Home School Curriculum Choices

When faced with the challenge of teaching your children from home you may feel lost and bewildered when faced with all of the choices of curriculum. I was completely overwhelmed with all of the options. Through trial and error I found a potpourri of curriculum styles and theories that have worked wonderfully for my two children, which is a benefit of home schooling; that you can customize your child's education.

The first thing to consider when choosing your home school curriculum is whether you are going to teach from a secular standpoint or not, this has a big impact on the materials and subjects you will choose. Secular is not religious and therefore will not include bible studies and will include the theory of evolution instead of creationism. If you choose a religion based curriculum it will include the teachings of the religion you choose or practice as well as basic educational subjects.

Once you decide on the type of curriculum then you have to decide whether you wish to use a full curriculum or a partial curriculum, and you also have to make sure that whatever curriculum you choose complies with your state and local school board regulations.

A full curriculum includes a daily or weekly schedule, all of the materials for projects and the text books that will be needed as well as a teachers guide and testing materials. When shopping for a full curriculum most schools will let you know what you need to have in order to comply with your areas educational standards. The most helpful school that I found for secular complete curriculum is www.oakmeadow.com

A Partial curriculum may include the text books, while you choose the scheduling, subjects, and additional resources you want to use. This is the method I use with my children. For research and reports not included in the text books we depend mainly on www.wikipedia.com .

I live in Virginia so the educational standard is measured by a standards of learning test issued each year. Once I found out what was covered by the SOL for the grade my children were in I checked the curriculum that I was interested in to make sure it covered the same topics. I purchased the books for that grade and created my own schedule, also working in computer skills, art, physical education, and social skills. Every day there are many learning opportunities that occur after our school hours, and I believe that my children are constantly learning and growing.

There are many websites that offer lessons, worksheet, projects, videos and many other resources for home schooling parents. A few to check out and maybe integrate into your curriculum are:
www.internet4classrooms.com this site offers grade and subject specific levels and lessons. It includes many links for quizzes and additional tools.
www.multiplication.com this is a lifesaver for teaching multiplication facts.
www.homeschool.com will answer many questions you may have and links to support forums, this great site even offers free curriculum.

If you are new to home schooling it can seem a daunting undertaking to educate your children yourself, but with the right curriculum and support it can be a very rewarding experience which will bring you even closer to your children. It is worth the research and planning to be able to educate your child and guarantee that they have learned the subjects fully before moving on to the next lesson, instead of having them possibly fall behind in a classroom of more than 20 other children.