How We Homeschool Without a Curriculum

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Last updated on April 10th, 2022 at 08:56 pm

I get a lot of questions about what we do for homeschool —specifically, which curriculum or program we’re using. I’m not quite sure yet how to answer this. We homeschool without a curriculum, and we don’t have much structure.

Does this surprise you, considering how organized I am?

Truthfully, this curriculum-free method gives me a lot more freedom and simplifies my life. It seems contrary but if I had a checklist and book of everything I “have” to do, I’d probably lose it.

I discovered Bonnie Landry sometime during 2020 and was immediately intrigued by her method of homeschooling, dubbed “cozy homeschooling.” While finding the best style of education is important, the emphasis of Bonnie’s homeschool philosophy is on relationships.

With that in mind, if I look for a curriculum, I want something that will help build my relationship with my student, rather than checking off educational boxes.

In other words, without a strict curriculum or program to adhere to, I’m a better mom.

So, if I homeschool without a curriculum, what do I do?

Language

Bonnie has a lot of great podcasts (and YouTube videos) on teaching language through dictation. It only takes a couple of minutes each day and, again, focuses on relationships.

I have my daughter choose a book or a poem she wants to write. Then I dictate to her, with the correct spelling and punctuation, a sentence or poem. She reads aloud what she wrote and I pull a language lesson out of it.

It only takes a few minutes and also teaches attendance while building our relationship.

Math

I hated math in school. It was always a struggle and pure agony. I didn’t want that for my kid.

As I searched for a math curriculum I was filled with absolute DREAD when I saw Singapore and Saxon math …a sure sign it wasn’t going to work at this point of our homeschool.

We’re using an alternative series of books called Life of Fred. Arithmetic is presented in story form about a 5-year-old named Fred who teaches math at a university. (Sounds interesting already, right?)

It doesn’t seem like it’s enough. However, I’ve been pleased with how much my student has retained because math facts are related to a story. Human beings are drawn in by story.

Will we switch to another math curriculum someday? Probably. But for now, this is what works for us.

Reading

Most of our day is spent reading. We typically read a novel related to something we’re studying, as well as something just for fun. (Here’s a list of some of our favorite books so far and here’s another on how to find great books for your kids.)

Choosing books from the library, I try to get a wide variety of books: fairy tales, tall tales, picture books, biographies, fact books, etc.

Right now, our big thing is to find “I Can Read Books” to build Juliana’s confidence in her reading skills.

We read nearly everything aloud together. I let her read “her” books on her own, but she usually wants me to hear the story, too.

History

Choosing books related to a historical period has been the best way for us to learn history. I chose a time period that had good, classic novels that she could understand and back it up by discussing things from the novel.

We use the dictionary to look up words. Last year, we bought an encyclopedia so we can also look things up at home. For extra reading, I look for books about that historical period at the library.

Yes, history is a bit disjointed. But thinking back on my own education, I was always filling in gaps in history. (I still am.)

Other subjects

Some subjects I combine together. For example, to learn the continents and become familiar with some of the bigger countries on them, I use a book called Saints Around the World. Every week, we read a story about a saint, find where they lived on the map, and look up the country in the encyclopedia.

Science is everywhere around us. As we go through our day, if we wonder about something, we look it up in the encyclopedia. For more background, we’ll look for books on a specific topic at the library. (I feel like Hermoine Granger.)

If I do something “official,” I’ve loosely used the science curriculums from the Good and the Beautiful. Occasionally, we’ll use code.org to build coding skills.

For phys ed, last year we went jogging twice a week at the local park. During the winter, that habit fell apart. We’re planning to get back into it this week.

Other activities are outsourced. Juliana takes piano lessons, painting lessons, and swim lessons every week.

…

There’s much more that we do each week. However, this is a brief look at how we homeschool without a curriculum or an official program.

I wouldn’t have much confidence in homeschooling without a curriculum if it weren’t for Bonnie Landry. You can find her at bonnielandry.ca

As my student gets older, I assume we’ll find programs and curriculums that will fit our homeschool. For now, my goal is to teach my child how to learn and to build up her excitement and thirst for knowledge.

How We Homeschool Without a Curriculum