Non-Core Subjects: How to Add Them In

Once you’re comfortably completing your core subjects, you can begin to add in non-core subjects. Just keep the following in mind…

• It’s very easy to overschedule students, particularly high-achieving ones. It’s better to feel slightly under-committed than slightly over-committed.
• Add in one new subject at a time. Get your new weekly routine running smoothly before adding the next.
• If a non-core subject is boring or frustrating your student, switch programs or approaches. If that doesn’t help, drop the subject and try something else.
• You will probably never feel like you’re doing quite enough. Don’t give in to guilt or fear by cramming your student’s days with too much work. Kids need time to be bored, to sit and stare at the sky, and to pursue their own non-programmed activities.
• The older the student is, the more say she should have in which non-core subjects are pursued.