3 Things to Look For When Choosing Homeschool Curriculum

We have so many choices to make when choosing homeschool curriculum.

(And if you have recently abandoned the ideal of public school and made the decision to homeschool, that feels like enough deciding for one year, right?!?)

I’ve homeschooled ALL ages and also ALL the way through graduation, so I have some experience with choosing curriculum. Some were excellent choices, while others simply gathered dust on the shelf because they didn’t work for us.

Please allow me to offer three simple criteria when choosing ANY piece of homeschool curriculum. (A curriculum litmus test of sorts.)

This will let you spend LESS time shopping and MORE time implementing and reaping the rewards of a beautiful curriculum.

These suggestions are born out of experience.

If I had a huge homeschool do-over, this is how I would choose curriculum.

(*These suggestions are for larger pieces of curriculum. Of course we played games, took field trips, and so many other things as part of our “curriculum” - but with this post I am referring to materials in which you make a considerable time and monetary investment.)

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Consistency

Will the curriculum you have chosen be something you can use for the entire year? Does it have a schedule that works for you, or can you tweak it to fit your homeschool?

One of the very best choices I made for our homeschool was to use First Language Lessons. This curriculum had short, effective lessons that my children could do daily with me. It was ACHIEVABLE.

The lessons were scripted and easy for me to use - even if I hadn’t prepared the night before!

Be honest with yourself when choosing a curriculum. Try a sample lesson with your children and test the waters. Is this something you can do consistently and well?

Beauty

Giving our children beauty is one of the biggest benefits of homeschooling. The world is our oyster.

God has given us infinite opportunities to observe, learn about, and create things of beauty. Why use a curriculum that doesn’t have that aesthetic appeal? And, why use a curriculum that doesn’t point our children to beauty?

Again - an example: Our morning time was always sacred. I loved to have a basket full of beauty for us to feast on first thing in the morning. It just set the tone for our day.

I knew I wanted the kids to learn about art - and I did, too. We used 13 Paintings Children Should Know (and other books in this series) because they were just BEAUTIFUL. My children STILL can recognize and tell you about the works of art we studied in those books.

You can even look for beauty in your math curriculum. I love the way Shormann Math points to the creator in each lesson. The children learn Bible verses and see how math is perfect because math is a thing of God.

Truth

This speaks to our world view. In a world that is increasingly hostile to our Christian beliefs, it is VITAL we choose materials for our children that point to God and reinforce our world view.

Science is an area to be easily led astray. We have always used Apologia Science, as well as beautiful living books. My son took Experience Astronomy - a course taught by Luke Gilkerson, which had a solid grounding in Biblical truth.

Five in a Row, which helped us create so many precious memories with stories, is grounded in a Christian worldview, so I knew the stories chosen would speak TRUTH to my children.

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I hope this helps you simplify your decision making just a bit.

I KNOW there are so many choices. Don’t waste a lot of time in search of the PERFECT curriculum, because you will never find it. But I do believe that if you look for consistency, beauty, and truth in the curriculum, you will have a greater chance of hitting a home run.

You Might Also Like:

Using Story of the World as a Spine for Learning

How to Include Beauty in the Upper Grades of Homeschool

Do you have a favorite piece of homeschool curriculum?

Does it meet the 3 point litmus test I’ve given? Let me know in the comments below!

What We've Been Up To Lately: Community or Curriculum?

Community has always been an essential ingredient of our homeschool.

When the kids were younger I would definitely tell you community was more important than curriculum. By that I mean we were in an “extracurricular” co-op once a week for the benefit of community. Sure, the classes were engaging and beneficial, but they weren’t essential to our learning and were outside of our curriculum.

As my children reached middle school age, however, community and curriculum became intertwined. We began Classical Conversations and that was a good solution for both needs.

Until it wasn’t.

For my oldest, we needed to follow her heart and desires. We took her out of a CC community and enrolled her in online classes and a few classes at a local classical school.

We had to seriously evaluate the curriculum and the community, too. In her case, we needed a change in BOTH.

She will be graduating in May and I now look back and thank GOD for leading us in the right direction!

She is finishing high school with a beautiful of mix of her interests and also the “required” curriculum.

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This week my husband and I have had some long, thoughtful discussions about the community we want for our son going forward.

We also received the latest Classical Conversations catalog and have been discussing whether the curriculum for next year fits our son’s needs.

As I stood talking with another mom this morning she articulated what I have been feeling: Which is more important to us moving forward? Community or Curriculum?

The Importance of Homeschool Community

Three years ago we started a new CC community. A prayerful group of moms (most of us with boys) came together to form a place where we could be together and educate our children together through high school.

I cannot accurately describe what a BLESSING this group has been. Our community is STRONG. The children are thoughtful and diligent, hard working and kind. The parents are friends and we are walking the road of Christian parenthood together.

We all remark how RARE this kind of community is and do not take it for granted.

That first year of our group was small. We had a group of 6 moms that met to pray about our community. We prayed for tutors, facilities, and so much more.

Now that community has changed locations. We have dozens more families, and have expanded to Challenge A, B, and I. Our Challenge I class next year will have 11 children - most of them have been together since their elementary years.

When Community Trumps Curriculum

Many of you who have followed me know that I am a bit leery of all of the reading that is done in Challenge I and II. I don’t want to see my son lose his love of reading.

I believe there should be more formalized history in the high school years.

I don’t think the sciences are accelerated enough in the Challenge years.

Those are things I am willing to adjust and work with so that we can have the benefit of THIS COMMUNITY.

We will most likely add an online Spanish class next year. I will probably omit some of the reading. This summer we may work on Physical Science so that we can move ahead to Biology in Challenge I.

The bottom line is this: There will never be a perfect school situation. We need to work on a child by child basis to determine what is most important for them at a given point in time.

Additionally, I think it is important to never commit yourself so wholeheartedly to one method or program that you cannot make a change if that is what is best for your child. When the method becomes more important than the child you have a serious problem!

That’s what we’ve been up to this week (well that AND lots of basketball!) - making big decisions for next year and evaluating decisions from previous years.

Homeschooling these upper grades is so GOOD - there is no need to be afraid. Just jump in and GO - with prayer and careful research you can avail yourselves of all of the wonderful opportunities out there!

What have you been up this week?

Making any big decisions for next year? Let me know in the comments below!

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