We Need to Fill our Homes with Treasures.
Some curricula is a treasure, but many are just copycats of the bland materials used in the public school system. The system we have left behind for one reason or another…perhaps the lack of treasures was a bigger reason than we realized at first?
Treasures Take Time
Filling our home with treasures takes time. It takes discernment, it is a bit more difficult than buying a pre-packaged curriculum. In fact, the only good reason to buy a pre-packaged curriculum is that it is full of treasures.
Treasures Invoke Curiosity
Treasures ignite curiosity. They take the bland, mundane, hard, repetitive work of learning and add that spark of interest that makes kids fall in love with learning.
Learning is hard work, that cannot be avoided, but it should also be interesting work. Work that makes kids and adults alike wake up with wonder.
If You Can’t Buy it All, Buy Treasures First
Collecting treasures is much more important than purchasing a curriculum to follow. A curriculum is a plan of attack for a subject. Carefully weighed, measured, and scheduled to guide you through each day, week, and year. A treasure is something that is beautiful, cherished and often invokes inspiration of one kind or another.
The Book is Better than the Study Guide
Good literature is a treasure to fill your home with. Study Guides are curricula. Do you need a study guide for good literature? Or can you just ask questions and have good conversations about the books you are reading? People may disagree on whether or not literature study guides are an essential part of language arts, but we all know how much more important it is to actually read the book.
Crack the Spine Before You Buy
So many times at a homeschool conference I will crack the spine of curriculum I had been pining for only to find that what it contained inside was shallow and insipid. Or presented in a convoluted and overwhelming way. What am I buying if it is not clarity and organization? We don’t buy information anymore, we can get that without cost so easily. We buy a format, a progression, and hopefully, a treasure.
So go ahead and read the curriculum reviews and plan to buy what you need for next school year, but remember to purchase treasure above curricula and demand that any curricula you do purchase is also a treasure.
