EP002 - The 2 Keys to Consider Before Buying Curriculum • Homeschool Start-Up Mini-capsule - a podcast by Amber J. Smith

What do you do next when you’ve decided homeschooling Is the best choice for your family. Typically, the next question parents usually ask is, "What curriculum should I choose?" That can wait! There are a few points to consider before you want to buy a single thing. A Successful school year needs a little planning and there are two things that will help you more than any others.

Knowing what you want to accomplish in your first year of schooling as well as how you want to transfer that knowledge will help you to know what kind of tools you are looking for.

These play a huge role in how we receive information. Knowing more about how your child learns will shape the kinds of materials you will choose.

There are many goals you might need to address in your plan to homeschool. Some of your goals will be education or academics driven. Do you have a student who is missing foundational skill-sets. This can cause them to have trouble learning in specific areas? Missing concrete reading skills or early math skills can cause learning to come to a halt as soon as the workload excellerates.

This is not an uncommon occurrence, even with gifted students. Children who can easily navigate the school system with advanced intellect can sometimes need a time of remediation and skill building when they are moved into more advanced course work. I hear from parents whose child is advanced in mathematics, struggling with the transition to higher level math. Often the struggle lies not in math essential knowledge, but instead in the fact that the child is meeting with difficulty for the first time.

One vital skill to intentionally work on could be building patience with problem solving. Forcing a child to slow down is as vital as excellerating. Education is not a race to the finish. The goal of education is mastery of self and the development of an appetite for learning that lasts the child's life.

You might need to create a plan for remediation to relearn those important skills. Building foundational skills is going to help in the long run of your homeschool, and sometimes it's important that we take time to lay that firm foundation before we jump into core academics.

Knowing what skills you plan to work on will help you choose a curriculum and learning tools that address those areas. Especially because there are many tools to choose from. Most curriculum companies have placement tests that you can print or administer online. You could have an assessment test done at a local agency or through your public school. There are skill assessments and guides in many books and online and often you can find these at your public library. In the early years I read many books like Ruth Beechick's Three R's and Language Wars to help me become familiar with common expectations for early childhood learning.

Surprise! You are now an educator, it is time to get an education of your own as well. There is absolutely no subject that you can not find another parent or expert has written about. I am convinced that there is not another better time in history to be a homeschooling parent. The only drawback is the overwhelming amount of information available to us. If you aren't confident about a subject or topic, start doing your own research. That is how I became confident in my ability to educate my own kids.

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