How to Create a Homeschool Curriculum That Your Kids Will Love
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This summer I put together a few homeschool curriculums for my teens to use during the next school year. Every time I shared a new curriculum on Instagram I would get comments asking how to create a homeschool curriculum. Many homeschool moms expressed that they didn’t think they could put together their own curriculum for their kids.
You totally can!
Putting together a curriculum for your own kids doesn’t require any special training the way it would if you wanted to do it for your local school district. It does take time and research. I have been putting curricula together pretty much since my days as a classroom kindergarten teacher and it still takes me about 40 hours to put together a curriculum.
If this is your first time creating a homeschool curriculum, I would stick with science, social studies, or electives.
Language arts curriculums can be created at home, but the process is a little different than this. Designing a math curriculum is a totally different ball game because of the way the topics build on each other. I always leave the math curriculum development to the professionals.
How to Create a Homeschool Curriculum That Your Kids Will Love
This how-to guide assumes that you already have a subject area in mind. If you don’t know what you want to teach, start there. Just about anything can be taught, you are not limited by the courses offered at your local public school.
1. Choose the main topics that you will cover
Once you have decided on the subject you will teach, you need to decide on the topics to cover. I do this by:
- Brainstorming a list of related topics
- Looking at the table of contents for a similar curriculum or homeschool program (assuming there is something similar)
- Selecting a book to act as the spine of the curriculum
This step helps give a curriculum structure. It also ensures that you are not overlooking an important content area.
I like to organize new curriculums on a Trello board. Every subject gets its own board. The main topics are Trello lists.
2. Find resources for each topic
One of the great things about being an eclectic homeschooler is that we can pull a wide variety of homeschool resources together in a way that creates the perfect curriculum for our kids.
This phase of creating my own homeschool curriculum always takes me the longest because there are so many resources available. Some of the resources I look for are:
- Books
- Videos
- Hands-on activities
- Worksheets
- Field trip opportunities
Books – I always look for book suggestions on Pinterest. Then I search for available titles at my local library, Amazon, and Thriftbooks. Whenever possible I try to flip through the book before purchasing just to make sure it is what I expected and need.
Videos – Videos are a great addition to a homeschool curriculum. In early grades, they can offer the parent a little break while the kids are still learning. In older grades, they mix up the lessons a bit to prevent boredom. My favorite place for educational videos is Curiosity Stream, but I also look on Amazon, Netflix, and YouTube videos.
Hands-on activities – Pinterest is a great place to find hands-on activities. There are also some great children’s books full of hands-on activities related to a subject. Board games are also a fun option.
Worksheets – I’m not a huge worksheet person, but sometimes they fill a need. I don’t like to use them as busy work, they can be used for independent work and as a way to check a student’s understanding. My favorite place to find worksheets is on TeachersPayTeachers.com.
Field trips – I love field trips. They are a fun way to explore a subject. Kids learn a little more about a subject they are familiar with while also being exposed to totally new subjects. I work field trips into a homeschool curriculum whenever possible. Virtual field trips are a great alternative to traditional field trips. Field trips can really add to the homeschooling experience.
Remember, the goal is to create a homeschool curriculum that is personalized for your child. You don’t have to use every single resource type if it doesn’t fit your student’s learning style. My son isn’t a huge fan of reading or doing hands-on activities in history. When I created his world history curriculum I intentionally left out those resources.
Every resource gets its own card on Trello, under the appropriate list. The name of the resource is listed on the front of the card and a link, if there is one, is on the back of the card. Sometimes I get fancy and add a color-coded tag to the front of the card – one color for each type of resource.
3. Decide on a length for the curriculum
Your curriculum can be whatever length works for your homeschool – a few weeks, half a semester (9 weeks), a semester, or a full year. Just plan accordingly.
I didn’t list this as the first step because I think it can be handy to have an idea of the availability of resources before choosing a length. If there are not many resources, you might choose to focus on this topic for a shorter period of time.
In elementary and middle school you can always approach subjects as a collection of unit studies. For example, a year of elementary science could include 6 weeks of astronomy, 6 weeks of botany, 6 weeks of zoology, 6 weeks of earth science, 6 weeks of anatomy, and 6 weeks of marine biology. It is okay (and encouraged!) to follow your children’s interests when they are younger.
High school courses are typically planned as either a semester (18 weeks) or a full year (36 weeks).
4. Organize the resources
This is where the Trello board comes in handy. It allows you to quickly see whether you have enough resources. You can add or delete resources to make sure the curriculum truly covers what you want to teach.
Topic lists can be dragged around into an order that makes sense for your curriculum and school year. Resource cards can also be moved around. Sometimes I find that a resource really fits better under a different topic than where I originally placed it.
5. Start planning out your year
Now that you have gathered all of your resources and put them in order, it is time to start planning out your year. Some people might choose to skip this step and just casually work their way through the resources. There isn’t anything wrong with that, but I prefer to have pacing in mind so that we reach the end of our topics by the end of the designated time period (semester, year, etc.).
We don’t want to spend so much time on one topic that we run out of time for others.
Assuming that the curriculum is intended to take an entire school year, make a Google doc with weeks 1 – 36 listed. Then divide the resources up among the weeks, trying to keep the work to a similar amount of time each week.
This can feel a little awkward because we don’t know yet how quickly our kids will work through a subject.
Don’t worry if your pacing is off. We just want an estimate. We can adjust throughout the year if needed.
Breaking the work down by week offers two benefits:
- Weekly lesson plans will be a breeze
- We can see if we have planned enough work or too much
Special Considerations for High School
Plan for the correct amount of hours – A typical high school credit requires at least 120 hours of study (60 for 0.5 credit). It is a good idea to keep that in mind when you are planning.
I like to estimate the total number of hours for each lesson, book, or video after I have gathered all of my resources. Sometimes I find that I need to add in a few more activities and other times I realize that I planned way too much and need to scale it back to create a reasonable workload for my high school students.
Take a peek at public school courses – This is certainly not required, but I find it helpful to look at similar courses offered at public schools. I definitely do not recreate their classes, but this helps me make sure that I have covered all of the topics typically found in a high school course.
A quick Google search usually turns up a few course descriptions or classroom syllabi.
Curriculum Plans
You don’t have to recreate the wheel when creating your own plan. You can absolutely use resources that others have put together. You just don’t want to claim the work as your own and definitely don’t sell it. Here are a few of the curriculum plans for a few different subjects I have put together over the years:
Introduction to Library Science
As you can see, some of the plans are shorter unit studies, and others last a full year. It all depended on what we needed that particular year.
Frequently Asked Questions About Creating a Curriculum
Can I Create My Own Curriculum For My Homeschool?
Absolutely! Use the steps above to create a personalized curriculum for your homeschool.
What Are the 4 Elements of Curriculum Design?
The 4 elements of curriculum design are:
- Goals
- Methods
- Materials
- Assessment
Will Colleges Care That I Created a Curriculum?
No. Colleges care that prospective students are prepared for college. They do not care if you made or purchased a curriculum.
If you are worried about this, keep a list of high school course descriptions for each of the classes your high schooler takes. The course description will list the goals, methods, materials, and assessment techniques.
I hope this helps you create a homeschool curriculum that is perfect for your family!
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