How do you choose your curriculum?

[MelissaM]

I've always chosen curriculum based on what I thought was good and then based the children's learning objectives on the curriculum. This next year I'm trying something different. I am writing out their learning objectives first then buying curriculum based on that.

For example, I've mostly used Rod and Staff grammar so our goal was to get through the book. Next year instead of just moving up a level I've stepped back and see that child #2 is weak in writing application so we will use a curriculum that is more writing and less mechanics practice.

So now I'm curious. Does anyone have a method for choosing curriculum?

Hopefully what I'm asking makes sense.

[Philothea]

I'm not a pre-packaged person, so I begin by looking at what my state requires and the educational goals of the state. I make sure I have my bases covered there and then make a list of what subjects I am going to teach.

Then I look for books and materials for each subject, ask friends, and read reviews of books on Amazon. I order books and decide which ones I am just going to borrow from the library. (I see myself normally borrowing history and science books form the library)

[siloam]

That is much the way I choose curriculum, though not quite as formally. I define the need, then look for programs that fit the need. Once I have gathered information I ask for opinions on it from users. Then I make a choice, though I pray through the whole process.

Heather

[Daisy]

I choose curriculum that fits our religious beliefs and is academically solid. From that point, I can tweak it to fit my children's learning styles. I'm fairly traditional in my choices for math and language arts but we rarely use those texts in a traditional way. For history and science, I use more of a unit study approach which is very easily tweaked to an individual's learning style.

[Heather in OK]

I do better picking out curriculum if I hear good recommendations about it. If it sounds like something my girls would do well with or enjoy, I'll research it further and possibly buy.

[Crissy]

I look at the scope and sequence of a program over the long term, and worry less about what it covers in individual grade-years.

[Ferdie]

I used to choose curriculum based on what would be fun to teach and a good fit for my child. I love, love, love scripted curriculum because I don't have to think and everything is outlined for me. But that didn't work out very well last year because it was too demanding of my time with three elementary age children. If I didn't pick up the teacher manual and say the opening line the work never got done.

This year we switched to BJU homesat for english, handwriting and science. It is working so much better for us because my kids can work independently and they don't wait on me to get started. So now I pick curriculum based on what will get done. We still have some scripted curriculum (RS math and AAS), but not nearly as much as we used to use.

[Crissy]

OOPS! Wrong place for this...

[Closeacademy]

First, I look at where my child is, what their ability is and where I expect them to go in the next year. I also look at what subject we might want to introduce and what topics we want to study.

Then, I look at our curriculum that doesn't change (SWR and Singapore). These are two things that have a good solid base that you can really adapt to different learning styles if you want to put in the effort. I mix both up with Waldorf and the math up with Montessori methods.

Then, I look for my other curriculum. I found no writing that really met my standards or abilities of my children so I wrote my own using the book Composition in the Classical Tradition as my guide. Some curriculum is just so expensive and not much is directed to the VSL.

When I look for curriculum, I come to these boards and yahoo-groups and ask lots of questions, I print out samples and even try them out on my children to see if they like them. I have found that at least my older child is a pretty good judge of what is going to work for her.

I try to come at it from all angles so we find something we really like and can learn from. Although at times I do get distracted by the curriculum frenzy just like everyone else and make a bad choice that just doesn't work for us.

[Karin]

Choosing curriculum is a long and involved process for me, particularly since we're a do what comes next bunch and I'm not going to spend the hours doing lesson planning that many parents do. I have to be sure to get something that we can finish that works well for each child. I combine recommendations from WTM boards, especially the AL board, Cathy Duffy's book (since she shows which learing types they work for), persusing a couple of catalogues I get, borrowing first from the library when I can, etc. Sometimes it's been trial and error, too. I'm not always able to get curricula that works for all 3 dc as they don't all have the same learning style.

[Michelle T]

He has fairly severe LD's and ADHD, so it is always very challenging to find materials that will work for him.

I pick and choose from what I think will work. Sometimes I'm wrong, although I am slowly learning to be more careful.

I have a vague idea of what direction I want our studies to go over the years, although I do sometimes change ideas.

I give DS some input into what he wants to study, mainly in science, sometimes in history. I occasionally will ask him for input on other subjects.

I prefer secular materials, and am less willing to edit religious curriculum than I used to be.

I guess it's just trial-and-error here.
Michelle T

[debbiec]

I always determine first what I want my child to learn(objectives) then find what will help us meet those objectives based on difficulty, learning style, religious views.

[Sharon H in IL]

Choosing curriculum is a long and involved process for me, particularly since we're a do what comes next bunch and I'm not going to spend the hours doing lesson planning that many parents do.

Karin's approach sounds like mine. I don't vary the curriculum based on my kids' learning styles, though. We just let the auditory kid listen to the poems aloud and the visual kid read through them, by way of example.

We pretty much pick our curriculum [with lots of input from these boards] and do what comes next. History and science are the big exceptions. I'm a history buff so we do tons of extras. And DH wanted us to do a year study of the properties of matter before tackling chemistry. So, I had to make up my own course.

[WTMCassandra]

OK, I'm going to be vulnerable here. I choose it based on whether I like it!

Now, on a deep intuitive level, I think I do take into account whether it fits our religious beliefs, the learning styles of our children, WTM's goals (our benchmarks), reviews, recommendations from others, my teaching style (no-fun Mom), etc.

But all of that is unconscious, so the process looks and feels completely subjective at this point. Over the years, I have slowly learned not to fix what isn't broken. I have slowly learned to accept that there will be some gaps and that I can't frantically run from one curriculum to another to avoid that. My process isn't perfect, but I must say that I'm pretty happy with all of our main curricula.

[WTMCassandra]

Woohoo! Nurse Bee! Sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming, but this makes me happy. I wasn't sure if it happened at post 101 or 126.

[angela in ohio]

I write a syllabus for each subject, starting with the goals to accomplish and then listing the materials I will need to use to get us there. It usually ends up being a main textbook and some extras, pieces of several texts or resources, or a list of living books and activities. In general, I pick individual titles based on their rigor.

[GLOWAcademy]

I look at where my child is also , what his ability is . I also look at what subject we might want to introduce and what topics we want to study.
I have been known to spen all day at Mardells just looking over the curriculum they have .