102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum

by Cathy Duffy

102 Top Picks makes it easy for home educators to select the right curriculum for each family situation and each child's learning style. Widely-recognized curriculum expert Cathy Duffy walks you through the curriculum selection process: goal setting, figuring out which educational approach to use, developing your own philosophy of education, determining your teaching style, and identifying your children's learning styles. "At-a-glance" charts highlight key features of each Top Pick selection. Scanning through the charts allows you to quickly identify products likely to be of interest. The charts are followed by extensive reviews of each of Cathy's Top Picks. This is an updated and extensively revised edition of 101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum.

Genres: Education, Parenting, Nonfiction, Reference

356 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2014

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an invaluable resource for homeschoolers and those thinking about homeschooling. Not only does it contain detailed reviews of the different homeschooling curriculum on the market, it includes charts and questionnaires to help parents determine their own educational philosophies and their children's learning styles so that appropriate curriculum can be chosen. The only caveat is that Cathy Duffy is overtly Christian and her bias towards Christian curriculum is obvious. That said, she does distinguish the different curriculum as "secular," "Christian," or "secular by Christian friendly."

[Sarah Ronk]

Excellent book!!! Highly recommend for both those families just starting their homeschooling journey to anyone like me who's a few years in but continue to want to check that I'm still on the path we want to be on

[Annie Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

From my review on The Curriculum Choice:

...
Homeschooling parents inevitably waste money—and often their children’s time and patience—on curriculum mistakes. Investing in 102 Top Picks will reduce that problem. Not only that, but 102 Top Picks is full of helpful homeschooling ideas that become more profound the more you think about them, as I have discussed in “Quotations from 102 Top Picks”. It is truly one of the most helpful homeschooling books available.

In fact, whenever people ask me for homeschooling advice, I refer them to the current Top Picks book. What is more, even though I have two decades of homeschooling experience, whenever I need a fresh perspective on our current homeschooling situation, I go through the first chapters of the latest Top Picks book. Cathy’s wisdom always helps and occasionally leads to new curriculum directions even for our family after all these years.
...
Read my entire review here: http://www.thecurriculumchoice.com/10...
Read a list of quotations here: http://anniekateshomeschoolreviews.co...

Review copy from Cathy Duffy.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

More helpful than I expected. The homeschool goals and teaching style quiz was helpful for getting me on the right track for planning curriculum next year and beyond. While some resources reviewed are going to be dated somewhat quickly, this book also contained several resources/book lists that would make it worth purchasing and keeping.

[Kasey Werner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was insanely helpful for me in helping me understand my teaching style and my son’s learning style - and then suggesting what curriculums might match those two. Highly, highly recommend!

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend recommended this book to me and I am SO happy we bought a copy of our own. I will definitely be referring back to it over these next few years. It seemed a bit overwhelming with all of the resources provided, but it's very thorough. This book also helped me to better understand our learning/teaching styles and that it's absolutely OK to combine methods...after all, homeschooling is about the child and what works best! Highly recommend it to any parent considering homeschooling or even parents in the midst of this adventure!

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource, especially the first couple of sections that did a good job helping my wife and I clarify what we wanted from homeschooling our children. Also the chapter on learning styles - nothing earth-shattering, but helpful guides to identify your children's preferences (as well as your own).

The matrix of reviews then helps winnow the choices to those that best fit your goals and learning style needs.

The reviews themselves are short, but focused on what I wanted to know - what material was covered, along with possible pitfalls. Duffy's reviews clearly identify secular and religious content (including identifying Protestant or Catholic) - I'm aiming secular, and found it useful to have worldview clearly identified. I'd expect it to work for this with different preferences as well.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent curriculum resource. 4.5. I'm very comfortable with evaluating, using, and creating curriculum. I've been periodically reading Ms. Duffy's review website for years and found the information to be valuable and thorough. So, I decided to read her book in print. Same great reviews featuring her favorites for homeschool curriculum. I did notice in her introductions to each chapter her Christian focus, but while she made her worldview clear - her reviews seemed to be straight forward as she points out which curriculums have a protestant and/or Catholic worldview and which are secular.

She is a thorough reviewer and can really help people trying to make curriculum choices that our best for their child. She covers learning styles and gives ideas about the best age ranges for varies levels within curriculum choices. A valuable book.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would have rated this higher if I read it a year ago. I have done extensive research on my own and come up with curriculum options to consider, only some of which were included here. But when I read about courses I was familiar with, it seemed a good and accurate summary.

Many choices that I thought were more “mainstream” or at least popular were not included. Perhaps they are too new?

Also, she continually said that unit studies were essentially a form of Charlotte Mason homeschooling, which from my research seems to be very false. Because of this, I didn’t feel there was a good CM option given.

[A-inn · Rating 4 out of 5]

滿不錯的教育入門書，不論是否要走homeschooling都可以看前五章。
前五章主要是在講想要走自學的家長一開始都會眼花撩亂走冤枉路花冤枉錢，作者先介紹目前主流的教學模式：traditional, Charlotte Mason, Classical, unschooling, unit study以及大部分人最終的混搭風格eclectic，接著評估自己的家庭狀況。
首先要確認自己的教育理念和優先順位，再來是確認自己有多少時間金錢和精力可以投入，評估自己的教學風格、小孩的學習風格，接著後面十幾個章節就是針對phonics, language arts, math, history, science, unit studies分別介紹不同的資源、課程、還有作者的心得評價。
作者把學習風格分為Wiggly Willy, Perfect Paula, Competent Carl, Sociable Sue。有點能對應到MBTI的P型、J型、I型、E型，Willy也有點偏過動、Carl有點偏亞斯，總之就是要根據孩子特性和家長風格去調整自家最適合的模式。我覺得Cathy Duffy應該就是個Perfect Paula性格的人。
後面的書籍和課程介紹就見人見智囉～

“One man's trash is another man's treasure. “

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is by far the most helpful resource I have come across for homeschooling. It helps parents develop their philosophy of teaching, identify their teaching style, and, most importantly, the learning styles of their children. Each curriculum reviewed is rated based on the different learning and teaching styles as well as many other criteria such as prep time and ease of use. An empowering read for those considering homeschooling.

[Maritza Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book. I started reading this book only with the thought of “I want to homeschool my kids, there are so many opinions, and method and curriculums!! What does all this even mean!?!” I was very frustrated and super confused. English is my second language and I still struggle to understand certain concepts. After finishing this book, I have a better picture on all my questions and worries. I know the curriculum I will be teaching my kids and I can’t wait to get started!

[Trena Balakrishnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book I recommend to new homeschoolers. I read it late in my homeschool journey and wish I had picked it up sooner. Any of the editions will work, this just happen to be the recent release when I read it. Cathy Duffy has a test a few chapters into the book to help you know the style of curriculum that will fit your family and that will help you narrow your choices and not just pick something recommended on Facebook or by your bff.

[Ellen | Bellewood Cottage · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO much material here. The world of curriculum is overwhelming so it's great to have a resource with thorough notes on a variety of programs (as well as why certain programs may not have been included). You can get the reviews on her website, but I found the extra book-only chapter notes to be really useful too.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

sure wish I would have read this book earlier. Really good! I think I thought this book was just a list of different curriculum, but it's much more than that. It gets you thinking about your kids learning styles and my own teaching styles. Really good!

[Madelynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must have in your library of homeschool books. It has helped me so much with matching my children to the right curriculum by learning what their learning style is, but it also lets me keep my teaching style I want as well.

[Shelby Vafinis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful resource!

[Lauren Duffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for all homeschooling parents! The only suggestion I could possibly make would be to provide pictures of the curriculum in the book.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little out of date, but lots of useful information about teaching and learning styles, homeschooling philosophies and priorities and how to apply all of that to choosing a curriculum.

[Kathy Kuhl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cathy Duffy is who I turn to first when helping others choose curriculum. Reviewed on my website, http://learndifferently.com

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a super reference guide for anyone thinking about homeschooling or even wanting to look more deeply at how their children learn and how to guide them where you'd like them to ideally be with opportunities and enrichment. Not only does it guide you in terms of curriculum (or even in terms of no curriculum, if that's your persuasion), it helps you figure out your educational philosophy and pinpoint what you think you (and your child) can get out of homeschooling, even if you think you have no idea at all and are uncertain where to start. It addresses learning styles and ways to meet those styles most advantageously for the homeschooling experience ideally suited to your child(ren) and family. Note that author Cathy Duffy is Christian and does have a Christian bias in the text, which she addresses with some thoughtful questions about spiritual guidance in curriculum. I think this guide is certainly usable by those who are not Christian or secular (Duffy denotes secular texts in her top picks guides) and I think her own bias helps you discover yours or define it better.

With her vast experience and thoughts about homeschooling, Duffy also gave me confidence that this is something I could easily do and do well on my own terms. At this time, my first child is enrolled to attend a public charter school this Fall, but thanks to this guide and my own intuition and instinct (important! critical!), we are already charting our own path to a love of learning, which is the natural inclination of all humans.

I checked this book out from the library and spent a long time carefully going through the questions and the reviews, but I plan to go back to it from time to time to get more ideas as my children grow and having your own copy would be a worthwhile investment.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cannot express how much time and sanity this book has saved me! It's a wonderful collection of homeschooling curriculum with great descriptions so you at least have an idea of where to start looking for your particular kid and their needs.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

very useful resource!

[Natarsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous book, which helped me out a lot :)

[mRose · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you homeschool you need to read this. I've been homeschooling for 4 years now and I got so much out of this. It's very detailed in the reviews and there is a huge section before the reviews that talk about learning style of the child and parent, how do you know what to teach and helps you pinpoint your focus on what types of things you want your homeschool to be about and your child to learn. There's more too. It's made me so happy and focused!! If you can't purchase it, it's probably at your library.

[Alycia]

Very helpful resource!

[Dawnielle G]

Great resource for homeschoolers. Lots of great curriculum information.