Wondering how to choose the right curriculum for your family in this modern world of 2024? Read on!
Choosing the right curriculum might bring feelings of excitement and wonder as you dream of freshly printed worksheets and organizing a calendar. While for others, dread and fear as you embark on the often intimidating task of educating your children in a modern world. Whatever side of the spectrum you are on, this post will leave you feeling peaceful and confident in your task of picking curriculum for the 2024-2025 school year.
This post is all about how to choose the right homeschool curriculum for your family in 2024.
Determine Long Term Goals
Do you have a little builder, a ballet enthusiast, or a culinary artist in the making?
Homeschool is a long game. Short term achievements will bring us such great satisfaction along the way, but we must remember our long term goal in order to achieve it.
It will be hard to know what path is best for each child in the younger years but we can keep our attention tuned to discover each child’s unique talents and abilities.
One long term goal that will remain in your schooling career, will be to graduate high school. Perhaps, you already know that College is the course you want to set for the future. Ponder your long term goals that you are sure will remain throughout your child’s homeschool career. Write them down and keep them in the horizon when choosing a curriculum.
Pinning down your long term goals will assist in setting short term goals. Many materials are available that are designed to facilitate certain paths.
- If you know you are raising a high achiever, you will need more rigorous materials and perhaps even want consider sourcing outside tutoring.
- If your long term goal is to raise a free spirited- creative, your curriculum choices will be less traditionally geared and more supportive of your child’s artistic side.
- If you have multiple children and you want to school them all, you might want to consider some online resources that will lighten your workload.
Knowing what you want out of this scholastic journey will provide a better view on creating goals for each year and assist you moving forward accordingly. Be sure that you don’t force your unfulfilled desires onto your child. We will best serve our children if we allow their own God given abilities to come forth naturally and support those.
Find the Scope and Sequence for your Child’s Grade
“Scope and sequence” is the list on concepts, topics, and materials that will be covered in a given course or curriculum. Simply said, it is what should be taught in each grade level.
Each curriculum will have its own scope and sequence, ranging in intensities. You can go based off of your state’s grade S&S as a guide. Well established publishing companies will have trusted scope and sequences to keep your child on track with their grade’s expectations.
Familiarizing yourself with the S&S of the grade levels for your year will be a huge help as you navigate covering the necessary topics for each subject.
Once you find a publishers S&S you feel is a match with your yearly academic goals, print the list for referencing.
Refer to this list as you choose curriculums to ensure you are covering all the ground you need to for the year in materials.
Determine Short Term Goals
After familiarizing yourself with the adequate expectations of the grades you will be venturing to teach this year, personal short term goals are now ready to be evaluated.
“By the end of the 2024-25 school year I expect my 3rd grader to ____.”
Things on that list might include
- academic achievements such as reading full chapter books without assistance
- test scores
- character development goals
- life and soft skills such as cooking, sewing, mowing the lawn, etc.
- # of charitable events
- # of field trips
Homeschool is so much more than choosing the “right” curriculum. Sure, the materials matter but learning is much more than pen and paper. It also involves hands that feel, minds that ponder, and places that inspire. What do you hope to achieve this year with your children?
The beauty of homeschooling is getting to uniquely cater your curriculum to the skills, morals, and values you cherish most. Use them as a guide to set short term goals for the year ahead!
Find your Teaching Style
You may have found your rhythm as “Mom” by now but the self discovery begins again as you become, “Teacher”. It is truly an honor to be considered one, no less both.
Here is a glimpse at a few of the many teaching styles…
- Delegator– The Delegator style is the most student-centric, with the teacher acting as an observer while students work together and engage in dialogue to accomplish tasks and lessons.
- Facilitator– A facilitator is a person who helps a group of people to work together better, understand their common objectives, and plan how to achieve these objectives. The facilitator acts as a neutral guide and encourages self assertiveness in the student.
- Demonstrator– The Demonstrator or Coach style involves more demonstrating than instructing. i.e. experiments or presentations. (Working on a white board)
- Authoritarian– A traditional teacher-centered approach. It usually involves lectures or one-way presentations delivered by you or the teacher in authority. Picture the classic “classroom” style of teaching. If you were not homeschooled yourself, you will lean toward this style although in many cases it isn’t best suited for homeschool.
- Hybrid– The Hybrid style offers a balance between teacher led and student led approaches. Things like open dialog, Socratic conversations, and brainstorming sessions are all examples of this style.
Each teaching style will be a card you pull from your hat as you continue on. They each have their place and can be used to keep students attentive while truly imparting knowledge.
Once you realize your favored style, you can find the materials that best support each style of teaching. For example, I know I am a hybrid style teacher, so I wanted to find a curriculum that encouraged thoughtful discussions and straightforward worksheets.
Join your local Homeschool Facebook Group
There is nothing more encouraging than being in the same “boat” as someone else. There are hundreds of those “someones” near you. An easy way to connect with them is via a local Facebook homeschooling group.
Many moms are there ready to give their wealth of experience. Often to give away or sell tons of resources they no longer need at a discounted price. Almost any question you have can be answered on a Facebook group, especially if it’s seasoned with a few matrons of the field.
Many times you’ll find local activities and events happening that will encourage your homeschool experience. Meet ups and friend groups are often formed through this amazing resource. Don’t skip this step as you embark in finding the best homeschool curriculum for your family this year!
Visit a Homeschool Conference
Going to a homeschool conference is like being a kid in a candy store! There are thousands of resources and while it all seems so sweet, it can also be overwhelming.
If you’ve defined your long and short term goals, you’ll be ready to head into a conference with the purpose and intention of finding the resources that will best serve you for the year ahead.
The break out classes are beyond inspiring and will literally be like a gust of wind to set you sailing into your school year ahead. Many of us now “teachers” never got our degree in teaching or child education. We can use all of the advice, training, and equipping we can get. Homeschool conferences will provide just that for you.
At these events, there will be a shopping center where hundreds of publishers, big and small, will display their beautiful work. Again, having an idea of your personal teaching style, your child’s learning style, and your long/short term goals will give you the best shot at gravitating toward a curriculum you’ll stick to.
Testing curriculums sounds amazing but not all of us have the budget to justify switching three times a year. These conferences will give you the opportunity to touch, feel, look through, and examine which ones are a good fit.
Learn Toward the Cirriculum that Brings Peace and Joy
One thing that is sure- you’ll never stick to something you hate. If you aren’t enjoying some or most of your homeschool journey, it isn’t going to last.
Maybe you have the willpower to push through but if the enjoyment of teaching your children is absent, the enjoyment of their learning will be too.
One long term goal should be to cultivate a love for learning. Choosing the right curriculum will be a major key in accomplishing the most important thing- to love learning and to thrive in homeschool.
Many moms are temped toward the cirriculums that promise the fastest growth via rigorous workloads in hopes they will not fail their task of schooling their children. They compare themselves to public schools and think they should be as close to that and possible.
There is a great freedom in breaking that way of thinking. You as mother know what is best for your children and you as teacher have the right to cultivate an environment best suited for them. Having confidence in your curriculum to cultivate a joy of learning and also hit appropriate milestones will be guiding light each year. Lean toward the recourses that not only hit your scope and sequence needs but also bring you peace and joy.
Pray About It
Inviting the Lord into every detail of our lives is a great delight and a great privilege.
You’ll soon discover that schooling your children will becoming one of the greatest aspects of your life. It is only fitting that we ask God to speak to us in this most important area involving the next generation, of which he is always mindful of.
“The LORD our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.”
Deuteronomy 29:29
We might not feel equipped to teach our children everything they need to know, but God is with us. Leaning on Him for direction, encouragement, and patience will be our life-breath on this path.
And not only that, but God is able to take our efforts unto Him and make something beautiful for His glory. He can do exponentially and abundantly more than we could hope, think, or imagine in and through our homeschools.
God will give you peace was you search for the right curriculum for your family. He can guide you away, if you’re willing, from the things that won’t serve His highest purposes. He can keep you balanced in focusing on Him and keeping Him first as your schedule fills each year. Last but certainly not least, pray about your curriculum choice.
As always, stay happy Mamas!
This post will help you choose the right curriculum for your family in 2024.
