There are So. Many. Choices.

Choosing homeschool curriculum reminds me of the toothpaste aisle. There was Crest, Colgate, or Pepsodent, and now a shopper has to decide on flavors, sparkles, gel or paste, whitening, brightening, tartar control, sensitivity reduction, gingivitis healing, or some combination thereof. It’s a little mind boggling.

The choices for curriculum grew pretty quickly… when our oldest daughter was four, and we were just beginning to maybe possibly think about homeschooling, I found the number for a major Christian curriculum supplier, and called for a catalog. They only sold to Christian schools at that point, and suggested that I try to order through a school. About three years later, they had booths at homeschool conventions, and did regular “hotel shows” for homeschooling families. There were only a few books about “how to homeschool” out there, and most families we knew used traditional textbooks (published by three companies), worktexts (published by three companies), or they did unit studies. There was only one major unit study publisher back then… or you could plan your own  if you were really brave. Unschooling was an option too, but I never met anyone THAT brave.

And there was no Internet.

As in, “you had to find a phone number or address and request a catalog and wait for it to come to your mailbox at the end of your driveway” no Internet.

(Did I just type that?)

I’m definitely oversimplifying a bit, but choosing curriculum in 1993
and choosing curriculum in 2018 is big time different.

Especially for the preschool years.

Homeschooling the preschool years wasn’t really a thing. Your kids either went to preschool or they didn’t. I think the major Christian school curriculum publishers may have offered preschool programs, but they wouldn’t send me a catalog. And, many homeschool families fell into the Better Late Than Early camp, and felt formal lessons weren’t necessarys during the preschool years. Since we weren’t really sure about homeschooling at that point, and since I had kids that loved doing “school,” I finally found an inexpensive curriculum that used library books. We did it lightly during our oldest daughter’s last year at home (before kindergarten), and then used it with little sister while she was in kindergarten.

When I go curriculum shopping now, I sometimes feel like I’m trying to pick out that perfect tube of toothpaste. But I’m also so excited to see all the possibilities. There is so much good stuff out there, no matter if you lean toward teaching them early or late. Or if visual, auditory, or kinesthestic materials work best for your preschoolers. Or if they like snuggling up on the couch with a good book or playing phonics games on the iPad. Or if you have a kid that loves workbooks or one that would rather spend his days feeling mud squish between his toes.

Or any combination thereof.