When your family is new to home schooling the decisions and choices you'll need to make can seem overwhelming. For many families the first struggle was the choice to home school in the first place. Once a family has made this commitment, it is on to how to choose a curriculum. Most families want to make sure that all the fundamentals are covered while allowing their children to advance where needed and spend more time on difficult areas when necessary.

If you are new to home schooling it may be tempting to contact your local school and look at the text and materials that the schools are using and mimic this in your own home. This route will inevitably lead to problems. Once you look at the schools curriculum you will realize two things. One, the text is designed to accommodate larger class rooms of children. School texts are not designed for a home schooler. The second problem you will find is that often times the text is dull and lifeless. When children are bored they will not learn. This is a huge problem for traditional text books.

So now it is on to searching for the best home school curriculum for your family. If you start with the internet and search for home school curriculum you will quickly find yourself overwhelmed with websites. You can find just about anything you want online but how do you know what you want. Often times the websites are simply selling curriculum packages but are not providing complete and in depth reviews of the curriculum.

A second option is to join a home school group. You will be able to meet with other home school families and learn about their curriculum choices. This has been an excellent way to learn about curriculum for many new home schoolers. Their problem with this approach is that often times home schooling families choose curriculum for reasons other than how you would choose. Religious preferences and learning styles vary greatly. These are all things to consider when choosing a home school curriculum.

Do not despair. There is a terrific resource available for new and seasoned home schoolers. Cathy Duffy’s 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum, published by Broadman and Holman Publishers is an excellent book. Cathy has taken children's learning styles along with parents teaching styles and grouped them with curriculum reviews. This book gives you an in-depth look at various curriculums and a glimpse as to how it may fit into your family.