How to Customize a Homeschool Curriculum

Certainly every child is not the same as another. Each individual needs nurturing and guidance toward their own specific goals and abilities. That is why you have chosen to homeschool your children. You will need to customize information for each child or all of your efforts will not yield the results you want. The customization of the homeschooling process will occur through a lot of work on the part of yourself and the student. Read on to learn how to customize a homeschool curriculum.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• An approved curriculum
• Contact with a source that offers advice for customization of homeschooling curriculum

Research

1. Search the Internet to find homeschool assistance sites. These areas are your best option to start looking for the right curriculum. When ordering course materials from a homeschooling provider, be sure to note the amount of customization they allow. If one company uses strict standards and a "one-path" approach, it is time to look for another company to fill your educational needs.

2. Match the student's style of learning with a curriculum that complements it. Find your child's interests and you will be closer to finding their style of learning. As an example--an auditory learner will respond better to someone relating the story of George Washington and the cherry tree than they would to reading it for themselves.

3. Vary the educational information you give in order to discourage boredom. Drop out rates will skyrocket if all curricula are based on one type of learning. This is even with all of the good intentions of those who have chosen homeschooling.

4. Customize the homeschool curriculum and you will allow a student to move ahead in one subject while still staying on task at grade level in another.

Customization of Homeschool Curriculum

5. Vary the information. Not asking a student to stay too long on one task works best. Customization of the curriculum allows the math time to shine on its own because it is challenging the math star. Most children enjoy the occasional animated lesson that teaches math or spelling. For the child whose attention span wanes quickly, try an interactive approach to almost any subject.

6. Allow children to pace themselves differently on subjects according to their needs and abilities.

7. Discover your child's style of learning. Individual styles consist of different study habits and where and how a child studies best. Perhaps a child is an auditory learner. They will grasp the information in a book better by listening to a book on tape instead of reading. Of course, they must still pursue actual reading, but allow them to vary things up occasionally.

8. Go one step further in secondary education. High school students will have some customization built into their schedules in the form of electives. This is where they begin to see what subjects (even life skills) they are truly interested in.

9. Stay with it. Customize the curriculum as many times as needed to get the right mix for your child. The public school system considers the needs of just more than 50 percent of the students to be the way to go for everyone--period. That is why customized homeschooling works for the child who does things differently.

Tips & Warnings

• If there are problems confronting you or the student, look for a resource to help. The resources listed with this article are a good place to start.
• The blending of some styles is often the right answer--just not too many.
• The combination of listening to literature with reading is a good step for the auditory learner.
• Homeschooling is difficult for some people. Don't give up if this is you--just seek out the help you need from the resources given below and grow with your children.

Resources

• Homeschool for Special Curriculum
• Home-School Site for Curriculum Ideas
• Core Curriculum for Customization Tips