Homeschool parents understand the importance of matching the curriculum to the child. Now that back-to-school season is underway, it’s time to get rid of the books and curricula that just didn’t work out in previous years. This is also the best time to start researching new curricula to start fresh this fall. With America 250 earlier this year, it might be a great time to try a liberty-based homeschool curriculum like the Tuttle Twins books!
PHOTO: Tuttle Twins
Assess What You Have and Purge, Purge, Purge
Before bringing in any new curriculum, it’s a good idea to clear your bookshelves of anything that didn’t work for your child in past years. Different kids learn in different ways, so anything you can do to teach in the way that best serves your child will help them succeed. Purging your bookshelf is as easy as 1, 2, 3:
1. Resell – Take some time to look carefully at each book that could be reused by someone else to check their condition. Use curriculum-targeted marketplaces like Homeschool Classifieds or dedicated homeschool buy-and-sell groups on Facebook. You can also opt for a more general marketplace like eBay.
2. Recycle – Any workbooks with writing in them aren’t any good to anyone else, so take them apart and recycle them.
3. Reuse – Some workbooks have blank pages in them that could be used for scratch paper.
If you’re not sure what to get rid of, remember that if it caused tears for your child last year, it will this year too.
PHOTO: Tuttle Twins
Fill Your Bookshelves with Books that Work for Your Kids
Now that you’ve got room, you can begin to search for the perfect curriculum for your kids. For example, many homeschool parents and teachers are turning to a narrative format for their history curriculum. Lisa B. is a homeschool teacher who works with other people’s kids, and she understands the importance of the literature approach to history, like that used by the Tuttle Twins curriculum.
She picked up the Tuttle Twins history books to supplement her library and bring in new material for continuing students, with a desire to make more connections throughout history with cause and effect. The Tuttle Twins curriculum tells the story of history as a series of cause-and-effect events instead of a list of what happened in the past alongside dates that require rote memorization.
The literature approach to teaching history enables kids to think critically about the past and relate it to the present. Kids engage with this approach more thoroughly because it’s easier to remember stories than to memorize facts and dates. Some kids especially connect with this method of teaching history because they have difficulties with rote memorization.
This is also an excellent year to try a liberty-based homeschool curriculum like the Tuttle Twins books. In fact, there’s a new entrant to the Tuttle Twins history books series that was released just in time for America 250. The Tuttle Twins curriculum now starts in the year 1215 with Volume 1, enters the founding period of the nation with Volume 2, which covers the years 1776 through 1791, and enters into the early years of the American republic, spanning 1791 through 1849.
When you match your curriculum to your child, you can rest assured that they’ll not just learn enough to pass their tests but also retain what they learn over time!
