K12: 2

Three kids and seven heavy boxes.  Seven heavy boxes full of everything you might need to school (notice I used the word school and not educate) three elementary aged children.  We got modeling clay, beakers, textbooks, globes, magnifying glasses, maps, math manipulatives, worksheets, books on how to teach everything, a whole phonics course, mini white boards, paint and brushes, and even a pop-up public school teacher.

Or, at least that's how it felt.

The kids were so excited, almost breathless as they poured over the new books, pictures and stuffs.  All I had to buy were the regular school supplies you would already buy:  crayons, pencils, notebooks, binders, paper clips, note cards and so on.  (The one extra thing I bought this year was markers.  Markers don't do well at this house, but I thought the older children might need them for maps or science pages.  They are hidden.  No one knows where they are and they will be pulled out and used in secret.)

I have to admit that I was pretty excited, too.  Having never used anyone else's curriculum, it all looked so, well, easier on me.  I wasn't the person required to research topics about which the children would like to study.  I didn't have to make up games or activities to make learning fun.

I was also overwhelmed with the amount of stuff to store. Where in the world was I supposed to put all of this?  Even though it felt intuitively wrong, I cleared away some of the things in our bookcases:  Childcraft, Time-Life books about oceans/cowboys/the moon, and science encyclopedias, and replaced them with manuals and text books.

And one more really strong emotion.  I felt like I was turning my back on a program in which I believe; a program that has served us well.  Why am I going in a direction that is so different from the one that has been working?