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Need some advice about switching to SCM
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I need advice about switching to SCM just a few days before we start school and AFTER I have already bought and planned for this school year with another curriculum. Sorry, my post may be a little long 🙂
I love CM, and was introduced to her writing early on in our homeschooling journey. The information really changed my heart about my children and their education and I knew it was the method for our family. But with two sick babies, and a hubby that worked 80+ hours a week, I was too stressed to think about planning CM style for my homeschool so I searched for a curriculum that incorporated CM and ended up using My Father’s World (MFW) with my son who is several years older than his sisters.
In fact, we have really enjoyed MFW and my son (10) really likes his schoolwork. I had already purchased the next years worth of MFW curriculum and had planned out this school year. We are going to officially start the day after Labor Day.
But about 4 days ago I just felt the urge to look back into my old CM resources and read info on Ambleside and SCM. I feel this huge urge to switch with not even a week before we are to start school! I really like SCM, and want to combine my 3 children together.
But I feel like I might be crazy for wanting to swith last minute. This is unlike me. I am not spontaneous, and I like planning things. This will be our 4th year with My Father’s World, and I really don’t understand what is prompting me to start CM using SCM materials.
I spoke with my husband and he is not concerned about $$ because he knows I am careful and can resell (I only buy MFW second hand) and not really lose money. He is ok with the change.
But I dont know if it is fair to my son to change all of sudden, especially when I have no idea what is prompting me to change. I am going thru a lot of stress with family issues so maybe that is part of it? Could I be bored?
Feeling confused, any advice on whether I should start fresh or continue with what has been “working”??
-Erika
Hi Erika…
You say you have felt prompted to make the change…. usually when I’m being prompted, it is from Heavenly Father wanting me to make that change. I don’t know how religious you are – but I’d say to pray about it.
Make a decision. Then pray about it, telling Heavenly Father your decision, and ask Him if that is the right thing to do. If you feel peace about it, then you know what to do. If you don’t feel peace, or even moreso if you feel confused then look at all your options, and make a new decision and pray on it. This can take a while, but continue until you know what to do.
I feel that if you have felt prompted to make this change, that is probably what you should be doing.
I hope that helped!
Erika,
Just before our winter break last December I felt prompted to switch back to CM (very long story short). During our 2 week break I was able to make the necessary changes (thanks in no small part to SCM and their downloadable materials). We already had our math curriculum. When we started back to school in January the only thing that we didn’t have was the new science curriculum, so we just went ahead with what we had until it arrived. Everything worked out just fine and the change in our son’s attitude and demeanor has been remarkable! It was a little bumpy initially as we both got used to the new routine and the freedom that CM affords. I do know that part of my wanting to switch back to CM after a number of years using a different curricula was the fact that I was bored with it, our son was bored with it but doing it because he had to, and things were just not feeling “right.” The more I looked back into CM the more I just knew we needed to make the switch. I’m very glad we did!
Best,
Linda
Thanks for the replies! I prayed about this, and took time since I wrote this post to set everthing aside and not look at it. I came on this evening and looked at the SCM curriculum guide and I realized we already have several of the books for Module 3, so I think this would be a good change. I feel the unexplained anxiety I had a month ago when planning this school year has lifted and I feel peace about the switch. I am excited! I printed out some of the info and showed my husband and he really likes it and told me to go ahead, and even told me to purchase any books I don’t already own if I would like to. I looked at our library and it seems a good many of the suggestions are available. Woohoo!
It is just so out of my character to change something last minute I thought I might be going cookoo:) So thanks for reading and responding!
Now I may have to ask a million more questions in the near future, but I am doing a lot of reading on this forum. Lots of great info.
Blessings,
Erika
I thought I would post an update and needed to type out some thoughts 🙂 And ask for prayers for discernment. I tend to research/overthink and then paralyze myself from making a decision.
Over a year ago, I switched to mostly SCM materials and our homeschool was thriving. Of course, at the time it was primarily just my son. My children are now 5, 7, and 12.
Not too long after we started school with SCM, my father died unexpectedly Jan. 2011 and there was criminal activity involved . And then two weeks later my grandfather, (my dad’s dad) passed. I am pretty sure I went into a deep depression and then was diagnosed with severe adrenal fatigue (and other autoimmune issues).
We quit school. We spent time together as a family, reading, occasional math, etc, but nothing formal. for nearly a year.
Well, to get back on track my DH told me to use Heart of Dakota since it is pretty much open and go, one day at a time. He was right. That is what I needed. My brain was in a fog. I couldn’t think or plan without a lot of anxiety. And my kiddos have thrived since we started school again. Maybe they are thriving because of the curriculum? or maybe they are thriving because we are actually schooling? LOL. IDK
Well, my heart is with SCM. I want to start the fall with SCM. But I need to discern if I have come far enough to “think” for myself as far as planning my kiddos work. I am healing, keeping up chores, eating better, exercising. I am starting to want mental stimulation again.
But I don’t want to keep switching things around on my 12 year old. And he told me he loves Heart of Dakota. It is a wonderful program. But very expensive with 3 kids (they would all be in separate guides). And there is so much scheduled that I cannot easily add more CM elements to our day.
So…thanks for letting me babble and talk it out. Any prayers and words of wisdom and encouragement are appreciated!
Just prayed for wisdom and peace for you! I also fell in love w/CM early in my homeschooling journey, after reading For the Children’s Sake. However, I wasn’t familar w/AO or SCM and felt that I needed a boxed curriculum and used SL for a few years. It’s a great curriculum, but so much was scheduled that I didn’t have time to add in CM elements….and I felt a slave to the schedule. The more I read about CM and how her schools did things, the more sold I am on her methods. It’s really hard to ‘add CM’ to another curriculum, even if it’s a CM-friendly curriculum.
However, not everybody is a CM purist…only you, hubby, and the Lord can decide what’s best for your family. This site and curriculum guide has been very helpful, encouraging, and freeing for me. I now have a curriculum that covers what we need, but not overwhelminingly…so I can add other things as well. If you do switch, maybe it would help your son if you could outline some benefits to him like the great books, probably getting done earlier, etc.
Just my .02:) Blessings as you decide!! Gina
Erika, I’m so sorry about your dad and grandfather. You’ve been through so much.
Something came to mind as I read your post… could you do HOD with your son, and then use SCM with your younger children? That would be less expensive than HOD for everyone. And if your older son wants to stay with HOD, and he is doing well, it may be best to let him sway the vote here. He is getting close to the age where you may want to start letting him help with some of these decisions anyway. I’d be hesitant to change something that’s working and that he loves…
Anyway that’s just an idea that popped into my head. May not be applicable to your life… feel free to totally ignore it. 🙂
Hoping you’ll find the answer you need.
~ Jenn
We too have found HOD to be a good way to keep kids (and me) on track during stressful times and health issues. Might an option be to allow the 12-year-old to use the HOD curriculum he’d be in this year, and use the SCM guide to schedule the other children for the same time period (I’m considering this as well)? That way, you’d all be doing the same time period, they could all enjoy his read-alouds (or as an alternative, the literature from the SCM guide as read-alouds), and if it would help, you could use the HOD schedule as a loose guide for the others – do dictation this day, written narration that day, etc.
Let me share something I’ve had to figure out in this past year. In researching executive function to help one of my children, I’ve realized yet again that organization and planning are weak areas of mine. I’ve also struggled with health issues in the past few years, and have realized that some of my very independent, focused children want to be able to get started and start checking boxes in the morning whether or not I’m ready. On top of that, one of the three guys using HOD last year learns best by reading things himself, and struggled when I presented most of the lessons. HOD was recommended to us, and it worked. They loved it, and it was a wonderfully smooth school year. We did tweak things and take out some of the elements I felt weren’t CM, but I felt guilt about using the curriculum, as if it wasn’t “pure” CM and somehow, wasn’t good enough. I had to let.it.go. The curriculum worked. We used real books, my children learned, I learned, we had fun.
I don’t know what is best for you and your family, but want to encourage you that the Lord has provided many different methods for schooling our kids, and some things that are perfect for one season even if in our ideal world we might choose something else at another. Praying you are led to just the right choice for this coming year!
Blessings,
Aimee
Ditto what JennNC said. I had the same thoughts. And I am so sorry about the tough times you had last year. Please know that the ladies on this forum are here for you.
Although I have looked at the HOD catalog and was impressed, I have not used it. But I think sometimes we teachers get caught up in “this” curriculum or “that” curriculum and our children may not even know the difference if it is the same method. I have switched from SL to BF to SCM for our history core and I honestly do not think my dc (ages 8 and 5) have even noticed. All through those three curriulums, we were using living books and CM methods. My dc liked the books and enjoyed learning from them. It was when I did not care for ALL of the book selections or I started second-guessing myself or I started getting the grass is greener syndrome that we switched. So, would your ds12 notice much of a change if you switched “curriculum” if you are using living books and CM methods? What are his thoughts on it? What is it that he loves about HOD? Are there certain subjects you may be able to change for this year?
If you need a guide laid out for you, use the one you think you would stick with and use best. I know the SL guide was too much for me to keep up with and was the biggest reason for our switch. I have no idea how the SCM modules and curriculum guide compares to the HOD, but maybe you could write out a comparison of things the same with the two and what things are different and discuss with dh and ds12. Pray on it for a while.
“We used real books, my children learned, I learned, we had fun.” I love Aimee’s choice of words here. It fits us, too. I’m sure that is what we are all looking for ~ real books, learning, & fun. I am not a CM purist, either. I use what works for us. Prayers to you to find what works best for your family.
Yes, I beleive if it works then don’t mess with it. You could always add a couple of CM books into his HOD that he could do with the rest of you. He could even do his HOD while you are doing other things with the kids. Maybe he should make the change on his own whether he wants to or not. I am thinking that if he likes it and you need to use HOD with your other children later then he will already be there. It may be possiable that your kids may be in his old books in the future if you have any further problems this way you will have somewhat of a plan ahead if you have a problem that is unexpected. I know how you feel. Sometimes it is overwhelming and you just need that to let go. I have had that happen at times also. This way you have a backup plan in place.
Blessings!
Thank you all for your kind words and advice! I hadn’t considered some of these options. I like the idea of possible letting my son continue and combining my girls.
I will talk to my husband and contiune to pray. My husband thinks either one will work for our family. He does like the idea of me spending less since he is paid commission and we never know what our monthly income will be.
I understand the concept, too, of not being a slave to the curriculum and I am a big tweaker. However, after you pay so much $$ for a guide it gets harder to justify the expense..LOL We do not follow HOD’s math, writing, or DITHOR. And he rarely has time for the watercolor or poetry assignments so many of those are skipped.
When I asked my son what he loved..”I love that I am actually learning something.”
So as we continued the discussion, he is enjoying the living books, is apathetic toward the notebooking pages, and he likes the Key Ideas written in the guides. Sciene is just ok.
Thinking on what Sarah wrote. Light bulb! Would they even know I switched what I was using to guide them? My son would notice because I hand him the guide and send him off to work. He also has a daily checklist for extra subjects. My girls wouldn’t know.
I am so thankful for this forum. You are alla blessing and are helping me sort this out!!
My son also loves the daily checklist, but we also cut out the watercolor and use our own math and writing, though we do the dictation and written narration on their schedule. Instead of notebook pages, for the two who will be using this next year, we’ll be using hard-bound notebooks with blank left pages for illustration, and lined right-hand pages. I think what my guys appreciate is the types of books they choose and the very appropriately sized chunks of reading they’re given, along with all the oral narrations. Learning something, using the types of books moms approve of, and enjoying it, is big in my book. Might they do this with another curriculum? Certainly – that’s where we trust God to lead us each in the right direction!
One question I’ve asked myself is whether I could take the format of the HOD guides, and plug in something like the SCM guide along with my own LA, science and math, so that my kids would have a very similar product in hand. It would take some computer knowhow and some work but could be done…
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