Picture this with me for a moment:

It’s January (or February), and you’re sitting in your school space with your adorable little devils angels. It’s cold outside; everyone is tired of being cooped up, even those of you, like me, that detest having to leave the house, you at least like having the option of going to play outside occasionally. Everyone (and I mean everyone) is crying about something. The second grader is crying because she hates phonics (who knew it would be so hard to copy five words out of a wordbank…). The kindergartner is crying because she forgot fifteen… again, while trying to count to 20. The two year old is crying because the kindergartner (who was supposed to be counting) took the horse that she was playing with two days ago. I You are just at the point of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”!

Sound familiar? (Please tell me it’s not just me!)

So what do you do?

Maybe you need to just take a break from the workbooks and sit on the couch and read something fun for a bit. But that’s not what this post is about. That’s a whole ‘nother post. This is what do you do after you’ve taken a break, because that phonics book is still sitting there seemingly laughing at the poor seven year old who actually gets the concepts but could just use a lesson in diligence. And the kindergartner still forgets the number fifteen. So what do you do?

Do you give up and just stick them on the big yellow bus that drives by everyday and let it be someone else’s problem? Um. No. 1) that isn’t going to help, especially if you hold the conviction I do that public school really isn’t an option (and they’d miss their momma, and you’d miss them – Yes, trust me, you would!) and 2) news flash: it’ll still be your “problem”! They are your kids. It is your responsibility to educate them whether they are in your home for school or in an institution.

Okay, since we scrapped that idea, what are our more realistic options. One thing to do is learn a lesson in diligence, perseverance, and hard work. Stick with what you are doing, especially if you are convinced it is the best, or at least a good option. This is what we are doing in phonics. I know K despises the book we are using, but it really isn’t as bad as she thinks it is. It really is a good fit for what she needs to cover this year (and next, because there’s no way she’s going to finish it this year). And when she’s done with that book she is done with phonics for good. It’s the life lesson I’m more concerned with than the phonics lesson right now. I want her to learn to stick with something even when it’s hard and not enjoyable.

But sometimes the right thing to do is switch to something new. We did this with K back in the fall. She was hating her language/grammar book (just as much if not more that phonics) so I started searching for other options. I looked a little more closely at First Language Lesson for the Well-Trained Mind. I was quickly impressed. And for $12 on Amazon I was like “SURE!” we could try it. We got the book a few days later and immediately started using it. Guess what? Language/Grammar is now her favorite subject! Changing curriculum is exactly what we needed to do in that situation.

As far as the kindergartener and the math, I’m happy to say she has finally gotten fifteen. But I’ve also decided to switch math curriculum with her, starting immediately. Just checked my tracking number and Math-U-See Alpha will be here tomorrow! I’m totally geeking out about it. I can’t even tell you how excited I am about this curriculum. But that’s another post I’ll have to write once I dive in a little deeper. Now, we probably could have continued with what we were using for math, but I feel like this is going to be a better fit with our approach to homeschool. And starting now is just a win for the future.

You have to do what works for your family. And sometimes that’s what works for your kids, and sometimes it has to be what works for teacher. But hopefully those are one and the same, but occasionally they aren’t. As you make these decisions the most important thing you can do is pray. Pray for wisdom. James 1:5 says (NLT), “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” So ask and then move forward with your conviction.

And so you know, you won’t ruin your kids if you switch to something new, and you won’t ruin if you stay the course! Entrust them, and their education, to their Heavenly Father, and He will come through for you and them!

Have you ever switched curriculum mid-year? How did it work out for you? I can’t wait to hear your stories!

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