How do parents come up with a curriculum, anyway?

As “teacher,” parents are required to file appropriate paperwork with the home school district administrative offices. Sherry Dingman, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Marist College, says that all districts should have an instruction manual available to homeschoolers, explaining how to write and submit an Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP), as well as file the quarterly reports. Elise-Ann Konstantin of Cortlandt Manor, Westchester County found that other homeschoolers, who have experience with the forms, can be a great resource.

Once parents have made the decision to homeschool, they face what can be an overwhelming challenge of deciding on and implementing a curriculum. Most homeschoolers find that while you can get plenty of advice from others, parents ultimately need to figure what works best for them and their child.

Konstantin says that much of her early curriculum development was a “weeding out process” of deciding which materials would suit her needs. She likes the fact that she and her daughter can work at their own pace; if something is too easy, they can abandon it and they can take extra time on more involved units.

Michael Sklaroff, a former homeschooler and current owner of the Woodstock Home Educators Yahoo Group, explains that much of what he did was on-the-job training as well. “It was and remains my belief that children need to know how to read and how to write and how to work with numbers. So that’s what I focused on in the five years I worked with my children.”

 

Jennifer O’Brien is a freelance writer and the mother of two young children.

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