I love this time of year. It’s not the spring weather (it’s not here yet). It’s not the blooming flowers (save for a few daffodils, nothing is blooming). It’s not even spring break.
No, what I love about this time of the year is going out to get the mail. Why? Because for a homeschool mom getting the mail this time of year is like Christmas every day! The homeschool curriculum catalogs are out!
I know it sounds geeky, and it probably is, but I just love browsing through the curriculum catalogs, dreaming of what our homeschool year will look like next year. Yes, I know I just wrote about my plans for Stargirl next year. But every year when the catalogs arrive, I’m tempted to shake things up a bit.
I open the first one, the Sonlight catalog. Should we do the Core 100 American History for 9th grade? The books look FABULOUS!
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- The Bible Jesus Read
- The Cross & the Switchblade
- Shh! We’re Writing the Constitution
I’m so tempted! We loved Sonlight when we used it for Stargirl’s 6th grade year. But wait! There are more catalogs to look through. I can’t make any decisions yet!
I flip through the Christian Book Distributors catalog. They are having a wonderful homeschool curriculum sale. Apologia, Saxon, Switched On Schoolhouse! BJU Press, Rosetta Stone, Lamplighter Publications! Everything is on sale! And I want to use it all!
Deep breath. I can’t use it all. But I can flip through the next catalog!
Next up is Libaryanded.com. It’s like a big bookstore that came directly to my mailbox! And anyone who knows me knows I can’t leave a bookstore without buying anything!
There’s so much to see in this one little booklet! Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild – perfect for Stargirl! God’s Kids Worship CD? Boo would love it! And I added Wait No More – One Family’s Amazing Adoption Journey to my own reading wishlist.
Must put this catalog away. My resistance is weakening!
There’s only one catalog left: My Father’s World. How enticing can it be? After all, they don’t even carry high school curriculum, right? Wrong!
Oh my goodness! My Father’s World has changed since I last investigated that curriculum. They have high school curriculum now, and it looks good. I mean, REALLY GOOD!
In the Ancient History and Literature course, students read through the entire Old Testament. They learn how to do inductive Bible study and write an argumentative essay. They study ancient classics, such as The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey. I really like the strong Christian worldview.
Tempted, tempted, tempted…
Thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not covet….
I’m not making any purchases now, hard as it is, but I am going to check out My Father’s World at our state’s homeschool conference.
Unfortunately that will lead to a whole new set of problems…tons of curriculum…in person! That’s worse than the onslaught of catalogs! Heaven help me!
Please tell me you can relate! Am I alone in my curriculum catalog addiction?
TOO FUNNY. I love the catalogs. I was homeschooled myself for fifth, sixth and seventh grades, and I read them cover-to-cover even then. When we first considered pulling our daughter (a sixth-grader) out of public school this year, I requested EVERY CATALOG OUT THERE. Funny thing is, right now we’re going with a very natural, almost unschoolish approach, at least until we get through the rest of this year, though I about bought out our local bookstore in a couple sections!
But I still read the catalogs, each one, cover-to-cover. I think sometimes I have this dream about what this or that program will “do” for us – that we’ll have a Little House on the Prairie day of peaceful work at a slate or workbook, filled with beautiful penmanship and smiling faces. (Can you tell what MY personality is like – I was the kid who did workbooks for fun?)
Anyway, I just got such a kick out of your post. And our local homeschool association’s curriculum fair is this coming weekend. Ohhh, to see it all… and to get some AT A DISCOUNT! Be still my heart.