How to choose a homeschooling method and curriculum for your child

People choose homeschooling for several reasons, including broadening the opportunities for learning and increasing flexibility. 

One of the main reasons for homeschooling is the ability to get creative in your approach and cover subjects outside the national curriculum.

So, when considering if homeschooling is a good option for you, it’s vital to consider your circumstances; including the time and space you have, where to find resources and the approach which best meets the students' individual learning style.

Then, you need to find  the right homeschool curriculum to help map out what to cover and when.

To help you choose the right approach to homeschooling and find the curriculum for you, this guide will cover:

• Types of homeschooling

• Choosing the right curriculum

• Sitting exams

• Informing the school

Types of homeschooling

As you might expect from a type of education renowned for its flexibility, there are a variety of different approaches to homeschooling and home education.

To help you get started, the three main approaches to homeschooling are ; structured, hybrid and in-person or virtual tutoring..

Structured homeschooling

Structured homeschooling mirrors a typical classroom, and usually requires a room at home dedicated to learning in which you follow a routine schedule.

When choosing a structured approach, you’ll need to invest in textbooks, and get hold of worksheets, assignments and tests to track your child’s progress.

Examples of structured homeschooling include; classical homeschooling, Steiner Waldorf Education, Montessori Education, and The Charlotte Mason method. 

Hybrid home and classroom learning

If you don’t have the time to fully commit to structured homeschooling, there’s the potential for hybrid learning, which combines going in to school for a few days a week with studying at home.

One of the main benefits of hybrid learning is that it allows parents and carers to work part-time. It also means there’s less pressure in developing a full curriculum as some of the learning happens outside the home. 

With hybrid learning, you may want to consider hiring a private tutor, or making the most of online courses like MyEdSpace’s Ultimate Pass, to free up time for yourself and benefit from some additional subject-specific expertise. 

In-person or virtual tutoring

The third homeschooling method is to hire a private tutor, or sign up for an online home education course.

With private tutoring, it can sometimes be quite difficult to find the right tutors and people often have to decide between cheaper, but less experienced tutors or highly qualified ones that cost £1,000s per subject. The result is that for too long, families have had to choose between what works and what they can afford.

That’s where MyEdSpace and our award-winning online education comes in.

By using technology and scale to cut overheads, we ensure every child from Year 5 to 13 can access the UK’s top teaching talent at a fraction of the cost of hiring a private tutor.

Only the top 1% of teachers who apply to work with us are successful. Meaning you can rest assured that instead of a Grad Student looking to earn a few extra £s, your child is learning from highly-qualified teachers, who’ve spent years honing their talent for educating. With MyEdSpace, there’s no compromise on quality - you’re just not paying for empty travel time or inefficiencies. It’s a 10x better education, at 10% of the cost.

By bringing people together, students also benefit from the experience of collaborative group learning - which are lost in 1-to-1 tutoring - from the comfort of their own home. First, learning alongside their peers encourages more questions and collaboration, boosting confidence, engagement and energy levels, which can be lost in a more intimidating 1-to-1 setting where anxious students can feel ‘put on the spot’.

It’s not tutoring. It’s not school. It’s something better. 

Don't just take our word for it. We have over 1,500 5* star reviews from parents and students on Trustpilot. And, we offer a 14-day full money-back guarantee because we’re so confident you’ll love it. 

Choosing the right curriculum

With MyEdSpace the hard work choosing the right curriculum is done for you, as our online courses are all designed to cover the full UK curriculum. 

However, if a structured home education fits your needs better then it’s time to find the right curriculum. 

The first step is to consider the student’s natural interests, and use them as a starting point.

For example, Steiner Waldorf focuses on creativity, while the classical method is centred around grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Also, both Waldorf and Montessori emphasise the importance of independent learning.

That said, it’s important you thoroughly research each one before committing.

Sitting exams

One other thing to consider with homeschooling is where the student can sit exams.

With some examinations like GCSEs, homeschooled students are required to take them at a testing centre. We covered how to find a testing centre, testing dates, benefits and added costs of sitting the GCSEs privately in an earlier article.

Informing the school

Finally, it’s also important to remember, that if a student is currently at school, the school needs to be informed that their education will now be undertaken at home, and the school must accept if the student is being taken completely out of the school system