Homeschool Curriculum Shopping Tips ~ Episode 333 | Special Replay Shopping for homeschool curriculum is never easy.  In this episode, we discuss must-know-tips for homeschool curriculum shopping and an insider's available to homeschool podcast network subscribers.  Visit our sponsor -- Media Angels and grab this special offer: Homeschool Calendars and Goal Setting Bundle!   Fast forward and many years of homeschooling gone by and I realized the best time to consider purchasing curriculum was in June. I could finish my school year, take a look back and see what worked and what did not. I was blessed to find homeschool math curriculum we loved (I share these brands on the podcast), and these helped us in many ways to accomplish what was often considered the hardest subject. My kids loved to do the hardest subject first so that the rest of the day seemed easy by comparison. In fact, they would get up early to complete Math before breakfast. Here is a quick list of questions to ask yourself before you buy the first book! * What are my kid's ages/ grades? * Do I have a budget per subject or an overall budget? * Do I want to focus on hands-on curriculum or text/ workbooks? * How will my kids relate to the books I purchase? * Do I want to add outside sources? Co-ops or online classes? Often the best ideas are those that come to you after prayer. One year I was so tired of what I felt was zipping through the curriculum. I had purchased several years of a popular science text and when I found the next “new year,” which we began in January started with birds again and we had finished an exhaustive unit on birds the previous year I knew we had to regroup, skip around the book and then I found myself added unit studies which my children immensely enjoyed. Consider doing some unit studies with the middle grades. Your kids will thank you I promise. This allows you to delve into a subject and really study it from top to bottom. A unit study on birds can turn into a study of migration patterns, bird watching, identification, the study of habitats and so much more. Or, a study on geology can turn into rock collections (which we still have) and rocks from all over the world. (We had our relatives bring us back rocks from their trips to Europe). Look at the following to help you further narrow down your curriculum choices: * Look at your child’s learning style---if your child is an auditory learner, loves having books read, listens to audios, etc. it isn’t the best to have this child do textbooks. * Look at expert reviews. The only one I highly recommend is CathyDuffyReviews.com – Cathy is a long time homeschooler. She graduated three boys from homeschooling and set out years ago to look at curriculum with a critical eye. Now a disclaimer here, many of my books are on her top 100 and 102 Curriculum Picks. The Creation science series, accompanying study guides, and Teaching Science and Having Fun. You can get all of these books for less than $30 when one of them costs $18.95 retail. These are digital but you can read them, print out the experiment sheets and planning guides and use them for K-12. Looking at reviews can also tell you if it is something that will work with your homeschool. * Listen to podcasts. What are some recommendations made by those in the know! * Three Homeschool Curriculum Essentials