100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy
Or 101, 102 Top Picks…
I currently have the 100 Top picks, I haven’t felt a need to buy a new version yet, so I’m sticking with what I got. The point is, is that as a homeschooler, I like having this book at hand. When I first started out homeschooling, I don’t think it helped me out a whole lot. I stuck with Abeka all in one program, but now that I’ve had a few years under my belt, I find myself flocking to it when I’m researching our new school year’s curriculum picks. There are SO many curriculums out there, and for the most part I believe you can make almost any curriculum work if you absolutely need to, but if I’m spending the money, I want to get it right. This book has helped me when I don’t know a new curriculum. When I learn of something new, I read up on it and she (Cathy Duffy) tells it as a homeschooling Christian mother. She gets it, and she also gives good reviews to secular curriculums, so she is not completely biased to only Christian programs. When she does review non-christian curriculum she will tell you where the problems might come up and be an issue with your own christian worldview. I’ve greatly appreciated this as sometimes I don’t like the christian curriculum’s options and find other great (sometimes less expensive) options in the secular curriculums.
A few years into homeschooling (I think 5 ish now???) it has become more and more valuable to me every year. It is not absolutely necessary for your first year, unless you understand curriculum and all that jazz before you homeschool, or unless you just want to jump in your first year and plan it all out, but if you do want to go those routes than I would say it’s absolutely a good tool for your arsenal.
