Mike Farris:
My oldest daughter Christy Shipe, who is now a homeschooling mom herself, joins me again today to discuss homeschooling curriculum options for parents on a budget. Christy, how structured can your curriculum be if you’re looking for cheap or free resources?

Christy Shipe:
Well, it’s a mix of structured and unstructured. There are many guides that you can find for structuring your own curriculum. And I’ll just mention a few. The Well-Trained Mind, by Susan Bauer, is a book written from a classical education perspective, and that can serve as a helpful curriculum guide.

You can also just find your state’s curriculum standards online. I just typed in “Virginia scope and sequence” on Google, and it pops right up. It’s totally free; you can download it.

Or you might want to use the Making the Grade series. They publish the books like, Everything Your Fourth Grader Needs to Know, Everything Your Third Grader Needs to Know. And those are helpful.

And then I just formulate my own lesson plans week by week, based on the scope and sequence that I’m following. And it’s been very easy to follow, and so far it’s been working well.

Mike:
What’s the balance, Christy, between structure and spontaneity?

Christy:
I think in order to school this way, you need to be an organized person who feels free to experiment a little and do your own research.

Mike:
That’s a very helpful insight—thanks so much, Christy! I’m Mike Farris.