A homeschool curriculum is nothing more than a course of study. While this will vary depending upon where in the world you are located, the following information is generally used throughout North America. Curriculum standards are oftentimes referred to as “academic learning requirements” or “grade level expectations.” These don’t dictate any specific method of teaching or style of learning. They simply provide homeschool parents with a guide for what their children should be able to do whenever they reach each grade level.
There are many types homeschool curriculums you can choose from your home schooling your child. You can find cheap and used homeschool curriculum’s for sale, secular homeschooling curriculums, montessori homeschool curriculums, christian home school curriculums and many more to fit your teaching needs.
General Subject Categories For Homeschooling Curriculum’s
The subjects that are covered with curriculum for homeschooling include:
- Social studies: geography, history, government, sociology (includes culture and human relations)
- Science: biology, botany, geology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, environmental conservation, psychology
- Language Arts: letter recognition, phonics, reading, spelling, writing, composition, research
- Health and Safety: physical health, mental health, nutrition, fitness, anatomy, disease and illness, accident prevention, first aid
- Math: geometry, algebra, trigonometry, calculus, probability and statistics
Homeschool Curriculum Subjects By Grade Level
What children need to learn will depend upon their grade level. Here are some examples of what curriculum will cover for children depending upon this:
- Preschool: Size, Colors, Shapes, Letters, Numbers, Listening and Sequencing, Motor Skills, Social-Emotional Development.
- Kindergarten: Social Studies, Science, Language Arts, Health and Safety, Mathematics
- Grades 1-5: Social Studies, Science, Reading, Health and Safety, Mathematics
- Grades 6-8: Social Studies, Science, Language Arts, Health and Safety, Mathematics
- Grades 9-12: Social Studies, Science, Language Arts, Algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus, Probability and Statistics
Types Of Homeschool Curriculum
There are a lot of different types of homeschool curriculum available for you to choose from. The main types include:
- Unit studies are a great way to teach several children who are in multiple grade levels at the same time. They also incorporate multiple subjects into one lesson plan. For instance, if you are studying Native Americans you may learn about history, sociology, math, science and economics.
- All in one curriculum is what the public school system uses. The curriculum is divided into the various subjects. It is good to use if you are thinking that you may eventually send your child back to school.
- Student paced learning is similar to an all in one curriculum but children are allowed to learn at their own pace. They will still have the same amount of work to do, it’s just not as strictly structured and scheduled.
- Online schools have also grown very popular in recent years. With this type of a curriculum children log into a virtual classroom where they receive their instruction from an accredited teacher. Video conferencing is oftentimes used so that students can meet one another online.
Deciding Which Home School Curriculum Is Best For You
All of this information can be very overwhelming. However, you should ask yourself the following questions to make it easier to choose the right curriculum for your children:
- What is my child’s learning style?
- Am I looking for a formal textbook, workbook or unit-study? (Think about the different types of curriculum that are available and which will work best for you.)
- What do others say about the curriculum?
- Is this curriculum easy to use or will it take a lot of prep time?
- Where can I view this curriculum before purchasing it?
- What does your child think of this curriculum? (While you can’t take a whole lot of stock in this you do want to at least take their thoughts into consideration.)
- Is there parent support available when needed?
- Is this a Christian or secular curriculum? (This may make a difference to you depending upon your homeschool philosophy.)