activities and curricula
Curricula refers to the sum of books, materials and activities used to teach students. Learning goals are chosen based upon "Benchmarks" which are outlines of the content expected to be learned at each grade level. These benchmarks are built into each publisher's curricula and are found in the outlines or "Scope and Sequence" charts of their materials, such as text books, electronic files (disks/drives/cd-roms), online courses, workbooks, cooperative classes, work experience, certificate programs, and dual enrollment courses.
Most homeschool curriculum publishers align closely with each other as to what is traditionally expected for each grade level, but these companies have different styles as to how they present it. You can mix and match different curricula to fit your goals. A good practice is to pick one or two major publishers to follow their system, and then add, create, or replace school work as needed.
Activities that can be enjoyed by homeschoolers are endless. Civic recreation programs, homeschooling cooperatives and private classes in your community are all great resources for example. A lot depends on your time, budget and your child's preferences. Watch this video about learning methods.
I encourage you to go to our YouTube Channel and see the high quality YouTube channels that we subscribe to that we value and learn from every week on topics related to gardening and homemaking! I picked these subscriptions carefully with you, my audience in mind! Click Here for the Subscriptions List in pdf. It is very possible that you and your child can find comprehensive activities to do together by exploring these Subscriptions.
curriculum publishers
Homeschooling is a lot more popular today than in recent years, and as such it is easier to find curricula suited for homeschoolers. Advances in technology make it very easy to be "educated". Some companies have been around for decades. As a comparison, click here to view this original list of homeschool publishers used over 30 years ago! Two good examples on this list are still popular today: ACE Ministries and Abeka. I personally used the ACE Ministries "Pace Booklets" for much of my homeschooling academic/book work for my children. Request samples from the companies that interest you.
Learning styles
Knowing your student's learning style will help you pick more effective strategies. A "visual" learner for example learns differently than a "hands on" learner. Review Learning Styles or take an Online Survey to help you. Content can be taught using specific materials or by "independent study". Just set boundaries and follow an outline or Scope and Sequence chart.
testing as a decision tool
Tests are assessments of progress and are an essential part education. They validate progress and are often times used as tools to make decisions. For example, a college's SAT Prep Test or the free K-12 online diagnostic placement test with ACE Ministries will show weak areas on which to work. Here is a test to identify gifted students. Find a career interest inventory test to explore career paths
teacher made curricula
Creating lessons or assigning activities as part of your program can be exciting, but you must strive to be organized otherwise, it could be a frustrating time. Your first step is to use "Benchmarks" to guide your choices of content, then to manage independent study of this content after choosing resources for learning, such as IXL, financial literacy lesson plans, Early Beginnings, Internet4classrooms, etc. Because there are endless choices for resources, the challenge is not going to be finding material, but organizing, prioritizing and finding a work/home/life balance.