What is the Best Homeschool Curriculum?

This is a frequent question from new homeschoolers: What is the best homeschool curriculum? How do you choose the right curriculum? You want to keep your kids on track and there’s so many curriculum choices out there. Which one should you choose?

Homeschool curriculum is big business. There’s so many curriculum choices and methods. It’s somewhat humorous when a new homeschooler pops into a Facebook group and frantically posts “Help, what’s the best curriculum?”

I’d like to tell you the answer. But, there actually isn’t an answer to tell you. Here’s why.

What is the Best?

Think of it like this, there’s also lots of cookbooks and recipes. I confess I can lose a whole day on Pinterest looking at recipes sometimes and still ended up ording a pizza for dinner.

So, imagine I get overwhelmed by all the choices and I run into a grocery store to frantically ask fellow shoppers, “Help, what should I cook for dinner?”

Can you picture it? We’re in a store full of ingredients–so what would you recommend? It’s not such an easy answer. And it’s kind of funny, right?

I guarantee if we lined up every buggy (that’s what we call a “cart” in case you’re not from around here), we would not find any of them with identical items. That’s because menu planning and grocery shopping is personalized especially for your individual budget, dietary preferences and specific tastes. I cannot just grab the same things as another shopper and be successful.

Bear in mind that planning your course of study and choosing curriculum is personalized just like that: by your individual budget, educational philosophies and specific interests.

Who Knows Best?

The part that’s overwhelming is because we’re conditioned to think that only the “experts” can do this. We think some adultier adult “owns” education and eventually we’re going to have to prove ourselves to *them*: that nebulous authority figure.

Well, there are professional chefs that have been trained and their establishments have been inspected and approved so they can serve food to others. But, you are every bit as qualified to cook a meal for your family–and nobody questions it.

There’s nobody who owns cooking.
Nobody is checking on you to make sure you’re following the nutrition charts.
Nobody is questioning how you know if your child is getting enough to eat.
No strangers stopping your child to ask them what they ate today.
Nobody quits cooking because their family didn’t like a meal.

It’s fine to eat out have someone else to the cooking. There are specific options listed on the menu and you can get some variations on the dishes. But, when you cook at home, you get to start from scratch and figure out what you want to put on the menu. You’re actually the “expert” on what your family wants to eat.

You might start with a style or category: keto, vegan, low-carb, budget-friendly, crockpot/instapot.

You can follow a daily planned out menu or pick/choose recipes that interest you.

You can order boxed plans that include step-by-step instructions. Or you can pick out the items in person at a store.

You can follow the recipe exactly as it’s written. Or you can leave out mushrooms and add in olives.

Best Homeschool Curriculum

This is the kind of freedom that you get when you DIY your child’s education, too. The school system offers a very specific menu, which they can modify with a few accommodations. But, when you homeschool, you get to start from scratch and figure out what you want to put on the menu. You’re actually the expert who knows your child best.

You might start with styles of education: Traditional, Charlotte Mason, Classical, Unit Studies, Unschooling, Waldorf.

You can follow a planned out lesson manual or you can pick/choose the lessons and set your own pace.

You could order boxed curriculum, ready-to-go. Or you can gather supplies yourself.

You might follow a lesson plan exactly as it’s written. Or you may skim over parts–and dig deeper in others.

How will you know if your child is learning? How will you know that they’re progressing? That’s what your record-keeping is for, to make notes about what’s working and what’s not working.

Carol Black says: “’Learning‘ is not conceived as a special activity at all, but as a natural by-product of being alive in the world.” So, what’s the best homeschool curriculum for that?

It’s the one that fits your life.

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