Choices are good. Usually, it's better to have more than "take it" or "leave it" as your options. However, sometimes, you can get overwhelmed with choices and decision making comes to a standstill.
For example, Luke's high school geometry course.
I'm not a math person. I don't even pretend to be. I'm happy I can teach Jude addition and subtraction; I've given up on the new-fangled multiplication Celia is doing. I have no idea if her method is right or not (it's totally foreign to me), but I can look at the problem and say, "No, five times four is not twenty-two. I don't care how you come up with the answer, just go back and figure out the right one." My geometry is worse. I'm good on preschool shapes, and can even tell the difference between hexagons and octagons with a very quick count. I really struggled with high school geometry myself because I can't think in space -- I need concrete ideas and manipulatives. Luke was going to need something that would teach him well, because I definitely was not going to be of much help.
He wanted to wait until January to start geometry, and do it in one semester instead of spread out over the year. I thought that would be fine, and started perusing programs. Do you have any idea how many homeschool geometry programs there are out there? I think I found at least 15.
Did we want books? Online? Group classes? DVD? College credit, or just high school? Did we want a formal program, or to piece something together? It was just overwhelming. And would we pick the "right" one and he'd understand it all? It was easier just to play ostrich. After all, I had until January.
Except now it's February, and it's time to make a choice. Otherwise, he'll never get done this year. We needed to decide.
I remember that last year, Celia helped review Time4Learning, and they were about to start a new high school level. She has really enjoyed the program, and continues to work on it several months later. I pulled it up and Luke tried their sample Geometry lesson. He liked the presentation. The instructor explained things in both "math" and "English" -- so it wasn't overwhelming jargon but real-life examples. Let's face it -- Geometry is not exactly fodder for comedy, but the lesson managed to put a humorous spin on the topics. Luke thought it would work for him, so we added him to our account. (The $30/month fee includes four classes, so surprise!! He's also doing US Government, Chemistry, and Health through them. Choices made for me!)
I have to say, I feel a weight off my shoulders having gotten that started. I'm not certain that it's the best choice out of all the options (should we have gone for the one that was dual high school/college credit to start instead of considering the CLEP exam?), but it's the right choice for us right now. Lesson learned: research is good, but it's easy to become paralyzed by too much information. "Proactive" is taking charge, making a choice, and moving forward.
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It is difficult to make the right choice when there are so many options, but you're right, once the decision has been made it definitely feels like a "weight" has been taken off. ~Clara
ReplyDeleteOne thing I have learned is that homeschool is an evolving process. There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to curriculum. Just because something works for my kids, doesn't mean it will work for yours. That's what's wrong with standard core. They don't get it.
ReplyDeleteAnywho. Sometimes you get things and they just don't work. Then you move onto something else. YOu do the best you can. I think homeschoolers need to be comfortable with flexibility.
You had me laughing when you were talking about your daughter saying 4X5 is 22 and you said, no it's not - just get the right answer. Haha! Sometimes, the methods in the books don't work with the kids. That's where the tutor comes in. You have to find a method that does.
We use saxon. Everybody thinks differently. I always give my kids different options for figuring out the process. Sometimes the options work, and sometimes they figure it out themselves. Whatever, just as long as they understand the concepts.
Thanks so much for linking up with us at the #homeschoollinkup! Loved this post!