What homeschool curriculum do you use?

Whether in a park, at a co-op meeting, or wherever we find another one of us out and about, one of the first questions homeschoolers ask each other is, “What curriculum do you use?”.  If you are new to homeschooling, you might still be in the stage of asking  YOURSELF  this question!   THE CURRICULUM QUESTION!!
Whether this phrase gets you feeling super excited or causes you to panic and head for the hills, this post is for YOU!  If you’re just starting out with Littles, stressing about teaching High Schoolers, discovering that the expensive curriculum you bought in August is a bust, or you’re just completely burnt out with your curriculum choice, KEEP READING!  I can help!!

What homeschool curriculum should I use ?

This is a question that I am asked all the time.
Should I start with an all in one curriculum like ABEKA?  Sonlight?  Five In A Row?  Maybe Calvert?  Or Veritas Press?  Should I piece my own curriculum together?  Is that best?
How do I know where to start?!?
The curriculum question…for my friends and family just starting their homeschool journey it can be one that causes a great deal of stress!  These days there is an OVERWHELMINGLY large pool of homeschooling curricula.
How could you ever know which one to choose?!  Most people ask other homeschoolers they know and just start with whatever their friends are using.  Usually however, this is a big mistake… in the least, a big waste of time and money.
If choosing a curriculum is looming over your head, I want to help you find the BEST curriculum for you and for your family!

So, how DO you choose a homeschool curriculum?

The answer is a bit long to work through, but I promise if you hang in with me till the end it will make a huge difference in your homeschool experience and success, both in the short term and the long term!!  Have you heard the old saying,  “Measure twice and cut once”?   If you will take the time to think through each of the following 5 steps, you will prevent a host of roadblocks that won’t just affect your child’s learning, but will affect the LIFE of your whole family!  Think that I’m being a bit too dramatic?  Homeschool a little longer with a curriculum that is a poor choice for your family, and I think you’ll maybe even say I wasn’t being dramatic enough !!  😀
In this post, we are going to answer the WHO, WHY, HOW, WHAT, and WHEN of homeschooling and come up with a solid plan just for YOU!
So, here we go!

*5 Steps To Choosing (THE BEST) Homeschool Curriculum*

Step #1: God  (The WHO of Homeschooling)

Find out what God has to say about the education of your children.

If you’re tempted to skip this step already, just hear me out!
This is NOT a preachy paragraph intended to guilt anybody into homeschooling, or choosing a CHRISTIAN CURRICULUM!!  This is, however, a paragraph setting the foundation that you will build your entire homeschool on.
No pressure though.  😀

Actually, you will probably find Step #1 to be quite freeing.  It will cement your decision and help you move forward in confidence and peace!   This vital step is not just for the beginning of your homeschool journey either!  Should you be homeschooling for the long haul as I did (thinking I never would lol), you will surely at some point have the need to come back and remind yourself of where you started and why!!  Most of us, once we make the decision to homeschool, go from that choice directly to the curriculum choice. This is NOT a good place to start!   
I recommend starting with this step #1 BEFORE even reading many books on home education!

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.”
~Deuteronomy 6:5-9

This is where I started.  The “Who” of homeschooling.  
My oldest child was in Kindergarten, and I wasn’t even trying to make a choice about homeschooling when I read the Scripture verse above.  I was simply reading one day, and it popped out and STUCK itself in my heart.  I couldn’t ignore it.  This verse/conviction seemed to come back again and again, and I began questioning WHY I kept seeing it everywhere!
The WHO, my Father, had spoken.
There’s more to the story of course, but this is where it all started for me.  It began with a RELATIONSHIP!  A real, living, breathing, beautiful relationship with God!  I have this verse written in a journal I kept back then… and I have it written again in the very front of an old tattered binder that I began my very first year of homeschooling!  The Father, the giver of wisdom and knowledge and understanding, had lovingly revealed what I would be dedicating my life to for the next 20 years…just like that!

As you pray about your choice to homeschool (still not the curriculum question yet 😀 ),  WRITE DOWN everything He has put in your heart about this choice.  You think you’ll remember forever, but chances are you won’t.  And when you come to those bumpy times, and you’re questioning if homeschooling is worth it, if you’re smart enough to teach high school math, or what you were even THINKING to ever start homeschooling,  it is such a powerful tool to come back and physically SEE why you started in the first place!   Stick it in the front of your binder… or make it the header on your Google doc.  😀
What GOD says about your family’s homeschooling decision is the solid foundation where you’ll begin building!
I’ve included some questions to consider below to get you started.
Of course, you’ll want to add in your own!

*Some Questions to consider-

+What is the general calling for Christian families  (fathers, mothers, and children too!) ?
-How are you working toward these?
->Deuteronomy 6:5-9, Psalm 127:3-5,  Proverbs 22:6,  Ephesians 6:1-4, 2 Timothy 3:15-16, Isaiah 54:13

+What is the specific calling for your family?
***What has God specifically put in your heart about RAISING your children?
(Is it time to pursue a particular interest together as a family?  Does this involve the conviction of  (or desire to) spending time in another culture?  Or serving with a particular local ministry?  Living among the context of a predominately Christian community?  Mom or dad’s calling always involves the children too!  This could even be a work schedule, travel, gifting, etc…  For example, early on, my husband’s job hours totally conflicted with public school hours, and made it very hard for him to spend much quality time with the children.  Later, we moved our family to Peru for ministry there.  I cannot imagine doing this without homeschooling! )

***What has God specifically shown you about HOMESCHOOLING your children?
(This may seem redundant, but ask Him about the choice to educate your children at home.  Many of us pray more about whether to buy a new car than we do about WHERE we should educate our kiddos.  I am not trying to talk anyone out of homeschooling here lol…BUT if we ask the hard questions and wait for the answers, we will have the confidence when times get tough to STAND on this firm foundation!

Step #2: Philosophy  (The WHY of Homeschooling)

Why are you homeschooling your children?

As your decision to homeschool becomes strong and sure, you will likely even subconsciously, begin to develop your own philosophy about homeschooling. What do I mean by philosophy?   This is they WHY behind your choice to homeschool! This step overlaps some with Step #1, but they aren’t quite the same.   God’s invitation for you to teach your own children is a personal conversation that you’ve had with Him (the WHO) about what HE thinks about educating your children.  Your philosophy is what grows from that very first point.  You might be thinking, “Because He said to homeschool!”.
But there is more.  Keep stretching.
Thinking all these things through is for a purpose!!

How does the fact that He has led you to homeschool affect what you believe about homeschooling?
I listed a few questions to consider to help you define your own philosophy. Be sure to add your own too!
It is important to get this all worked out in your own heart and mind (and with your husband) before you start reading or talking to other homeschoolers.  Are you seeing a pattern here? 😀   Their counsel is going to be so very helpful in the future, but concrete these things for YOUR family FIRST !!  This is a good time to brainstorm and WRITE DOWN your highest hopes, dreams, and desires for your family.  And DREAM BIG!  Because even years after you first began homeschooling, seeing this in print will give your vision a FRESH boost, and help you stay on track with GOD’S plan for your family from year to year!

Some Questions to consider:

+How will homeschooling line up with what I believe God wants for educating my child?
+What do I believe about home education in general?
  (This includes fears, doubts, and worries!)
+Why did I choose to homeschool?
+How does the decision to homeschool move our family from the things I’m dreaming of for it, to those goals being realized?
+Is homeschooling the best way to accomplish those hopes?
+What do I want the typical days of our family to look like?
+Will the “why” of  I chose to homeschool change?
-If so, would I still choose to educate my children at home?  Why or why not ?
+Is homeschooling the “better” way always?  Why or why not?

*I’ve listed a couple of good books below to read AFTER you have thought through these questions.  They are direct links to Amazon, of which I am an affiliate.  I will receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you!

*Dumbing Us Down    (John Taylor Gatto)
*Going Home to School   (Llewellyn Davis)
*Educating the Whole Hearted Child   (Clarkson)
*Teaching from Rest  (Mackenzie)

Step #3: Approach/Method  (The HOW of Homeschooling)

How to get THERE (hopes, dreams, goals for your family) from HERE (homeschooling day 1)!

You’re still reading!!  Great! This is the last step before CURRICULUM!!!
Now that you have a vision for the life of your family and the educating of your children, you can begin to research the different “how-to’s”, or practical ways to get where you want to go!  This is what people mean when they ask what your homeschooling approach is.  Your approach is the HOW you will homeschool.  I’ll give some examples below.

There as many homeschooling approaches out there as there are curricula!  Don’t get all worried about this!!  Think of it as the FIRST FUN STEP IN PICKING A FANTASTIC CURRICULUM!!!!  The goal of Step #3 is to let you read through some of the most common approaches to homeschooling and choose one that grabs your heart, and seems to compliment what conclusions you’ve come to in Steps #1 and #2.  I personally do not believe that there is any one approach that is better than another.  As you homeschool over the years, you will also find that your own approach will probably shift around way more than the concrete answers you discovered in the first two steps.
A few examples of this would be-
As you discover what learning styles your children do best with, you may have to tweak your approach a little bit.
During seasons of busyness (births, holidays, moves, etc) your approach may need to adjust for that time… maybe from a very traditional approach to unit studies, or unschooling!

*Some Questions to consider:

+What is your (and your husband’s) educational background like?
(How could this influence your approach to homeschooling both positively and negatively?)
+What are you most excited to teach/share with your children?
+How does our family most enjoy learning about new things together?
(Do you tend to like hands-on experiences?  Do you love focusing on one thing at a time?  Do you love to read?)
+What do you consider the most important things for your child to know?
(History, Bible, Real Life Skills, Reasoning?)
+Are there any special circumstances that affect your daily routines?
(Do you travel a lot?  Do you have a chronically ill family member?  A new baby?  A large family? Are you working?)

Here are just a few of the major homeschooling approaches to read about and get you started!
+Charlotte Mason Approach
+Classical Approach
+Unschooling Approach
+Traditional Approach
+Unit Study Approach
+Principle Approach
+Project Based Approach
+Eclectic Approach
(This is the approach most homeschoolers with more than one child eventually land on 🙂 )

*Sorry this is required 😀
I’ve listed a couple of good resources below.  They are direct links to Amazon, of which I am an affiliate.  I will receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you!

*For the Children’s Sake
*The Relaxed Homeschool   (This is a little classic!  GREAT to read regardless of your approach!)
*A Charlotte Mason Companion
*The Well Trained Mind
*Homeschooling Methods    (Suarez and Beechick)
*The Way They Learn
*Home Grown
*Unschooling Rules
*How Children Learn  (John Holt)

Step #4:  Curriculum  (The WHAT of Homeschooling)

What materials can I use to teach to my homeschooling approach?

WhooHoo!!  You made it!
Let’s talk HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM!!
You’d never guess since it took me so long to get to this step, but homeschool curriculum is one of my favorite things to talk about !!  Now that we’ve completed all the hard work of steps #1-3, we can get to the FUN of choosing some curriculum!!  The materials you choose to bring your approach, philosophy, and all that God has put in your heart for your family is the homeschooling WHAT!

Choosing a good curriculum fit for your family is a key way to get EVERYONE excited about learning!
A poor fit can cause all kinds of misery, frustration, and an all around bad experience for your family.

I would like to add that YOU are the best and most important part of your child’s curriculum.
YOU!  If I could go back and give my new homeschooling mom self some advice, I would tell myself to take the time to enjoy LEARNING right along with my children, and to continue to pursue my own interests as well.  “School” isn’t something we “finish”.   We learn right up to the moment we die… then IMAGINE what we will be learning!

So, though this is completely unsolicited advice,  I want to say to you, if you want your children to have a good attitude about “school”, YOU KEEP LEARNING!!   The LOVE OF LEARNING is contagious!!!

Whether you’ve just learned some Fascinating Fact In History, or you’ve solved the mystery of an algebraic equation that had everyone stumped, or you’ve grown the most amazing garden this summer, SHARE THAT with your children.  You won’t believe how YOUR excitement will rub off on them!!   When you go on a walk together, take a nature guide (or even your phone!!).   STOP and notice the little things.  Flowers, bugs, leaves, fallen logs, little animals.  When you point out a flower to your children, take the time to find out what the name of that flower is!  Next time you walk, see who can remember it’s name!  Snap a picture and make a sketch of it when you get home!   Or stick it in a zip lock (great for nature walks) and then let the kids take it apart and look at each little part of it under a microscope.  This kind of learning can happen when you’re baking cookies in the kitchen, when you’re trying to get a stain out of your favorite shirt, when you’re at the grocery store, or pretty much any part of your daily life!
TRUE LEARNING IS THAT NATURAL AND EASY!!
Think of yourself as a well.  If YOU are overflowing with excitement, there is a freshness and passion and joy in the sharing of that with another human being!

**NOTE!!
If you’ve arrived here, have read the above intro to this step, and you’re feeling that sense of dread rising up again, please don’t worry!!  I’m going to help you!  And if this post isn’t enough, just EMAIL me- ch*****@*************es.com !!  I’ll be glad to help you more!

It’s true that the sheer amount of choices can be overwhelming.  When I first began homeschooling back in the stone ages, there wasn’t a whole lot of prepackaged curricula for homeschoolers.  Perhaps that wasn’t such a bad thing!  Today there is so much that it’s hard to weed out, especially when you’re just starting.  You may not even have a clue where to start… or what your child’s learning style is… or what resources you will exactly need!  It’s quite easy to get overwhelmed and just ask your friends what they are using… and use that.
If you have done that already… that’s OK !!  Even choosing curriculum that isn’t the right fit for your family is a valuable tool in deciding what IS going to be a good fit!

My goal for this post is to help you get a good idea WHERE to start.  
Just having worked through the first few steps, believe it or not, you will have already crossed off A TON of “the best” homeschooling curriculum choices.  And that’s GOOD!  What we are trying to do is find the curriculum choice that is THE BEST for YOUR family at this present time!!

*Some Questions to consider:
+Choose what subjects/skills/topics your family wants to learn about this year (or month!)
 (You will love Learning Year by Year  if you need some help with this!)
+Keep in mind your WHO, WHY, and HOW!!
+Write down what you believe to be your child/children’s learning style
+Search for companies that offer a wide selection of resources that match the approach you have chosen
+Now you can ask friends and family for their favorite resources!  🙂
+Don’t forget to search the internet for FREE resources!!
(There are literally TONS of resources that you can try out for FREE online (like mine :D) !  This is a great place to experiment with different curriculum styles without spending mega money!!)

NOW get your largest coffee mug full, get your computer fired up, and go choose that curriculum !!
I’ve listed a few favorites below.

**A quick note for moms (and/or kids) feeling burnt out or hating your current curriculum choice-
If you’ve already been homeschooling awhile and you (or your kids) are feeling completely BURNT OUT, there is a high chance it’s because the curriculum you are using is conflicting with something that is foundational to your choice to homeschool!
+Go back and read your answers to steps #1-3.  Can you spot anything?
+Has there been a change in your home?  Sickness?  A new baby?  A move?
+Does this curriculum choice work well with your child’s learning style?

The other typical reason for burnout is that you’ve become a slave to your curriculum.  You must remind yourself that it is NOT the boss of you!  Curriculum is only a TOOL to be used to accomplish all that you want to see your family grow in!!  Don’t feel the pressure to do every single page in that workbook, or read a book everyone hates, or do endless math review pages when your child has mastered that skill weeks ago!  YOU ARE THE BOSS of your curriculum!!  Say it again!  Don’t let that math book bully you around my friend!!!
We (or is it only ME?!) tend to push through stubbornly and struggle through a bad curriculum choice because we PAID for it… or it worked for one kid… or it worked for our friend’s family… or it’s only halfway through the year!
YOU ARE THE BOSS!  If the curriculum isn’t working, find out why (so you don’t repeat the issue), and then tweak it to make it work for your family, or just use something else!!!  You have the freedom to do that!!
And please do feel free to contact me if you’re stuck here and just can’t pinpoint the problem!!

*Sorry AGAIN…this is required 😀
Some of the links below direct to Amazon, of which I am an affiliate.  I will receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you!

+Charlotte Mason Curriculum Ideas
(A “complete” or boxed curriculum doesn’t really lend itself to this approach, so piecing together some resources for early learning is most often the method)
–Ambleside Online   (FREE online complete curriculum)
–Sonlight   (This is it’s own kind of curriculum… it could fall under CM or Classical really)
–Charlotte Mason Help   (LOTS of great ideas)
–The Gentle & Classical Press
–My Father’s World
*All Aboard Animal Train  (Kindergarten example)

+Classical Approach Curriculum Ideas
–Veritas Press
–Memoria Press
–Sonlight   (This is it’s own kind of curriculum… it could fall under CM or Classical really)

+Unschooling Resources
(So similarly to the Charlotte Mason approach, Unschooling doesn’t really have a complete curriculum at all.  It is interest driven and you will need to FIND resources to meet the curiosities of your kiddos!  Think online learning sites, projects, community events,  and TONS of field trips, museums, libraries, etc…)
–Sandra Dodd’s BIG Book of Unschooling
–Teach Your Own: The Indispensable Guide to Living and Learning with Children at Home
–The Unschooling Handbook : How to Use the Whole World As Your Child’s Classroom

+Traditional Curriculum Ideas
–Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool   (complete online FREE curriculum)
–ABEKA
–Calvert 
–BJU Curriculum

+Unit Study Based Curriculum
(There are TONS of free online unit studies, including my American Girl Units.  Just google unit study on “Thanksgiving” or whatever you’re looking for, and you’ll find endless options!  The ones I’ve listed below are some samples of real book unit studies.)
–Five In A Row   (If you have Littles, these are so much fun!!)
–Beautiful Feet Books

+Principle Approach Curriculum
–Encyclopedia of Bible Truths for Language Arts/English
–Encyclopedia of Bible Truths for Science/Mathematics
–Encyclopedia of Bible Truths for Social Studies
–The Noah Plan Reading Curriculum K-12  (This is one in a whole series)
–Teaching And Learning America’s Christian History
–FACE (Foundation for American Christian Education)  Curriculum

+Project Based Curriculum
(Once again, with project based learning, delight directed learning, etc… there isn’t really an all in one type of boxed curriculum obviously.  You could start by writing an outline of some things you’d like to learn about this year, gather materials online and off, and then just dive in!  This type of learning tends to have a life of it’s own and go on to cover more subject areas than you could ever imagine!)
–Konos
–A History With 21 Activities
(This is one of my favorite series… there are TONS of topics to choose from!)
–Discovering Great Artists   (One of my all time favorite homeschooling books!)
–Kids’ Outdoor Adventure Book
–The Renaissance Inventors  (With Projects)
–Mistakes That Worked
–Square Foot Gardener For Kids

Step #5:  The Daily Plan  (The WHEN of Homeschooling)

What does my every day look like?

Once again, I’d like to remind you that you are now the BOSS of your day!
This is the last, but NOT the least important step in the curriculum question!!   Homeschooling is not simply getting school “done” each day! Now that you have the freedom to plan your own days, THINK HARD about what your philosophy answers were, and plan accordingly!!!  Do you want to spend the first part of your day reading the Bible together?  Or outside working in your garden or farm?  Or piled on a cozy couch reading together?  Or jumping straight into math before everyone’s brains are tired?    NONE of these are better than another.  YOU GET TO PICK!!!  But do think through what you’d like your day to accomplish at the end.

That leads to EXPECTATIONS!  I tend to be an idealist and therefore have high expectations of my days.  Guess what?!  Our days don’t always work out like we’d like them to.  Not every day is a Fields of Daisies Day!   So, if I had one suggestion to give as to what your daily plan should be like, I would say FLEXIBLE!

-> If you’d like to hear more about some UNREALISTIC expectations of homeschooling and how I made the decision to start homeschooling, you can listen to this interview I did with The Homeschool Advantage Podcast.  <-

Some of us are planners and we LOVE making our checklists for every week, or day, or… even down to the minutes (ME!).  This is a fine goal, but it can lead to big time discouragement once the REALITY of homeschooling EVERY SINGLE DAY sets in!  Let me repeat…

HOMESCHOOLING IS… REAL EVERY DAY LIFE!!

HOMESCHOOLING IS NOT… DOING “SCHOOL” AT HOME!!

You are not in a sprint!
You are running a long distance ultra marathon!!

Every family’s schedule will look different.
Sometimes our schedules look different from year to year…and day to day.
And just like I warned in the curriculum section… do NOT become a slave to THE CLOCK, or the calendar, or the local school schedule!!
DON’T DO IT!!!!
Please, please, please… just don’t.

Remember that bringing your children home to learn is not a human agenda, it is a spiritual one!  God often has some lessons and TEACHES  the whole family through circumstances that SEEM like a distraction or hindrance to your homeschooling!!  Caring for a sick grandparent, cooking and delivering a meal for a new mom, talking to a crying friend for an hour on the phone, rocking a sick or teething baby… THESE are the real lessons in life!

If you find yourself resenting these INTERRUPTIONS and not counting them as “school”, go back and reread your philosophy!!!  You may find that you have become a slave to your schedule!

If you feel like this type of scheduling might be right for your family, you might like to check out some very simple planners I used for my own family.
You can find them HERE.

Wishing you all the very best Fields of Daisies kinds of days, living, loving, and learning together!
I would love to help you anywhere along your journey!
As always, please reach out to me if I can help.

Abundant blessings to you and your family!
~Chenoah