I spent ALL last summer on Pinterest, blogs, listening to podcasts about home school, and praying, so much time spent in prayer. I was determined to be the best homeschool mom EVER! I knew for sure I was not going to use one curriculum, there were too many choices and so many amazing things to choose just one. Looking for the right curriculum and the right style was so very difficult for me. I wanted to try it all, and still do, until I found Charlotte Mason. Wow was I impressed! The nature journals were enviable. I loved the truth, beauty, goodness and everything she was about spoke to my soul. I loved the concept of living books, having a full rich well-rounded hands-on learning experience for Little Miss. But...then I found unschooling, and whoa! Child led interest-based learning, how cool is that?! I loved it! But wait, my heart said, I can't just abandon the Charlotte Mason teachings but I also loved the concept of unschooling. Worried and obsessive, it's my child's life and I'm neurotic haha, I kept looking for inspiration on Pinterest and praying for guidance, I eventually found a concept that filled me with joy, answered my prayers, and screamed THIS IS IT! Eclectic homeschooling! I can mix all my favorite styles and concepts together, there is no one size fits all when it comes to homeschooling, so many families vary, so why should just one philosophy fit my family and my daughter's needs? Now we use a variety, and feast, if you will, of many different philosophies, and it is beautiful. Each day is something new, never does it look the same, we draw from Charlotte Mason, Waldorf, Montessori, unschooling, nature schooling, and many more. I chose several different curricula based on what I wanted our days to look like, not one single box curriculum. Again, for some families using a box curriculum is what works beautifully for them, but for us, it was not right. Through all of this I kept coming back to "Truth, Beauty, and Goodness" which I later had a "duh" moment when I realized it came from Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
This is what was laid on my heart for our home school to look like. What I craved our lives to be focused on, education is important, but it is not the most important; truth, beauty, goodness, love, following God, that is the most important. The rest will fall into place, and it has. Little Miss is thriving, she's got a voracious appetite for knowledge, and she is learning more than I could have ever imagined for her our first year of homeschooling. Now how do I narrow down and choose just what we will be using for curriculum?!
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