Can I Make My Own Homeschool Curriculum?

One of the highlights of homeschooling is the flexibility to create your own curriculum and unique learning experiences tailored to the needs and interests of each child.

‘Curriculum’ is a term used to describe the content, media, activities, and assessments used to achieve a specific learning outcome. For example, when you create a science curriculum for homeschooling, you are responsible for deciding what resources to use, the assignments the child needs to complete, and how to determine that they have absorbed the material.

For many home educators, creating curricula allows them to tie lessons to current events and the world around them. If a child becomes interested in a particular topic, you can dive deeper and encourage them to pursue their interests rather than sticking to a rigid agenda.

Tips for Creating an Engaging Curricula

Developing curricula and lesson plans takes time and energy. You can also involve your child in the process so they feel like they own more of their education and are excited about what they will be learning. It’s up to you, though, to ensure the topics and activities fit their skill level and abilities–and to figure out if a homeschool curriculum needs to be accredited in your state.

You don’t need to follow public school guidelines, but it is usually a good idea to understand what the state requires for each grade level. You can use this information to work backward when creating your curricula.

Create a timeline and keep records of the course objectives, teaching methods, assignments, materials and resources, and learning outcomes. Stay organized and make adjustments as you progress. Learning is fluid and it is perfectly fine, if not encouraged, to deviate from a program to reflect how quickly a child absorbs the material or if new learning opportunities pop up.

If you are homeschooling more than one child and cover the same topics with each, it can save considerable planning time. However, differentiate the instruction to align with their ages and what they previously learned. 

Be sure to maintain records–this is particularly important for high school-age children who need a transcript to enroll in a traditional high school or go to college. Records also help ease the burden of developing a curriculum for younger homeschooled children who will learn the same topics in the future.

Here are some basic steps to curriculum development to get you started:

1. Brainstorm and choose the topics you want to cover.
2. Research the materials (e.g., books, videos, activities, field trips) to use and their availability.
3. Create a timeline and stick as close to it as possible so you don’t have to sacrifice other lessons if you spend more time on a topic than expected.
4. Get organized and make sure you have everything to deliver the material.

One homeschool educator estimated it took her about forty hours to create a kindergarten curriculum[. If this sounds overwhelming or more than you can manage, there are well-designed lessons online that can help. 

In addition, professionally developed curricula are great for subjects not in your areas of expertise or when a child advances beyond your capabilities. After all, there aren’t many adults who have used their high school algebra or trigonometry in recent years.

In Summary

When creating curricula for your homeschooled children, start by doing some research on what are the best homeschool programs. Follow a systematic approach to designing unique lesson plans and leverage comprehensive resources like those from Home Science Tools.