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Picking Curriculum for Your Family

I know some of you planners may have everything figured out already, but there are still some of us who are looking at all the different curriculum options, trying to figure out what is going to work for you and your family.  I struggle with picking curriculum myself… especially with two girls who are so completely different.

Picking Curriculum for Your Family

Picking Curriculum for Your Family

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The first place to go when deciding on curriculum is your children. Grab a notebook and pen and follow your kids around. Watch how they go through their day interacting with others, their activities and interests. The best time to get started would be during the summer, before you start ordering curriculum or other materials.

Ask them what they want to learn about. What are the learning outcomes set out by your school board/state?

How do you start with a brand new curriculum? Well, some offer sample pages for you to look at, to try with your child. As well as placement tests for that particular curriculum.

Prep Work

Decide how much prep work you want to do then look at both the curriculum information and review. Reviews both on their website and from homeschooling bloggers. I know that there is a local curriculum that I could use, but the amount of work for the parents is unreal!

I like having everything put together and ready for me. Broken down into actionable amounts, and weeks like BookShark curriculum is (reviews coming soon).

Get a great planner to keep track of what you need to do, when you need to do it. You don’t want to fall behind in your prep work and then your homeschool.

Previous Curriculum

Did you use curriculum last year? How did it go? If you loved it, you’re set. It you hated it, look at the specifics of what you hated and look for curricula that offer solutions to that problem or are laid out differently.

Do this all this again mid-year to make sure that you are on the right path. Change what isn’t working for you and your kids and fix it. There is no reason to continue on a path that isn’t working.

I admit, I was terrified of trying new curricula, of investing that much money into something. Last year, Austin loved math, so I know she is going to love a math curriculum instead of just the math workbooks we have used for the past two years. RightStart Math is going to be a great fit for us. (Boxing opening pictured below.)

During the Build Your Homeschool Bundle I bought some spelling workbooks, which I was excited for, because I am a bad speller and hate teaching it, but my girls have no problem trying to spell new words all the time when writing stories and drawing pictures, and I wanted to encourage them. We’ll still be using our sight word flashcards too.

What are some of the things you look for when picking curriculum?

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