Home Schooling Curriculum
- Your Options -

There are... but there s something very important to consider first & when you use the term curriculum  what do you mean? Most often curriculum  is taken to mean the subjects  that would normally be in a formal school curriculum. In a home school curriculum we must look outside that because home schools are much different than formal schools. For example, learning good manners is a very important part of the home school curriculum & good manners may be demanded by the teacher in a formal school but it is not part of the formal school s curriculum.

So, when you are considering what areas of learning you want your child to experience such as English, Math, Science, etc. & remember that they are only a part of the overall curriculum & and that learning good manners, honesty, courage, responsibility, etc. are more important parts of the curriculum than these subjects.

So, in terms of the 'formal' subjects, what are the options open to you when choosing your home schooling curriculum?

Well &there are four options you can take...You can:

1. Buy a pre-prepared home schooling curriculum produced by publishing companies.

These curriculums may come in the form of books, CD Roms, worksheets, online learning or a mixture of some or all of these. Many of these service providers provide an examination service where they provide you with periodic examinations for your child to take which they then grade for you. This allows you to compare, if you wish to, how your child s examination results compare with the national average. The point is that you would simply choose one curriculum and follow it... while accepting that it s design is appropriate for the needs of your child.

2. Design your own home schooling curriculum by (a) deciding the areas of knowledge you would like your child to experience, (b) investigating the different resources available for each of these areas of knowledge & e.g. online, in the local bookshop, information available from your home school association, advice from other parents, etc. (c) buying the required resources, (d) designing a timetable for each of these areas of knowledge.

3. The curriculum is determined by your child...whatever area of knowledge he/she expresses an interest in becomes part of the curriculum, i.e. it is not designed by you.

Now, many of the necessary resources may be provided by you in advance &e.g. you might have lots of books in the house already, on a wide variety of subjects, which your child can explore. When the child comes across something he/she shows great interest in then more materials for exploring that area can be investigated and provided.

4. This home schooling curriculum option is a cross between numbers 3 and 4. In other words & in this option you decide, as a parent, areas of knowledge you want your child to experience such as reading, writing, math, history, etc &AND you keep the flexibility of option 3 where the child has an appropriate opportunity to self-direct his/her own learning with your help and guidance.

Option 1 is a turn-key  option and potentially puts less demand on you &but it doesn t provide the flexibility that is the great feature of home schooling. More importantly, it doesn t recognize that all the child s learning is part of the curriculum.

Option 2 involves greater input from you & you are the designer but you are still providing your child with a completely prescribed home schooling curriculum with no scope for your child to engage in self-directed learning.

Option 3 is the ultimate in a flexible home schooling curriculum. It provides for completely self-directed learning by the child. It is demanding though & it may worry you if your child is not showing interest in subjects  you hold to be essential &if your child showed no interest in reading and writing, you d be worried, wouldn t you? However, by having excellent reading and writing materials available to your child and by being a good example to him/her of how enjoyable reading and writing can be, your child is likely to want to learn to read and write! Remember & your young child wants to be like you!

Option 4 is a cross between options 2 and 3 &it allows you to prescribe certain subjects  that you have decided they must learn and it allows for a good deal of self-directed learning on their part.

So which option feels right for you?

The majority of parents feel option 4 is the best all-round option. There is a general recognition among home schooling parents that some degree of self-directed learning is vitally important & and that there are certain areas of learning that cannot simply be left to chance. This is a wise initial approach but also requires some caution...

It is essential that children are never forced to learn anything. Being forced results in feeling under pressure which, in turn, prevents learning taking place at the level that will be achieved when the learning is not forced. In other words... it s fine to identify particular areas of learning that you believe are essential as part of your home schooling curriculum, but it is important that you encourage your children to explore those areas by showing your child that these subjects are really worth learning. You do this by showing a real interest in them yourself &e.g. if you want your child to learn to read...let them see you reading a lot and let them hear you talk about how great the book is that you are reading! Remember &again &your child wants to be like you! It is always better to bring about learning by showing it to be fun rather than by forcing it on the child.

So, the home schooling curriculum in option 4 is probably the best approach but, remember the important point &encourage learning by making it fun! This is one important approach of many that a home school teacher, with the necessary know-how, uses to great effect. To learn more about being the best home school teacher your child could have click here.