Curriculum for older children

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Question: I have a first grader whom my wife will be home schooling. I have found the elementary level curriculum to use, but I am concerned about what to use after elementary. What curriculum do you suggest?

Answer: I applaud you for being involved in the process and not letting your wife bear the entire burden herself. I trust that your involvement will continue.

Several things:

I would not assume that one curriculum will be sufficient. You'll want to allow yourself the freedom to leave out some things from one supplier's recommendations when you find a supplement that will serve a particular need better. That's part of getting to know your child and learning the exciting possibilities in home education. This applies to all levels.

Please read our Getting Started series in the articles list. The one on curriculum choices should help you. We are very leary of buying all your materials from one source. For home schoolers just getting started, it does have advantages. But, once you get some experience, you'll branch out.

You have plenty of time to research various routes and talk with other home schoolers. Attend home school conventions and look at materials for secondary education. You'll start getting some ideas on what is available. Any decision you would make now could very easily be changed once you get more experience. If you really like to research in advance, you could look into Apologia science, Saxon math, and David Barton's resources on American history.

Right now second grade probably is not of great concern because you see how your child will flow from first grade work into second grade. Keep in mind that while secondary grades may look very daunting right now, by the time your child is in 10 or 11 years old, you will see how he will flow right into the next level.