Second Harvest Curriculum

The Basics of Homeschooling -Chapter 1: So It Begins! Imagine with me if you will. The sun is shinning. You gradually awaken to the smell of pancakes and coffee. Today is the day! The used curriculum sale You pad out into the kitchen and low and behold! There is a stack of pancakes on the table and a cup of coffee poured just the way you like it! The children’s are fed, smiling, dressed,
smiling, and have done all the dishes. The kitchen is emaculate. Breakfast dishes are washed. Dinner is in the Crockpot. Your mother in law has graciously offered to watch your children...all day!

You arrive at the used curriculum fair early (instead of late) and you are the first one in line. When those double doors swing open you will be the first one in! You calmly and confidently stroll from table to table. You know precisely the books to get. You know what books fit into your educational style and price range. You feel as if you are the Proverbs 31 woman gathering her good from afar. Things just seem to fit into place. You have found all the items on your list in just a short amount of time. And you have time to help that new homeschooling mom out with the questions she has. You arrive at the checkout desk. No need to fear! When the bill is presented to you you find that you have saved your family about 50% of what you would have bought if it had been new. You sail out of the curriculum fair with a confident smile on your face....Today has been a good day!

And then you wake up. Right now where you sit...this is reality. I don’t know what kind of morning you all had...but I can bet that it did not run this smooth nor will it. The reality of our lives is this...

Most of us hear are not trained teachers... and yet we teach.

We are expected to:

1. Wade through various educational ideas and choose which one best fits our family.

2. Then we need to find the curriculum that fits our family and our educational style

3. Then we expect of our selves to be good stewards and go out into the used curriculum fairs. We spend hours pouring over what is the right book for the right price. And sometimes we end up empty handed.

With this in mind I will try to help guide you over some of the hurdles of buying used curriculum. We all have had very similar experiences at used curriculum sales.

Today I would like to share with you some of the things I have found out over the past 10 years of homeschooling and 7 years of used homeschool curriculum business. You will discover what different educational idea are out there. Which one you most likely use. The various books, curriculum, authors and magazines that fit with each of these styles. Then we are going to learn the different places you can get used curriculum. How to maintain your books as an investments and some money saving tips.

First, lets start out with educational ideas. Do you remember a few years ago when color analysis was in? That was when a professional would analyze what colors looked best on you.Just as you have a

particular color scheme you like and feel comfortable in, type of music, clothing that fits you...you also have a specific educational philosophy or idea that fits your family. You may not know you have one...but you do!

There are many different types of philosophies of homeschooling. Today, before we even start to talk about used books, we need to know how to identify the different ideas that are out there about educating. By identifying the 5 major philosophies you will be able to discern what you are actually hunting for. I will tell you what major publisher fit into each of the different categories of philosophy.

First there is eclecticism.

According to the World Book Dictionary eclectic means "selecting and using what seems best from various sources, systems or schools of thought." An Eclectic Homeschooler is one who looks at the different approaches and methods of homeschooling, at the "opinions and principles of each," and takes from each approach and method for his family, forming his own unique philosophy.

Secondly, Essentialism (or the Text Book Method)

It can be summed up in 2 statements

1. the conviction that objective truth and absolute values are the basis for knowledge. and

2. the view that there is an essential body of knowledge that ought to be transmitted to the next generation.

Essentialists look like this... they are Christians that trust in the authority of God’s Word and discern truth and error by faith in his word. One of the drawbacks is that they tend to bring the school home. Posters, bulletin boards, workbooks, schedules that are strict, quizzes, tests, flags, adhere to teachers guides etc. The curriculum they choose is subject centered. A separate textbook for each subject. Many essentialists use numerous textbooks to provide a core curriculum.

Thirdly, Perennialism. (or LIVING BOOKS-CLASSICS)

1. Focus on books and ideas that are timeless

2. Believe in absolute values.

3.Consider learning a lifelong process and youth is the time for preparation.

4. Prepare students for self discipline.

5. Emphasis is on good, living books. Classics.

The only caution that I can voice about the perennialism method is that the emphasis is balanced by the determination to understand God’s work in the lives of His people. By looking at events with an eternal Biblical perspective we can understand the ways in which beliefs affect events throughout history.

Fourth, Progressivism ( or UNIT STUDY method)

1. Rooted in the Darwinian evolutionary theory.

2. Truth is relative. Believe that traditions which are based on religion are not valid.

3. Believe that ethics and morality can be adapted to what is perceived to the be the needs of the "modern mad."

4. Children should adapt to a society that is ever evolving

Some of the slogans of this movement are "whole child" "Active learning" "creative self expression" and "unit instruction"

To the Christian Home Educator the unit study approach is not used to accomplish the sinister goals of social reconstruction.. I cannot tell you how rich and meaningful my homeschooling experience was by using this method. Christian educators who advocate unit studies use worthy books and real life. They study real people, real events and the ideas that were the catalyst.

Fifth , Existentialism (OR UNSCHOOLING )

existentialism n. A bold of ethical thought current in the he 19th and 20th centuries centering about the uniqueness and isolation of individual experience in a universe indifferent and even hostile to man, regarding human existence as unexplainable and emphasizing man’s freedom of choice and responsibility for he consequences of his acts.

1. Do not consider it appropriate to choose the curriculum for he student.

2. lead student to place value on being authentic and trustworthy

3. Used frequently in a graduate school setting.

4. Brought over to homeschooling situations in the "unschooling" method by John Holt.

Have you ever felt like this? Winnie the Pooh and Piglet ad an exciting experience one day. They were out walking around a grove of trees when he noticed tracks! He began to follow those tracks and soon was joined by Piglet. As they circled the grove following those tracks they began to speculate on whether the tracks were made by the Woozles or the Wizzles!! Pooh and Piglet noticed the What-Ever -They-Weres were joined by by more What-Ever-They-Weres ! because there were so many pairs of tracks. Piglet soon left fearing that the tracks were animals of "hostile-intent". Soon Christopher Robin joined poor Pooh and enlightened him: The animals he had been tracking all around the grove was himself! Nobody was there before him!!!

Aren’t you glad that it isn’t that way for you??? You have had many people going before you. . Because of those who forged the trail ahead of us we have an abundance of books and magazines to read. We have seminars to attend and teaching aids by the thousands. We don’t lack material! But which educational style is right for my family???