Using a curriculum provider allows parents to have a hands-on approach to their child's education. For a fee, curriculum providers generally give families the academic materials they need to teach school at home. These can include books, computers, lab materials, art supplies, DVDs and answer keys. Some of these providers even offer teacher support to students. Many curriculum providers offer programs and resources that range from religious to secular.
If you want to home-school your child, it is important to do your research.
First, make sure you are allowed to home-school in your state. Many states do not recognize homeschooling as a valid form of education. There can be truancy issues if a child is not registered at a school.
Next, check a home-school program's accreditation. Just because a provider says it is accredited by an organization does not mean it is. Contact the associations with which the provider claims to hold accreditation. You do not want to invest costly tuition on materials and education that ends up being worthless because the provider is not accredited by accepted associations. One resource you can use is The International Registry of Accredited Schools. It has a database to check a school's accreditation along with an extensive list of accreditation agencies.
Finally, if your child is a high school student, accreditation is especially important if he plans to go into the military or attend post-secondary school. There have been unfortunate cases in which students have completed high school through curriculum providers that were not officially accredited and their grades and diplomas were not accepted.
An alternative to home school is cyber school, and public and private options are available. Cyber school allows students to take courses at home, but it is not home school. This is because many cyber schools are monitored and required to obtain accreditation from their state, and the lessons are given through online content and by certified instructors. One of the leading providers in cyber school curriculum is K12. K12 offers accredited curriculum and has an international private cyber academy. It also provides its curriculum to several public cyber schools across the country. If you choose cyber school for your child, research cyber schools just as you would curriculum providers.