Welcome to the next step in how to start homeschooling!
In our last blog we covered Step 1, which answered the question: what to teach your children? Now, we are going to discuss how to choose a homeschool curriculum that meets your family’s needs and provides a strong educational foundation!
This is a really common question from beginning homeschoolers, especially concerning specific curriculum for each subject area per grade level. There are a lot of great options out there that offer specific curriculum, but I’m going to walk you through how to choose your curriculum so it best fits your homeschooling.
Build a foundation: Reading, writing, and math
When choosing what to include in your curriculum, I highly recommend you start with reading, writing, and math. These three basic subjects create a strong foundation for your at-home curriculum, and can help you kickstart your curriculum building process.
After you have these three subjects, you can pick and choose other areas depending on you and your child’s needs. Once you have your foundation, it’s also easier to select subjects areas that will build from your basic curriculum, tying it all together! You can add as many as your family schedule allows; how to schedule and organize your homeschool will be discussed in Step 3!
What is your child’s learning style?
Now that you have some subject areas in mind, it’s important to consider how your child learns best when choosing a curriculum. Every child learns differently, and probably has a way that they prefer to learn material. Determining how they learn best will help you choose a curriculum that fits best for your child and their unique learning style.
A few different ways your child may like to learn are:
- Workbook pages
- Hands-on activities
- Online learning
Your child may learn best using one of these or a combination! Try to find a curriculum that matches this learning style, but remember that it doesn’t have to be a perfect match. For example, your chosen curriculum might use workbook pages, so include hands-on activities to supplement your child’s learning.
Time management
A third consideration is how much time you and your child need to prepare, teach, and complete homeschool assignments. Depending on what your circumstances are, you may want a curriculum resource that offers no-prep activities, which require no preparations for each lesson or activity.
Knowing your family’s needs will be extremely helpful in choosing a resource that is optimal for your homeschool experience and curriculum.
Veteran Tip: Involve your child in choosing your curriculum
Here’s another tip from a veteran homeschooler: find a curriculum that is exciting for both you and your child! If both of you are excited and interested in the curriculum style and content, the learning process will be that much more enjoyable!
Get your kids involved by asking their opinion on the layout of workbook pages, learning activities, and types of assignment in the curriculum. It will get them invested in their own education and will help with the build-your-own-curriculum process.
Learn how to choose a homeschool curriculum in step 3: How to Homeschool: Homeschool Schedules
Learn about all five steps to get started homeschooling in the How to Homeschool video series.
Amy Michaels is a former teacher turned homeschooler. She creates fun learning activities based on popular children’s books. Connect with her at BookBrilliantKids.com.