A curriculum what???

They say the first step to solving a problem is admitting there is a problem. So here goes, my deep, dark secret. I am a curriculum junkie. There, I feel better already.

When we first started homeschooling, it was fun looking at the curriculum. All the bright colors, the pretty pictures, the number of exercises for each lesson all combined to suck me in and not let me go. I looked at website after website trying to find just the right combination of stuff to teach the kids and keep them interested. Did it work for them? Absolutely. They loved the workbooks and the worksheets. They might not have liked doing the work, but they loved what they were working on.

But what did it do to me? It made me a junkie. I already have the curriculum for next year. I spent three weeks combing through all the different subjects, narrowing down my choices. That's what we spent part of our "economic stimulus" package on. I actually spent less than $200 and got almost everything I need for our next session. Woohoo. And what have I done since it got here? I can't keep my hands off of it. Sometimes, I just like to pick it up and leaf through it. Sometimes I pretend I'm actually teaching the lesson.

I like to keep a lesson plan book. After all, when you are trying to teach several kids, several subjects, and on several different grade levels, you have to keep a log of who, what, when, and where. Not to mention our busy social life (ha, ha, ha). Nothing wrong with that, you say? The problem is I have penciled in all the lessons for all the kids until we take our Christmas break!!!
And I would love to do until we quit in May, but even I know that's a little obsessive. At least I did pencil,so I can change it if I need to.

Still not convinced? I am still looking at curriculum online. Sometimes, my palms start to sweat and I have this feeling that if I don't look at curriculum, I'll pass out. OK, maybe not to that extreme, but you get the picture. Sometimes I don't even know I'm doing it until I come to and I'm sitting in front of the computer drooling over the cool stuff that wasn't there yesterday when I looked.

And I can tell you a lot about different curriculi. Is that the plural of curriculum? Well, it is here. Lots and lots of different curriculi. I have copious notes about curriculi. And I can't seem to make myself stop. I see stuff at thrift stores and yard sales and I am all over it. OOh, can I use it, should I buy it, will the kids like this instead? The madness has got to stop.

But I think one reason I do it right now is because it's still new to me. And I love it. And thekids love it. And my husband loves it. Homeschooling is probably the best decision we have made for our family in a very long time.

Have a great day!