This time of year is always exciting {and daunting} as we consider curriculum decisions for the upcoming school year.
To prayerfully consider each child as an individual — their unique needs and gifts, their strengths and weaknesses, where they need support and freedom.
Whole life education is what we call it. Seeking to grow each child in relationship with God, with themselves, with others and with the world.
See what I mean by daunting?
But, we do not trust in ourselves alone. God is faithful and infinitely wise, He’ll guide our steps.
Curriculums come and go. Most can be used with success by simply tweaking and adjusting. Quite frankly, you don’t always need an official curriculum! But relationships?
Those cannot be bought in a box. They cannot be manufactured, sold at a discount or found on Amazon.
So as we consider nurturing the academic side, we search for curriculum that will support and not distract from this building of relationships for life.
In preparation, and to help us settle on some possible choices, I’ll be attending the Christian Homeschool Association of PA’s (CHAP) convention.
With hundreds of vendors all displaying their wares, shiny new books and programs, I decided a plan is necessary to sanely make it through the maze. So I’ve made up a little curriculum tracker printable for reference as I walk around and drool over everything (and try to remain focused in the midst of it all!)
Here’s the breakdown of my Convention Curriculum Tracker:
- A place for checkmarks — to document that you’ve viewed it already (check!)
- A place to write in the specific item or curriculum and vendor — in the vendor spot, you might want to write in booth # from your convention guide if like me, you plot a path around!
- Current price online — whether from the vendor’s site or other web space, it’s helpful to write the price you could currently purchase your item at.
- Convention comparison price — often, vendors offer ‘convention only’ specials. If you have the online price handy, it’s easy to judge if you’re getting a great deal or not.
- A place for notes — I like to write in my first impressions or any thoughts on how this might work or not for our family and/or a particular child
{Download this FREE curriculum tracker printable}
I plan to fill in a few spaces for items I’ll definitely want to review. I’ll also leave room to write in as I go along; the price can always be checked online upon returning home — if I didn’t already purchase that is!
Preparation will go a long way in helping to enjoy the convention…
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