Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Choosing a homeschool curriculum

Choosing a homeschool curriculum

So you’ve decided to home school. The next thing you need to decide is what curriculum to use. For most new homeschoolers it is difficult to imagine the amount of work needed to make a complete course of study for each subject their child needs to study.

It can be overwhelming and I am not downplaying the stress it can cause. I was at the place some of you are now. Midway through a school year I pulled my daughter out of public school because it was just not working. I cried for weeks about becoming a homeschooler and didn’t know where to start.

If you are in that same situation then I have two pieces of advice for you. First, find out your child’s learning style. It is hard to believe but you might not know what your sixth graders learning style is if they have been educated away from you since they started school. Choosing a curriculum that will assist you in planning lessons and keeping records.

There are a number of online homeschool curricula to choose from, and there are also box curricula that provide you with traditional school type materials such as text books. Just match your child’s learning style.

The other piece of advice I can give you is that you should look for a support group in your area. They can be invaluable when it comes to sharing their experiences, and having people to go on field trips with. I would not have survived the first year of home schooling without more experienced parents telling me and showing me that home schooling was possible.

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