be able to extract its positives for your homeschool. For example, if your child has difficulty filling page-after-page of the history curriculum, work through the questions orally.
5. Environment:
No matter how wonderful homeschooling is, let’s face it: With limited outside pressure, pleasing a mom is sometimes just not enough motivation to do your best. When your curriculum doesn’t work well, book a conference room in your library and work the problems on the white board rather than a paper. You will be surprised how much energy it brings to your day. Or, gather other homeschooling children and teach the curriculum in a class setting.
6. Too slow/too fast:
You may find some of the curricula being either too slow or too fast for your child. Rather than departing from it completely, try speeding it up (or slowing it down) by skipping or adding problems.
7. Attitude:
Does your child have an attitude when the subject is not their favorite or when it is difficult? Rather than changing the curriculum, use the opportunity to teach them to be grateful no matter how boring or hard the subject may be. They will find this very helpful in their adult years.
8. Not a perfect fit:
When you tried everything but nothing really seemed to work, it is time to sell your “perfect” curriculum and purchase (or create) a new one. Don’t shed any tears though; it happens to all of us. It is time to go back to the drawing board and try something else.
There are many other possible reasons for your homeschool curriculum not working. For the time being, we have dialed down to the most common ones. We are planning to dive deeper into this issue in the future.
Real-Life Examples of Homeschool Curriculum NOT Working and WHY
1. Singapore Math:
All our elementary and junior high years we dedicated to learning math with Singapore Math program. It was hard! It didn’t work for us for a number of years. We were ready to quit many times. To be honest, I don’t really know why we didn’t. But we stuck with it. Then, after the 8th grade, I could hardly believe what came out of my son’s mouth: “Mom, I am so glad we did Singapore Math!” It taught him to work hard and gave him a huge advantage for a high school math. All was good.
2. North Star Geography:
When my son was in fourth grade, I discovered North Star Geography program. I fell in love with it. It was exactly what I dreamed about for my son’s geography knowledge. It is recommended for junior high and high school students. As I taught a number of homeschool geography classes during his junior high school years, I determined that high school will be the best time for this particular curriculum. I was wrong. Because we had done so much geography in the past, most of the information was just a basic review for my son. He was not challenged at all and even speeding the work up didn’t make him enjoy geography that particular year. So we switched the curriculum.
I still consider North Star Geography one of the best curricula on the market. I love its layout, text, practical problems, just about everything. I wish we had done it in junior high.
3. Family Time Fitness:
This particular curriculum is a wonderful option for a homeschool PE program. It provides you with wholesome exercises, printables, videos, etc. I would highly recommend it to anyone. So why was it not working for us?
At the time when we needed to incorporate formal PE into our homeschool program, I was also very busy with other things in life. I found Family Time Fitness required more of my preparation then I was able to dedicate to it. At the same time, I had only one child and he didn’t particularly enjoy doing the exercises with his mom only. Looking back, I should have invested more time, gathered children from the neighborhood and made the use of the curriculum that way. But we joined a homeschool co-op instead and other wonderful fitness mom’s taught my son a variety of exercises. I then supplemented their efforts with bike riding, swimming and playing ball in our back yard.
4. Saxon Math:
A good friend of mine graduated six of her eight children. Five continued to college, the sixth one established a very profitable construction business. When her seventh child reached high school, it was obvious (because of his many interests) that college was not to be in his future. One thing he really disliked was Saxon Math, which had worked well for all his other siblings. His mom decided to switch him to a more suitable Math-U-See Geometry program and the child thrived. He would even complete the whole week’s lessons in one day!
