Choosing Home School Curriculum:
Early Learning or Late -- Which is Right For Your Child?

You don't need a home school curriculum for your child to begin learning. Kids naturally start learning as soon as they are born. The question really is, when should they start learning academic subjects?

After -- or as -- you decide what your child should learn, you need to ask the almost-equally important question: when they should learn it? For instance, sure, learning to drive is important, but you wouldn't try to teach it to your eleven-year-old. Learning to read and knowing the multiplication tables are also critical skills. However, are those skills best learned when your child is a six-year-old, or as a ten-year-old? That's where even experts disagree.

Some experts, such as Raymond Moore, cite numerous studies that show that children learn better when they are older. So, all the prodding and pushing to get a six-year-old to learn to read is really pointless if he isn't ready to learn. Better to wait until he matures a bit more and then he will easily and willingly make up for lost time.

Other approaches, such as the Classical method, advocate starting a child early in learning to read, thus giving him the tools to learn all the other things he'll be curious about and want to or need to know.

Where do you fall on this spectrum? What fits in with what you believe to be true? What seems to fit with what your child needs? The answer will really depend on your individual answers to these questions. The “right” answer -and the best home school curriculum choice for you -- is the one that fits best with your view of how your child will be learning and remembering for the long haul.

Some home school curriculums, such as Sonlight Home School Curriculum are easily tailored to either of these approaches. With their Core programs rather than on traditional grades, you can move ahead or behind where traditional schools might place your child. Their detailed Instructor's Guides help you know how to help your child each step of the way.

Tapestry of Grace follows the Cassical view of education and categorizes the learning process into four stages or levels of learning. You can adjust this level to fit the needs of your child and whether you want a strong academic start early on or later. You can read our review of Tapestry of Grace here or order Tapestry of Grace here (when you order through our site we get a small commission which we will use to maintain and upgrade the quality of this site).

Robinson Curriculum takes another approach and gets rid of grades entirely, just having your child progress through the materials at his own pace.

When considering buying any home school curriculum, before you buy, ask yourself the question, “When do I want my child to learn this material?” When you are comfortable with your answer to this question, you'll have a better sense of what home schooling curriculum you need.

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