How a Melt-Down Changed Our Homeschool - Part 1

Over the summer, my husband and I were granted permission to homeschool his daughter, my step-daughter, by the court.  (I don't like the title step-anything.  I've helped raise her since she was two.  I don't feel any differently about her than I do the daughters I gave birth to.)  I was trying to plan out school for my younger two girls.  One was beginning Kindergarten,, the other seventh grade.  I had planned to do a unit study program that I bought off Ebay for both girls.

I had researched and researched.  I was excited about this unit study.  I had played with it last year while we did a Charlotte Mason program.  When the cost of the Charlotte Mason program exceeded what we could afford, I found the unit study program for a great price.  It was used, but was still in good condition.  I had read the philosophies behind unit studies.  I knew I could make it as literature rich as I desired.  I also knew that the library would meet a lot of my needs, saving me money from having to purchase tons of books.  It would cover Bible, Social Studies, and Science... plus a lot of literature.

Then permission was granted to homeschool the 9th grader.  Suddenly, as I was planning, I began melting down.  I had excepted that the planning would be on me as a way to save money.  What I hadn't expected was that it would overwhelm me.  I would spend hours online, with notebooks in hand, trying to write out plans for two kids at VERY different levels.  I had thought that, once I began, it would flow freely.  That wasn't the case.  Instead, I was suffering from some sort of writer's block, except with school planning.

My step-daughter was using a traditional program through a credentialed teacher, as part of the agreement made in court.  I had used this same program with my older daughter that graduated in 2011.  As much as a part of me longed to do the hands-on unit study type of stuff with my struggling new high school student, that wasn't going to be allowed... at least not for the core of the program.  The court and my step-daughter's mother want to see test scores and have a scope and sequence similar to the public school's.  Even though the program is Christian, it met the needs we were required to follow.

I was still in the midst of planning, and I was melting down.  Despite longing to homeschool my step-daughter, and knowing she needed the help after having such horrible experiences with the public school, I had burnt myself out the previous couple of years.  I had chosen programs that were advertised to be extraordinary.  And, to be honest, they were quality programs.  They just weren't working for us.

I went to my husband one night, after hours of trying to plan, feeling pressured because school was supposed to be starting... and I was not ready.  He already knew our finances would not allow me to purchase that pre-planned, all in one curriculum that I had used the previous two years.  I explained, near tears, that what I had thought I could confidently do, plan a school year for two children, was not working out. I wanted to be sure that our now 7th grader was going to be prepared for high school work, and that our Kindergartener wouldn't get pushed aside as she had numerous times when she was doing preschool.   He asked me why I was putting so much pressure on myself when I had used easier programs.

I explained to him that those "easier" programs, such as what we had used with my daughter that graduated and were about to start with my step-daughter, were looked on as "inferior" learning methods.  My husband, who struggled all through school, kind of gave me that look that says I'm being ridiculous.  "Did they work?"  He asked me.

I had to tell him that, essentially, they worked.  They may not be the most exciting.  They weren't literature based.  They weren't Charlotte Mason or Unit Study.  They had limited hands on.  They were (gasp)... traditional.  Traditional is bad, right?  I mean, how many articles and books have I read about boring textbooks and workbooks?  Hundreds?  How many books have I read in favor of textbooks?  One.

The only book I've ever read that gave reasons why traditional schooling works well.

I agreed to buy my seventh grader a few weeks of traditional, figuring inspiration would hit and I would be able to whip out planning the unit study.  I also picked up a phonics program and some workbooks for my Kindergartener to make do with while I waited for my inspiration to hit.

My 7th grader had used the traditional program before.  She had done okay with it, but she wasn't excited about it in 4th grade.  I know I wasn't either because I long to have lots of books around.  To me, there was no way some workbook program was going to work for us.  But it would have to do temporarily while I got things organized and adjusted to three full time students.  I wasn't expecting what happened.


To read more about what happened, stay tuned for part 2.