How to Evaluate a Christian Homeschool Curriculum: A 10-Question Checklist

The quickest way to evaluate a Christian homeschool curriculum is to put the cover down and read a full week of lessons. You’re looking for Scripture inside the lessons, a plan that fits your real days and your kids’ ages, and a sample you can actually teach before you pay for anything.

“Christ-centered” and “biblical worldview” are easy words to print on a box. The pages inside tell you whether they’re true. Paul says to “examine everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, NASB), and that goes for curriculum too. These are the ten questions I’d work through with any program, mine included. Write them down and keep them next to you while you look.

Does the faith go deeper than the cover?

1. Is Scripture in the lessons, or only on the front? Open to a week in the middle of the year. If God shows up in the introduction and then disappears for the rest of the book, you have your answer.

2. Does each lesson credit the thing made, or the One who made it? This is the test I run on every line I write: does this credit the plant, or does it credit the One who made the plant? It works for any subject. Romans 1:25 describes people who “worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (NASB). A science or nature lesson can drift that way without anyone meaning it to.

3. Does the publisher tell you plainly what it believes? You should be able to read what a curriculum believes, and what it doesn’t, before you buy. If you have to guess, keep looking.

4. Does the language inside match the label? Christian words can sit right on top of ideas that aren’t Christian at all. In science and nature study, watch for a plant’s “spirit,” its “energy” or “vibration,” or nature talked about as the source of life. Then ask yourself if you’d be comfortable reading that page out loud to your youngest.

Will it fit our real days?

5. How much prep does it ask of me? Be honest about the time you actually have, not the time you wish you had. Check whether the lessons are scripted, whether the discussion questions are written out, and whether there’s a supply list for the week. If not, you’ll be building those yourself the night before.

6. Does it fit my children’s ages, and can they share it? If you teach more than one child, look at whether siblings can work the same lesson at different levels, or whether you’d be teaching two separate programs.

7. Does it fit how my kids learn? A five-year-old learns a plant with her hands and her nose. An older child is ready to measure, record and test an idea. Look at what the child actually does on the page, not just what the parent reads.

8. What will it really cost for the year? Add it all up: the teacher’s book, the student books, extra workbooks for siblings, supplies and shipping. Set your budget before you fall in love with anything.

Can I trust it before I spend?

9. Can I see a full week and the whole year? A few sample pages show you the design. A full week shows you how the curriculum actually teaches. Ask for the scope and sequence too, so you know every topic before you commit.

10. Are the reviews from real families? Look for reviews with a name and some real detail, from families who used it at their own table. Give more weight to what they did with it than to how excited they were the day it arrived.

How do I test a sample in one week?

Teach it exactly as it’s written for one full week before you change anything. Then look back at the week:

• Did your kids ask questions, or just finish the page?
• Did anyone want to do it again, or run to show someone?
• How much prep did it really take?
• Did anything in the lessons make you uneasy about what it teaches?
• Can you see yourself doing this in February, not just the first week?

A good week doesn’t have to look perfect. You’re looking for kids who are paying attention and a plan you can keep up with.

How does Eden’s Table answer these ten?

It’s only fair to run my own curriculum through the list.

• Faith (1 to 4): Every week is anchored in a Scripture memory verse and connects that week’s plant to God’s design in creation. What we believe, and the test we edit against, is written out in full on the Eden’s Table page.
• Prep (5): The read-aloud is scripted, the discussion questions are written, the memory verse is chosen, and the kitchen lab tells you exactly which supplies to set on the counter.
• Ages and learning (6 and 7): Every lesson is written at two depths, so a younger and an older child can work the same week at one table. Sprouts (K-2) learns 36 plants by sight, smell and touch. Seedlings (3-5) learns a different 36, with measurements, ratios and a hypothesis your child writes and then tests.
• Cost (8): Week 1 is free. The Starter Unit, weeks 1 to 9, is a $39 download. The printed year is $249 plus $12 shipping, and extra Student Notebooks for siblings are $39.99 each, or $32 each from the sixth. The herbs aren’t included. Each week uses a small amount of a common dried herb from your pantry, your garden, or the herb list I keep for families.
• Proof (9 and 10): Week 1 is free for both bands, five full lessons. The scope and sequence lists all 72 plants. The family quotes on the Eden’s Table page are from families who took the free sample and taught it at their own tables.

Whatever you choose this January, choose it after a real week at your own table. If you’d like to start with mine, get Week 1 here.