Full Year vs. A La Carte
Most homeschooling publishers market their products in a way that encourages parents to complete a full year of all subjects with their curriculum. But did you know you don’t have to go that route? Many parents mix and match publishers, instead.
Parents have a choice
One of the beauties of homeschool is its customization. It doesn’t come “on-size-fits-all”. There are a wide array of choices in styles of homeschool, in addition to choices of curriculums within those styles. Therefore, parents can match the curriculum to the child’s learning style.
There are two schools of thought on how best to do this, though. Some families believe that it is better to select a curriculum and, then, stick with that curriculum throughout a child’s schooling years. Proponents of this system cite consistency and stability as elements in success. If a student uses only one specific curriculum, parents know that the child will likely get all of the instruction needed in the different subjects for each grade level without any overlapping or missing pieces. The other trend is to mix and match curriculums depending upon the subject. Supporters of this system attempt to match the curriculum of each subject with a child’s learning needs in that particular subject alone.
There is no right or wrong
There is no “right” or “wrong” in this debate. The best system depends completely upon the needs of the family and preference, because either choice can be very successful.
Since the first school of thought is pretty self-explanatory, we are going to talk about the second style. “Mix and Matching” curriculums means that parents select a different curriculum for each subject. A typical year could look like this:
A mix and match scenero
Amber is in tenth grade. She struggles in math, and her mom, Vivian, who is her homeschool teacher, never did well in math either, so she struggles to understand the material herself. She wants Amber to excel, but Amber is not very motivated in this subject.
So, Vivian enrolls Amber in HSLDA Academy for her Geometry class. There she will have a live teacher and strong accountability to complete assignments.
Amber loves Science and is strongly self-motivated in that subject. Since the cost to enroll in a HSLDA Academy class runs around $549 per class, Vivian orders the Bob Jones online curriculum for Amber for Science at a cost of $399.
Amber wants to take a class at Garrett College in English. She is good at English, and this class will give her college credit in addition to high school credit. Garrett College is free for Amber on the Commissioner’s Scholarship.
Amber has to take two years of a foreign language to graduate, and she wants to learn Chinese. Chinese isn’t available with most homeschool curriculums, so Vivian enrolls Amber in Sevenstar for Chinese at a cost of $645.
Money is tight, so Vivian needs to find a way to cut costs while not cutting educational quality. So, she decides that as a History buff herself, she can do a good job of teaching Amber History, therefore she orders a bookpack from Sonlight for $49.99.
Vivian loves Rod and Staff’s quality in “Bible” studies, so she orders this curriculum for Amber at a cost of around $45.
For music, Vivian decides to take advantage of piano lessons with Continuing Education at Garrett College at a cost of $100.
For Art, Vivian orders a subscription to Skillshare at a cost of $15 per month.
Amber wants to study Criminal Justice when she graduates, so Vivian notices that Monarch offers a course in Law Enforcement studies for only $49. She adds that to Amber’s curriculum.
Finally, Vivian wants to give Amber something extra fun with her schooling, so knowing that Amber is curious about the Stock Market, she signs Amber up for live classes at Outschool in the Stock Market Investment Game Group for $90.
The total cost for all of Amber’s schooling is roughly around $2016.99 for the full year, based on a six-month window for Art.
Conclusion
Amber could have completed Abeka Academy for $1219 for the year, but she would not have had as strong of a support in Math, college credit at Garrett, or the ability to study Chinese. The costs of Abeka also would not include Art, Law Enforcement Studies, Music, or Stock Market. Therefore, Vivian sees the extra as an investment in Amber’s education. On the other end of the scale, Amber could have been enrolled in Liberty Academy for a cost of slightly below $4000, where she would have gotten dual enrollment classes for many of the subjects and total accountability. But, again the same things not included in Abeka would not be included in Liberty Academy either, except the college credit. And, although Vivian would have loved to enroll Amber in Liberty Academy, the cost was simply beyond their budget.
As can be seen in our example, figuring out the curriculum with a “Mix and Match” system can be substantially more complex. Additionally, it can be more costly, since most curriculum distributors give discounts to those taking all subjects for the year in their curriculum, as opposed to only one or two classes.
It also may mean overlaps or gaps in instruction in certain areas in given years because each curriculum is different regarding what they cover for the year in a particular subject. And finally, if parents are worried about accreditation, most academies will not accredit a student’s work or offer transcripts unless the student is enrolled full time in their academy.
However, this style can be very positive, as well, because it allows for stronger tailoring of the child’s education, which can address special educational needs.
Overlaps and gaps may not be a big deal in most subject areas, and they can be somewhat controlled by the selection of classes.
Additionally, accreditation is not a legal requirement. It is basically a marketing ploy many academies use because they know that parents are drawn to the word “accredited”. And a parent compiled transcript is just as legally valid as the transcripts from an academy.