Guide for New Homeschooling Moms: Curriculum, Resources, and Encouragement for Your Journey
Stepping into the world of homeschooling is both exciting and overwhelming. Even with my background in child development and education, I wrestled with the call to homeschool for many months. You are not alone if you’re feeling a range of emotions — educating children is sanctifying work!
If you're a new homeschooling mom, you may be wondering where to begin, what curriculum to choose, and whether you're "qualified" for the job. Here's the truth: you are more than capable of educating your child. You are their first teacher, and you know them better than anyone. With the right tools, a clear vision, and a little encouragement, you can create a beautiful and effective home education journey for your family.
This guide will walk you through the essential first steps — including choosing a homeschool curriculum, understanding your educational philosophy, and gathering the best books and resources for homeschooling beginners.
START WITH WHY: DISCOVER YOUR EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
Before you dive into curriculums and following homeschool accounts, pause to reflect on why you are homeschooling. This is the foundation of everything to come.
Ask yourself:
What is education?
How does a child learn?
What values are most important to our family?
What does success mean to us — academically, emotionally, physically, spiritually?
How does xyz approach align with how children naturally develop and grow?
There are many valid paths in homeschooling — classical, Charlotte Mason, unschooling, unit studies, traditional, and more — but choosing with intention makes the journey meaningful. Understanding your philosophy will help you select curriculum, set priorities, and avoid burnout.
INSPIRATION
Need some ideas, a fresh vision, or a boost of confidence? These are favorite books among new homeschooling moms:
The Call of the Wild + Free by Ainsley Arment (my personal favorite)
For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Free to Learn by Peter Gray
A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
Dumbing Us Down by J.T. Gatto
Teaching from Rest by Sarah Mackenzie
The Brave Learner by Julie Bogart
Until the Streetlights Come On by Ginny Yurich
Each offers a unique perspective on homeschooling, family culture, and the joy of learning together.
“You are your child’s best teacher because you can lead by example. You can show them how to pursue knowledge by doing so yourself. You can join them on this learning journey as a guide through life and education, and sometimes the other way around.” ― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild + Free
OUR HOMESCHOOL ROOM
”Children learn from anything and everything they see. They learn wherever they are, not just in special learning places.” - John Holt
Homeschooling has given my family so much more time for exploring together, pursuing interests, playing, and reading together. I am forever grateful! Much of our learning happens outside of this room, but I also recognize the benefits of having a set space to get focused. My kids (and I) do best with a predictable rhythm and organization.
Since we don’t have an extra room in the house, we use the dining room. It was hardly used except for the occasional big holiday meals, but it is the first room you see when you enter our house so it’s important to me it still looks neat. We keep materials in the cabinet for a quick tidy at the end of the day. Each kid keeps their notebooks in these containers.
Our wood table has a bit of texture to it so each child’s space has an acrylic cutting board, which also creates a visual boundary. This stays on the table unless I am hosting dinner or bunco night. ☺️
Anchor charts, daily rhythm, expectations, and our artist study (from our Charlotte Mason co-op) hang on this twine, which can easily be taken down for other events.
Read alouds and history are often done outside or with a pot of tea (their favorite little tradition).
RECOMMENDED HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUMS
There are SO MANY CHOICES! When I’m feeling overwhelmed or a bit anxious, I go into crazy research mode. An informed mama is a confident mama. I have spent an exorbitant amount of time researching various curriculums, watching videos online, comparing scopes and sequences, and chatting with other homeschool moms who shared my sense of goals and values. These are our current selections, but this doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for your family. We have many friends who have chosen different homeschool paths and it is totally working for them — I love that! I also have a lot of friends who have pivoted mid-year. The curriculum they thought would work perfectly turns out to be a miss and they shift things. That is the beauty and freedom of homeschooling our unique kiddos! Embrace the flexibility.
READING
With sufficient direct instruction on the foundational skills of reading, 95% of students can learn to read, but without a structured literacy approach, it is estimated only 30-40% of students will learn to read. We are seeing confirmation of this currently with only 35% of students reading proficiently in the United States. Any instructional method, or misguided curriculum, that does not teach the components of the science of reading in an explicit, cumulative, and responsive way will leave a majority of children behind, whether in a school or homeschool setting. In an effort to avoid any instructional gaps, I use and recommend All About Reading in the early elementary years.
Pros
Orton-Gillingham based program
Easy to use, little prep
Engaging for kids. Includes games, hands-on materials.
You can put the activity sheets in a binder with protective sheets and reuse for all your kids, saving you time and money!
Decodable readers are high quality with beautiful illustrations that feel like real books.
I prefer this style of fluency practice to build confidence in new readers.
Includes phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension in as little as 20 minutes a day
I find this curriculum slightly easier to use (less clunky) than others, and have seen my child find great success with it in first grade (level 1 and 2)!
Cons
Spelling is taught separately in the All About Spelling program. On a positive note, kids can gain confidence in reading slightly quicker. I consider this a slight con since reading and spelling are intrinsically linked. However, you can easily incorporate additional spelling practice in alignment with the phonics lessons you are focusing on.
Does not include handwriting, creative writing, or grammar, but I would argue grammar and formal writing instruction can wait until upper elementary years.
Cost & Materials
~$160. They offer an incredible 365 day guarantee. If you don’t love the program, send it back within a year for a full refund.
I strongly recommend the additional tiles and the games. Kids do best with multi-sensory learning! They also have an app you can use in lieu of tiles and instead drag/drop for a similar word-building experience.
Includes teacher manual, student activity book, flash cards, readers.
If you save the workbook games and resources in a binder with clear page protectors, you could use this program again with other children.
5 levels: Use this placement test or explore their scope & sequence to see which level is right for you. In general:
Pre-Reading is for kiddos unable to identify all their letter sounds or count syllables, Level 1 – kindergarten, Level 1 & 2 – first grade, Level 3 second grade, Level 4 - third grade
LANGUAGE ARTS & WRITING
I believe the foundational years of a child’s education should be focused on reading and math so our approach to writing and language arts has been more relaxed. The focus in the younger years is on recognizing quality writing (through great literature and copywork), and also on creatively expressing oneself through journaling, writing letters to friends, and writing projects. I encourage my kids to narrate and write often. When writing, I encourage them to sound out the words (aka inventive spelling), which also helps me understand their application of phonics skills. Too often I’d see students get stuck on the details, rather than view writing as a process that begins with rough drafts. I don’t really use a curriculum for this, since facilitating it comes naturally to me and I have a lot of resources from my teaching days.
When ready for a more scripted, formal approach, we will incorporate The Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), which you can find on ChristianBooks.com. This program includes video instruction, which can be really helpful when homeschooling multiple kiddos!
For a comprehensive language arts curriculum, I am also open to using/recommending The Good and the Beautiful, in third grade and beyond if (and only if) a child is a strong reader with excellent phonics and decoding skills. In my opinion, TGATB leaves gaps in K-2nd grade.
COPYWORK
Copywork involves having a child carefully copy a well-written passage — often a sentence or short paragraph from Scripture, poetry, literature, or history — in their best handwriting. Quality, not quantity is the goal and this should not take more than 10 minutes a day. The purpose being:
Habit of Attention
Charlotte Mason believed that children should be trained to pay full attention to a single task. Copywork demands careful observation and focus. The child must slow down and reproduce each letter, space, and punctuation mark with accuracy. This cultivates the lifelong habit of doing things well and thoroughly.Love of Language and Beauty
Copywork exposes children to rich language, beautiful thoughts, and noble ideas.Preparation for Writing and Composition
By copying excellent writing, children begin to internalize grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, and vocabulary. This is a gentle way to prepare for writing.Handwriting Practice
Moral and Intellectual Nourishment
These passages are carefully chosen to reflect truth, goodness, and beauty, nourishing the mind and soul.
Secular copywork option: Draw Write Now
HANDWRITING
MATHEMATICS
I love math - I even double majored in math in college so it’s no surprise I’d gravitate towards the more rigorous, logical curriculum for my kids that would give them a solid foundation.
Rooted in the math teaching methods used in Singapore (a country consistently ranked among the top in global math achievement), the Dimensions Math series emphasizes:
Concrete–Pictorial–Abstract (CPA) learning: Students first work with hands-on materials, then move to visual models, and finally master abstract concepts and equations.
Strong number sense: Students don’t just memorize math facts — they understand why and how math works.
Word problems and critical thinking: Real-world application is built in from the beginning, helping children become confident problem-solvers.
PROS
Lessons are short, focused, and thoughtfully sequenced. Concepts build logically and avoid the typical spiral confusion found in many traditional programs.
The problems are meaningful, and students are encouraged to think, rather than just complete busywork
Students using Dimensions are often better prepared for algebra and beyond due to their deep conceptual understanding and strong mental math skills.
The teacher’s guides walk you through each lesson step by step with scripts and tips — great for parents who are nervous about teaching math. If you’re not a math person, check out their book I Didn’t Learn Math This Way.
Video lessons are available for an additional cost.
Whether your child is a visual learner, hands-on, or prefers to move quickly through math, the CPA approach adapts to how children naturally learn.
Color textbook for only $14
CONS
I really can’t think of any 😂
COST & MATERIALS
Because this is a more rigorous math curriculum, it is recommended to take the free placement test online to determine your child’s level.
The color textbook is only $14. Each year is broken into two sections, A & B so be sure to grab both!
You can purchase materials a la carte or in a complete set.
30 day returns for unused products.
HISTORY
Did you know stories are 22x more likely to be retained than facts?
We are putting the textbooks aside in the early years and using powerful stories from Beautiful Feet Books to create memorable lessons that shape both heart and mind.
Students explore diverse perspectives through moving narratives, learning history while building character. Various topics are available for K-12 grade.
We are beginning with Early American History. This includes a beautifully curated teacher guide with 94 lessons that include background, maps, recipes, videos, and extension activities.
COMMON CORE SPIRAL REVIEW
This is a bit unconventional from the homeschooling community, but I always want to ensure my children are able to seamlessly integrate into public school with their peers, should there ever be a need. While I am confident our home education journey will leave them more prepared than their peers, I also have professional experience with homeschool children entering my third and fourth grade classes behind.
To ensure there aren’t any gaps, and give my kiddos 5-10 minutes of independent work to kick off the day, they complete a morning spiral review based on the Common Core State Standards. You can find several affordable options on Teachers Pay Teachers, but here are some examples:
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Ambleside Online - Living book lists by grade
KiwiCo - we love these ready to create STEAM projects that ship right to our doorstep
YOTO - audiobooks player
Piano lessons - use code LEARN
Visual Course or Primitive Reflex Course
Outschool - With hundreds of classes to choose from, kids can take live or self-paced academic and enrichment classes in a 1:1 setting or in a small group. We use Outschool for art and Spanish.
Free phonics websites: Phonics + Stuff, Starfall, Reading Bear, UFLI, Teach Your Monster, Reading.Com
The Way of the Will (free ebook)
Instagram Accounts
@alana_ortongillingham
@livingbrighthomeschool
@farmerlovesphonics
@sensationalbrain
@the.gifted.perspective
@imse_og
@juiceboxhomeschool
@wildandfree.co
@the.five.girl.schoolhouse
@simplycharlottemason
@notconsumed
@biglifejournal
@sciencemama
@treehouse_schoolhouse
@Homebuilteducation
@littlefenders
@mindfulmadre
ENCOURAGEMENT: YOU’VE GOT THIS!
There’s no such thing as the “perfect homeschool mom.” Your child doesn’t need a flawless teacher — they need you. Some days will be magical, others will be messy, but all of it is meaningful. Remember, homeschooling is a marathon, not a sprint. You’re building not just a brain, but a whole person.
Trust the process. Celebrate the small wins. And most of all, enjoy the gift of learning alongside your children.
As you step into this new season, may you feel empowered to lead your children with love, wisdom, and confidence. Homeschooling isn’t just an educational choice — it’s a lifestyle that nurtures connection, curiosity, and character.
Welcome to the journey. You’re not alone, and you are more than enough.
