The proverbial winding road does not lack for its fair share of crossroads and impasses. This holds true for your child’s educational journey, just as it does for all of life’s journeys. But with the right approach, you can map a way through whatever may be blocking your child’s academic progress, even if you’re in the middle of a school year.
The overarching question for parents often boils down to this: Where to start? Here’s a quick-hitting guide to making the switch so change can be something to look forward to.
1. Understand your motives.
You can’t successfully select what will solve your curriculum concerns if you’ve not clearly identified what’s problematic about your current situation. Often, there is fear associated with making a change: What if we go through this switch and we’re still not happy? But information is a great salve to cool the burn of fear.
Assess by asking: What circumstances have brought you to this place of change? Maybe traditional school just isn’t working for your kids. If not, why? Or maybe you’re currently homeschooling and — while the flexibility and approach of learning at home is awesome — it’s the curriculum that’s falling short? Pinpoint where and how, specifically, does the curriculum fail? Are your kids memorizing instead of learning? Do you have young readers who aren’t learning to read fluently? Are the concepts not being broken down into an approach that makes new concepts accessible?
2. Evaluate curriculum types and educational approaches.
Once you have contemplated your motives and pinpointed where change will improve your child’s learning, cross reference these needs against the curriculum options available. Is your need more immediate, and are you looking for single-semester solutions? Or are you open to switching to a new, full-year curriculum for your child’s grade? Instead, maybe it’s a little support that you’re looking for: readers, flashcards, or digital teaching aids. If so, look for Supplemental Products to address single-subject needs.
As for approach, take the time to consider how your child learns best and cross reference those tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses against how different curriculums present lessons and concepts, and what educational approaches are used throughout. Abeka’s curriculum options offer a mix of video lessons, seat work, interactive learning games, graphs, and Comprehension Checks with critical thinking prompts throughout its textbooks.
Use our interactive tool to help you choose a curriculum solution that works best for you!
3. Factor reading fluency into your choices.
In light of the country’s current reading crisis and the recent failures of trendier reading programs, a curriculum’s approach to reading is of heightened importance. This is especially relevant if you’re the parent of a young child who is learning to read or an older student who needs help improving his or her reading fluency.
While many U.S. school districts find themselves returning to a phonics approach because of its proven success rate, Abeka’s curriculum has featured its own intensive approach to phonics since its inception in 1972. Because of its success, very few changes have been made to its reading program in the ensuing decades.
Remember, young students learn to read, so they can soon read to learn.
4. Make your curriculum switch in phases.
Transition in phases, especially if you’re making the switch midyear. Look for natural breaks in each subject where one concept or lesson ends in the old curriculum, and the next concept is introduced in the new curriculum. Leverage these natural breaks as transition points. While you may not find natural breaks in each subject, it’s likely you’ll find them in some.
Another pointer: Consider phasing in your core subjects first.
If the transition takes a while and includes several phases, that’s OK. Change requires patience. Be flexible, and watch how your child is adapting, and let that be your guide.
5. Check your state’s homeschool requirements.
Every state has homeschool laws families must follow. If you’re switching from traditional school to homeschooling, be sure to review your state’s local requirements. This ensures you’re in compliance. Take special note of state-mandated subjects and assessment requirements.
Search homeschool laws by state at the Home School Legal Defense Association’s (HSLDA) website.
6. Do it your way.
Change can be rewarding, especially if you use the transition period to improve other areas of your child’s academic life. This is your chance to design a homeschool day the way you’ve always imagined it could be.
Whether you’re homeschooling your child or relying on traditional school, there are always ways to shape your approach. You might use supplemental materials to provide support in a subject area your child is finding tough to tackle. Or take advantage of solutions like Abeka Your Way. With flexible programs like this, you can choose from a full-year video program, full-year parent-led kits, single-subject parent-led, or video-based homeschool.
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