10 Tips for Picking the Best Curriculum for Your Family
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When it comes to curriculum options, one thing you can NEVER say is that there aren’t enough options out there.
In fact, I think the OPPOSITE is true for many people: there are so many options available, sometimes it can feel like too much.
This is especially true if you’re new to homeschooling or have difficulty making decisions.
If you fit into either of those categories, you should know that you’re not alone! A LOT of people agonize over how to choose the right homeschool curriculum for their family.
Even for me, there has been a good deal of trial and error. Because, regardless of how much research you do, how many reviews you read, and how many opinions you get, sometimes the only foolproof way to find out if a curriculum will work for your family is to actually try it out.
But, if you’re like most people, you don’t have an endless supply of money, time, or energy to give every curriculum you’re interested in a trial run. So here are 10 things to consider when deciding which homeschool curriculum is best for your family.
10 Tips for Picking the Best Curriculum for Your Family
Tip 1: Create a Clear Vision for Your Homeschool
One big factor when choosing the best curriculum for your homeschool is for you and your family to have a clear vision for what you want your homeschool to look and feel like.
What are the most important goals for your overall homeschool journey? Which goals are a priority for this school year? Do you want to include a lot of family-style learning? Will there be more individualized learning? Which subjects are important for your kids to master/explore? How much structure or flexibility do you want built into your homeschool life?
Getting really clear on your objectives (both as a parent and as a family) can go a long way toward helping you hone in on the curriculum options that can support your goals.
Tip 2: Decide whether an all-in-one curriculum will work for you
One of the first things to consider is whether you’re looking for something that is a one-and-done (in other words, it includes everything you need in one place and usually has everything planned out for you) OR if you want to be able to mix and match things to create a customized learning program for your child.
There are lots of both options, so figuring out which direction you want to go can help eliminate a lot of options right off the bat.
Tip 3: Know your child’s capacity as a student
Learning, even when fun, is something that takes time and energy (both physical and mental). That’s why it’s important to take an honest and realistic inventory of your child’s capacity as a student.
How independent are they? Are they able to get directions on what they need to do (either from you or from the curriculum and run with it? Do they need constant reminders to help them stay on task? Will they need you to guide them every step of the way? Are they able to do a good deal independently, but still need your guidance at times?
What’s their learning style? Do they do best when they get to work with their hands? Do they enjoy listening to things being read or explained to them? Are they more visual learners who need to watch videos or see things being worked out? Do they learn best by doing rather than by being shown?
Do they get distracted very easily when there’s a lot of auditory or visual stimuli? Do they learn best in silence? Do they need to get up and move around a lot?
Do they gravitate toward books? Are they more excited by electronics?
All of these things are important to keep in mind when choosing a curriculum that’s not only going to be something they can handle, but that will be engaging over the long term.
If you'd like a little bit of help figuring out your child's learning style, take this learning style quiz over at Blessed Homeschool.
Tip 4: Know your capacity as a teacher
It’s also important for you to know your capacity as your child’s teacher. How much time and energy do you have to invest in actively teaching your child? Do you want to be fully hands-on or do you need to have time freedom to attend to other needs? Do you feel confident in some subjects and not at all confident in others?
Tip 5: Know your homeschooling style
Figuring out your child’s capacity and your own capacity go hand-in-hand with determining your homeschooling style.
It can be beneficial to take a crash course on the different homeschooling philosophies/methods out there to see if one of them is aligned with how you envision your homeschool.
For example, do you prefer to be fully in charge of what your child is learning or do you lean more towards letting your child have the freedom to pursue what interests them?
Do you want your child to learn a good amount about a lot of topics or do you prefer doing deep dives into a few topics at a time?
Do you believe learning has to be formal or do you believe that there’s a lot that can be learned just from living life?
Do you believe that grades and testing are a critical part of the education process or do you believe there are other methods for assessing how much a child has learned?
Do you believe children should always learn at their grade level or do you lean more toward letting kids learn at their own pace for each subject?
Do you want a curriculum that adheres strictly to state standards or do you believe state standards are simply guidelines.
Do you look at different homeschool philosophies and find yourself agreeing with bits and pieces of a lot of them?
Knowing where you stand on homeschooling methods can help a lot when narrowing down your curriculum options.
Tip 6: Establish your homeschool budget
Of course, I can’t leave this article without mentioning budgets. This is a pretty big consideration for a lot of people, so it’s important that you have an idea of how much you’re willing and able to invest in a homeschool curriculum.
When developing a budget, make sure you keep in mind whether your budget is specifically for homeschool curricula alone or if you’ll have to spread your funds out to cover all homeschool expenses (such as electronic devices, paper, writing utensils, subscriptions, extracurricular activities, field trips, internet, etc).
Many homeschool planners you can purchase have budget sections to help you keep track of expenses as well, which can be really helpful.
Tip 7: What kind of space do you have for your homeschooling
Another resource you might want to consider before investing in homeschool curricula is how much space you have available. For example, if you live in a small home and don’t have a ton of extra space for materials, you might not want to get a curriculum that requires a great deal of desk or storage space.
While there are definitely ways to make homeschooling with physical materials work in small homes, it’s better to give that some consideration upfront so you don’t have to stress as much about how to manage everything.
Tip 8: Identify your deal breakers
By this point, you may have had some thoughts about things you definitely NEED for your homeschool curriculum as well as things you want to AVOID. Make a note of these things as they will help you narrow down your options even further.
Tip 9: Take inventory of what you already have
If you’ve already been collecting homeschool materials and curricula, take some time to make a list of what you already have. You may realize that you already have things that take care of some needs — which means you don’t need to spend any additional time, money, or energy worrying about that.
Tip 10: Do your research
Read all the information available on the curriculum you’re interested in so you know what it includes. Read reviews from people who have used the curriculum (both positive and negative reviews). Watch any walkthrough videos that are available that show you exactly what’s included and/or how a curriculum works.
Also, take advantage of any free trials that give you the opportunity to try before you buy. I would use free trials as an opportunity for you, as the parent, to explore what’s included and how things work BEFORE jumping into it with your child. I would also save this step for after you’ve done as much work as possible to narrow down the options, since trying the curriculum out is likely going to be more time and energy-intensive.
Bonus Tip: Check out the Online Homeschool Curriculum Directory
I know how it is to feel overwhelmed by the homeschool curriculum options out there and not know where to start. That’s why I created an Online Homeschool Curriculum Directory to help other homeschool families hone in on the curriculum that will best fit their needs.
My Online Homeschool Directory is a database of 150+ homeschool curriculum options you can browse to discover the one that is aligned with your family’s homeschool needs.
You can filter the homeschool curricula by:
- Subject — All ll-In-One Program, Art, Career Training, Foreign Language, Health and Fitness, Language Arts, Life Skills, Math, Music, Science, Social Studies, and Technology)
- Grade level (Preschool, K-2nd, 3rd-5th, 6th-8th, and 9th-12th),
- Curriculum Type — All-in-one homeschool program or Individual courses)
- Class Format — Set time and schedule or Self-paced/complete when you can
- Worldview — Christian, Secular, Neutral, and Other
- Price — Free, $, $$, $$$, $$$$, and $$$$$
Click here to get FREE access to the Online Homeschool Curriculum Directory.
Which homeschool curriculum is best?
I do want to take a minute to get very clear on one simple truth:
There’s no such thing as a homeschool curriculum that is best for everyone.
Each family is different. As we discussed above, there are so many factors that go into this (including the number of children you have, their ages, and whether they have special needs). There’s no logical way that a single curriculum (no matter how well-developed it is) will be the perfect fit for everyone.
There’s also nothing wrong with you if you chose a curriculum that ended up not working out the way you hoped. Homeschooling, like life, is a process. We make mistakes and learn as we go. So, rather than feeling like you messed up, take inventory of what worked and didn’t work with that curriculum and apply that new knowledge to choosing something that will hopefully be a better fit.
With that being said, I hope that this article has given you some guidance you can use to create a homeschool curriculum that’s engaging and aligned with the vision you and your family hold for your homeschool journey.
Let me know in the comments if you find the homeschool curriculum that works for your family!
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