Friday, March 18, 2016

Too Many Choices

I feel blessed that I homeschool in a time where homeschooling is fairly mainstream, and we have options.  I hear about the "pioneers" of homeschooling, who had to make do with what they could get, which was maybe one or two curriculum choices, and it was usually traditional school curriculum written to classroom teachers.

Now?  Publishers caught on to the homeschooling movement, and they started making curricula just for homeschoolers.  Those homeschooler pioneers started writing their own programs, particularly when they wanted something completely different than textbooks.  More options!  Homeschool graduates now own publishing companies and are giving us even more choices.  It's truly amazing what is out there!

At the same time, I feel overwhelmed because I have TOO MANY CHOICES.

You see, it's that time of the year where we're finishing up curriculum and I'm looking forward to next year.  I have a vision for next year.  In my head, it's great.  On paper?  I still have choices to make.

Actually, just one.  What do I want to use for history?

The problem is that there are so many choices, that I get bogged down by them.  I spend so much time trying to compare them, trying to figure out if one is "better" than the other for my family, trying to find that perfect fit.  I choose one, then have reservations about why another one might work better for me.  Then I choose something completely different.  Then I am unsettled.  Then I choose one for a day before I make another change.

I finally had to tell myself to just pick one.  One of the reasons I wanted to switch gears is because I want to spend less time researching and planning.  No matter what I choose, I am not going to ruin them over one year of history.  I could continue to agonize over this for weeks to come, or I could just make a choice and move forward.

I settled on one.  I ordered it before I could change my mind again.  It was my very first choice.

Funny how that works.

This week, we're blogging on the letter T.  Check out what everyone else is talking about!

Blogging Through the Alphabet” style=



  1. I'm glad you settled on your fist choice! I've been agonizing over a few choices for next year, particularly for my oldest and youngest!

    1. I always feel like my poor oldest is the guinea pig!

    2. Ha, ha! I know what you mean!!

  2. We're starting to look at next year, and I agree -- sometimes too many choices is too much of a good thing!

    1. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way sometimes!