Tips for Choosing Homeschool Curriculum

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Choosing curriculum is a massive endeavor for homeschool families! Our family has been homeschooling our 3 boys since the beginning of their education; our oldest is now 15!  For the past 11 years, we have tried a variety of curriculum’s. May any insights I give be a blessing and helpful to you, dear mama❤️  Please take what you can and leave the rest!

2 key thoughts before we begin!

~ There is NO perfect curriculum - only a perfect God over all.  Our God is sovereign, unstoppable, and powerful. Your choice of curriculum cannot change our loving Savior’s heart for your homeschool.  I hope and trust that gives you a deep sense of hope.  

~ There is NO perfect homeschool parent - only a perfect God over all.   Any error you might make is covered in grace. Please, sweet mama, don’t forget this truth! 

With many options to choose from, may these tips benefit your curriculum search!

  1. End goals ~ Homeschool with the end goal in view.  Let your curriculum choices be decided by the goals you have prayerfully made for each child.  Ask yourself if this curriculum will aid or impede these goals.

  2. Worldview emphasis ~ What is the focus of the curriculum?  Does it meet the academic, spiritual, and emotional objectives that you have for your child?  Peruse table of contents, a few lessons AND read reviews from reputable reviewers.  

  3. Cost ~  Financial tends to be a major decision factor in our curriculum choices.  If you find one that is beyond your budget, is there another one similar that would complement your budget better?  Can you purchase it used? Is there a family that might be able to lend it to you? Can you get part of it at the library? The library has been a HUGE blessing to our family in regards to cutting costs!

  4. Homeschool Style ~  There are a variety of homeschooling styles - Charlotte Mason, Unschooling, Waldorf, Classical, Eclectic, Unit-Study based, or Roadschooling - to name a few.  What style best fits you and your children? Look for curriculum that matches your specific style before you look anywhere else! Try googling “Homeschool Styles Quiz” and get an idea of what you are.

  5. Child’s learning style ~  The words auditory, kinesthetic, and visual learner are thrown around in the education world.  There is some real goodness in learning your child’s style. If they are a kinesthetic learner, then doing ALL worksheets might be challenging.  Although, there are ways you can do the worksheets that can make it into a kinesthetic-learning situation. In the past, we have a used a spelling curriculum that uses ALL 3 modalities together - what a brilliant idea! There are MANY ways to work with your child’s learning style.  

  6. Practicality~  Look at your family’s lifestyle.  Are you a single mama homeschooling?  Are you a ministry family? Do you work from home?  Does your husband work out of town, so you have more on your plate?  Do you have long commutes to your extra-curriculars? Please take this into account when choosing curriculum.  If you are in the car quite a bit during the week, choosing audio readings of books or workbooks (if you don’t have a sweet car-sick child) would be convenient.  Ministry Mama, do you need to delegate some learning to an online course because you have counseling/ministry appointments? Super! Ask the Lord to help you make creative decisions for your family’s education that BEST suit your family’s lifestyle.  This is part of the beauty of the homeschooling journey.

  7. Wise counsel ~  Proverbs 20.18 says “plans are established by counsel; by wise guidance wage war.” Please seek out women who have journeyed this road before you. What a blessing to have the wisdom and knowledge of those who have been walking this homeschooling road longer than us!  Such a gift!

  8. Resources ~  Order catalogs (if you like to touch it and not just look online) from the companies that interest you most.  I keep them for the entire year, so I can reference them as needed. Find a couple online reviewers and bookmark their sites!  

  9. Trusting God ~  Once you have made the best choice, trust our Savior!  God is good and can be trusted that He loves our children even more than we do!  Rest in His sovereignty, and go forth in Christ’s joy. Every year, I reevaluate our choices (sometimes in the middle of the year, if necessary) to see if we are on the right track or if we need to look into a better fit for a child.  No need to fret!

  10. Prayer ~ Pray without ceasing! Ask God to guide and direct your search. God cares about the details of our lives, so offer up prayers regarding this exploration.

Homeschooling Mama, the Lord has called you to this job.  He placed your children in your family for His amazing purposes.  Be encouraged! Have a remarkable time choosing your curriculum for next year!

In His Grace ~ leigh anne

Planning for a New Homeschool Year

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“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”  Isaiah 26.3

Whew! It’s that time again!  

The ending one school year and the beginning of another year.  

Reflections on the previous year and the creation of new & exciting goals.

Laser-focus on organization, vision, & plans.

As busy homeschooling parent’s, all of this can feel overwhelming in an enormous way!  

How do I fit this planning into my already full schedule?  

How do I begin to think about the previous year in regards to what went well & what needs to change?

How can I create a plan that focuses on what is most important?

May I begin by stating… I am not an expert!

In the past, I have had some other homeschooling mama’s ask me what I do to prepare for my upcoming year, so I thought this might be helpful for other parents who are planning!

Simply put, these are ideas from one homeschooling parent to another.

Ideas from one mama who needs the Lord’s grace as much as any other. 

From another parent on the journey.

Please take what you can & leave the rest!  May you leave encouraged to live a thankful & grace-full life as you educate your loves at home!

Back in the days when I was teaching, planning for the upcoming year was imperative!  You need to match standards, goals, & curriculum all while meeting the needs of each child.  It was quite the undertaking. Due to my background, I have tailored some of what I did back then for our homeschool.

Kristy & I in DC at one of our planning times!

Kristy & I in DC at one of our planning times!

Each year, my sweet friend, Kristy, and I take a 3-day getaway, & we plan!  And… we shop & eat :) I know some of you are not able to do that, but may I encourage you to find time to get away & have quiet & stillness to focus, pray, & plan?  We typically do it in SUPER inexpensive (or free) ways!

For you, it might look like a 4-hour block at the local coffee shop or bookstore. It might mean an overnight at your parents because they can care for the kiddos while you plan on the back porch.  It also might look like 1-hour a day for a couple weeks while the kiddos are watching a show! I am not sure what your situation is, but pray that the Lord would show you how to get time to pray & plan!

Here is my typical plan at my homeschool planning times!

1. Spend time in God’s Word & pray. “All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Tim. 3.16-17. What an absolute honor & gift that the God of ALL creation speaks to us through His Word.  HE will guide & direct us with much wisdom & grace. His Word gives us the most important goals for our children.  Pray throughout your entire time for wisdom to know what is best for your children. “Train up a child in the way HE should go...” (Proverbs 22.6b)  Praise Him!

2. Read, read, read.  During this time, I read parts of books, education magazines, websites, & blog posts that I haven’t been able to get to.  I try to use it as a “Mama University” time. Many people have done amazing research in the education field; with discernment, enjoy, learn, & grow!

3. Did you realize there are 168 hours in one week?  I write down everything that I need to accomplish in a typical week.  (In all honesty, we rarely have a typical week due to ministry, school, activities, my business, family, etc…)  I assign an amount of hours to each task. Remember tasks like showering/getting ready for day, exercise, grocery/meal prep, quiet time, errands, homeschooling, marriage, & friendship-time. Then I ask myself, how many hours do I have left, if any?  Do I have margin in my life? If I have over 168 hours of work, what must go in order to live a healthy life? Am I being realistic? Is the Lord being honored in my schedule? Does my schedule reflect the priorities God has given me? 

4. I take an honest look at each individual boy.  Emotionally, spiritually, mentally, academically, what are they doing well?  What do I need to focus on with them in the upcoming year? I write down these goals in my “homeschooling notebook” & try to implement them throughout the year. As parents given these children to steward, we must pray for our babies!  Pray that the Lord, in His amazing grace, would mold our children into people who love & follow HIm with all their heart, soul, mind, & strength. This has seemed to be a helpful way to individualize their home education.  

5. I print off the 12-month calendar on one page.  I map out vacations & days off. I have a general idea when we will start & end.  I add up each month and confirm we have all 180 days. Throughout the year, I try to keep up on this, changing things as needed.  Due to our move this year, we are ending a bit later than expected.  

6. On this same calendar, I look at the “extra” subjects/topics that I need/want to cover.  Topics like fire safety, safety, civics, specialized history, or physiology each get a specific month.  I like to take this with me to the library (when I remember:).) It reminds me what books need to be checked out in order to meet these goals with the kiddos, especially if we do not own them.  Also, if we have an upcoming trip, I will try to get books based upon that specific place to add to the richness of the trip.  

7. Then comes my intense research of specific subjects that might need changed for the upcoming year & study of each upcoming grade.  I open numerous browsers & catalogs and begin to read reviews, summaries, & snippets of the books/textbooks.  Another favorite is The Well Trained Mind by Jessie Wise & Susan Wise Bauer; this book simply explains what each child should be learning in each grade. I start a section in my “homeschool notebook” for each child & my curriculum/title for each subject. I start a list of what we need & begin to try to find the most inexpensive route for each.  This searching tends to continue for about 2 months due to me trying to find the best deal!

8.  I put together a preliminary schedule for our homeschool & each boy individually.  This will include their individual Bible time, silent reading, exercise time, and possibly chores.  I do not usually keep to this schedule for the entire year, but it gives us a good springboard!

9.  I begin to create documents that I will need during the year, such as individual assignment notebook planner pages, reading strategy bookmarks, etc…

10.  Throughout this entire process, I keep an ongoing to-do list of what questions I need to ask people, what I still need to do, and what still needs researched.

Truth be told, I NEVER thought that I would be a homeschooling mama. Through the years, God has truly changed my heart. God often reminds me of the absolute gift it is to educate our children at home! 

As you plan, please remember there is much grace. You are not perfect, but you can point your child to the One who is!  Blessings to each of you as you plan & process for the glory of God!

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”  Proverbs 9.10

~In His Grace ~ leigh anne