Ideal Homeschool Curriculum

Over and over people ask me what curriculum they should buy. Sometimes they are walking down the isles of the state homeschool fair and call me on their cell phone, occasionally they are just removing their children from school and don’t know what to do tomorrow and other times they are just beginning the homeschool adventure and don’t know where to begin.

Browse through any glossy homeschool magazine or browse the Internet and you’ll see an overwhelming amount of homeschool curriculum, all of it advertised as though you can’t successfully homeschool without it.

I’ve been asked this question so often that I’ve developed an answer over the past few months. Just yesterday I received a call from a friend asking “I’ve been reading your books, I’m so excited, but what curriculum should I use?” So I sat down at my computer and wrote it all down.

Bible - The ideal homeschool curriculum begins with the Bible. Have family worship; develop a habit of daily devotions with your family that will extend into their own devotions as they grow older. Study the Sabbath School lesson and also study the Bible story from The Bible Story and Spirit of Prophecy. Be sure to memorize the memory verse or another verse each week.

Reading - Develop the love of reading by reading to your children when they are very young and never stop. Even teens love to listen to stories and this is wonderful family time. Read everything… Bible stories along with nature, history and anything else you want.

As your child matures, show them how each letter has a special sound. Use a simple reading program such as Reading Lesson. Take it slow, each child will read in their own time. Just help to develop a love for reading so your children will want to do it on their own.

Nature & Science - We are told nature is God’s second book. Get fresh air and exercise daily. Even if you can’t observe nature everyday, you can read and learn about it and a good way is through Learning Projects.

Learning Projects – The easiest way to learn is by combining all the subject areas while learning one topic… this is called Learning Projects (also called themes or units). For example, your family is interested in birds. So you would read stories about birds, research birds at the library and on the Internet (reading, research), observe birds in nature or at your backyard feeder and record types and habits (science, observation, recording). You could build bird houses or feeders (math, shop, art) hang them in the yard or give them away as gifts. You could raise birds (home business) and visit a pet store (field trip). While doing this, your family would be learning about structure of birds, how they fly (physics, science). You could learn about endangered birds and migration patterns, (history, science, geography). Your children could draw pictures, or make murals and graphs (art, math). You will also want to find all the places where birds are mentioned in the Bible (creation science, Bible).

You get the idea. Every subject of interest to your family can be learned in this manner! Just read, investigate and do! You can learn more about this wonderful way of learning in my book At Home with Learning Projects.

Math - Preschool and elementary math can be taught in the kitchen with actual apples and oranges, cutting pies, measuring and with simple workbooks. Middle school and high school math does require a textbook and Saxon is highly recommended by homeschoolers everywhere. Your Learning Projects also reinforce mathematics skills i.e. building the bird house involved measurement, graphing the birds found in your yard teaches charts.

Work – Children need to learn that being a part of a family means that we share both the fun and the work. Of course you won’t expect as much from your 7 year-old as you do your 12 year-old and showing the older child how to help the younger ones will reap you many benefits both now and later.

Service – Families benefit greatly from serving others and thinking of others before themselves. The opportunities are endless and found first of all at home to each other. Other opportunities abound nearby in your neighborhood, community and church.

History, Geography, Social Studies, Language Arts – These subjects will be learned while doing all the above. You don’t need separate textbooks to teach these subjects and it’s so easy to incorporate them into the Learning Projects and reading that you do.

As you can see, every family will have a unique curriculum, custom designed for them, their needs and style of learning. Yours will be different from mine or your homeschooling friend, and that’s the great part about homeschooling.

Detailed information and resources and more ideas for your ideal homeschool curriculum can be obtained from The Adventist Home Educator Handbook. May God bless you as you plan the ideal curriculum for your family; this is my prayer for you.

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