<![CDATA[This Side of Heaven

<![CDATA[This Side of Heaven - Blog]]>Tue, 12 May 2026 13:53:01 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[Five things all parents need to understand about curriculum - and why it matters]]>Mon, 04 Aug 2025 17:34:23 GMThttps://www.thissideofheavenblog.com/blog/five-things-all-parents-need-to-understand-about-curriculum-and-why-it-mattersThis is the time of year when alternating moments of planning and panic can be seen in social media groups, both for homeschool parents and those whose children are going to public or private school:

"This is my first year of homeschooling! What curriculum should I use for second grade?"

"Finishing up my curriculum purchases and thinking about doing something new for science. What do you recommend for biology?"

"We SO need to change our boxed curriculum! Tell me what works for you!"

"My child starts school next week - pray that she finds her tribe and makes good choices!"

"Does anyone have experience with Mrs. Brown for fourth grade? We were hoping for someone else, but this is where our daughter was assigned!"

Implicit in these cries for help is the idea that the choice of "curriculum" is primarily a consumer decision of what to purchase for the coming year, and that the "right" choice will make or break the year to come.

Interestingly, while homeschool parents agonize over this topic, parents whose kids are in public or private school tend to gloss over it entirely. After all, the "curriculum" is already in place, so what can a parent do about it anyway, except for occasional protests or "opting out" of an objectionable book?

But there are five things that ALL parents need to understand about curriculum in order to make choices for their children that will have great implications for their future!

There are eight kinds of curriculum, and they aren't all in books.

The first curriculum type is the recommended curriculum. That is the goals, learning outcomes and "standards". In a traditional school system, these are set by the state, the school district, or the private school board. In a homeschool environment, these are going to be the various philosophies of education presented by publishers, co-ops, tutoring programs, and hybrid programs - and by parents who have thought it through, as well as by state legal homeschooling requirements. Some states have minimal requirement (South Carolina, for example, only requires that the broad levels of reading, writing, science, social studies, and math be taught), while other states have much more specific requirements (such as requiring state history or a certain number of hours of PE or computer science).

The second curriculum type is the written curriculum. In all school settings, this is the actual published books and materials adopted by the state, district, private school, co-op, tutoring program, university model, or homeschool parent This is what most people think of when they hear the word "curriculum", and is typically chosen to support the goals and learning outcomes of the "recommended" curriculum.

The third curriculum type is the taught curriculum, which is always more or less than what is in the published curriculum. Perhaps the classroom teacher skips a section of the textbook because it doesn't align with the state standards or because they run out of time because of state testing or other factors in the school year. Perhaps the homeschool parent does the same because of lack of time or lack of interest. Or he or she may decide to expand on what is in the textbook because of a student's interest in a certain area.

That leads us to the fourth type of curriculum, the supported curriculum. This includes all of the additional "materials", including field trips and other experiences that are not written down. These are in support of the written and recommended curricula, and it becomes part of the taught curriculum.

The fifth curriculum type is the assessed curriculum. This is the portion that is assessed through tests, quizzes, papers, etc. Some curriculum publishers will note in the teacher materials what points or what definitions will be on a test - that is clearly part of the assessed curriculum. (That does not mean that other points are not important, but not everything can be assessed on a practical level.) Some public schools spend a great deal of time on state assessment, which may or may not be helpful in evaluating a student's actual learning.

The sixth curriculum type is the learned curriculum. When all is said and done, this is the actual content, skills, and ideas that the student has acquired, whether or not it was on a test, whether or not it was part of the taught curriculum. This is dependent on SO many factors - how well it was taught, what kind of materials supported it, how much effort the student put into it, whether or not there were learning challenges and how those were met, how much time was spent on one subject compared to others, what other things were going on emotionally and physically that supported or countered learning - and so on!

The seventh curriculum type is the excluded curriculum. Newsflash - no curriculum includes everything. Those parts that are excluded are sometimes left out because they do not support the goals of the recommended curriculum. For example, public school generally exclude anything related to religious education because that is not part of the public school's goals. Many topics are excluded for lack of time - no history text book, for example can present everything that happened in every place and time. No literature class can cover more than a certain number of books in a year. Other topics, especially in more student-centered environments, are excluded for lack of interest. Every learning program will have gaps. You cannot avoid that.

The final curriculum type is the hidden curriculum, and this is the one that is so often missed by parents, regardless of their children's learning environment. The hidden curriculum is what is actually taught to students without specific intention. It consists of the unspoken biases, values, beliefs, and norms of the administrators, teachers, peers, and learning environment. It can be seen in a traditional school's extracurricular activities, choices of materials, decorations, and rules about technology. In a homeschool, it can be found in the choice of a co-op or other learning program, in other activities, in the family culture, and in activities with friends. Every learning environment has a hidden curriculum.

There are implications for each of these curriculum types.

Parents need to be aware of and have an opinion about all of these, beginning with the recommended curriculum.

Parents of children in public and private school need to know what the goals and guiding philosophy are for the system that is educating their students. Ideally, they should have adopted their own preferred educational philosophy with which they can evaluate the one in use. They should be aware of what materials are being used, both those officially adopted and others used in the classroom, in order to understand what is being taught and what is being excluded. If parents find items in the excluded curriculum that are of importance to their own educational philosophy and goals, they need to make plans to include them outside of school hours - through sports, clubs, lessons, service organizations, and faith-centered activities.

Homeschool parents need to understand that their children's education will consist of so much more than just what they purchase in the summer. Being aware of how these different curriculum types work together can help parents strategically and purposefully plan how what to exclude, how to assess, and extra activities to support their own recommended curriculum. This can free the homeschool parent from the trap of seeing the textbooks and the adopted "program" as the boss rather than a tool.

All parents need to be aware of the hidden curriculum that often has a greater impact on one's child than what is published and public. For many homeschool parents, this is one of the factors that drives them out of the traditional school environment, citing negative peer influences or negative attitudes toward faith or special needs as reasons for choosing to homeschool. But homeschool parents need to also be aware of the hidden curriculum present in co-ops, hybrid schools, athletic settings, churches, friendships, and the media to which our children are exposed. That hidden curriculum can be positive or negative, and the wise parent will be aware of that and keep it in mind in making decisions for how to use their limited time, energy, and resources in teaching their children.

Education is not morally neutral.

You should be able to see in all of these curriculum types that no educational approach is morally neutral. All start with "recommended" goals and philosophies and make decisions from there that support those values. Parents who are unaware of these, or who do not develop their own, will inevitable allow the values of others to influence their children - and homeschoolers are not immune to this. It is critically important for parents to intentionally decide what is important as they raise their children and then to evaluate how their chosen education system is, or is not, supporting those values. One reason we homeschool is because it is a better use of our limited resources (time, money, and energy) to direct our children's education ourselves than to counter all of these curriculum types outside of the traditional public or private school day. At the same time, we have carefully chosen the activities in which our children invest their time to support those values and goals that are most important to us.

Education is not limited to "school".

In our busy culture, it is so tempting to outsource our children's learning. We outsource academic learning to schools, online classes, or co-ops. We outsource mentoring to coaches and extracurricular teachers. We outsource spiritual learning to churches and youth programs. We outsource character development to programs or even to the media and peer relationships. Not all of these are wrong, per se, but in the process of outsourcing, we need to remember that we are our children's first teachers, and that while much learning begins in school, it continues outside of those traditional academic hours. If our children's spiritual growth is one of our highest values, we have to be intentional about that.

The common denominator in all of these curriculum types is YOU, the parent.

If your child is in a traditional learning environment, you may not be able to control most of the curriculum types shared here, but you can develop and adopt your own educational philosophy and values. You can educate yourself not only about the books being used, but about the teachers and the environment supporting the goals of the system you have chosen for your child (and yes, public school is a choice). You can understand what is included and excluded so that you can counter or add to it at home.

If you are a homeschool parent, you must also study and develop your own ideas and beliefs about education, and understand how those ideas inform the development of written curriculum options. What does it mean when materials and books are advertised as "Charlotte Mason" or "classical" or "traditional" or "unit studies"? Why might Latin be a part of it and does that matter to you? What does it mean when a online or in-person academic program is described in those terms? How much of your children's learning are you comfortable outsourcing to others, and what philosophy do they have? What hidden curriculum is influencing your children in your own home and neighborhood, and are you okay with that?

Moving forward!

As you start your school year, be aware of these types of curriculum influencing your children. Be creative about how you are going to support, augment, or counter them in your home. And be intentional with how you will be your child's primary teacher, coach, and cheerleader in your journey to bring him or her up in the discipline of the Lord!

]]><![CDATA[Saving money with Memoria Press]]>Sat, 12 Apr 2025 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.thissideofheavenblog.com/blog/saving-money-with-memoria-pressWe are now in our fifth full year of using mostly Memoria Press materials in our homeschool. I was first drawn to them because of their Latin curriculum, which my daughter used in an online class with True North Homeschool Academy. Then I decided to look into their literature guides, and then writing, and then science, and before long I realized that other than math (Saxon was working for us), I didn’t want my kids to miss out on any of the rich education that Memoria had to offer.

Placing your first order with MP can be a little daunting, but I quickly learned how to navigate their website and, especially, how to save money the MP way, and that is what I want to share with you!

Order when they have free shipping.

There are usually one or two times a year when Memoria Press offers free shipping for several weeks or even all month long - and this month is one of them!! Until the end of May 2025, you can get free shipping on one order with the code ship1time25.

You can also get free shipping during various homeschool conventions, including their own National Conference coming up in July 2025. This is a week-long series of conferences - Sodalitas for homeschoolers, Subject Intensives for homeschoolers and classical teachers, Teacher Training for classical teachers, and Seminars on Culture & Education from Memoria College (you don't need to be a student to attend). These are all offered on their campus in Louisville, Kentucky and they will ship to you for free if you place an order with them while you are there or while you attend online.

Save with bundles.

When you buy a bundle (for example, their First Form Latin set, which includes flash cards, the teacher guide, test book, CD, etc.), you usually save money over ordering them individually. Often, the prices of these sets are comparable to what you would pay on "discount" sites such as Christian Book Distributors or Rainbow Resource, with the added bonus that you know you are getting the most up-to-date edition AND you will get digital copies of the tests and quizzes in the teacher's guides.

Get the biggest discount with their core curriculum packages.

When you order a grade level package containing lesson plans and all of the subjects for a grade, you will save the most money, even up to 40% in some cases. That is what we do now. Don’t forget to add in items that would have been included in the packages for earlier grades. For example, one year, I needed to add the Geography flashcards for my daughter, since she was studying Geography 3, but had not taken Geography 1 and 2. When my son was in third grade and beginning Latina Christiana, we needed to add on the flashcards, because they had been included in the Prima Latina kit in Grade 2 (which he had not taken).

Here are a few other things to keep in mind about this option:

You can customize a core. You can remove books and swap one level of a book (like Latin) out for another and still get the core discount as long as it is a subject that is normally part of a core package. For example, my son does not need math or spelling because we use a different curriculum for those, so we leave those out. When he was in fourth grade, I also got him Greek Alphabet, which is in the seventh grade core, but not fourth. MP let me do that, no problem, and gave me the core discount on it. I also needed some individual books in the recommended read-aloud collection for his grade. Those are NOT normally in a core package, so I did not get a discount on those.
Simple changes can be done online, but others will need a phone call or email to MP Customer Service. The only subject you can remove online is math, and there was also no way for me to add Greek Alphabet that will trigger the discount, so I called MP to get their help - and they are really the best!
Memoria Press now has two options for the Core Curriculum lesson plans - printed or customized digital! With the customized option, you can choose exactly which classes your child is taking and have all of those in one book. You need to print it yourself, or just use it online.

Do order your core curriculum from Memoria Press directly.

As I alluded to above, you can get Memoria Press curriculum from Christian Book Distributors, and from Rainbow Resources, and others, but there are some very big advantages to ordering from MP directly:

You will know you are getting the most recent edition. Sometimes other websites have older ones. This matters if your child is taking a class using MP materials. It also matters if you want the most up-to-date improvements. For example, they have recently updated their Latin student guides to include some excellent parsing practice that really helps students learn how to translate. I highly recommend them!
MP will load your customer account with tests and quizzes from the teacher manuals you order, so you can print them instead of copying them.
MP will sometimes also give you digital lesson plans for things you buy that are not part of your core curriculum package (for example, I got first grade cursive for my son when he was in third grade, and they included those extra lesson plans for me). If you buy your curriculum someplace else, you can still get lessons plans, but you will pay about $5 for them (well worth it for me, but it’s nice to get them for free).
If you order from them and a new edition comes out down the road, MP will sometimes give you an updated teacher edition.

Use coupons.

If you get the printed Memoria Press Catalogs, either "Classical Teacher" or the "Simply Classical Journal" (both are free and have wonderful articles in them), you will find a $5 off coupon code in the most recent one. If you don’t subscribe, you can request it for free! There is also a $5 coupon code, LPR24, connected to the Lutheran radio show Issues, Etc. Also, in January, Memoria Press sent $10 gift cards to everyone who placed an order last year - so if you become a customer this year, you will be able to save next year! NOTE: You can only "stack" the free shipping code with a gift card code, not other coupons. However, you can use coupons on digital as well as physical orders, so to maximize your savings, I suggest using any gift card you have along with the free shipping, and then use other coupons on additional orders of streaming videos, extra digital lesson plans, or e-books (there are many!), as well as on.

Use your local library.

I do not buy everything from Memoria. Many of the books in their elementary school read-aloud and American history collections are either in our home already or are in our local library. If there are a few that I can’t find anywhere, sometimes I will look for them on ThriftBooks (spend $30 and join Reading Rewards for a free book!) or Exodus Books or local used book sales before I will buy them new from MP. HOWEVER, if you are doing a literature study that involves a translation (such as Heidi, The Odyssey, The Iliad, The Aeneid, etc.), you do want to get the exact translation MP uses so it matches your Student Guide, AND please use caution about buying core curriculum guides online without knowing what year they are from.

Questions??

Please feel free to contact me with questions! If you decide to give Memoria Press a try, would you please use my affiliate link in this post? It helps our family at no extra cost to yourself! And please let me know how you like it - maybe we can connect in the MP forums or the MP Homeschool Families Facebook Group!

]]><![CDATA[Seven seasons for homeschoolers]]>Sat, 28 Oct 2023 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.thissideofheavenblog.com/blog/seven-seasons-for-homeschoolersWhat? You thought there were only four seasons in the year? Au contraire, my friend!

Classroom teachers (of which I was one for many years) are familiar with the ups and downs of the school year, the way parts of the year are filled with excitement and enthusiasm, the way some drive you bonkers with excess student energy, and the way others (can we say "testing season"?) d-r-a-g out interminably. What I didn't realize when I transitioned from my school classroom to teaching my own children was that the same would be true as a homeschooler. Check out these seven seasons of the homeschool year and how to make the most of them. Maybe they will resonate in your heart as well!

Everything is awesome!
For us, this season begins in late summer and lasts about six weeks. I've printed out a new homeschool planner, we have fresh books and workbooks, the homeschool corner of our living room is relatively organized, I've gotten out our new Memoria Press curriculum, the children are excited about seeing their friends again in Vita Beata and Community Bible Study - you get the idea. We are ready to take on the new school year and smile (perhaps somewhat smugly) as we hear the school bus stopping on our corner and know that we get to wake up at a reasonable hour and will finish our school work before the neighborhood kids get home. Homeschool rocks!

Making the most of it: Enjoy it! Tweak your schedule where it needs it and enjoy finding your groove with curriculum and timing. Take field trips and channel that energy into fun early fall activities that you wouldn't have time for if you weren't homeschooling. YOU ARE THE TEACHER! How awesome is that??

The Fall "feel like I'm failing" slump
This hits our home in October. The energy of the new school year has worn off. Schedules have not gone as planned. Curriculum that I was excited about is boring. My children are struggling in ways that I did not anticipate. We haven't had a day when we hit all of our goals for WEEKS, and I feel like I can choose homeschooling or a clean house or warm meals, but definitely not all three. I hear the school bus on the corner and wonder what it would be like to have a whole day to myself. I feel like a homeschool failure, and I'm not the one in school! (Or am I?)

Making the most of it: If this feels like you, take a step back and take a deep breath. First, this is normal, so some of what you are feeling might just be the season and not reality. Second, if the curriculum you loved in August is not working like you thought it would, you can change it. Slow down (or speed up) the pace. Add to it. Don't do every math problem. Or find something new entirely. Talk with other homeschoolers about what is working for them and try that. Remember - YOU ARE THE TEACHER. You are allowed to make changes that will benefit your child!

Holiday Hullabaloo
Enter the holidays. For us, this starts right around Thanksgiving, as we look ahead to the temporary end of activities and online discussion groups. A break is on the horizon, but it also feels like there are a dozen holiday and church events coming up, and trying to get schoolwork done on top of those feels overwhelming.

Making the most of it: Plan ahead now for how to change things up during the holiday season, whether that means taking an extended break or just doing things differently. Our family does not take the whole month of December off, but some families do, and that may be an option for you, too. Remember - YOU ARE THE TEACHER. As long as you are meeting the legal requirements for your state, you have lots of freedom to do what is best for your students and your family.

New Year, Fresh Start!
It's like September all over again! Even if you continued homeschooling through the holidays, it's likely you got at least a little break, and now you are ready for a new year! The changes you made back in the fall are working, and you've got this!!

Make the most of it: Enjoy, part 2! Take advantage of these cozy winter days to curl up on the sofa for some extra reading time together, even with your big kids. Take time to go outside during the daylight hours to get outside in the crisp, fresh air, and breathe in the freedom that homeschooling gives you! YOU ARE THE TEACHER!

Bleak Mid-winter
Around the middle of February, the bleak mid-winter slump hits me. Spring is still a month away. The Christmas holidays seem like forever ago. The tweaking I did to our curriculum back in the fall has worn off, and that yellow school bus is looking mighty good again. I am tired. I hate math as much as my son does. Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe homeschooling wasn't a good idea after all.

Make the most of it: Just like in the fall, take a step back and breathe. There are several factors here - less sunshine during the winter months, the weariness that comes with doing the same thing for months, the cabin fever that may be hitting your little ones. Find some ways to get a break, for you as well as for your kids. Maybe you can trade playdates with another homeschool mom and take a couple of hours for yourself? Also, keep getting outside in the sunshine, even for a short time every day. And just like in the fall, don't be afraid to make curriculum changes even now. DON'T be a slave to whatever text book you chose back in the summer. Remember, YOU ARE THE TEACHER!

There's a light at the end of the tunnel
It's late March. Spring is here. We're on Day 160 of our homeschool calendar and if everything goes well, we'll be officially done by the end of April, at which point the homeschooling we do will be because we want to and not to satisfy the government. We made it!

Make the most of it: Enjoy the new burst of energy in yourself and your kids. As the spring weather warms up, take days off here and there to enjoy the outdoors and, once again, to enjoy the freedom of homeschooling. Begin the process of taking stock of the past year. What worked? What didn't? What skills do your children still need to work on? What can you do differently next year?

At the same time, don't be discouraged if you are not where you wanted to be by this time. Is your child not where she "should" be in math? Is it because she has the skills but hasn't finished the book? Maybe you don't need to. Maybe you can do fewer problems per chapter in the weeks to come. Is it because this math has just been hard? Remember, you don't have to finish the book right now. Maybe you can carry it into the summer or even into the new school year. Remember, YOU ARE THE TEACHER and one of the beauties of homeschooling is that our children can learn at their own paces, whether that means working "ahead" or slowing things down a bit.

Sum-sum-summertime!
I made it! On our schedule, we tend to finish our official days in late April or early May and have the next month, while public school is still going on, to rest up before our summer schedule begins and enjoy the knowledge that we have run the race and finished well. I can look back on the last year, with all of its high and low points, and look ahead to the new year with a sense of anticipation and the knowledge that it is still a couple of months away.

Make the most of it: Rejoice! You did it, too! A whole year of homeschooling is done! Even if you homeschool year-round, make sure you take some time to rest and do anything EXCEPT school. Remember you are the teacher, but first and foremost, you are your child's parent, and you need time to make memories in that role, too. Start looking ahead to the new year, and look back on the old, but make sure to enjoy what is going on right in front of you, too!

What seasons of homeschooling do you experience? What would you add to this list?

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