• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • home Home
  • science activities Science Activities
    • Human Body Worksheets
    • Printable Science Worksheets for Kids
    • Science Activities
  • homeschool ideas Homeschool
    • New to Homeschooling?
    • Homeschool 101
    • Homeschool Curriculum
    • Resources
    • Visual Learners
      • Do you have a Visual Spatial Learner?
    • Field Trips
  • Kids Activities Kids’ Activities
    • Preschool Activities
    • Toddler Activities
  • DIY Printables Course for Teachers and Homeschoolers Course
    • DIY Printables for Teachers and Homeschoolers
  • Living Life and Learning Shop Shop
  • homeschool planning book Book
  • Living Life and Learning
Living Life and Learning

Living Life and Learning

Canadian mom blogger, homeschooling 3 kids sharing kids printables, kids' activities, homeschooling tips, parenting and organization ideas.

You are here: Home / Homeschool Tips / Homeschool 101 / How to Choose the Right Curriculum for Your Homeschool

How to Choose the Right Curriculum for Your Homeschool

By Monique 6 Comments


This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
661shares

This week’s post is about C and C is about curriculum. I love homeschool planning time this is the time I get to put all of my curriculum research to the test. I spent our second year homeschooling as a curriculum junkie and researching anything and everything related to homeschool curriculum. I knew their philosophies and prices and I had long excel sheets that I kept to compare used book prices to retail prices so I always knew if I was getting a bargain or not.

Well, guess what? I ended up spending a lot of money, and not using a lot of the material I purchased. Either because they weren’t what I expected or we just didn’t have time.

So fast forward, here I am 6 years later and all I’m looking to purchase next year is our math program and some fun logic books. I have everything else I need for our other subjects or I plan on using things I find online.

How do you know what’s going to work for you? Well, you can research all you want but in the end, you’ll only get to see a couple sample pages so unless you get it into your hands, it’s hard to say if you’re going to love it until you start using it.

What to you need to consider  and tips for how to choose the right curriculum for your homeschool

How to Choose the Right Curriculum for Your Homeschool

What is your teaching style?

Do you need a lot of hand holding, then maybe you’ll want to use something that has a script for your to read through. Do you want something that is more flexible? Then you won’t want something that has a preset schedule down to how many pages you should read from what book on each day. If you don’t like teaching it, it’s not going to work for your family, no matter how many other rave reviews the product received.

Do you have a fun and wacky science curriculum that your kids would love? But perhaps the messes scare you and you decided it’s more work to prepare and purchase the supply list and then clean up after the giant messes. Be realistic in what you want and what you can really do in your homeschool. If you have baby number 3 on the way, you’re going to want something doesn’t take a lot of prep time and that can be done somewhat independently if your children are able to work on their own. If not you will want something pre-planned with supplies on hand so that there is little work for you to do other than open that book.

What is your child’s learning style?

Do you have an auditory, visual or kineaesthic learner? First of all do you know what your child’s learning style is, if not you need to find out. This will obviously be a bit more difficult with younger children but there are hints into how children learn from everyday tasks. I didn’t know I had a visual spatial learner until I read a random quiz in a homeschool newsletter. Once I researched it, there was no mistaking it.

I think my younger son is an auditory learner just like me, he follows direction really well and can remember conversations really well. My oldest has a wonderful sense of direction and thinks in pictures which I can tell because he struggles to tell me something without physically describing it.

Once you figure it out, it will help you choose the best curriculum that suits your child.

How much will it cost?

Is the curriculum that you are drooling over affordable? Will it be worth the money you spend on it? Some things to consider when determining if the price tag is worth it is to consider if the product is consumable or can it be used with other children? Does it have a high resale value? Can you purchase it used? See my post on purchasing used homeschool curriculum.

I always said that I would use whatever I purchased for my second son but guess what? They don’t learn the same way at all. I’m actually going to be switching math curriculum because of this. You can’t use that as an excuse to purchase an expensive curriculum if you know that your two children learn differently?

Is there a cheaper version?

You know that pricey all in one curriculum that you’d love to buy, is there a program that is similar but cheaper? Can you come up with something of your own using library resources?

Finding online resources or looking for alternatives means you may not find that exact same product you had your heart set on but you will need to input the time to create something that you love.

You will need to decide if you want to spend the money or if you want to spend the time creating what you can’t buy.

Can you tweak the curriculum that you already have?

Do you really need to buy something new? Can you use something that you already own?

Don’t get into the grass is greener syndrome where you hear about a brand new curriculum that everyone is raving about. If you’re using something that works for you and your child, don’t mess with it. It will save you time and money. I’ve purchase curriculum when I’ve heard other mothers gusing over it only to find that it really didn’t work for my child. I kind of had a feeling it wouldn’t work but that I could make it work because others were so happy with it.

Ask your child what they want to learn?

This is really something that cannot be ignored and probably the best tip here. Your child will learn with more zeal and excitement if they get to choose what topics they get to study. I’m preparing to enter the dinosaur world again with my second son, something I’ve already gone through with my first. He’s so excited and he starts they day knowing that we are going to have an awesome day of learning.

If your child really doesn’t want to learn about the ancients, why not jump ahead to the middle ages with all the cool knights, castles and weaponry, you can’t go wrong.  The universe won’t implode if you don’t start at the beginning. And you’ll have one happy child.

You will find that what works for others may not work for you and your family. It will take some trial and error so don’t fret, no one said this was going to be a piece of cake. Other parents are going through the exact same thing.

Take a look at what others are blogging about through this ABC series.

Ben and Me

661shares
Monique on FacebookMonique on InstagramMonique on PinterestMonique on Twitter
Monique
I share educational printables and activities to help teachers make learning about math and science fun!


Filed Under: Homeschool 101, Homeschool Curriculum, Homeschool Tips

Get the science lesson planner and Join 22,000+ Homeschoolers for more science ideas right to your inbox each week and special promos

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lisa Marie says

    May 21, 2014 at 6:16 pm

    These are some seriously terrific tips! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Monique says

      May 29, 2014 at 8:54 pm

      Thanks Lisa!

      Reply
    • Monique says

      May 29, 2014 at 8:54 pm

      Thanks Lisa!

      Reply
  2. Regina Partain says

    May 29, 2014 at 9:01 am

    Hi Monique. Thanks for linking up on the Pintastic Pinteresting Party. Although I am now a grandmother and don’t have any little ones to home school, I seriously wanted to home school my daughter when she was little. However, at the time, we were living in California and you could only home school if you had teaching credentials. There is a lot of really good information here for the new home schooling parent. Thanks so much for sharing.

    Reply
    • Monique says

      May 29, 2014 at 8:55 pm

      Thank goodness that laws have changed in regards to homeschooling.

      Reply
  3. Lindsay says

    September 30, 2014 at 8:54 pm

    Calvert Education is an accredited home school with a classic and secular curriculum. I’d love to add a link to your site for Calvert Edu http://homeschool.calverteducation.com/ if possible!

    More info on Calvert: During more than a century of operations, Calvert Education Services (CES) has earned a worldwide reputation as the premier provider of K-9 homeschooling curriculum and instructional support services.

    Calvert Education Services was developed to meet the needs of a broad range of families educating their families in atypical settings, including those of military personnel, US Foreign Service officers, corporate executives, missionaries, traveling performers and athletes, and professionals on overseas sabbatical. In addition to its core home schooling products, CES offers a variety of curriculum, digital learning tools, instructional and operational support services to educational institutions at the school, district and state levels.

    Since 1906, Calvert has educated more than 600,000 students from around the world with our time-tested curriculum. The Calvert program blends tradition, innovation, and technology to provide a rich, subject-integrated experience designed to develop higher-order thinking skills.

    We plan detailed, daily lessons in all major subjects, and our lessons are designed to appeal to all different learning styles. Calvert lessons are written using the best textbooks and workbooks available, and our program is proven and assures you no gaps in instruction. In addition to our lessons, we support your home teaching with our comprehensive Placement Process, Calvert Education Counselors, and the Calvert Advisory Teaching Service.

    Calvert Education Services is accredited by both the Commission on Elementary Schools, which is a division of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Commission on International and Transregional Accreditation (CITA).

    Short YouTube video on Calvert Edu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABTKX2aGc5c

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

monique at living life and learning
Get the Science Unit Planner
human body activities for early learning

Footer

Missed Anything?

  • Heart Jelly Beans Structure STEM Challenge
  • Gingerbread Man Play Dough Counting Mats
  • Cute Christmas Bingo Printable
  • Fun Christmas Word Search for Kids
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Living Life and Learning

· Copyright © 2019 · Site Design: Monique B Designs · About · Affiliates · Disclosure · Privacy Policy · Contact

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkRead more