When It's Just Not Working

After weeks of planning and organizing for a new homeschooling year we jumped right in this week. Most plans have been great, one was a big flop. Gah, so frustrating when you put your time and resources into curriculum that just doesn’t click with the family. To put it into perspective, I was falling asleep teaching it, so…

I had ordered the Marine Biology Unit from The Good and the Beautiful. It gets great reviews and looked very thorough. Maybe a bit too thorough. What I found, was there was so much information without a lot of connection. They were bored but trying and I was so bored I started using accents to teach trying to engage not only the girls but myself. That night I felt discouraged but knew I had to toss it and start over.

Before I share what we traded it out for, I will say, it’s not bad curriculum. In fact, I would say it’s great curriculum. This unit just isn’t great for our family. It is important when teaching our kids to keep the Kenny Rogers song in your head. “You’ve got to know when to hold em’, know when to fold em’, know when to walk away, know when to run”. That’s wisdom right there. Don’t hold on to a unit, study or full curriculum if it’s not working for your family. In fact that’s why I would recommend not putting all your eggs in one basket when choosing curriculum. That’s the blessing from teaching from home, we can cater to our families needs. BE FLEXIBLE!

Without further ado, drum roll please… our new Marine Biology Unit is from Gather ‘Round Homeschool.

We started right away and immediately fell in love. Not only is is visually beautiful but it is extremely in-depth. My girls were so happy that I made the switch and jumped right in. I love when a unit can be taught family-style but then each of the workbooks are geared to they’re own grades. These units range from pre-reader to grade 12. I found her age recommendations were a little off for my girls. I went up from what she recommended after reading through all the booklets. My 9 year old is doing Upper Elementary, 11 year old is doing Middle School and my 14 year old is doing High School, as you would think but isn’t as the website suggests.. Make sure in any unit or curriculum you choose you gauge the level off the individual child not the recommendation or even grade your child is in. You may find your child is in one grade for Math and another for Language Arts. Grade Levels are a bit arbitrary, choose levels that challenge but don’t overwhelm and they can master.