How to Choose Curriculum

We are finally to my favorite part of our series: choosing curriculum!

When choosing curriculum for your homeschool, there are many factors to keep in mind. I will be walking through some of these considerations as well as some terminology that you may not be familiar with.

Homeschool Style

Learning your homeschool style is one of the biggest elements to consider when choosing curricula. A traditional style curriculum would not be the best choice for someone who wanted more experiential learning. Likewise, a Charlotte Mason program would not work well for someone who desired workbooks. If you have not determined your homeschool style, I recommend going back to our last post where we explored seven different educational philosophies.

Secular, Religious, and Religious Friendly

When choosing curricula you should consider your family worldview. Many families wish to find curricula that coincides with their religious beliefs and there are other families that wish to adopt curricula without religious undertones so that they do not influence the religious choices of their children.

A religious curriculum is one that uses faith-based language. Most religious based homeschool curriculum is evangelical Christian based. Many of these also present a young earth Creationist worldview.

A secular program is one that is not affiliated with any particular religious group and in which there is no faith-based language. Some people define a secular homeschool as any homeschool other than those that are evangelical Christian including atheists, Pagans, or homeschoolers of other religions. Therefore, secular curricula may present a particular worldview as long as it is not Christian.

A Christian friendly curriculum in one that is secular but does not use language that would go against the Christian faith.

All In One vs Individual Subjects

An all-in-one or boxed curriculum is one in which all or most subjects are included in a prepackaged set. An all-in-one curriculum may be the easiest way to purchase curriculum. Simply pick a company to order from, choose your grade level, and add on any recommended extras.

Most boxed curricula employ traditional methods and can be very expensive, especially if you are schooling multiple children. These programs generally are not flexible. If your child is advanced in one subject but struggles in another, it may be difficult to use a boxed curriculum.

Although the name all-in-one implies that everything you need is included, each boxed curriculum may incorporate a different set of subjects. You may need to add on electives, such as foreign language, the arts, or Bible. Make sure you know what subjects are covered in your boxed set.

Another way to order curriculum is to purchase individual subjects. This gives you more flexibility in your homeschool as you can choose different styles, methods, and difficulty levels for each individual subject.

Spiral vs Mastery Based

A mastery based (or sequential learning) curriculum is one in which concepts are taught in a logical order and each concept builds upon prior ones. The student should have a complete understanding of a concept or topic before moving forward to the next topic. For example, you would spend as much time as your child needs to master single digit addition facts before you go forward to learn about double digit addition or money.

A mastery program could work well for a gifted child because you could move on as soon as the material is covered. Likewise, it could work well for a struggling learner because you can spend as much time on the material as the student needs before moving on.

Working on the same concept for a lengthy amount of time may grow repetitious and boring and if there is not a cumulative review throughout your studies, students may forget prior concepts.

Spiral learning briefly introduces the first concept, moves to the second concept, and then spirals back to the first. Students are not expected to master the first concept before moving on to the next because the topic will be discussed more as the curriculum progresses. Each time the curriculum spirals around to the same topic, it typically covers the subject matter in greater detail.

Spiral learning may work well in subjects where a student is more gifted because they will not have to spend a long chunk of time working on one type of problem. Because concepts are taught quickly, with few examples and practice problems given before moving on, a struggling learner may not grasp the concept readily. However, if a struggling learner does not understand the material the first time it is introduced, they may understand it better when you spiral back around to it.

Multi-Level vs. Individual Studies

Most people are familiar with individual studies based curricula. These are programs in which each subject is geared towards one particular grade level. Unless you are teaching children on the same grade level, each of your students would need a separate curriculum to study each subject. This is typically used in subjects such as math and language arts although many traditional style curricula will have grade leveled studies for most subjects.

Multi-level curricula are those in which you may combine children of multiple age groups at one time. General reading would be the same for all of your students, but there may be specific assignments for each age range or ability level. By teaching all of your children at the same time, you are able to condense your school day. Typically, you can find multi-level programs for Bible, history, science, and the arts.

When choosing whether to use multi-level or individual studies, consider the ages and number of children you are teaching. If you have several children, multi-level curricula may make sense. Teaching each child individually may take more time than you have available. If you have one child, it will not matter which form of curricula you use. Multi-level programs are especially great for students that are gifted or special needs because you can tailor the specific assignments to their abilities.

I personally use a multi-level curriculum for everything except for Math and language arts.

Consumable vs. Non Consumable

A consumable material is something that can only be used by one student, such as a sticker book or workbook the student writes in.

A non-consumable is something that can be used by more than one student either because you do not have to write in the book or can make copies or laminate materials for use by multiple children. Please read the copyright rules on any book or worksheet before making copies.

If you have multiple students, a program with a lot of consumables may be more expensive. While you may pay an equal price for two sets of curricula, the one with fewer consumables will cost less over time because you do not have to pay for additional student work books if you reuse the materials for a younger child.

Another benefit to programs with a lot of non-consumable materials is that you can usually find used copies for sale and you can sell your materials when you are done. Make sure to read the copyright page inside each book you intend to sell. It is illegal to make copies for the purpose of keeping a clean book for resale if the copyright states the item is intended for one student.

Independent vs. Parent-Led

Independent learning means that a student can do most or all of the work on their own. These curricula typically require that the student read from a text, watch a video, or have a parent quickly explain a concept while they follow up with an assignment, usually in the form of a worksheet or notebooking page. Parents may have to set up materials or check assignments, but typically parent involvement is minimal.

Parent-led learning means that the parent must work one-on-one or with a group of children. The parent may be reading from a book, showing the child how to use manipulatives, or walking the child through an experiment.

If you are working with multiple children, choosing a few independent subjects for individual studies may help you spread your time across children better. One child can work on their independent work while you teach a different subject to another child. For example, a third grader can work on their handwriting practice and read an assigned chapter from a book while you work on phonics with your kindergartener.

If you are working from home while your children do school at home you may need to select all independent subjects. You will still have to facilitate their learning and act as a tutor when they need additional help with a topic.

Prep Level

Different curricula require different levels of preparation and planning on the part of the parent. Some will have all materials included and require no additional supplies or preparation. You will simply open up to the next page in the text. Other curricula require you to gather materials from a list, cut out, laminate, or otherwise prepare materials for the next assignment.

If you do not have the time to devote to a lot of planning and preparation, you may want to choose an option that is less-prep. Some options that require a lot of additional supplies may sell kits with a lot of the harder to obtain supplies pre-packaged. This is very common with science curriculum.

Manipulatives

Manipulatives are any hands-on objects used to help students learn a concept. Manipulatives are primarily seen in math curricula; however, they may be available for other subjects as well.

Math programs may use base ten blocks, counting bears, or attribute blocks. Spelling programs may use letter tiles and bingo chips. Manipulatives may also include objects that can be found around the home such as coins, paperclips, or Legos.

If your child learns best through hands-on manipulatives, you may want to look into a program that comes with them or has recommendations for using objects around your home to teach concepts. Programs that use manipulatives may be more costly than other programs and buying them used may cost more because they cannot be shipped through media mail (a reduced postage rate for books, DVDs, and CDs).

Curriculum Spines

A curriculum spine book is the main text used to study a subject. Often, other books and resources are added on for additional studies.

Most programs that include a curriculum spine, will have lists of additional books. It will be your responsibility to find books either by checking them out from a library or by purchasing them. Checking books out from a library can become time consuming and depending on your library system many recommended book may not be available (we will cover using a library in our post on community resources). Purchasing all of the recommended books may be expensive.

Choosing Curriculum

As you are making decisions about your homeschool curricula choices, remember that unless you are choosing a boxed curriculum, you may choose to mix and match different styles.

You may choose an independent traditional style spelling program, a Charlotte Mason picture study, a spiraling math, and a mastery based grammar program. That is OKAY! In fact, it may be a good idea to start with a variety of different styles so that you may discover what works and what does not work for your family.

It is also OKAY to not finish a curriculum! If you start something and it does not work, you can sell it and try something new. Many companies offer guarantees, where you can use the program for a certain amount of time and send it back if it is not a good fit for your family.

Over the next few days, I will be giving some reviews of various types of curricula. Because my family is evangelical Christian, most of my reviews will reflect that. While I will review some secular materials, most will be religious based or friendly. I will do my best to include a variety of options in my reviews!