If you’ve been asking this question you are going to want to watch my new video, What Curriculum Should I Use PLUS our TOP K-8 Homeschool Choices. In the video I’m sharing tried & true k-8 homeschool choices we’ve found over the past 12 years and how to discover whether or not what we will use for you, I discuss homeschool styles (not to be confused with learning styles) & why it’s critical to learn your personal style BEFORE you buy curriculum. The video is loaded with flip throughs and tips, including how our homeschool space is set up and MORE!
New and intermediate home school parents will want to see this (advanced may enjoy it and want to use it as a resource to send other’s they are helping get started).
If you already watched the video and are here for the curriculum links, scroll down.
Wisdom Words Composition Grammar k-6
Horizons Phonics & Reading GR 1
Wordly Wise Vocabulary
READY for READING by Jen Merkling
Teaching Self Government with Nicholeen Peck (character books)
Transcript from What Curriculum Should I Use PLUS our TOP K-8 Homeschool Choices
If you’re a homeschool parent or about to become a home school parent and you have been asking yourself “what curriculum should I use”, then you’ve come to the right place. Today I’m going to do my best to send you in the right direction.
This video is going to be for current and new home school parents, whether you’re looking to switch up your current curriculum because it’s not working or if you’re just getting started and don’t know where to start-this video will help.
Briefly let me take 15 seconds to tell you a little bit about because this will help you to know.
I’m a homeschool graduate I was raised on Abeka, I’ve been homeschooling since 2009 I have six children high school ages all the way down to three. I have homeschooled from the beginning through all the elementary years, all the middle school years and two high school years.
So this puts me in the homeschool world for over 20 years.
I have two ADHD kids, another with additional learning issues, and I have been through and try a lot of different curriculums to find what works best for our family within my own home each child has unique needs.
In 2017 I learned some of the information I I’m about to share with you that was a game changer for me and a year after that I began helping new homeschool mama’s with that info and mentoring them as they get started.
In this video I am going to share our favorite K through eight curriculum choices but I’m going to do more than that.
One of the questions I see asked the very most is “What curriculum should I use?”
Second asked most question is when people have narrowed down a couple of choices and are trying to decide between two or three.
I’m going to teach you how to find out if what we use will actually work for you, but I’m also going to point you in the right direction so you can learn how to find something else that will work if what we use won’t work for you.
Friends, are thousands of curriculum choices out there. Asking what curriculum you should use is like asking what your favorite red wine will be when you’ve never tried red wine or like asking “what career should I pursue”, or it would be like asking “what should I pick as a favorite color?”
Curriculum choices are personal and should be unique to each individual. So currently there are 5 homeschool styles that I personally know of, there could be more though. There’s traditional, classical, Charlotte Mason, unschooling, and unit studies. All of your curriculum out there is going to be for one or a combination of these styles.
So the very first thing you need to do is find your preference and this will depend on your end goal. For a super generic example, my end goal is to produce children who love God, love learning, are as academically sound as possible, critical thinkers, hard workers, and are not afraid or unable to go on to pursue higher learning, and who are able to achieve there dreams and callings.
So curriculum choices I choose are going to include choices that teach these things.
There is a video called the FIVE FLAVORS OF HOMESCHOOLING, I highly recommend that you watch it, the video was an answer to my prayers in 2017 after I had been really floundering around trying to find the best curriculum for my children.
That video helped me hone in on exactly what my teaching style was, and what my end goals were which helped me choose a star curriculum for my family, in that video you’ll learn about all the homeschool styles and there is a quiz that will help you decipher your style and needs.
What I ended up finding are some solid curriculum choices that seem to work across the board for all kinds of learners, but like I said there are thousands of choices out there. Some are good, some are not so good. Today I’ll be sharing our K-8 choices, but please know these are not the only good choices out there.
I will tell you the sooner you can find what is going to work for you and your child the more time and money youll save and you’ll possibly even avoid some tears….
Before I share my K-8 favorites and what works for our family I have a couple tips.
- I highly recommend that before you purchase any curriculum that you read the reviews on it at Cathy Duffy Reviews. Cathy Duffy has been doing home school reviews for decades and her reviews are top notch and solid. Her reviews have saved me hundreds of dollars.
- Another tip I have is if you are considering a curriculum that you call the curriculum provider and ask them questions versus only trying to find all the answers online yourself, usually staff providers are able to answer more customized questions
- Last tip I have is about jumping curriculum. Sometimes you just have to do it. But really pray about it and consider it before you do. It’s easy to get curricula envy! Sometimes we find something that works but then we see something else that looks like it could be better. Remember the old adage, “The grass is always greener on the other side,” so MAKE SURE what you are switching to is going to be better BEFORE you get it if at all possible. Here’s why; you guys there’s always going to be gaps in education, you can’t avoid them that I’m aware of. Jumping curriculum can create more gaps though because curriculums don’t align with each other. Another problem is that a lot of curriculums take time for you to learn as a teacher and for your child to get used to.
Let’s jump into the curriculum now!
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