What’s inside: Choosing homeschool curriculum can be fun, but sometimes overwhelming! Here are factors to consider and resources to help your decisions.
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Choosing homeschool curriculum is always fun for me. I enjoyed going to the in-person homeschool conventions so I could look at and hold the books in my hand 🙂 They didn’t really have online conventions and curriculum fairs when I started homeschooling.
In Person vs Online Curriculum Fairs
Most areas do still have in-person events at your local homeschool convention, usually in the spring or summer — when you are ready to choose next year’s curriculum. You often find the best bargains then too. To find a convention, check with a resource like The Homeschool Mom or That Homeschool Family.
But now, there are lots of opportunities in the online space, like at numerous homeschool summits like Homeschool Summits, which runs online summits every 6 months (for an example see here). And that’s assuming you want actual books and not a full online curriculum, like the Ron Paul Curriculum, which we used for some subjects in middle and high school.
Matching your Family’s Style
Finding your style and matching it to the curriculum is the hardest part. Especially as you are just starting to homeschool!
Here are a few tips.
Give a curriculum a fair chance
Trying a curriculum a good amount of time is fair, but if it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work. Recognize this major warning sign:
- Tears. Always a clear indication that something is amiss.
If tears always happen when you break out the spelling book, then you might want to reconsider how, why, or when you are teaching spelling. I don’t think spelling is optional YET. I fear this technology world might switch to never having to read or write again, but for now, to be well-educated you need to communicate without misspellings. Even if texting is changing that.
Math example
I was going to use math as an example, but it’s too easy to blame math as being the cause of “why I hate this subject”. I love math. Many people don’t and they transfer their opinions to their kids. But there are many math programs and styles of teaching it. Math is non-negotiable as a subject, but your curriculum may have to change.
We had to change math curriculum in second-grade, mid-semester.
Why, you ask?
Our curriculum wasn’t a match for us.
We tried it for a year and started the second year, when we had to change from Saxon to Singapore. Both are fine curriculum.
- Saxon is circular and returns to topics, with lots of repetition and thorough worksheets.
- Singapore is used in countries that rank highest in math achievement. It teaches concepts concurrently (e.g. addition is the opposite of subtraction) and uses word problems a lot.
- Both programs use manipulatives heavily in the early years, which is essential for learning math concepts.
We had to switch because one of my sons refused to believe in the concept of subtraction. There was no way if he had 2 cookies and his brother had none, that his brother would end up with one of his cookies! Somehow, we got through it after we switched and the new program worked much better for us.
Charlotte Mason style curriculum
As you know, I’m a big believer in Charlotte Mason methods. There is no official “curriculum” for Charlotte Mason — she advocated educational principles, but there are many curricula that use her methods.
Our math fiasco was about the same time that we found Ambleside Online, which is a free curriculum based on Charlotte Mason methods. It’s literature based and very thorough. Even coming from my technical (engineering) background, I appreciated the gentle learning and the broad spectrum of education.
I started out with a bit too many notions of “what school was like” and have learned since then to focus on “what education and life long learning look like”.
If you are just starting to homeschool
I’ve heard from friends that if you can afford a full curriculum and you are just starting out, the “all-in-one” type of homeschooling materials are good because they give you confidence in what you are doing.
These are generally a package “I need a grade 2 and a grade 5” type of packages.
I’ve known moms who enjoyed Sonlight and My Father’s World.
Christianbook often has great sales a few times a year on homeschool curriculum!
- Cathy Duffy Reviews is the best place I’ve found for reviews and specifics about curriculum.
- The Homeschool Mom also offers great resources on where to find used curriculum.
Switching to homeschool
Sometimes, you have to switch to homeschool in the middle of a year or semester from another schooling type.
We homeschooled right from the start so we never dealt with switching from alternative schooling into homeschool, but from all the moms that I knew who did, they always said there was a transition period.
Depending on the age of your kids and their prior experiences and attitudes towards schooling, you have to cut yourself some slack. Finishing the curriculum isn’t always as important as building the relationships. Which is not to say you shouldn’t get mastery in a subject! But even public school teachers rarely finish their year of a textbook.
And kids are different.
For instance, even after years of homeschooling, my kids NEVER finished the entire Ambleside Online curriculum. We selected books and didn’t read the entire list.
I think I knew one family who did 95% of the curriculum. But I also know families who do 30% and it fills their year. I had one avid reader and I would assign more books to him. And I had one dyslexic non-reader — we used a lot of books on tape and read-alouds together. As well as different curriculum choices than the choices I made for his older brothers.
Final Thoughts
Be flexible, give yourself room for change and grace. If you take your time to find out what works for you and your kids, and keep your big picture reasons in mind, you will be helping your kids to become self-learners.
