Tips For Choosing A Curriculum

For many homeschooling parents - veterans and newbies alike, choosing a homeschool curriculum can be a daunting process. ​When choosing a homeschool curriculum keep in mind these 3 questions:

 

1. Is It a good fit?

2. Does it serve it’s intended purpose?

3. Does it suit your budget?

 

Let's take each question and answer them here one by one:

 

IS IT A GOOD FIT?

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When it comes to a homeschool curriculum, it must be the right fit. What does a good fit look like when it comes to a homeschool curriculum? Well, to be a good fit, the Homeschool curriculum you choose has to take the following 3 things into consideration. Which means that ideally the homeschool curriculum that you ultimately end up choosing should fit these 3 things: 1. Your Child(ren)'s personality 2. Your Child's learning style or ability 3. You and your family's culture and personality which would encompass your teaching style/commitment.

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Below, I delve a little bit more into each aspect of these 3 areas:

 

1. FIT your child’s personality, it has to FIT your child’s learning style, it has to 2. FIT your family’s  culture and personality, and it has to FIT your individual teaching style as a homeschool parent.

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2. FIT  your Child's Learning Style

My youngest child is an advanced, kinetic learner and gets easily distracted and bored with learning if the material presented is too monotonous or extensive. So, it was very important for us to find a curriculum that had a combination of textbook and video-based learning, which allowed for more variation.

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3. FIT your family’s  culture and personality

A good fitting homeschool curriculum will Fit your family’s culture and personality. For example, if you are a busy, working homeschool parent, who does not have a lot of time to invest in the homeschool process, then you want to make sure you choose a program like K-12 or Easy Peasy that are all-encompassing curriculums, which means that you do not have to invest time in curriculum planning, grading or testing. All this is built into the curriculum.

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On the other spectrum of this, if you are a parent that has a lot of time to be hands on, who plans on spending a lot of time with your child/ren teaching and learning together, then a curriculum like Sonlight may be a great choice for your family.

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I have mentioned just a few sample choices here, and these reflect choices that we ourselves as a family have actually used in the almost 16 years of our homeschool journey. However, in order for you to actually find a curriculum that is the bet fit for your family, you will have to take into account the 3 criteria that I mentioned above, and then do your research of the curriculum choices available.

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I wanted to mention that it is not uncommon to try several curriculums until you find the one that works best for your family. Neither is it uncommon to switch curriculums as you progress thought your homeschool journey as life circumstances and your child/ren's personality may change over the years. In our homeschool journey, when the children were in elementary school, we began with Abeka Academy, then used the K-12 independent study program for several years, and are now content and happy using the Sonlight Curriculum as of the writing of this article.

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DOES IT SERVE ITS INTENDED PURPOSE

 

The second thing to consider when choosing a curriculum is whether or not it serves its intended purpose. All of us decide to homeschool our children for different reasons. Oftentimes, one of the reasons may be that we are trying to nurture certain ideals in our children that are important to us as a family. For example,  one of the reasons, among many that I choose to homeschool my children, was because I wanted to make sure that I nurtured and instilled in them a strong and unshakable foundation of faith. This meant that I wanted to make sure, especially when they were younger, to incorporate a curriculum in their lives that was rooted in the same foundation of faith that we were teaching at home outside of school time. So, when choosing a homeschool curriculum, we want to make sure that the curriculum that we choose, serves its intended purpose, some curriculums are faith based for example, while others are taught from a conventional perspective. Some curriculums are strongly math or science or literary based. So, you will want to take this into consideration when choosing a curriculum.

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DOES IT FIT YOUR BUDGET

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The third thing you want to consider when deciding on a curriculum is whether or not it fits your family's budget. The great news is that the choice for homeschool curriculum is varied, and you can find great ones to fit any budget. If you are a family on a very tight budget, you can even find great free curriculum such as Easy Peasy by Cathy Duff, or ones costing as little as $19.95 a month. Other curriculums can cost hundred of dollars a month.

 

Don’t forget to ask your child’s opinion. Take time to go through some of the choices with them and ask them what they think. If you have a curriculum that you have been using already, ask your child or children how it is working out for them, ask them what they think about it and what they like or don’t like about it and include them in the choosing process. And remember, don’t be afraid to try different curriculums and change them out until you find the right FIT. 

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Below are a few helpful links which you may find helpful in your journey to find the right curriculum:

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https://cathyduffyreviews.com/

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https://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/homeschool-curriculum-reviews/

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Following are a list of curriculums that we have personally used in our homeschool journey and I would recommend:

 

Sonlight Curriculum

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If I could choose just two words to describe our experience with Sonlight, it would be cherished and memorable. When my two boys were younger, we used the Sonlgiht curriculum for several years and while using it, our homeschool days were filled with unforgettable moments—cuddled up together on the couch or bed, lost in the beauty of a well-told story, transported through time and across continents through the pages of books.

 

I truly think that Sonlight is more than just a curriculum; it’s a gateway to a rich, immersive learning experience that nurtures both the heart and the mind of your homeschool children.

 

As a literature-based, Christian homeschool curriculum, it fosters faith, a love for reading, critical thinking, and meaningful conversations—all while strengthening the parent-child bond in a way that traditional textbooks simply cannot.

 

What makes Sonlight special?

• A Complete, Open-and-Go Curriculum – With Sonlight, you’re never left wondering what to do next. Each package includes a fully planned schedule, detailed lesson plans, discussion questions, and engaging activities that make teaching effortless and enjoyable. Everything is laid out for you, so you can focus on what truly matters—learning alongside your children.

• Living Books That Spark a Love for Learning – Forget about dry textbooks! Sonlight is a carefully curated curriculum with a book selection that will expose your children to a love of reading.  

• Faith-Based and Thoughtfully Designed – Sonlight weaves Christian values seamlessly into its curriculum, helping children develop a strong moral foundation while exploring history, science, and literature from a biblical perspective.

• Flexibility to Fit Your Family’s Needs – Whether you prefer a structured homeschool approach or a more laid-back learning approach, Sonlight adapts beautifully to your homeschool style. One of the things that I really enjoyed when we used it is that the curriculum is designed for multi-age learning, which makes it perfect for teaching multiple children together.

 

Why We Loved It

When we used Sonlight as our homeschool curriculum, our homeschool journey was filled with nurturing our connection as a family and many hours of quality time. Looking back, I realize that some of our most treasured moments were spent snuggled up on the couch, turning pages, diving into powerful stories, and discussing deep, thought-provoking themes as we read one of our many Sonlight books.

I can definitely point to the years tha we used Sonlight as a time that was instrumental in shaping my children’s curiosity, strengthening their love for reading, and creating an unbreakable bond between us as a family.

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If you looking for a inspiring, engaging, faith-based, literature-based curriculum that will propel your homeschool journey into one of connection, wonder, and lifelong learning, then Sonlight is the perfect choice.

🌟 Start your journey with Sonlight today— I believe that you won’t  regret it! 

 

 

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