I've been homeschooling for 8 years now, and I truly believe that finding and using the right curriculum for your family is the key to successful homeschooling!
When choosing curriculum, there are some basic questions you should ask yourself. Maybe even write down the answers on a sheet of paper for quick future references.
What is my child's learning style? There are 3 basic learning styles - auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. They are pretty self-explanatory. An auditory learner learns best through listening or reading aloud; a visual learner learns best by watching something being demonstrated or making charts and graphs; a kinesthetic learner learns best through hands-on activities and with lots of movement. Figure out which learning style your child leans toward the most {some children have one dominate style, while others have two}. Then, you can research curriculum that will help your child to be successful.
What are your strengths and weaknesses, as a mom and teacher? This is very helpful in choosing curriculum, because if you choose a product that you hate having to use, you probably aren't going to use it. For example, if you hate to read aloud, then you probably don't want to use a literature based curriculum. Or if you don't enjoy science experiments, you probably want to choose a video-based science program.
What is the cost? Don't just figure out the cost of the curriculum package. You need to look and see what extras you will have to have to make the program work. See if you will need binders and dividers, art supplies, science experiment supplies, or extra books. Add up everything to make sure it will be an investment you can make.
What are the theological beliefs of the authors? If you are a young-earth creationist {like myself}, you will want to choose a science and history program that confirms that belief for your children, not from an evolutionist point of view. There are some great curriculum publishers with different beliefs that we have used {Rod and Staff, for example, is from a Mennonite publisher} that haven't conflicted with what we believe. I would never choose a curriculum that went against what I know to be true, and I always make sure of that. Even when buying children's books, I make sure they don't discuss evolution or talk about millions of years ago.
How much time will this take? Most people have a pre-conceived notion of how long their child's school day should last. Read reviews and the FAQ sections for the program you are looking at. You don't want to purchase a curriculum that intends to take an hour, when all you want to spend is 30 minutes.
Here are our curriculum choices for this year:
Mikaela - 8th grade
- America the Beautiful, Part 2 {Notgrass} - history and geography
- Intro to Oceanography and Ecology {Master Books} - science
- Principals of Mathematics {Master Books} - pre-algebra
- Learning Language Arts Through Literature, the green book - language arts
- Writer's in Residence {Apologia} - writing
- Rosetta Stone - Spanish
- Artistic Pursuits - art
- America the Beautiful, Part 1 {Notgrass} - history and geography
- Into to Meteorology and Astronomy {Master Books} - science
- Principals of Mathematics {Master Books} - pre-algebra
- Learning Language Arts Through Literature, tan book - language arts
- Writer's in Residence {Apologia} - writing
- Rosetta Stone - Spanish
- Art Pack {Christian Liberty} - art
Mercie - 3rd grade
- Story of the World, Volume 1 - history
- Apologia Astronomy - science
- Math for a Living Education, level 3 {Master Books} - math
- Learning Language Arts Through Literature, yellow book - language arts
- Writing Journal - writing
- Book Units from Christian Homeschool Hub - reading
- Story of the World, Volume 1 - history
- Apologia Astronomy - science
- Math for a Living Education, level 1 {Master Books} - math
- Jolly Phonics - phonics
- Patriotic Penmanship - handwritin
- Biblical Beginnings for Preschool {Master Books}
See what the other members of the Crew had to say about curriculum!
Happy Homeschooling! May you have a wonderful year filled with abundant blessings.
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