The Homeschool Curriculum

A package came in the mail yesterday.  I was expecting my dining room table to be delivered and I ended up getting an even more life-changing package from the postman.  It was homeschool curriculum!

I was so excited about my box of homeschool gear that when my dining room table did finally show up, I spread all the books out on the table and spent a few hours immersed in the books.  What a relief that the teacher instructions are clear.  And even better--the instructions explain why you're doing what you're doing.  For someone like me who has a terrible time following directions that I feel are useless, knowing that there is a purpose for my activities keeps me motivated.  So, the Memoria Press curriculum that ordered appears to be a good match.

If you're wondering how I picked out a homeschool curriculum, I can honestly say that I searched for a curriculum package that included a teacher's manual and lesson plans for the year.  The idea of planning lessons for each subject and making them fit into a schedule was terrifying for me.  So having someone do the hard work for me was a huge boost for my confidence for my first year as a homeschool teacher.  Once I narrowed my curriculum options down to pre-planned lessons, choosing Memoria Press was easy.

I'm not a trained teacher.  The only education class I ever took involved health promotion and education for nurses.  Thus, my only exposure to curriculum was what I used at the private schools I attended when I was growing up.  So going into the curriculum search, I had no idea how to compare each company and brand.  As one homeschool parent told me, you try one and if you don't like it, you try another.  We may not stay with MP forever, but at least it offers us a good start.

I chose Memoria Press for a couple of reasons:
1) the planned-out year of lessons is really detailed and easy to follow
2)  this is a Bible based curriculum that teachers Scripture and biblical principles in every subject;
3) kindergarten reading is taught via phonics--this is how I was taught to read;
4) this is a classical curriculum with an emphasis on history and literature (I thrived in this type of curriculum at Covenant and it was indispensable for law school!)
5) The school that developed this curriculum has been extremely successful with test scores and college acceptance

Somehow, this program just suited me.  And based upon the fact that recitation is a huge part of this program, I'm thinking that Boy 1 who never forgets anything will do well. 

I don't know how other people choose their curriculum.  But it was pretty empowering to do my own independent search and to choose what I felt was best.  So as the rest of the country is dealing with Common Core, this momma is getting prepared to teach something that she picked out.  Point 1 for homeschooling!  Haven't even started, but am liking this idea already.