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Curriculum is a tool for our use. It should act as a springboard for learning new ideas. As a springboard, we then use these ideas to shape and to fit our unique homeschool atmosphere. The thought that I can customize and refine what is being introduced at home is infinitely worth my researching and adapting a variety of homeschool resources.

Your little ones are growing and changing every day. Their needs and interests will shift as the years go by and you have the opportunity to mold your homeschool curricula to custom fit your teaching style, their learning style and your home life. You will also experience many changes, perhaps a move that won’t allow you to normally school the way you would want to or a birth of a beautiful new life that shifts your focus accordingly, whatever the situation you, along with your homeschooling methods, will need to bend and flex. The ability to change course is the beauty (and challenge) of homeschooling.

As for me, I’m very eclectic in my approach to homeschooling. While the underlying principles which govern my homeschooling stem from the substantive philosophies of Charlotte Mason, I never hesitate to venture outside the realm of CM to incorporate any curricula that will best serve my children and our family.

Pull from what’s out there, mix and match, see what works for you and what doesn’t. This past year, I asked my son what's working and what’s not, what he needs and better ways to accomplish tasks. His insights have shaped the way I homeschool. I now introduce a few more breaks, just 10 minutes playing a math-related game on his iPad or allowing him to watch a chess tutorial online (he’s really into chess). Not only has he felt heard and respected, he also gets the break he needs to reset and he is more focused when he returns to the kitchen table.

Make homeschooling your own. Don’t try to make it look like any other. Your family is unique and so are you! It’s also not public school. You don’t need uncomfortable desks or bulletin boards. You don’t need 8 hour days when 2 hours might accomplish just as much learning. It’s O.K. to use a bean bag chair, sidewalk chalk to teach a lesson, have free time, and to not school when you’re sick! Most of all, do what’s right for you and your family.