Write down goals. Make a general list of goals for the school year. List academic subjects and life skills. Your list for a fourth-grade student may include math, English, science, reading, social studies, physical education, computer skills, spelling, basic cooking and beginning sewing skills.
Break down goals. Find a list of your state's curriculum guidelines by grade level. Using the guidelines, break your goals down into units of study. Fourth-grade math will encompass -- at a minimum -- addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, problem solving, reading and interpreting graphs, and rounding.
Match curriculum to units of study. Home-school parents must decide what works best for their situations. Parents with several children may prefer the convenience of textbooks that cover all the units. Parents with fewer children may decide to use different resources for various units of study. For math, you can purchase workbooks at any large bookstore and on the Internet. There are CD programs that cover specific concepts such as fractions or problem solving. The Internet offers myriads of free lessons, worksheets and games for any unit of study in math.
Be flexible. If you see that the curriculum you are using is not working for the student, find something that does work. As an independent teacher, you are free to choose the materials you use to teach your children. Sometimes students get tired of routine. That's the time to investigate other curriculum.
Budget your money and maximize your curriculum. Curriculum is not cheap. If you use your materials for several children, you will at least feel like you are getting your money's worth. If you decide you no longer want to use certain curriculum, there are several ways to get some of your money back. Most towns have used bookstores that welcome home-schoolers to sell or trade their books. There are several good online sites that will help you get returns on your used books. Educator's Exchange and Educational Accents are excellent sites for selling your textbooks. Vegsource allows teachers to list their items for sale and communicate with buyers directly. Another place to exchange curriculum is your local home-school group. Most groups hold an annual book fair for parents to buy and sell teaching materials.
Be goal driven. Let your goals determine your curriculum choices. Choose learning materials according to the units of study you deem important. No one curriculum covers every subject completely.