How Do I Know What To Teach?

The whole homeschooling thing came as a bit of a surprise for us. We were not prepared. I was not prepared. I guess that happens to a lot of people but I also know people who have been planning on homeschooling since before their children were even born. I do not think there is a right time or a wrong time to decide to homeschool. However, if those people who had decided earlier were probably better prepared for what they wanted to do and how they wanted to do it.

I, on the other hand, feel like I am roaming around in a dark room trying to find my way. So far we have really just been focused on reading and math. I am trying to add more science and history in to our routine. He has taken a science class in both sessions of our co-op classes. And we have allowed him to choose topics that he is interested in and have followed his lead on those things. When we first arrived home from Ethiopia he had decided that he was interested in Ancient Egypt. So, we researched Ancient Egypt. We went to the library and we read books. We found instructions on how to make togas and we did that. We learned what we could and we talked about it. Then we moved to Dinosaurs. Well, for goodness sake, I swear you could spend your whole life researching dinosaurs and still not have learned everything there is to learn. But we researched it a lot and learned about it until the interest was starting to wane. We did take a brief break and researched the ancient Olympics while the current Olympics were going on. At the moment Big Brother has decided he is very interested in the Titanic. I believe this interest started one day when Hubby and I were discussing the movie. And so Big Brother and I are reading about the Titanic. We went to the library and took some books out. Big Brother does not know it yet but I just ordered two books for him from Scholastic. He has already decided that he wants to learn about space next.

But I do not know if we are doing enough. I mean I have no real guide. No real way of knowing what he would learn if he were in school. Every time I look into a curriculum I get all worked up. I am not good at lessons. At doing what a book tells me. And so I keep trying to piece together what I know and what I find out. The problem with that is it leads to me trying to see what I remember from when I was in school. I mean I vaguely remember learning to read in first grade. I remember writing reports (research reports) in third grade. I remember in third grade that we were suppose to memorize the presidents in order. I never did it. At least not that I remember and I certainly could not name them in order now. I remember writing some big paper in fifth grade but I can no longer remember what it was even on. And then there were the books - all the books - I read over the years. Some I liked, some I did not. But how important was it for me to read them? And which books are important for Big Brother to read?

I mean it is just so much pressure sometimes. Don't get me wrong. I love it. I love all the things it provides for. I mean so far it has provided Big Brother with the opportunity to learn all kinds of things that he would not have learned about in school. He is reading and reading well. He would not be in kindergarten. At least not the kindergarten in my area. The kindergarten teacher here was not planning on teaching them to really read this year. So, in following him and his capabilities he has learned things he otherwise would not have. But what will I miss? What things will he not learn because I forget to teach them?

Sometimes I wonder, though, if using the public school system is missing the boat completely. Maybe comparing what I remember of what I did in school to what I am doing with Big Brother now is not the way to go. I mean we homeschool for a reason. We homeschool because (t the core (leaving bad teachers and ignorant statements aside) we believe that we are best suited to teach him. That we will know what he needs to know and how it is best to teach those things. So, maybe simply following my instincts and his interests is the best way. I just do not know. And the scary thing is that if I do not even know what to use to see if I measure up I must be really lost. :)