DIY Homeschooling

I know, I know; I have to do “everything” myself! 😉 If that wasn’t completely clear before, I’m sure yesterday’s post sealed the deal on that one! I’m really not as big a control freak as it seems. Overbearing regulations just prevent me from laboring the way I prefer if I get someone else involved. (Thanks, Big Brother.) And when it comes to homeschooling…well, I find myself tweaking all of the curricula anyway, and that’s after I’ve paid for them to be pre-made. So doesn’t it make more sense for me to just make my curriculum the way I want it in the first place?

We Do Use Some Curriculum

We do use some curriculum. We use Ray’s Arithmetic for math. We use TATRAS Phonics for…well, that one’s self-explanatory. Hubby uses some ancient textbooks to teach the girls Spanish. And we sort of rotate in and out of using various Bible programs. (We especially like Grapevine Studies’ Stick Figuring Through the Bible overviews.)

But when it comes to our overall studies, and the bulk of our language arts, we “DIY it.”

DIY Homeschooling – Language Arts

When I was in school, we used Learning Language Arts Through Literature. Now don’t get me wrong; I like LLATL. It’s a good program. But I didn’t see any need to introduce separate language arts assignments when my kids were already reading. I didn’t see any reason they couldn’t do the very same types of assignments with the reading materials they were already using, so their language arts would integrate with their other studies.

I really believe the only reason programs like LLATL are separate is that it makes it easy on the teacher to know what to assign and how to grade it. So if you’re willing for it to be a little harder for you, you can totally do it yourself.

I knew that what I needed was a basic framework, so I’d know what concepts to teach. Apart from that, I figured I’d be okay on my own. (It probably helps that English is my strong subject. Not necessarily literature knowledge, but English skills.) So I created my own framework, built around KISS Grammar, a brilliantly-designed English grammar program by Dr. Edward Vavra, and integrating the other, non-grammar, English skills.

Shameless plug: it’s available for purchase for anyone else who wants to use it, too. No point in doing all that work and hoarding it for myself!

DIY Unit Studies

The bulk of our studies we do as unit studies, and I put these together myself, too. (Some seasons of life are better-prepped than others.) I first put together a framework which we (loosely) adhere to. It takes us through a four-year cycle, where (theoretically; if we stick closely to it) we’ll read through the whole Bible during the four years and we’ll follow Ancient history along its track and modern history along a somewhat parallel track. (This way we study Ancient Israel & Ancient Egypt while we’re reading the Old Testament and Ancient Rome & Ancient Greece while reading the New Testament, without trying to cram everything else in after that!) Other, more science-based or character-based units are sprinkled throughout, as well.

And I’ve built reference sheets for each unit. This really cuts down on my planning time, because it’s a chunk of the planning that’s already done! I have vocabulary lists, some starter resource lists, a list of relevant Scripture verses/passages, and in some cases even notable pieces of art or music that correspond. (You can download all of these resource pages, FREE, from my DIY Unit Studies site.)

Things go most smoothly when I plan out all of my units at the beginning of the school year. I do not schedule everything in advance. I’ve found that to be a recipe for disaster, because by about week three we’re “behind”! But I can plan for each individual unit so the units are all ready to go whenever we get to them, and that helps keep life from getting in the way. 🙂

We enjoy it — mostly — and no one else is using quite our curriculum, ever. 🙂 (No, that’s not really important. It’s just kind of fun to be able to say that no one else is quite like us.)