Homeschooling is an increasingly popular educational alternative as parents are seeking more control over their children’s academic experience. While homeschooling can provide your children with an amazing learning environment, the process of picking out the right homeschool curriculum for them can feel overwhelming for the unprepared parent. As it is the parents’ ultimate responsibility to select the best homeschool curriculum for their child’s age and learning style, here are fifteen questions to help you come to the right conclusion.
1. What Subjects Need to Be Covered?
Before you start looking for a curriculum, it’s important to understand the overarching educational objectives of homeschooling. Homeschool parents need to think about which subjects their child needs to study in order to reach the highest standards of learning. Generally, the typical curriculum consists of Mathematics, English, Social Studies and Science.
Arts, Music, and Physical Education can also be included. In addition to the core subjects, you should ask yourself what sort of supplemental material you’re interested in offering your child.
Things such as foreign language, technology, and religious studies can be great additions to the traditional education. It’s important to ensure that you cover all the necessary subject areas while remaining aware of your choice over offering optional ones.
2. What Is Your Child’s Learning Style?
Every child is different and has different preferences about how to approach learning. Certain curriculums might be suitable for one child yet completely unsuitable for the other. Thus, it’s important to identify your child’s preferences in order to pick a curriculum that will be comfortable for them.
The visual learning style is just one of the many types of learning. If a child responds better to visual stimuli, you might want to look for a curriculum that includes worksheets and diagrams.
Other children can respond to audial, verbal or even physical cues. Being aware of your child’s learning style will vastly improve your chances of selecting the perfect curriculum.
3. What Difficulties Does Your Child Experience in Learning?
Are there any topics that your child is having difficulty comprehending? Are they more interested in certain subjects than others?
Such questions might be the perfect starting point in picking the right homeschool curriculum. As your child will be the one utilizing it, it’s important to focus on their understanding and enjoyment. If, for instance, they have special needs such as dyslexia or ADHD, you should explore specific curriculums tailored to their condition.
Furthermore, you should try to adjust the topics to be more in line with what sparks your child’s interests. This will reduce their reluctance and make them more interested in homeschooling.
4. How Much Time Do You Have for Homeschooling?
Homeschooling is a full-time job and requires a time commitment on your part. Therefore, you should assess the amount of time that you have available to dedicate to homeschooling before you decide what kind of curriculum you should use. If your time is limited, focusing on the essentials and essentials only while leaving out the optional topics might be the best way to go.
Moreover, you might want to opt for curriculums that require less preparation time, such as online programs. Alternatively, you could explore packaged curriculums that provide a year’s worth of materials for your child’s education.
5. What Is Your Budget for Homeschooling?
You will likely have a budget for materials, equipment and supplies for your child’s homeschooling. Make a pro and con list of the different options available to you in terms of pricing, assessing whether a more expensive curriculum is worth the investment.
Additionally, you should consider trying out free resources such as websites, libraries and volunteer tutoring and determine whether they are enough to cover your curriculum needs.
6. Is Your State’s Education Standard Being Met?
Homeschooling is generally regulated by state laws. It’s important to ensure that you are abreast of your state’s homeschooling regulations and pick a curriculum that keeps up with them. Certain state governments have their own standards and curriculum outlines that need to be followed.
In order to ensure you have the right curriculum, consult the state education department for guidance.
7. Is the Curriculum Aligned With Your Kid’s Learning Levels?
If you are switching from a traditional school environment to homeschooling, it’s important to assess your child’s level of advancement in terms of the particular subject. Do not make the assumption that your child is exactly where your school system’s grade level distinction puts them at.
Consider the different areas that might need some extra attention and then compare them to the curriculum you’re interested in. The curriculum should not be too demanding for the child, yet include enough challenges to push them to learn.
8. Will Your Child Need More Than One Curriculum?
It’s possible that your child may need more than one type of curriculum in order to cover all the topics they need to study. This could be the case if, for example, you are choosing an online component for Math but a textbook approach for English.
Alternatively, if your child is interested in joining activities outside of their homeschooling program, they might need specialized curriculums for those.
9. Are the Assessments Offered?
For proper evaluation of your child’s progress, it is important to determine if the curriculum offers any assessment methods that are aligned with standardized testing. Additionally, if your child is likely to take entrance exams such as the SSATs or SATs, then you should look for a curriculum that prepares them for them.
10. What Are the Teaching Materials Available?
You need to make sure that the curriculum has books, resources and intuitive materials available for the teaching of different subjects. Different visual-oriented or hands-on projects can significantly simplify your job as a homeschool parent while also providing fun ways to learn.
11. How Can You Assess Curriculum Quality?
It’s also important to determine what kind of quality control the curriculum has over its materials. Research the authors, review any customer feedback and look into awards that the curriculum has received. Furthermore, look for what state accreditation the curriculum has received, if any.
12. Who Can You Ask for Help?
Apart from you and your children, there are other sources of information that might help you pick the right curriculum. Consulting professionals such as reliable online communities, experienced teachers and others who have used the specific curriculum can offer insight that can prove to be invaluable. Additionally, you can attend local homeschooling events or curricula fairs and talk to other homeschooling parents.
13. What Level of Parental Involvement Is Needed?
Dig into the curriculum and try to assess how much involvement is required from you in order to ensure that the curriculum is implemented successfully. It’s impressible for you to select a curriculum that requires as much or as little as you can currently manage.
14. Could Your Child Benefit From It?
In the end, the key question is whether your child can benefit from the curriculum you choose. What do you expect them to get out of it? It’s important to make sure that the curriculum is going to hit the mark and make sure your child is reaping its benefits.
15. Are You Prepared for Homeschooling?
The last but significant question to ask yourself is whether you feel prepared to take on the responsibilities of homeschooling. It’s important to have patience, time and the motivation necessary to keep going. Taking all the time required to make the right decisions paired with the needed preparation can ensure that you and your child benefit from homeschooling to the fullest.
Conclusion
Choosing the right homeschool curriculum is a task that requires both research and care. All considered, it’s ultimately the parents’ responsibility to pick the right curriculum for their child. Answering the abovementioned questions before making a final decision can aid in your journey towards finding the best one for your child’s education.