All home schooling materials fall into two main categories: textbook curricula and non-textbook curricula. Textbooks have graded books in each subject, including electives such as foreign languages and even fine arts. They follow a scope and sequence, and most books will be finished within the 180-days-a-year standard program. Workbooks present material studied in the textbooks as activities, labs, puzzles, and projects. Although often times badly termed “school at home,” the traditional method has provided great benefits for many children.

Strengths

• Requires little teacher preparation.

• Makes testing and assigning grades easy.

• Recommended for high school students and younger students desiring rigorous academics/professional preparation.

• Provided a reputable publisher is used, there are little, if any, academic gaps.

• Easy to explain and prove to colleges, friends, and officials.

Weaknesses

• Program is geared to every child (i.e. the average), not especially for your child.

• Information is broken down to fit in a daily scheduling, not a flow of ideas.

• Children of different grade levels in your family study different textbooks.

• May be frustrating for children that are not used to scheduling and requirements as well as those students that are “behind,” or below grade level.

Resources

• Bob Jones University Press

• Abeka

• Rod and Staff

• Alpha and Omega

• Christian Light Education

• Saxon (math).

For choosing curriculum, an excellent resource is the Christian Home Educator’s Curriculum Manual by Cathy Duffy.