Never let your schooling interrupt your education.

Paradigm shift: Curriculum is not something you buy

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Paradigm shift: Curriculum is not something you buy
~ Written by Sarah Mackenzie of Amongst Lovely Things.

What if we’ve got it all wrong?

What if it doesn’t matter which books we use, which history projects we take on, how many lessons of math we accomplish in a year?

Homeschoolers spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about “curriculum,” but what if, when we compare spelling programs and choose math books, we aren’t really talking about curriculum at all?

Curriculum isn’t something we buy. It’s something we teach. Something we embody. Something we love.  It is the form and content of our children’s learning experiences.

Saxon Math isn’t the curriculum. It’s just the book that we use to teach the actual curriculum, which is: math.

If we started thinking about our children’s learning in terms of what we hope they will come to encounter in any given year rather than thinking of getting through a particular book or “covering” material, we free ourselves to learn far more than we could by binding ourselves to a set published resource. Of course we will use such resources to reach our goals — but the resource will be our servant, not our master.

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Authors of curriculum resources are often wise and helpful in setting general standards and goals, but no one knows our particular children better than we do. No curriculum publisher could possibly understand our hopes and dreams for them — their strengths,  their weaknesses, the longings of their hearts.

We, however, do.

Why trade that out for 36 weeks of someone else’s?

We are an anxious bunch, we homeschoolers. We fret and worry over how much of the curriculum we can cover in a year.

But curriculum cannot be covered anymore than we could hope to go over all the mysteries of the universe in 12 academic years.

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Curriculum is life, and life cannot be contained within the pages of a book.  Let’s not shrink this down from the splendor that it actually is. We have the opportunity here for wide expansive learning.

When our children look back on their childhood, what are they most likely to remember with pleasure? The history paper on the Hundred Years War? Or the family trip to the local museum taken on a rainy afternoon? The chapter in the science book about waterfowl, or the trumpeter swans seen on a weekend hike?

Intellectual learning is of tremendous value, of course, but in our seeking after it, let us not forget the importance of poetic knowledge. Poetic knowledge is that which we can only acquire through real experience — the rich deep knowing that happens down in our bones.

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Those afternoons we forego the usual schedule to volunteer at a soup kitchen or shovel snow for the sick neighbor are of no less value than academic work. We know this at our core, but we forget when we get right down to the daily grind.

We give lip service, saying that we value service projects or family leisure but then leaving no room in our schedules for doing puzzles, taking long afternoon strolls, or making meals for the  mom with a new baby down the street.

Instead: live life. Fill it to the brim with love. Take your time, and talk about everything. Doing this in front of our kids, doing this with our kids —  this is the essence of poetic knowledge.

I’m not suggesting that we tack this on to our already crammed schedules. I’m suggesting that we clear the way and MAKE room. Forget about getting through every single lesson in the book between September and May. Do the next lesson, do it well, and give it our all.

But then do something else.

Don’t let published resources be the master of the curriculum.  When we realize that our family camping trip is ripe with learning opportunities, we come to value that week in August as much as we value a productive academic week in January.

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Once we understand that the curriculum is actually far, far bigger than any published resource could ever be, the opportunities to let all of life become teacher explode before us. The doors of learning fling wide.

Our children are indeed learning all the time — sometimes it’s academic, sometimes it’s poetic. Our children need both. Let’s not slide into thinking that nothing is happening if we aren’t hitting the books.

The real curriculum, after all, is the curriculum of life.

How do you embrace the curriculum of life in your family?

Originally published on February 7, 2014.

About Sarah Mackenzie

Sarah is a smitten wife, mama of six (including twins!) and the author of Teaching from Rest, The Read-Aloud Family, and several stunning picture books.

She hosts the Read-Aloud Revival Podcast and spends her time running its vibrant, active membership community.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Shelly

    I just wrote about this the other day…my children’s curriculum is life- living life to the fullest. I’ve learned to step back and immerse themselves in projects of their own interests. I also have been doing a little strewing. Sometimes they’ll use what I put out- like a foam puzzle, science and literature books, and craft items- other things will go untouched. And that’s okay. I just want to open doors for them, but entering is all up to them. Sometimes they’ll enthusiastically do science experiments with me; other times they just want to do their own thing. Life IS learning, so whatever they choose to do is fine by me.

      • Bridget Wilson Hall

        I think that’s the whole point – the projects she does would possibly (even probably!) not be suitable for your children. You need to look at your children, their ages, their strengths and weaknesses and MOST importantly of all imho their interests… then what might interest them, follow up what they’ve been doing, build on a strength or help with a weakness…
        I think this is typically more hard work that just folksong a book but more fulfilling in the end both for you AND your children…

  5. Tamara Michel

    Very well stated, I loved it! I needed to hear this, thank you for sharing your thoughts. You are right, “curriculum is life”, this is why I decided to homeschool in the first place! I often have feelings of inadequacy, and teaching certain subjects becomes intimidating and overwhelming so I allow the workbooks to set my yearly schedule. Many times my children ask me when are we going to go on a walk, and I tell them, “After you get your school work done.”

    • Sarah Mackenzie

      You know- I think so many of us start out with these great and beautiful intentions to live out a full and wide life with our kids as homeschoolers, and then we end up getting caught up in the daily grind after all. We need to lean on each other to remember WHY we are doing this in the first place! That’s why I love places like Simple Homeschool. 🙂 Ah the big beautiful internet. 😉

  6. Mystie

    Beautiful article, Sarah! This is exactly the reason I like to keep our motto “living life together.” That’s where the action really is. It also means that working through bad attitudes about doing hard school and work is also part of the curriculum. 🙂 And, those bad attitudes aren’t only on the kids’ end!

  8. Faigie

    That is actually the best kind of education which I learned about in graduate school. Using experiences to learn from. It just amazes me how so many homeschool moms are able to tap into this without any kind of advanced schooling.

  10. Anna M

    This is a beautiful post. The idea of “poetic” knowledge resonates with me. The funny thing is that my upbringing involved lots of wonderful experiences (the sort of things that built imagination and creativity) but slightly less academic organization than might have been best. In reaction, I think I’ve tended to over-emphasize my desire to “cover” “everything,” and I appreciate your reminder not to forget the whole picture.

  11. Kara

    I just love this post Sarah. I agree completely that our children need all kinds of learning, and when we come to see the world as a classroom, there are so many amazing opportunities. 🙂

  14. Rachel at Stitched in Color

    Thank-you for giving me a name for what you mean by “poetic knowledge”. This deep, soulful knowledge is so hard to pinpoint and so hard to appreciate from the outside. Only the new know-er can truly measure an experience of poetic knowledge. But it is those moments and experiences which most readily become who we are.

    • Sarah Mackenzie

      Isn’t it true that if something isn’t measurable, we tend to devalue it? I think this is particularly true when it comes to our kids, and it’s a love-of-wisdom killer for sure, I think…

  16. Velta

    Just yesterday I was fussing at the kids because they didn’t want to follow the “curriculum” I had laid out. I tried reminding myself, and them, that I was homeschooling (this is my first year) because God lead me to. I told myself, and the kids, that since He lead me to it, He would show me how I was to teach them. My children stopped, dropped, and prayed right then. Since that moment I have read 3 posts that encouraged me to keep going and not give up, and pointed me to a less stringent “style,” dare I say “unschooling.” I guess I know what I need to do, now to just be able to follow His instructions and let go of my own selfish control issues. Thank you for being a part of His plan in my family’s life, may He bless you abundantly.

    • Mama N

      Thank you for sharing this. It was bold of you to be so honest. You have helped me!

  18. Cherise

    Sarah, you sure do a tremendous job capturing what is truly important. I love how your thoughts open channels of grace. Thanks for sharing your wonderful concept of poetic knowledge!

  20. Annie

    Yes! Love this!
    I recently bought my first curriculum after a bout of anxiousness and the first thing it said was, look, you don’t need a curriculum. LOL 🙂 Still made me feel better 🙂

  21. Aadel

    This is so much win!
    I often compare curriculum to vitamin supplements. It’s in addition to the real life experiences. Experience and relationship are the healthy, wholesome foods of learning and books are supplements. You can’t live off a diet of vitamins and supplements alone. And it is far better to get your nutrition (aka learning) from real stuff when you can.

  22. kelly

    This is the “vision” I have as I embark on this homeschooling journey. I love the term “poetic knowledge”, and I want this for my children!

    • Maria Mirolyubova

      Dear Mary Ann,
      I wanted to say thank you for sharing the link to TheHomeSchoolMom site!!!! It is such a treasure chest!!! Our family has moved to the US from Ukraine a year and 8 months ago and all this time–I am very embarrassed to admit!–I have been procrastinating to figure out how to properly organize MYSELF first of all about homeschooling my now 6-year-old daughter and a 2.5-year-old son. I’m Russian and my husband is American and so far my homeschooling was Russian based. I need to switch now to the legal requirements of the state of Texas and put all my ducks in a row!!! Aaaaahhhh!!! I’m running out of time which is entirely my fault, of course… Again, I would like to say THANK YOU to all those precious people who worked on putting this glorious site together to help new people like me get started on this very exciting journey of homeschooling!!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

  24. Sharon McKinney

    Thanks Sarah for a timely and encouraging post! Exactly what I needed to hear! I know these things but get caught up & forget! Many blessings to you & your family!