Should You Even Use a Homeschool Curriculum? The Quiz
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There is a lot of chatter in the homeschool world about curriculum. Everyone wants to know what kind of curriculum everyone else is using.
But what if you don’t even know if using a curriculum is the right choice for you?
Or what if you didn’t even realize it was possible to homeschool without a curriculum?
I guess this post is kind of a prequel to my post with a long-winded title: Making Sure You Have a Productive Homeschool Year for the Mom Who Doesn’t Want to Stick to a Schedule or Follow a Curriculum. That post is great for those who know they don’t want to use a curriculum. This one is for those who are still not sure.
Did anyone else ever read Seventeen magazine solely for the quizzes? I remember the ones where you could figure out what kind of girl the guys saw you as, I always tried to make my answers end up resulting me being seen as the girl next door.
There was absolutely no harm in me occasionally being less than truthful with my answers because in all reality that quiz affected nothing in my life.
The questions I’m going to lay out for you are definitely in similar style to those that I remember in Seventeen but this time I’d recommend trying to be as honest in your answers as possible. Twisting your answers will just end up hindering you and your children as you homeschool them.
In all honesty, I would love to be the type of person that stuck to a schedule and used a curriculum. I love looking at pictures on Instagram of sweet homeschooling families following the Charlotte Mason method. To be honest, if I could choose, I would definitely be a Charlotte Mason homeschooler. But try as I might that just doesn’t work for me or my family.
So, as you take time to go through these questions please take the time to think and be completely honest, it’s to the benefit of you and your family.
Just a heads up, this quiz will help you decide if you should follow a curriculum or not, not what kind of homeschooling method you should follow. Though that may be a quiz for another day . . .
SHOULD YOU FOLLOW A HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM – THE QUIZ
#1 Do you want your homeschool to look like school that happens to be done at home?
- yes (2)
- no (1)
#2 Do you enjoy spending time looking up different books, resources and activities to add to your homeschool day?
- yes (1)
- no (2)
#3 Do you enjoy having a ready-made checklist to follow?
- yes (2)
- no (1)
#4 Does your currently life has a fairly rigid routine?
- yes (2)
- no (1)
#5 Do you prefer making broad goals for the year instead of specific monthly or weekly goals?
- yes (1)
- no (2)
#6 Do you want your children to be learning the same things at the same time as those in the school system?
- yes (2)
- no/it doesn’t matter (1)
#7 Are you a Rebel or Questioner on Gretchen Ruben’s Four Tendencies? (Feel free to skip this question if you don’t know.)
- yes (1)
- no (2)
#8 Do you like following your children’s interests and using that for a large part of your learning?
- yes (1)
- no (2)
#9 Do you like writing lists of things you have done instead of lists of things you need to do?
- yes (1)
- no (2)
#10 Do you want to have the freedom to change your plans mid-year or mid-month if they aren’t working for you or your children?
- yes (1)
- no (2)
#11 When your child asks you a question and you don’t know the answer do you usually take the time to figure the answer out?
- yes (1)
- no (2)
Okay, time to add up your score! If you skipped question #7 take 2 points off the range.
If your score is between 17-22 (15-20 if you skipped #7) you like following a SCHEDULE
You would benefit from a curriculum though this probably doesn’t surprise you. If you don’t already know which homeschooling method would be best for you I would suggest checking that out. I’ll try to have a quiz on that in the near-ish future. I can’t relate a whole lot to those in this category though I would like to!
If your score is between 11-16 (9-14 if you skipped #7) you like keeping it FLEXIBLE
You are my people. Spending money on a curriculum is probably not the best idea for you since you probably won’t follow it for long anyway. There can be a lot of variety in this group, from those who completely unschool to those who have a bit more of a routine. If you haven’t already I would strongly suggest reading this post. I’m also working on a bunch of resources for you, the best way to get notified of that is to sign up here.
