Letting Go of Good Things (or Why I Sold Our Latin Curriculum)

There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of wonderful home school curriculum products available on the market today. You can find materials to teach almost any subject you can imagine and using a variety of different teaching methods and philosophies. It is a wonderful time to be home schooling because there are so many resources and it is easy to find ways to encourage your children in their various interests and passions. However, I was reminded of a very important lesson this week, just because we can teach anything does not mean we need to teach everything.

You know from all of our reviews and posts that we love checking out new curriculum and sharing resources with my readers. We have had the opportunity to let the children explore music, art, stopmotion videos, literature units, audio dramas, and so much more. In addition, we have completed our core curricula in science, history, math, reading, and spelling. My children are getting a rich and robust education, but I sometimes forget that we do not have to do everything.

Sold Latin Graphic

My ‘aha moment’ this week came when I finally sold the Latin curriculum that I had been storing for several years. Latin is popular among many of my home school friends and I had begun to feel like I really needed to include it in my children’s education. So, when I found a good deal on a program years ago I quickly purchased it and put it aside for when we had time. Each summer, I would look at it and decide that I needed to do it, but I didn’t have time and it hung over my head as an unmet expectation. This week I realized that I was holding on to that Latin because of what other people were doing and not because it was what was right for my children and our home school. I thought about how many other subjects my children were learning, how I was able to be successful both in life and a career without Latin, and ultimately that it wasn’t going to get my children any closer to the goals we have for them. I handed it over to my husband to sell and felt the weight of those expectations lift from my shoulders.

There is nothing wrong with teaching Latin and I am not writing this post to bash Latin. Latin can be a good program, but it wasn’t the best choice for us. Latin, in this post simply becomes symbolic of any unmet or unreasonable expectation. What I want you to know today, is that you do not need to teach everything your friend is teaching, everything your favorite blogger is teaching, or even everything the public school is teaching. You do not have to use every good program that you see. Think about the goals you have for your children and the programs and subjects that will best help them achieve those goals and then let those other things go. If we try to do all of the good things, we will become overwhelmed and carry the weight of unmet expectations that is not ours to carry. Take a few minutes this week to evaluate your expectations in relationship to your goals and make sure you aren’t carrying around the weight of other people’s choices.

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