3 Tips for Choosing Your Homeschool Curriculum

The decision to homeschool is a personal decision you must come to on your own. But once you’ve made that decision, you may feel overwhelmed by all the options that are out there. It can be difficult trying to figure out which curriculum to choose if you’ve never homeschooled before. Even if you have, things change (and so do our children) from year to year. So how can you make sure you choose what’s best for your family?


1 – Spend time reviewing what you used last year. Look through what you used. And decide what worked and what didn’t work. Which programs brought you the most joy in your homeschooling journey and which ones led to feelings of stress? Which publishers can you see using for years to come? And which ones are you happy to finish? The answers to these questions will help guide your choice for the upcoming school year.2 – Use free diagnostic tests provided by publishers. Are you’re unsure about how to place your child within a new publisher’s curriculum? See if the publisher offers diagnostic testing. Many of these are freely available at the publisher’s websites. Companies such as Alpha-Omega Publications offer FREE homeschool placement tests so you can determine where to place your child in their programs. Accelerated Christian Education (or ACE for short) also offers FREE diagnostic placement online. or if you’d prefer a hard copy version, they’re available for around $12 per child.3 – Keep it in line with your children’s learning style and your teaching style. Learning styles are such an important consideration in homeschooling. So is your teaching style. If we’re going to give our children a personalized education, we need to provide them with materials that “speak” to their learning style. In addition, the materials we use must also align to our teaching style. A curriculum may look beautiful. It might be complete with all the bells and whistles. And may get rave reviews all over the internet but if it doesn’t fit in with your child’s learning style and/or your teaching style, then it isn’t a fit for your family. Don’t feel guilty or subpar if you aren’t jumping to embrace this popular style; it just isn’t for you and that’s okay because there will be plenty of things out there that are available for families like yours!

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