When you hear people talk about “curriculum” in the context of home education, they could be talking about two different things…
Firstly, they may be talking about “THE curriculum,” which in WA, is a set of prescribed content and achievement standards that schools and home educators use to plan student learning programs, assess and report on student progress.
It is called “The WA Curriculum”
The WA Curriculum is what home-educating parents need to use when planning an educational program and reporting on their child’s progress.
Parents need to show the education department that over time, they are covering the content in the WA curriculum and that their child is making progress toward achieving the standards.
When people say “curriculum,” they may also be talking about “A curriculum.”
A curriculum is a general term that means a collection of lessons and assessments that will be taught in an educational institution (or home) by a teacher (or home-educating parent).
There is a range of businesses that provide lessons and content for home educators to use to teach their children.
Two examples are Euka and Simply Homeschool. Some people call the content provided by these kinds of businesses “a curriculum.”
Argh! Are you getting confused between all these different uses of the word “curriculum”? I am!
So let’s call the WA Curriculum “the curriculum,” since it’s what you have to follow when you’re home educating, and let’s call businesses, books and websites that provide lessons and information “content providers.”
Sometimes new homeschoolers are advised by others to find “a curriculum.”
You don’t need to do that. The curriculum is already found. Here it is – ta da!!
You also don’t need to choose a curriculum. Again, it is already chosen… That’s right, you guessed it – the WA Curriculum!
So why do people keep talking about finding and choosing things then?
It’s because it’s up to you HOW you cover the content in the WA Curriculum.
You can use a commercial content provider who gives you work to do that will help you cover the curriculum content – but you don’t have to.
- You could also choose to cover the curriculum content through free/low-cost books, resources and websites.
- You can cover the curriculum content through practical life experiences, hands-on learning, learning in the community, travel, excursions, home-ed dlasses and workshops.
- You can cover the curriculum through discussion, play, building, making, creating, exploring and socialising.
- You can cover the curriculum through projects, pursuing your interests, daily activities, games, workbooks and so much more.
You can pick one main method or mix and match. There are endless ways that your child can learn the content in the WA Curriculum, and a commercial content provider is just one.
One of the joys of homeschooling is that you and your child together can create an education that is tailor-made for them!
Still have questions about the curriculum?
HEWA’s Curriculum Workshop covers:
- Are there other curricula you can use instead of the WA Curriculum?
- What’s in the WA Curriculum
- What’s important and what you can ignore when looking at the curriculum
- Shortcuts to understanding curriculum jargon
- What are the Education Department requirements?
- What do and don’t you have to show your moderator
- Stress-free ways to plan an education program and report on progress that will suit your family’s home ed approach and meet the requirements
- Navigating moderator meetings… and more!