Best Homeschool Curriculum for Families With Working Parents
When you’re a working parent, having the best homeschool curriculum options for your family is important. With the wide variety of curriculum options out there, it can seem overwhelming trying to choose the right one.
This post is part of my Help for Homeschool Mompreneurs Series of 10 posts full of
valuable resources and tips for working homeschool moms.
Day 2 of our series! Consider my tried and true tips and curriculum suggestions to help you find your homeschool curriculum (and journey) groove.
How to Choose the Best Homeschool Curriculum
Before diving into the best curriculum options, let’s first talk about how to choose it in the first place.
First and foremost, understand your child’s learning style. Sometimes, you may find that they have more than one depending on what subject they are learning. Keep this in mind and you move forward.
Second, ask for their input. If you’ve noticed that there is resistance when it comes time to read or be read to, that can indicate that they prefer to do that subject differently.
If your child is old enough to communicate their needs, ask them clearly. You may be surprised by their answer but it will give you more footing on the kind of curriculum to consider.
For younger children, just keep it very simple. Look for a free preschool curriculum for homeschool and try it out. In fact, you might like this ultimate list of free homeschool curriculum.
Last but not least, take into consideration your unique family dynamic.
For example, maybe you’re a parent working part-time from home. Or perhaps you are a full-time working parent while homeschooling. Be realistic about your responsibilities and time.
Also, consider any other extracurricular activities, how many children you’re homeschooling, your homeschool routine if there are any disabilities or illnesses to consider.
Your own working homeschool mom schedule is also essential. The kind of curriculum you choose should complement all of these areas.
Best Homeschool Curriculum Options for Students with WFH Parents
One of the biggest goals for children with working parents is independent learning. Once your child learns to read, independent learning becomes much easier.
Independence not only gives children the opportunity to learn how to learn whatever subject interests them, now and in the future. It also helps free up more of your time, allowing flexibility in your work-from-home schedule.
Of course, independent learning depends on the age and grade of the child; however, even at a young age you can begin to foster these skills. Below are some options to consider.
Open-and-Go Curriculum
This type of curriculum can come in the form of a complete box system or individually purchased resources. The idea behind an open-and-go curriculum is to provide you with a resource that tells you what to teach and how to teach it.
Everything is already laid out for you and all you have to do is “open and go.” Some options to check out for this are:
- All-In-One Easy Peasy Homeschool
- Heart of Dakota
- My Father’s World
- Sonlight
- Bookshark (the secular version of Sonlight)
- Timberdoodle (great for hands-on learners)
I should point out that we did supplement from time to time. Our kids loved STEM activities so we added those in on Saturdays or lazy Fridays.
Best Homeschool Curriculum Unit Studies
Using unit studies often encompass multiple subjects using one concept or topic as the main focus. The benefit of this curriculum option is the ability to teach multiple children at one time and have various resources to accommodate just about any learning style.
Unit studies also come with most of your lessons planned. However, you will most likely be responsible for gathering any needed resources and materials (such as books). These are some great programs to check out:
- Gather ‘Round Homeschool
- Homeschool Complete
- Living Books Curriculum
- The Homeschool Garden
- Beautiful Feet
- Daily Skill Building (excellent, affordable unit studies as well as individual workbook-style instant-downloads to accompany textbooks/reference books)
Best Homeschool Curriculum: Individual Textbooks/Workbooks
If you’d like to use a grab-and-go style textbook or workbook to help your child work on one complete subject (like math, science, etc.), opting in for individual resources is the route to go.
Most of these would come with a teacher’s manual to help you guide them along their learning, but ultimately, they will have a resource to work directly from. These are some of the best homeschool curriculum options for working families. They’re highly sought after for subjects like reading and math.
Here are some highly recommended companies:
- Singapore Math
- Barefoot Meandering (We used the Learning English Through Literature Levels 1 and 2 to supplement Sonlight’s Language Arts and just loved them!)
- The Mystery of History
Best Homeschool Curriculum: Online Courses/Virtual Learning
As homeschooling continues to evolve, you will find an influx of online classes and courses. Some are taught live, while others offer a self-paced option.
If your child can learn in this format, then it’s certainly one to consider – especially because the teaching is being done for you. The most you’ll have to do is gather any materials needed for the class and monitor your child’s work to be completed between classes.
The following are some options to consider:
We recently covered some of the best online homeschooling options in 2023.
Although there are many other curriculum options, these are some of the best homeschool options for homeschoolers with working-from-home parents.
Did I miss your favorite? Let me know and I’ll check it out.
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