Curriculum the difference between secular & non-secular; and reading ramblings
By Rachel Schardt - 4:13 PM
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So your gonna homeschool like me Sweet. Welcome to the millions of parents who are and have been doing it for years. I'm sure you have done what I did pour thousands of hours into the curriculum that you are going to use. Yeah me too...I've been to Currclick, teacher's pay teachers, scribd and more. Only problem that I have noticed and you might have to is what's the difference between "secular" and "non-secular" when it comes to studies. I can sorta answer this.
And there you have the definitions of what each one means...confusing to say the least. Now for the fun part of homeschooling. There are many reasons why one chooses to home school their kiddos. We are doing it for reasons that were mentioned in another post.
So the massive con that I have noticed that most curriculum one looks for is very "non-secular" and that's fine but when you want to go out side of this curriculum it's a nightmare; between trying to find the grade you need and the cost being enough to make a car payment what is a parent that is limited in $$$ to do?
You can search Google for hours and Pinterest too. The issue is the same not enough secular curriculum or you can find one book but not the next, and of course what does your child have to say about the books you have picked? It's mind numbing and yes my head hurts and I question myself sometimes and my sanity. It's when my son comes up to me who is one of the most reluctant readers I have ever met asks me....Will I be able to read Captain Underpants when you teach me? Why heck yeah you can read about Captain Underpants why do you ask? My teacher...yup you heard it his teacher won't let him read these books. I ask him why and of course no answer.
I did my own digging on this and found the following: Captain Underpants is and was designed for the reluctant reader. Now that he is in to book 5 most the books in the ever growing series is between 3rd and 4th grade reading level. Helps give them the basic understanding of chapter books that is exciting and has you wanting to know what will happen next.
So with this new found love reading I get his opinion on all areas of study he will be doing. I say for reading curriculum this is a pro...all the way!
I still fight through the cons of curriculum because there are so many more options for the "non-secular" groups of home schooling. The "secular" groups have to fight and research for topics that fit our kiddos. I just hope that sometime soon some of these publishers will lower their prices (Yeah you Pearsons, MacMillian/MacGraw Hill, and others) so that we too can give our kids the best education out there!
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