Choosing a homeschool curriculum can feel daunting at first, with the vast array of options and considerations to weigh. However, there is joy and satisfaction in tailoring your child’s education to their unique needs and interests. So let’s embrace the fact that we are getting to personalize our children’s education while also being kind to ourselves and realizing we do not have to choose curriculum for the entire school year, in one day.
And to be honest, you or your child may not even like the curriculum. So, let’s take a deep breath in and out, and let’s dive into the 6 steps on how to choose the curriculum that’s right for your child right now.
1) Researching different curriculum options
There are so many curriculums to choose from! I used Cathy Duffy’s website when I first started. She has lots of reviews about so many different curricula. She also writes out if the content is religious, neutral, or secular, which I appreciate. When you decide to homeschool, you must take it day by day because homeschooling is a full-time job regardless of what anyone says. The planning, the scheduling, the socializing, the meetups- plus your household chores and errands. So this is my advice to you when starting your research.
1)Visit Cathy’s site to check out all of the curriculum. Or you can cross-reference with Beth’s website Homeschool Natural for a list of only secular curricula. This is just a visit. Just check it out, and then move on to step 2.
2) Grab a notebook and make a chart for 7 days of the week. Or print out a blank calendar. Or write it in your Google calendar. However you operate. On each day, you are going to research a different subject. For example, Monday will be Math, Tuesday will be History, Wednesday will be English, and so on. This depends on how many subjects you will cover for your student.
3) Now, if you do not know how your student learns, I advise you to find out what type of learner your child is. This is your assessment; your observations. There are about 4 types of main learners: Visual, Auditory, Reader/Writer, and Kinesthetic. Read this article to learn more. There’s even a checklist to print out. You must be aware of how your child learns in order to pick out the best-suited curriculum for him/her/them. Why? Because homeschooling is personalized and we want our children to succeed. They have their own learning style as do we, and so it is vital to acknowledge and cater to that.
4) Now that you know how your child learns, choosing curricula becomes a bit easier to sort through.
5) So to recap this section: find out how your child learns; decide if you want religious, secular, or neutral curricula and visit Cathy or Beth’s website (or conduct your own google search); make a calendar schedule of each subject to look at for each day; and finally decide which curricula to use and order it.
2) Customizing curriculum to fit individual student needs
Now that you are aware of what type of learner your student is, time to start customizing the curriculum to fit your students needs.
Some curricula offer a “look inside”, “try before you by”, or placement tests. I also recommend checking out YouTube Videos and TikTok videos to get an idea of what some of the books or activities look like when being used.
You may find that your child may be an asynchronous learner- meaning their spelling is on par with a 3rd grade level, and math is at a 2nd grade level, and reading is at a 6th grade level, but your child is in 2nd grade. This is asynchronous- being at different learning levels for the various subjects. That’s okay! Just follow the pace of your child. You can always go back or move forward if you need to. There is no set rule that says you have to do every page in a book (I once believed we had to, but nope! You don’t! And let’s say your child is “struggling” later on because skipped something, go back to it! That’s totally okay if your child was not ready then to learn something, but now they are!)
For the synchronous learner- look for placement tests and ensure they are placed in the appropriate level for them to gain the most benefit from learning.
The most important takeaway with choosing curriculum and having it fit your child’s needs, is that it continues to ensure a love of learning. We want our kids to love learning. They may despise schoolwork- but the passion for learning is what we want to instill.
3) Evaluating curriculum effectiveness
Whenever we start a new curriculum, I am always evaluating for its effectiveness. So let me give you an example. We started a history curriculum- Curiosity Chronicles (which we love). We did ancient history together. The stories were short, the hands-on activities were awesome. All was good. We then moved on to Medieval History. Well my youngest was not doing well with it at all once we started. He was young, did not want to read the really long stories, and just was not remembering anything we read. (This level became significantly longer than Ancient History, however I am happy to report it was shorter again in the Early Modern History (not that short but doable).
So we ended up skipping the history for that year. Whoever said it was a good idea to teach the same curriculum to different age groups- I don’t know about that…My kids are two years apart, and in doing that, my younger should have been able to move up to the next level but it wasn’t going to happen. It is like starting the young child too early and the older child too late… so I learned my lesson there. It may work for some people, but when you have different learners, it isn’t easy to combine a subject like that.
So, to say this, early on, if you find that there are tears, battles, and dread towards doing a subject, then it’s time to reevaluate that subject. It does stink when you spend all that money on something but it’s better than pushing your child, and yourself to have to do something every school day that you both despise. This is when homeschooling does not become enjoyable, and we do not want that.
Another way to evaluate curriculum effectiveness is if your child is learning it! If everywhere they look and go, they are like “I just learned that!” or they are excited to complete their school work, and they are doing well in their school work, that shows it is a good curriculum choice.
4) Budgeting for curriculum expenses
Purchasing curricula can get very pricey! Especially if you have gifted or accelerated students because sometimes they finish up to 2 grade levels or more in one year. So it is really important to look into local homeschool groups so you can participate in curriculum swap events, host your own events, and find local homeschoolers who are selling/buying.
Sometimes the curriculum itself may have its users who create a facebook community for this purpose as well. We use Singapore Math and there are people always asking to buy or sell their books, either in the community page or in a separate Buy/Sell page.
So take a look at your local facebook groups to find the best prices.
Also, begin following on social media or subscribe to your chosen curricula’s newsletter to learn about sales. Some sales happen once or twice a year, and so if you are liking a curriculum and want to use it for the next year, be sure to buy it then. That extra 20% in savings can go towards materials for hands-on activities… I’m just saying.
If you followed the above tips- knowing what kind of learner your child is, picking curricula to suit their educational needs and pace, when you go to research and pick the curriculum to use, make a spreadsheet of how much it all costs. When we learned science early on, we could not afford all of the fancy science subscription kits. We ordered a few, but it was costly. So, I found other science curriculums that used household supplies and that helped a lot. I also used Pinterest for ideas, in the early grades.
Now, if you live in Florida, there is actually a homeschool scholarship that just rolled out in 2023. It is called the Personalized Education Plan and it is with the Family Empowerment Scholarships. This has been so wonderful for our family. It was scary at first to apply for a scholarship and not really know what to expect, but I am glad we did it. We were able to order homeschool curricula and subscription kits that are secular and from popular companies like Mel Science, KiwiCrates, and more. So maybe your state might have something similar!
On a side note- depending on your state- if your child can dual enroll in 6th grade and above, I would recommend that as well to help offset the costs for last 6 years of school. They earn high school credit and college credit at the same time!
5) Incorporating technology into the curriculum
Lastly, we are living in a day and age of technology! I was hesitant at first to introduce all the different modes of technology, but a fellow homeschool mom told me why not? I am glad I did because my kids know how to type, they can conduct research on their own, and they enjoy utilizing products such as Canva and PowerPoint to create presentations, books, and flyers for their schoolwork.
Of course, we taught and continue to teach online safety and that won’t end until they are probably 18 or older. We still have to teach about credit card hackers and all that. Funny enough, we just watched Ocean’s 8 last night, and Nine Ball was able to hack into the guy’s computer by sending him a link to click on. So that was a great conversation to have with the kids and for them to see how someone can access their phones and computers with bait clicking. As homeschoolers, we take every opportunity to teach!
I hope this article helps you feel somewhat at ease about choosing a curriculum. If you are still needing guidance, I am here to help you as a homeschool consultant. Please book an appointment below so we can connect!