These steps will help you organize and plan for your curriculum purchases, finding the best resources for your family

You have decided to home school your children. You have been thinking and praying about it for some time. As September approaches you know it is time. Where to start? The choices seem overwhelming.

A list of items you should consider when evaluating a curriculum.

Flexibility is the key for this homeschooling mother. Alternating textbooks with other materials allows one to tailor the school schedule to life's little realities.

This is a list for discussion of learning materials, and will include posts of commercial press releases, product announcements, and other news about resources of interest to homeschooling families. Sponsored by Home Education Magazine.

"Can anyone recommend a curriculum for pre-K and kindergarten? This is a frequent question homeschooling bulletin boards and email lists. It's a perfectly reasonable question, but some of the responses can be confusing to new homeschoolers. We all come into homeschooling with some common preconceptions of what the program should be - but many who have been at it for a while or raised homeschool grads are likely to strongly suggest not setting up a structured study program for young children. This is where some misunderstanding can come into play. Saying that a structured study program for a young child is inappropriate is not at all the same as saying that learning is unimportant during the early years. It's simply that many experienced homeschoolers and other educators feel there are certain kinds of activities that are much more important and appropriate in early childhood than studying the 3 R's - and that to establish a structure that emphasizes the 3 R's at that age can actually be detrimental. If a child is asking to learn to read, of course, that's a whole different matter - but it's simply a question of helping that child learn to read, which is very different thing from setting up a curriculum.

Need a homeschool preschool curriculum? Have you thought about homeschooling your child – but aren’t sure you have what it takes to persevere? Homeschooling during the preschool ages is a great way to try everything out and see if it’s going to work for your family. Homeschooling preschool children also has many side benefits. It gives you something constructive to do during those long daytime hours while your husband is at work. And it will help you bond with your children in a way that nothing else will. Watching your preschooler learn and grow is a wonderful experience – and one that you and your child will both enjoy. You can purchase a great homeschool preschool curriculum that is all ready to go, if that’s what you’re interested in doing. Or, you can come up with activities on your own.

The thought of homeschooling your children may seem quite overwhelming at first. There are so many questions going through your head. Where do I get curriculum, what curriculum should I use, can I really do this, and of course what about socialization? Let me put your mind at ease. It's not as difficult as it looks.

Online message boards and support groups are great ways for homeschooling families to share information about curriculum and teaching methods. We all like to go beyond reading the paid advertisements or professional reviews to learn from the experience of "real families." But in doing this, it's important to realize that there are as many different opinions of the best curriculum and methods as there are homeschooling families. Think of all the variations: personalities, income, number and ages of children, strengths and weaknesses, backgrounds, goals and philosophies. No wonder we don't always agree.

Find out what subjects are usually taught at your child’s grade level. List the subjects you have decided to teach in their order of importance to you. Curriculum review manuals are helpful in bringing awareness to what is available in each subject area.

Choosing teaching materials can be an overwhelming decision because there are so many excellent products available and each one claims to be superior to all others. Many veteran home schoolers suggest that you stick to a 'prepackaged" traditional curriculum for the first year or so. Others encourage new home schoolers to consider correspondence schools. Here are some suggestions concerning choosing curricula.

Preschool and Kindergarten – what fun ages! Play is learning and learning is play. Perhaps you’re looking for some ideas for your formal Tot School or perhaps you just want to make sure that your little ones will be ready for first grade when it comes along.

Is it better to be able to get down to business and wade through the thousands of curricula choices available today or would it still be a good idea to develop a philosophy of education first? A look at how to organize your hunt for the best curricula for your family.

As the number of Internet courses increases over the next few years, here are some questions you can ask when considering a Web-based course.

Sonlight Curriculum gives some guidance to choosing the right programs for your child.