Choosing a Homeschool Curriculum (and Keeping Your Sanity) – Part 1

As I wrote here, this can be hard! Too many choices plus uncertainty about what you want equals STRESS. We are about to embark on our third year of homeschooling so I thought I would share the way that I go about planning – which is probably different from the way that will work best for you, because I am not you and you are not me, but perhaps it can give you a helpful idea or two.

1) I define or refine my homeschool vision & philosophy of education, mostly by reading helpful books (see the post I linked above) and by observing my children. I am working on writing down my goals and vision but I haven’t fully done so yet. Right now my “vision” is mostly in my head, and has been shaped and re-shaped by our experiences so far and all the books I’ve read and continue to read. All this to say – you don’t have to have a beautiful little phrase that you can chant as your homeschool mantra. Some general ideas of what you do and don’t like are sufficient to begin with!

2) I make a broad list of all the topics I might want to cover for each child. It helps me to look at some boxed (pre-planned) curriculum here to give me ideas about which subjects are generally covered in each grade. A Beka or Sonlight are examples of this type of curriculum that could give you a starting point, even if you don’t end up ordering anything from them.

My broad list for Big Brother this coming year (2nd grade) looked like this:

• math
• reading/spelling/handwriting/copywork/cursive
• science
• history
• piano lessons/music appreciation
• art
• geography
• recitation
• Bible
• logic/thinking skills
• nature study
• read aloud time

Note that it’s very general and probably too long. That’s ok!

3) Now I look at each subject and answer the following questions.

• Do we already have a curriculum or book for this?
• If yes, do we like it and feel it is working well? Is it still a good fit with my vision and my child’s learning style? Because this might change from year to year!
• If the answers are yes, yes, and yes, then it’s easy enough to continue on. If any answer is no, then it’s time to start looking at other options.

For example, after this step my notes on Math and Reading looked like this:

“Math: we can continue on with the Shiller math program we did last year.”

“Reading: we finished our previous curriculum and need a new plan for this year.”

4) Here’s where it gets tricky: when you need something new and aren’t sure where to start (which is why the first year can be hard!). I will just list a few of the ways that I have discovered new materials that work well for our family:

• Recommendations From Friends. This is huge! I love hearing from people I trust about how they have used and loved a particular book or program. Plus, you can ask them any random question about it and you’ll get an answer, which is a little harder with…
• Recommendations From Books or Blogs. Yes, this is me harping on about books again. It’s not quite as good as a recommendation from someone I know personally, but oftentimes a description I read will convince me to try something new. Once I hear a recommendation, I’ll usually check out the…
• Reviews From This Website. This lady has been writing reviews for DECADES now but she covers basically every curriculum you will ever see, and her reviews have helped me to get a sense of if the material will align with my own vision or not. Finally, I also…
• Look At The Options On My Favorite Websites. Some of the ones I usually browse through when I need something new are: Timberdoodle, The Good and The Beautiful, Beautiful Feet Books, Sonlight, The Critical Thinking Company, and Memoria Press.

At this point, here’s what I came up with for Big Brother’s Reading for the coming fall:

“He’s reading fluently so we don’t need anymore phonics work. Instead, we will use the Sonlight Grade 4 list of readers, but borrow the books from the library (instead of purchasing them all) and work through them at our own pace (rather than strictly following their schedule).”

Q: Emily, this is waaaaaay too much work! Why don’t you just grab the Grade 2 full package set from Sonlight and call it a day?

A: You can absolutely do that and your planning life will be much easier. Some people love that and it works well for them! I personally don’t, and it wouldn’t work for me. Our “mix-and-match” approach began when I realized that our oldest was in different “levels” in different subjects, and I wanted to pick curriculum that would meet his needs in each area. Again, it goes back to my vision of what I want our homeschool to look like. I’d rather pick and choose my favorite books and materials from different areas so that I can “spread the feast” my very own way (see Charlotte Mason) for my own unique children. I also love planning and love looking at curriculum! Weird, I know… but it works for me.

Summary Thus Far, because we all need an excuse to use the word “thus”: I’ve defined my vision, made a list of topics, found the gaps where new materials are needed, and taken some time to discover new materials. Important Note: I do NOT buy anything yet! I will wait until the very end of my planning, when I am certain of what I want and need.

Part 2 – the final three steps of my planning process – will be coming soon!

Originally written July 14 2020