How do you narrow down the multitude of choices? Choosing a homeschool curriculum can be overwhelming, and in this season of social distancing we can’t even gather in curriculum fairs or conferences to look at books in person.

When I started looking into what I would use to teach my girls, I opened christianbook.com and became immediately overwhelmed by how many options were out there.

So, like everybody these days, I went to YouTube. Here’s a little bit of what I found. This is a very general overview and will help you narrow your search. I don’t get into specific companies yet.

First, consider your philosophy

Classical education is a method that goes back to ancient Greek teachers. It relies heavily on the Socratic method, memorization, and the science of logic. Its goal is more about instilling the virtues over knowing information.

If you want to homeschool for the long term this is a great philosophy. If you are looking to teach your kids for a year or two and then send them on to school, its scope doesn’t usually lend itself to that.

A benefit of this method is that there are many homeschoolers who cooperate as groups to learn together. A good link for an overview of Classical education can be found here.

You will hear a lot about Charlotte Mason. 

This method is centered around teaching the important things while doing everyday life, and learning through story. There’s a big emphasis on reading aloud together. You might hear it called the “living books” method. Outside play and exploration are a priority.

In my early grades I remember doing a lot of my education in this way. We read so many stories about kids in different times of history. I found this article helpful and clear.

Unschooling, also called interest-led study, is another term you will see as you explore homeschooling. Think of Unschooling as child-led and interest-directed education. It’s a chance to rediscover learning as a natural skill that curious children have. It allows the wiggle room for deep dives into interesting subjects that an overview curriculum will never have time for. 

As this article points out, this is different from “de-schooling”–removing a student from a school environment where learning may have been difficult, frustrating, and assessment-driven, and giving time to decompress and rediscover the joy of learning.

Traditional teaching is going to look more like “regular school.” This style of curriculum will usually have a teacher’s manual, student text and/or workbook, and testing books. Sometimes they have video streaming or DVDs, so children can learn somewhat independently.

Eclectic is a conglomeration of all of the above. Growing up I was taught this way. We found a few things we liked and used them. What worked one year didn’t work the next, and what worked for me might not have worked for my brothers. Early on we had a more CM method and into middle and high school grades we did more textbook learning.

For me, our math and language arts will be very “traditional.” I’ve ordered textbooks and we will work through the lessons. Our science and social studies will be more “family style” where we will do some unit studies, and learn together for both grade levels. We will supplement our “official” learning with books from the library–a hat-tip to Charlotte Mason. I’ll look for fiction and non-fiction books, and as many stories in various time-periods and geographic locations as I can find.

Second, define your goals

What is the goal for your school year? Are you filling in the gap for COVID and anticipating sending your children back to school next year? (By the way, this is actually my goal. We’ll see if we continue into ’21-22.) If so, one of the big-picture homeschool philosophies might not be the right fit, since it may take a few years to cycle through their material.

If you have a young child, maybe your goal is to gently ease her into school and instill a love of learning. You could probably adopt a year filled with library books, construction paper projects, and park dates, and still be right on track. 

Do you have a high school student who has sights set on a particular career path? You may want to combine a bit of traditional school with interest-based direction. That way your child can knock out the required credits while focusing time to gain some knowledge or experience in a field that is interesting. You could also see whether joint enrollment is an option, where he can earn college credit while competing high school.

Third, be realistic 

Before you jump head over heels into one major style of teaching, take some time to evaluate your reality.

What are your limitations?

Are you working within a tight budget? Do you have a baby coming in a few months? Do you have limited time? Do you work full time?

Be realistic with your expectations. 

If you have multiple children to teach you can combine grades. Really! If this is intriguing, look on YouTube for “morning basket” videos and “gather round” homeschool videos.

What do you have? What are your strengths and skills?

Are you naturally inclined to the sciences? Do you love history and literature? Great! Your choice of curriculum can support these strengths. I really like math and writing and literature. My husband has a biology degree.

Who do you know that can be a resource?

Is your sister a math teacher? Didn’t your friend homeschool her kids? Does your spouse edit papers for fun? You don’t have to be the only source for your kids to learn from. You can call on others for support, insight, or tutoring. Reach out.

Fourth, put it all together

Your state or school district probably has some form of guidelines as to what your kids have already learned, or would be learning in the upcoming grade. This may or may be more important to you based on your goals. My intention in this year is to teach my girls what they need for 4th and 6th grades so that if we send them back to school in 5th and 7th, they will be prepared and not have giant gaps in knowledge. 

I printed my school district’s published goals for each grade, compared the major subjects (US history and government; earth science; etc.), with the curriculum I am interested in. Whatever lined up the best to our goals, content, and learning style, was what I picked out. 

I have yet to work out our Social Studies curriculum, but once that I’ll give you an overview soon to tell you what we chose and why. 

A final encouragement

You can do this. Friend, you taught your children to tie shoes, speak in full sentences, and to use the toilet. You may have already guided them through learning to read, how to drive, or how to use the internet appropriately. Those are no small feats! If you did that, have confidence that you can teach them to read, do research, and multiply fractions–or maybe relearn those things with them.

There is no shortage of help out there. I am going to be learning along with you, and sharing the resources I find.

What homeschool philosophy sounds most like your style?