Are you looking to help your kids become more independent learners? Then The Robinson Curriculum might be what you are looking for.
About The Robinson Curriculum
The Robinson Curriculum is a self-teaching curriculum. It’s intent is to create self-taught children. It focuses on the 3R’s, which are, of course, reading, writing, and math. The curriculum itself is digitally delivered.
It has many good quality books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, a King James Bible, a Course of Study (teacher’s guide so to speak), a vocabulary program, and flashcards.
These books can be printed out, or they could be read on the computer (not recommended, but possible).
A typical day includes:
- A lesson of math – they mark their own work against the Answer Key.
- A page of writing – on any topic they want. You mark it for errors.
- A few vocabulary words – use flashcards or the vocabulary exercises.
- A couple of chapters of reading – they go from Book 1 – 150 over time.
The author of this curriculum is Art Robinson. He has six children, and he developed the curriculum when his wife passed away while she was homeschooling their kids. He needed his children to be more self sufficient in their studies. So, he developed a curriculum, and a method of study to help his children along those lines. You can read more about his story, and his methods by reading this.
How I Use The Robinson Curriculum
I use this curriculum more flexibly then the author suggests. I have several of the books printed out, and my boys have been through all of them already (they are avid readers). I often will use my own choices of books for their reading. The author uses Saxon Math, and we use a combination of Horizons and Teaching Textbooks. I will use Apologia books for Science, where the author of the curriculum recommends not doing any formal science until they have reached a certain Math level. You can still use the curriculum very effectively even if you don’t do everything exactly the way the author suggests.
It requires about an hour or two of Math a day, 2 hours of reading, and an hour of writing (at least). These are the crucial elements.
My children do about an hours worth of Math, and they read for two hours, at least, every day. We are still working on the writing aspect. They are required to write every day, and have their work corrected. Any errors will be corrected for the next day, so that they can write a final draft. I am having them also go through a book that is teaching them to write book reports.
This method has improved the ability of my kids to learn for themselves, and not be quite so dependent on mom as teacher. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still believe in being involved, guiding them, and answering questions, but my main focus for my kids is for them to grow up knowing how to find answers for themselves, and to be discerning. This curriculum is helping them in that endeavor.
If anyone has any further questions about the curriculum, please ask. I’d be happy to answer. Check out their website, also, to get any further questions answered. One thing that I would recommend is joining the email discussion group. It is heavily used, and very helpful!
More Homeschool Curriculum Options
- The Ultimate Guide to Choosing Homeschool Curriculum
- The Ultimate Guide to High School Homeschool Curriculum Options
- The Ultimate Guide to Homeschool Curriculum Options for Middle School
- The Ultimate Guide to Homeschool Curriculum Options Grades K-3
~ Originally published June 2009, written by Elizabeth Babler, mother of 7, she can be found blogging at Family Life with the Babler Family.
Brenda is a homeschooling mother of 5, who has a wonderful husband encouraging her to be the best woman that God has created her to be. Together they are very intentional about spending time together as a family. She considers her daily life with her children as her ministry and has found many avenues to encourage others to live a lifestyle of learning. She is the founder of a curriculum review site authored by a group of well-known homeschool bloggers, The Curriculum Choice.
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