Choosing Curriculum
In my twenty-five years of homeschooling I've used lots of different curriculum. I read The Charlotte Mason Companion and For The Children's Sake early in my homeschool journey so we always prioritized reading aloud and having morning time, but for the different subjects there wasn't as much instruction in what to do, so I tried everything.
There were a few things that didn't work for me-
I was gifted some workbooks from Alpha Omega but I hated the busywork (watch out for workbook style learning that will keep your children recording information long past the saturation level, leaving them bored and tuned out.)
I tried teaching reading via 100 Easy Lessons, but my hands on learners struggled with a purely auditory approach.
I tried teaching math via Math Mammoth but the abstract problems without manipulatives didn't work for my youngest students.
There were some things that empowered me-
I read The Well Trained Mind and started using a notebooking approach to record the information we read. This was the first book to give me confidence to ditch curriculum.
Mere Motherhood helped me see that our schooling could be centered around reading a variety of books out loud together.
The Out of Sync Child helped me see that some young children need parents to be intentional about providing opportunities to develop fine and large motor skills, visual and auditory tracking,
Spell To Write and Read empowered me to use spelling to teach phonics and handwriting.
Apologia Science empowered me to look at science textbooks as spines for ideas instead of rigid guides.
Our years with Story of the World and Mystery of History, empowered me to ditch them both and just read books from the time period we were studying and record what we read. (I'll be talking more about teaching history at this homeschool conference.)
And Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto and In Vital Harmony by Karen Glass empowered me to ditch outside expectations and focus on what is important to our family. They empowered me to look at core principals from Charlotte Mason and adapt them to the books, poetry, and nature that I want to highlight in our home.
And all of these experiences has made me confident that The Peaceful Press is one of the best resources available for supporting a love of learning and family connection. It's perfect for preparing young learners through an emphasis on motor skills and nature play in the early years and an emphasis on living books, beautiful art and poetry, and fun projects through the elementary years.
Each of us is unique, and we all have our own special ways of learning and teaching. You don't have to try and copy any other family, and what is perfect for me might not be perfect for you.
But if developmentally appropriate learning and meaningful connection is important to you, if you want to create a family culture around beautiful books and poetry then The Peaceful Press is a perfect fit.