How To Choose The Best Curriculum For Your Child

As I wrap up my homeschooling year, one of the crucial tasks on my list is to outline the curriculum choices for the next year. So, let’s tackle a vital question: How do you choose the best curriculum for your child?

Before delving into the world of curriculum options, it’s essential to ensure that it aligns with your needs, your child’s learning style, your family dynamics, and ultimately, your homeschooling approach.

Yes, homeschool planning is all about you.

Disclosure: I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Before Choosing Your Curriculum:

Before Choosing Your Curriculum:

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with the myriad of choices available. Take your time; there’s no need to rush.

In conversations with seasoned homeschoolers, many recommend starting with less if you’re a brand new homeschooler. You can always add more later.

Here are some things to consider:

• Ask these questions if you are considering homeschooling
• Be sure to identify your personal why

For instance, if you’re homeschooling because your child has specific learning needs, ensuring those needs are met should be a priority when selecting a curriculum.

Once you have these aspects sorted, you’re ready to choose a curriculum!

Homeschooling offers freedom—freedom to choose methods, curricula, and more. The options are vast: in-the-box, out-of-the-box, online, offline, textbook-based, workbook-based, unit studies, lap booking, note-booking, co-op, and many more.

Then there are the methods: school-at-home, relaxed/eclectic, classical, unschooling, Charlotte Mason, Waldorf, Montessori, and the list goes on. If you’re new to homeschooling, this abundance of choices can be overwhelming.

Kelly shares a complete guide to Homeschooling Styles. If you are looking for more information be sure to check it out!

Breaking Curriculum Choices Down:

Let’s make it simpler by breaking it down. No matter how long I have been homeschooling, I like to break it down into 3 basic steps, they are:

1. Know what your legal requirements are.
2. Choose learning and teaching methods.
3. Choose courses/curriculum.

Curriculum Legal Facts:

You need to do this every year as sometimes the “law” changes. For example, in my area, “High School” was always grades 10-12. You had three years to collect 18 needed credits in order to graduate.

This year, they changed “High School” to grades 9-12 and they have yet to decide how many credits you will need to graduate. *waiting is not my thing. Lol

I decided to plan for 6 credits a year. Of course, when I confirmed this with my Homeschooling Department of Education, I was informed that we would not be receiving a diploma at the end of grade 12. There is no need for me to count credits.

Does this mean I won’t be? On the contrary. I feel it is my responsibility as a home educator to make sure my children have reached the goals we set.

One of our goals was to make sure they could attend secondary education if needed or so desired. I called a few colleges and asked what would be required for homeschoolers to attend classes at their school.

I recommend doing this and then taking note of what they say. I also recommend calling a few different educational institutions that your child may be interested in attending. You want to make sure you cover all the bases. I took note of the name of the institution, the person I talked with, the date, and all requirements.

So be sure to check each year before you plan out your year. A quick search, usually some sort of Department of Education website, should cover all the legal requirements.

• Fill out the required paperwork.
• Make sure you look through the FAQ for additional information.
• You will also find out what courses of study your child must take, usually core subjects, such as Mathematics, English, History, Social Studies etc. Make sure you keep a list.

Home Learning Year by Year, Revised and Updated: How to Design a Creative and Comprehensive Homeschool Curriculum101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum102 Top Picks for Homeschool CurriculumThe Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home

 

I also make sure I use my homeschool “bible”, The Well Trained Mind. This is one of my favorite resources!

Learning Style:

I always take a moment to see how the learning style of my child has changed. I haven’t really talked about learning styles and the different types here as there is literally so much information out there.

Below are just three basic styles to consider.

1. Auditory Learner-An auditory learner learns through what they hear.
2. Kinesthetic Learner-A Kinesthetic Learner learns through hands-on.
3. Visual Learner-A Visual Learner wants to be able to see what they are being taught.

Therefore, you need to make sure your program/curriculum choices take the type of learner your child is into consideration.

Curriculum Method:

After finding out what is required, be it a notice of intent or more detailed requirements, the next step is choosing your methods. In the outset, I noted the most common methods available.

Take time to sit down and figure out what might best work for you and your family. This along with a good idea of the way your child learns and your lifestyle should give you a good idea of where to start.

Again, I check each year. Things change. My children change in the way they learn, or our life goes through a change. I went back to work just over a year ago, this had a huge impact on our homeschool life.

Take time to perform a Mid-Year Review to learn where you are in your homeschool. What is working? What’s not?

What we do now is Eclectic (means we use different methods for different subjects, although we are moving to a more on-line approach) So do not be afraid to change, and mix and match. Do what works for you!

I highly recommend sitting down and deciding, how much time you have one-on-one with your child, how motivated your family is, and setting down goals. Write down what you want to accomplish, be it ace a standardized test, or build upon skills. If they are older, consider what your child has planned for the future such as career goals, or are they college bound?

Curriculum Courses:

This is my favorite part, researching! Now you know what you need, how you want to teach it, and the goals you have set. You are ready to build your curriculum around the child.

Remember each child is unique what works great for one, may not work so great for another. When you have completed the steps for one child, go ahead and work through them again for the next one.

With your list of courses, start researching. Include the answers to what you have already learned. Include in your research:

• Does this fill the requirements needed?
• Will this fit with my schedule?
• Will this fit my child’s learning style?
• Am I comfortable teaching using this method?

If you are curious to see what we used last year, check here for grade 7,  here for grade 8, grade 8 for my daughter, grade 9 is here.

Choosing the Best Curriculum:

Choosing your curriculum for the upcoming year can be an overwhelming and daunting task. However, I always find breaking it down into these easy steps makes it so much easier!

One of the greatest things about homeschooling is being able to teach our child in the best way possible for them! Using these steps will help you find out what that is for your child.

Hopefully, this post has been helpful, along with providing some food for thought. If you have any questions or helpful suggestions please leave a comment below!

Don’t forget to grab your free workbook to help you find the best curriculum for your child!

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