From viewing the homeschool curriculum glossary, you can clearly see that there are more choices for educational material than any one person can possibly cover. If you weeded through and prioritized it all, choosing the best (for you) of each subject matter for grade there would still me hundreds of other programs that you would love to use, but never feel you have the time.
Curriculum for subjects such as Latin, Foreign Languages, Computer Science, Art, and in-depth studies of historical figures are coveted, but often put aside, especially in the early years. That does not have to be the case.
Say for instance that you have ½ hour of time available each day for an extra lesson, but five subjects in which your child is interested. You do not have to choose which one you will study this year, and hope you will eventually get to the others. Instead, you can choose which you want to do first. Split the year into semesters, providing 6 weeks or so to concentrate on each elected extra curriculum. You can also choose to do a quick course over the Christmas holiday season and during the summer.
You can also use this time to do work in areas where the children are struggling. For us, we are taking ½ hour each day this summer to work on areas where the children have told me that they want extra help. My son has requested extra work in geography, and my daughter has requested spelling drills. These are their weak areas, but also their choice to do the extra work this summer to that they will go into next year with more confidence.
We will probably be satisfied with their progress half way through the summer, and after that we hoping to do a quick writing workshop.
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* Have you seen the homeschooling curriculum glossary?