I love helping families transition to homeschooling, and I could talk about curriculum for hours. As a mom who has been homeschooling for ten years, runs an online book store, and reviews curriculum, I have seen and tried a lot of different programs.
Almost always, one of the first questions people ask me when they decide to transition to homeschooling is, “which curriculum is the best?”
Sometimes I wish this was an easy cut and dried answer. However, what works best for your family (and sometimes each child) will vary based on many factors. My motto when dealing with curriculum is, “What is Best For Me, Might Not Be Best For Thee.”
When deciding on the right curriculum, you must consider various factors.
Questions to Consider When Choosing Curriculum:
- What are the goals of my homeschool?
- How much parental input is needed/desired?
- What are the learning styles of my children?
- What is my budget?
- Does this align with our family values?
- How much time will this program take?
- Is the program paper/pencil or computer-based?
- Will I need additional materials?
How Do I Decide?
Now that we have established that there is no one size fits all solution to homeschool curriculum, you might be feeling more lost than ever and wondering if you will ever find the right fit. This news should be freeing. You can choose, and there is not necessarily a right or wrong answer.
Too often, parents feel like they are failing when a popular curriculum is not working for their child. Other times, parents feel frozen in indecision because they are unsure if the curriculum they are looking at is “best.”
My advice is to talk to people you know and look at reviews, but also make sure you look at each program through the lens of the questions listed above. Then choose the one (or ones) that you think will work best for your family.
Try the curriculum for a while and if it works, keep doing it. If it isn’t working, do not be afraid to sell that one and try something new. It may take a couple of tries to find the right fit. You are not alone, and that is not a failure.
Other Curriculum Resources:
Remember, you can’t do everything, and just because it is a good program does not mean it is suitable for your family! Find out more about that in my post about getting rid of our Latin curriculum.
You can also learn more about picking a curriculum and see our curriculum reviews using the links below!
New Years Curriculum Reevaluation and Nature Study
Changing Up Curriculum Without Overspending!
High School Credit for Morning Time Studies
Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure
When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.
This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.
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