No. And buying one for everything is one of the most common first-year money mistakes.
Where curriculum is genuinely worth it
Buy a real curriculum for the subjects that build in a strict sequence, where a gap causes trouble later. That is mathematics, and it is reading instruction in the early years. These are cumulative. Missing a step matters.
For high school, buy for anything that will appear on a transcript and be read by someone outside your family, and for the subjects you do not know well yourself.
Where you can be much looser
History, geography, science in the elementary years, art, and music do not require a boxed program. Good books, documentaries, museums, and conversation cover these beautifully, and children usually remember them better that way.
Nobody has ever been held back because they studied ancient Egypt in a different order than the catalog suggested.
Three questions before you buy
Does this fit how my child actually learns, or how I wish they learned? How much preparation does it need from me on a bad week, not a good one? And can I see enough of it before purchasing to know?
That last one matters. Request samples. Most publishers offer them, and a sample will tell you more in ten minutes than a hundred reviews.
Permission to stop using something
Curriculum is a tool, not a commitment. If you are eight weeks in and dreading it every morning, the money is already spent either way. Continuing to use something that is not working does not recover the cost. It just adds your child’s frustration to the bill.
Listen to this
- Questions You Should Ask When Choosing Curriculum
- Choosing This Year’s Curriculum for Homeschool High School
It is our 13th birthday all month long.
The Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network turns 13 this October, and we are giving away more than $1,500 in prizes across four drawings. One entry puts you in all of them, and everyone who enters gets Sweet Treats, a gathered-up collection of free resources from the hosts across the network.
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