Adapting the Curriculum - A Guest Post
When I purchase a new curriculum I have to remind myself that the guide is just that, a “guide” to hold my hand and walk along with me on my journey of preparing a feast for my children. Its okay to streamline and adapt the curriculum to your lifestyle, beliefs and schedule.
If our goal is to model right thinking and a make do attitude to our families while showing them that true joy is not a feeling but eternal, (happiness is a feeling, joy is eternal) than we do not need to stress ourselves out that the libraries are closed nor do we need to rack up major debt on Amazon keeping up with the homeschooling lists!
We have the freedom to adapt and rise to the challenge.
With that in mind I’d like to share some tips for adapting the curriculum to your own family and budget.
Discover what you already own- As you plan out your school year, take a look at the supply list for each month. Go down the list of recommended books and look at the lessons that coordinate with the book to get a feel for what is going to be relayed by using that book. Look for what you already own, or look for books that could be good substitutes.
Check the library- Next check your local library, including online resources like Hoopla and Zipbooks. Once libraries reopen , I’ll even check neighboring counties to see if they have the book. If they do not have it I can put in a purchase request with our library ZipBooks program. If that request gets denied or I’m too far down the waitlist, I check the Hoopla app. It’s a free app that uses your library card number to digitally borrow books, movies, and music.
Look for Youtube or public domain stories- If I still can’t source the book, or a good substitute, I check Youtube to see if someone is reading the book out loud. I also check public domain sites such as Project Gutenberg and Internet Archive to see if they offer the book.
Buy the book- If the reading suggestion looks like something I’m excited about using again and want to own, I will check Facebook curriculum resale sites, ThriftBooks, Abe Books, to try and source it used.
Add creative resources-If I can, I will branch out and make it multi sensory using videos, music and audio books, and activity kits. Paper dolls, sensory boxes, and activity books or kits can all add so much spark to your year, and it’s these hands on projects that makes it a year worth remembering for you and your child.
Pulling a Feast from Just One Book
Now let me illustrate this with an actual month from The Kind Kingdom, consisting of weeks 13-15. First I scan the book list and see who jumps out at me? Charles Dickens? St. Nicholas? Martin Luther?
I started scanning the book list and saw that I didn’t own The Life of Martin Luther by Agostino Trini. It’s a beautiful pop up book but it wasn’t available at any free/cheap sites and I didn’t think I’d use it again. I also couldn’t request pop up books on Zipbook due to wear and tear.
As a substitute, I found a beautiful, well written book , Martin Luther by Paul Maier. If you need help finding substitutes, you can check the independent book list in The Kind Kingdom, or book lists from Ambleside Online, and Reshelving Alexandria.
My pick for the month was to really focus on A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. I found a beautiful picture book at the library sale for my daughter to look at and I also downloaded a public domain original to read aloud. I also looked on the Hoopla app and found Disney’s A Christmas Carol movie to watch for free.
I even found music soundtracks from the different movie versions for background ambiance and a number of audiobooks read by different narrators for busy days that I wasn’t able to read aloud. We looked for the recommended poems and hymns sung and read by skilled performers for added excitement.
For a multi sensory experience, I added candles and greenery to the table, and dress up clothes. I also included acts of charity and goodwill such as baking for neighbor’s, grocery shopping for the elderly, and leaving flowers on grandma’s porch. Your child is going to want to walk out the change she saw in Scrooge so make that gift available to her.
Can you see the whole idea of a feast you are able to pull out of one book?
Post by Miette Allison.