Dear Mom Who’s Considering Homeschooling: Where to Find Curriculum
If you’re considering homeschooling or have already decided to homeschool, one of the most important things you’ll do is find and choose the right curriculum for your family. In this article, I’ll suggest some great places to find curriculum. The next post in this series will give information about how to choose the right curriculum once you’ve found some that you’re interested in.
Here are some places to find curriculum:
- Other homeschooling moms: One of the ways that I learned about some of my very favorite curriculums was from other homeschooling moms. If there’s a local homeschool support group in your area, it’s a great idea to get together with some of the veteran homeschooling moms in the group to talk about curriculum and hopefully to take a hands-on look at what they use with their own children. (If you need to know how to find a local homeschool support group, you can start by checking these places: Homeschool World, Homeschool-Life, HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association), your local library, churches in your area, and parks in your area.)
- Homeschool conventions or curriculum fairs: Another great way to find curriculum and be able to look through it for yourself is by going to a homeschool convention or curriculum fair. I think it’s important if at all possible for moms to be able to actually look through the books or other materials that they’re considering using in their homeschools. If you can, it’s probably be a good idea to attend your state homeschool convention. It may actually be better because there hopefully won’t be an absolutely huge number of curriculum vendors there. (Of course for some states, the state convention is huge and will have lots and lots of curriculum vendors in attendance.)
- Local teacher store(s) or book store(s): If you live in or near a large city, you’ll probably be able to find a teacher supply store. This is another good place to find curriculums that you can hold and flip through. Some Christian book stores and/or secular book stores have a homeschool section, so that’s another possible option.
- Online forums and support groups: In an online forum or support group, you won’t be able to touch and look at the curriculums that are suggested by other moms, but these groups can still be a very valuable source of information! There are support groups on Facebook, websites, blogs, and other social media platforms. We, the Hip Homeschool Moms, have not only the blog that you’re currently reading, but we also have a Facebook page and a private Facebook community where moms can ask questions and get feedback on curriculum and other homeschool-related topics.
- Homeschool magazines: Homeschool magazines often have reviews of curriculums. I find that it’s even useful to take a look at the curriculum ads in the magazines. If you read an online publication, such as The Old Schoolhouse Magazine (one of my favorites!), you can click on the reviews or ads to go straight to that curriculum’s website. If you read a print magazine, you can find links in the article or the ad that will take you to a website for more information. Other homeschool-related magazines are Practical Homeschooling, Home School Enrichment, and Home Educating Family Magazine (another one of my favorites!).
- Homeschool “how to” books: One more place to find curriculum suggestions is in homeschool “how to” books. There are lots of books available on the topics of homeschooling, making the right curriculum choices, getting started as a new homeschooling family, planning a homeschool schedule that works for your family, and even keeping the housework done and meals cooked while homeschooling! In a separate blog post, I’ll list some of these books and briefly describe what kinds of information you’ll find in them.
Once you’ve found some curriculums that look like they might be right for your family, you’ll need to narrow down your options and then settle on either one curriculum that contains materials for all of the subjects or one curriculum per subject. Be sure to come back on Monday, June 23, to read my next post which will give tips for choosing the right curriculum.
