• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Learning Table

Eclectic Homeschooling

  • Home
  • About Me
    • Contact Me
  • Advertising/PR/Terms
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosure/Terms
  • Homeschool
    • Themed Unit Studies
  • Shop
    • My Account
    • Terms & Conditions

A Homeschool Curriculum Game Plan

February 17, 2022 by Anne Campbell Leave a Comment

Critical Pre-Season Preparations for Choosing Homeschool Curriculum

You may be inundated with homeschool curriculum catalogs in the mail and emails selling digital bundles. You may have attended your first homeschool convention (spring practice) near the end of the school year, and your head is spinning! If you are homeschooling multiple children, you may be trying to figure out how to stretch your homeschool budget to cover everything you need and make it last until the end of the season.

It’s that time of year, when homeschool moms begin a type of training camp to get ready for fall.

So many choices! How do you cut through the clutter and find the right homeschool curriculum for each student?

First and foremost, you need a game plan. After 15 years of homeschooling, I do not have it all figured out, but I can tell you that my curriculum shopping has gotten much easier over the years. I do have many hand-me-downs, but they don’t all work for my rookie students. Mainly, I’ve learned how to discern what we really need and what is vital for us to homeschool effectively.

Want to see my game plan? Let’s huddle up and get started!

How do you choose homeschool curriculum amongst all the choices? Here is your game plan!

1. Understand your end goal with homeschool curriculum

What is your main purpose for homeschooling? Are you a secular homeschooler? Do you want to provide your children with a Christian education? Are you looking for materials free of evolutionary content? What kind of homeschool style do you have? Answer these questions and write down your objectives. Keep these in mind when choosing curriculum. If the materials don’t fit within your overall plan, you probably don’t need them.

2. Be realistic about your schedule

Do you have small children? Are you working from home? How much help do you have with household chores? Keep your schedule in mind when deciding on homeschool curriculum, and don’t commit to time-consuming projects, experiments, or lessons that require a lot of advance legwork if you don’t have time for them.

3. Decide what you are going to outsource

Math is not my thing. Ask anyone who knows me, and you will hear about my allergy to algebra. My son is great at math, but when an unfamiliar concept comes up and the guy in the audio lecture does not explain it, we have realized that we both need help. This is where recruiting other methods comes into play. For us, it meant dual enrollment at a local college for algebra. You might find local classes, a co-op, or online programs to fill the areas you need help with.

4. Get input from your team

Your children have unique talents and abilities. Customize some of their coursework to take advantage of their areas of interest. They will be more motivated to do their schoolwork, and you may be laying the groundwork for their future careers. Consult with your kids and find out what they want to learn. When my son discovered a love of medieval history through a video game, we decided to focus on medieval literature and history for a year of high school. One of my boys loves cooking and wants to be a chef, so we incorporate that into his geography lessons by learning about international dishes and even math by learning to measure and divide recipes.

5. Create an individual plan for each child

Write down every subject each child needs to cover for the year. What can you combine? If your older child is studying biology, can your younger kids learn life science along with their sibling? Make your job easier by gathering everyone together for as many subjects as you can.

6. Decide what homeschool curriculum you can reuse

If you are not a first year homeschooler, look through your bookshelves and see if you can use anything you already have. If you can’t, put it away so it doesn’t become clutter or pass it on to someone else. Clean out that locker room! Let it go!

7. Try it before you buy it

Don’t forget your curriculum try-outs! Many curriculum companies offer free samples of entire units. It pays to use these before investing in the full product. You can also see if someone in your homeschool group has something you can look through or even check with the library. You might learn that a curriculum isn’t a good fit and save yourself some buyer’s remorse.

8. Focus on your goal

Remember number one? Draft your players. Now that you’ve spent some time coming up with a strategy, make a list of what you need to acquire. Check used curriculum sites, look for coupons and deals, and write down your wish list.

9. Decide what homeschool curriculum you need

Before you are blindsided by all the shiny bells and whistles, don’t do a full blitz and buy the whole shebang. What do you need to get started? You don’t have to buy the entire year’s list of books at the beginning. If you get halfway through the semester and decide your curriculum really isn’t working, it is easier to change the plan and call a time-out if you haven’t made a huge investment. (Ask me how I know!)

10. Embrace your role as the head coach

Adapt the curriculum to YOUR needs. One of the most challenging things moms face, even after many years of homeschooling, is giving yourself permission NOT to check off all of the boxes on the instructor’s guide schedule pages. Do what works for you and take charge of your curriculum.

Now, you’re ready for kickoff!

Filed Under: Getting Started, Homeschool

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Connect with me!

Facebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinrsstumblrinstagram

Hello! I am an English/Language Arts teacher, writer, homeschooling consultant, and speaker and believe in embracing the “light bulb” moments of discovery that happen both in and out of the classroom.
anne@mylearningtable.com
Click here to read more. This blog uses referral links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Take a look around!

Cart

Anne's bookshelf: books-i-teach-on-outschool

Bridge to Terabithia
Bridge to Terabithia
by Katherine Paterson
tagged: books-i-teach-on-outschool
Okay for Now
it was amazing
Okay for Now
by Gary D. Schmidt
tagged: books-i-teach-on-outschool
The Wednesday Wars
it was amazing
The Wednesday Wars
by Gary D. Schmidt
tagged: books-i-teach-on-outschool
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
by Gary D. Schmidt
tagged: books-i-teach-on-outschool
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
it was amazing
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
by E.L. Konigsburg
tagged: books-i-teach-on-outschool

goodreads.com

Popular Posts

what you need to know about the new SAT for college admission

What You Need to Know About the New SAT

A Homeschool Curriculum Game Plan

Valentine's Day Activities for Kids mylearningtable.com

Valentine’s Day Activities for Kids

New Year Bucket List Free Printable

New Year Bucket List Printable

Christmas books for kids

Christmas Books for Kids

Follow Learning Table 's board Homeschool Support on Pinterest.

Copyright © 2022 · Lifestyle Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in