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Shopper Savvy for Curriculum Sales

© Teresa Higginbotham

"Attention curriculum shoppers, we have a special on early readers in our phonics aisle. " You rush over there and look at the readers and decide they could be pretty good, but wait...what's that over there? It looks like more readers for just slightly more money...but wait what's that man holding up...another reader with lively illustrations? What's a homeschooler to do? Stay calm and get ready to comparison shop. When you go to the grocery store do you buy the package with the most lively illustrations? (I know...it depends if the kids are with you). Do you always buy the cheapest item or do you buy the most expensive because you believe it is a higher quality product. Sometimes you might, but many times you comparison shop to find the product that best suits your family's needs for the best price. Buying curriculum isn't all that different.

I constantly read email lists, bulletin boards, and chats where people ask other people to recommend curriculum. A good case in point is Saxon math. I've heard some people highly praise the curriculum, saying their kids are doing wonderfully with it. I've heard others say their children can't get the way the teaching methods cycle around. The variable here isn't Saxon math, but the child using the program. Every child is different with his or her own unique learning style. When I taught public school I became frustrated with this because I had to teach the same thing to every student in practically the same way. The result--some kids did well--other's suffered. It tried to compensate by varying my teaching style with each unit. An example was book reports. One time around we did written papers--the next time they made a poster--the next time they made a short answer quiz and filled it out. As you choose curriculum for your child, you can listen to the advice of other homeschoolers, but keep in mind how your child learns. Also, be prepared to make a few mistakes along the way. I've bought the wrong book and found myself switching in October or November. If it isn't working then its time to examine what you can do to make it work.

If you don't know this information already, talk to your kids before you start buying and ordering curriculum. Find out what they liked and didn't like. Don't let them make all the decisions, but keep in mind what they responded to positively. Also think about what helped them to retain information. Did they remember more by doing additional activities like worksheets and projects in Social Studies? Think about what you are able to do in your own teaching preparation and style. Did you find yourself constantly skipping experiments in the science book because you couldn't round up ingredients only found in scientific catalogs? Did you use language arts approach that made your child excited about reading and writing or did they beg you to start making lunch at 10:15 so they could stop work. By analyzing what you will be looking for before you hit the "Vendor Hall" at your homeschool convention or curriculum sale, you may save yourself money next November when you could be replacing the material that didn't work.