WonderHere Curriculum Review

Many times throughout the year I know that families are reviewing curriculums. They’re taking inventory of their experiences, evaluating whether or not any that they used held up to certain standards.

When it comes to homeschool curriculum, there are certain elements that I value. I want to know that the activities, books, and experiences are all worthwhile pursuits. I like to be able to use it in a way that reflects our family values and that honors everyone’s interests. When the curriculum itself invites this kind of flexibility and peaceful pacing, even better. 

I’ve talked to many moms who feel like they change curriculum with the wind. I think this can happen in the name of trying to find the “right fit” for the child, but I also think it can be an effort to use the materials as an answer to a plaguing question: How can I simplify my life and make this homeschool thing as easy as possible?

Interestingly, I think that this answer can really only be found in ourselves. Many of us are tired, stressed, maybe even burnt out, and looking for ways to engage our children that require the least amount of extra work for ourselves – less preparation, less input. And while all of this is a reality we face, I just don’t believe that there is any way around investing time in our children, mentoring them through this learning journey called life.

Perhaps the more appropriate question is not, what can I use to make things easy, but what do I actually want to be doing when I carve out time for x, y, and z? Do I want to struggle, argue, or “get through” with complete disinterest on the child’s part or do I want to spend our time in more meaningful ways? Perhaps that should be our main criteria for any curriculum we use.

Or, perhaps we could even use curriculum materials in a way that preserved joy, no matter what we were using, thus maintaining control over that curriculum, rather than the other way around. We don’t fit in a box and neither do our children. Our approach and mindset should have more influence over our day than what any curriculum can prescribe.

With all of this in mind, I want to dedicate this post to a very special collection of work. I’d like to offer a review of WonderHere Family Style Curriculum. It is so full and rich, and offers children the kind of wonderful experiences that I consider to be worthwhile pursuits. It invites wonder, play, and joy as main components and leaves room for the fingerprint and breath of the individuals who will interact with it. It is a curriculum that values a family’s desire for an unhurried pace, play based learning, self directed work, and so much more. In full disclosure, I am part of the curriculum writing team, but I want you to know that I would have these opinions even if I wasn’t.

One feature that really stands out about this curriculum is the fact that it is “family-style.” The units are based around themes that are broad enough to allow a way to enter in and engage for a wide range of ages. It is meant to be used with children from K-6th grade, and even includes something for the “minis” in the family, who are younger and so eager to do what they see their siblings doing.

There are five units for an entire year and each unit lasts for six weeks. Here are examples:

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There is one week of rest encouraged and built in between each unit. One thing that I so appreciate is how everything presented is just enough to not feel like too much. You can go deeper if you want to, but the point is to explore these topics at a slow pace. There’s one literature book that is the focus for the week. There’s one smaller topic inside of the bigger unit that’s tackled each week.

It’s set up in a way to really sit with the content, to not rush through learning simply to check it off of a list. Like I mentioned before, there is also enough flexibility to sit longer with the things that really grab you.

In every unit, there are weekly elements that remain the same. You can always expect weekly literature, where you are exploring the literature book for the topic. You are encouraged to read it aloud together as a family, dissecting it in pieces, or reading it more than once. 

There is also a weekly “Invitation to Play.” WonderHere values and prioritizes play and therefore play is an essential part of the weekly learning experiences.

You will also find every week, an “Invitation to Create.” Sometimes these invitations have more of an art focus, and sometimes a STEM focus. It just depends on the unit. Here is an example of the Invitation to Create from the Force and Motion Unit:

The other weekly elements are a Nature Journaling piece and Composer Study. The composer study does not change every week. It is an opportunity to spend six weeks looking at one composer in-depth. 

Every unit also includes certain pieces that aren’t presented weekly, but that are meant to be explored throughout the six weeks. There is a unit math project. These projects have always added richness and depth to our family’s hands-on math experiences. I love having a fun, non-threatening way to put math into practice. The projects are broken down into three levels (primary, post-primary, and comprehensive) so that there is something for everyone. 

Then there’s the Project piece. If you follow me on Instagram, you might already know how much I value project-based learning. We prioritize time in the day to explore beyond a surface level, things that really interest us. The kids have the space to develop this work deeply, making choices that are all their own. My role is that of a close observer, facilitator, and mentor, who provides support in ways that allow them to direct their own learning. 

Every unit invites this type of learning by asking kids to choose something inside of each theme to personally explore, according to their own questions and observations. For example, maybe your child is really interested in creating a marble shoot. It’s something that they can work on and decide how that work will progress and grow. 

The last unit element is something that I think is pretty special. It’s the Empathy Experience. A question I am constantly asking myself is, “Am I teaching our children that value is not just something that they receive but something that they give?” It’s easy for our children just to expect to feel important, or to be the center of attention just by nature of where they are in their development, but we all know that as you grow up things are different.

I believe that the greatest level of contribution is found in service. It’s found in meeting the needs of others. The difference between contribution and consumption is that consumption is you waiting for others to meet your needs, and contribution is you looking to meet the needs of others. The most practical way we could teach our children to be people of value, is in first recognizing, then meeting the needs of those around them. That’s why for me, the empathy experiences of these units are so valuable. They’re something that we can do as a family. It’s a way for us to grow together. 

Now, if all of this wasn’t already enough, this full curriculum comes with student workbooks (again broken down by level: primary, post-primary, comprehensive) and an appendix of printable learning games and resources! The workbooks themselves can be a full language arts program, should you choose to use them in that way. They have mini lessons and practice pages in them. They also include freewriting pages, nature journaling pages, project planning pages, and space for reflection after each unit.

I would love to chat more with you about this curriculum, or answer any questions that you have. Please reach out to me! You can find more information about the curriculum here.

One more photo! Here’s another fun unit that we’ll be revisiting soon: