A Good Fit: Four Questions to Ask When Choosing Curriculum

Most homeschool parents I know (myself included!) have at least one curriculum on the shelf they spent good money on and barely used.

• The program with five-star reviews that you could never quite wrap your mind around.
• The beautiful, exploration-based curriculum that sounded great until your kids complained, "Can't we just watch a video?"
• The one that seemed perfect but turned out to be so complicated and time-consuming that it never got used.

We are fortunate to be homeschooling at a time when there is an abundance of great materials for every budget and learning style, which means there are so many options that it can be hard to choose. I've learned to ask these four questions to help me tell the difference between a resource that worked well for somebody else and one that is a good fit for our unique family.

Question 1: Is It High Quality?

There is a difference between a good educational resource that will give your child the foundation they need in a subject, and an "educational activity" that keeps them busy today but will be forgotten by tomorrow.

How do you know if a curriculum is high quality? The top factors I look at are who made it and who uses it.

Was the curriculum created by someone who actually knows the subject inside and out? Look for the author's credentials, such as degrees or a career history in the subject and teaching experience at multiple levels. It should be easy to find a summary of what the program covers and in what order (sometimes called the "scope and sequence"), along with a clear explanation of why the author made those choices.

It's also helpful to consider whether the resource has been used successfully by many families like yours. It doesn't have to be the most popular program or the one with the highest ratings. Sometimes a program works really well for a particular type of learner, and if that's your student, it doesn't matter whether it works for everyone else. If you're reading reviews from parents with children who sound just like yours, and they rave about how well it helped their children learn and enjoy the subject, then it could be a good fit for you.

Question 2: Does It Fit Your Resources?

Don't get sucked into the idea that more expensive means better. There are great resources available at every price point. Decide on a budget before you start researching, and stick to it. If you find yourself falling in love with something outside your budget, make a list of the features you love about it and a list of the bells and whistles you could live without. There is almost always a more affordable way to get the features that matter most to you.

Money isn't the only resource to consider. Do you have space to store and organize everything that comes with the curriculum? Homeschooling resources come in all shapes and sizes, from fully digital to sets with books, manipulatives, and equipment. How much printing will you need to do? How much time will it take to prepare for each lesson, and what supplies will you need? A program you can't afford, don't have space for, or can't make time to prepare is not going to be a good fit, no matter how good it is.

Question 3: Does It Make Sense to You?

The best way to answer this question is to get your hands on some samples and try teaching a lesson or two. Most publishers offer free samples that you can download, and you may be able to borrow the teacher's guide from a friend or the library.

Working through a sample lesson will give you a sense of how it would feel to use that curriculum day to day. Do you understand the instructions the first time you read them? Can you see how the lessons build on each other? Does the teaching approach match the way you naturally explain things? Can you see how you might adapt the curriculum to fit your schedule, space, multiple children, or other factors?

A curriculum is a tool to help you teach your kids. You're the boss. If you find it confusing or too complicated, keep looking. The best program is the one you can see yourself using, consistently and happily, for a year or more.

Question 4: Does It Make Sense to Your Child?

While you're looking at those sample lessons, try doing some of the work together with your child. Watch how they respond to the materials and activities.

Children learn in different ways, and their preferences change as they grow. Some focus best when they read or are read to, while others learn more from watching a video. Some like a lot of discussion to help them process, others like to work through written problems on their own. Some need a lot of hands-on activity in every lesson, others find manipulatives distracting and just want to get the work done on paper. Some need more practice problems than the book provides, and others are bored silly by repetition and need less.

None of these preferences are right or wrong. What matters is that the program meets your child where they are right now and helps them move forward in their understanding of the subject.

The Goal Is Consistency

When you've worked through these four questions, you'll often find that the best fit for your family is not the most expensive or the most popular option. What you're looking for is a resource that is solid, affordable, clear to you, and workable for your child. A less popular curriculum that you can use consistently and that gets the job done is worth far more than the "best" curriculum collecting dust on the shelf.