An effective approach to picking a curriculum

When you're new to homeschooling it can seem like curriculums all look alike, promising things too good to be true. It takes so much time just to figure out which curriculum makes sense. You're probably tempted to get an all-in-one curriculum and just get it over with, but all-in-one curriculums can't really cater to all of your child's needs. The good news is there is a nice middle ground here.

Get an all-in-one curriculum of your choice, but leave math and reading to specialized courses. Math and language studies are the few core skills that build upon themselves over the years so it's a good idea to focus on these and make sure the topics are understood properly. These are also the more complicated subjects where your child may need to experiment materials with and figure out which ones actually work for them. Plus, companies that specialize in one subject produce better results. It's best to keep math and language as separate purchases.

Putting a curriculum together is a great start, but there's more.

During study sessions keep an eye on which subjects of your provided materials your child connects and engages with, which they don't. Take the subject they struggle with and provide some extra sources for the same information. Could be anything from YouTube to the library. If supplements don't work, throw that part of the curriculum out entirely and find a new one. Basically start easy and replace parts when needed.

For this to work you should make sure that you don't spend all of your budget in the preparation phase. Put some money aside for later in the year, when you've found out what interests and learning styles your kid has, then adjust the course, and try out other sources.

If you're tempted to buy an all-in-one curriculum, you better know the risks. Most importantly make sure your curriculum has a solid science base.