Before you can choose a curriculum, it is important to define your family's education goals.

Parents can choose from among complete curriculum programs, guided curriculum programs, unit studies, or an eclectic program they design themselves.

• The complete curriculum programs offer lesson plans, texts, tests, answer keys, and record keeping services.
• Guided programs offer either a suggested curriculum or help in designing a curriculum, and may or may not offer lesson plans and texts.  Both of these options provide a certainty that all essential material is being covered an assures continuity from year to year.  Parents need be aware, however, even complete programs may have to be modified and adapted for an individual child.
• Unit studies tend to start with a theme and then explore the theme selected through history, literature, science, geography, art, etc.  They are generally done in co-ops with other families.
• The eclectic approach allows the parents to put together their own curriculum by choosing materials for the child based upon an appropriate scope and sequence for the child's grade level.  This offers the greatest flexibility, but requires a greater knowledge of the resources and materials available, and extra time for making lesson plans.

Parents frequently choose one curriculum approach and change to another in the following years as circumstances change, and as they begin to know themselves and their children's needs better.

Upon enrollment in SHHE, you will have access to a community full of veteran homeschoolers willing to share their insights and experiences.