Topic
Curriculum Review
9 issues
Browse full archive →- Curriculum ReviewJun 29, 2026
The K-3 skill subjects: handwriting, spelling, and the foreign-language timing question
The core stack is decided, and what is left is the ring of skill subjects around it. Handwriting splits between vertical and slanted letter styles. Spelling splits between the families that teach rules and the families that argue a separate spelling course is unnecessary in the early grades. Foreign language is not a program choice at all in K-3 but a timing question. Plus the Texas ESA disbursement due July 1, and which of these subjects an account will actually pay for.
Issue 09 finished the K-3 core with history and geography, which leaves the skill subjects that sit around the core: handwriting, spelling, and foreign language. These reward less deliberation than reading or math did, and the issue says so. Handwriting comes down to two decisions: which letter sty…
Curriculum Review·Handwriting·Spelling·Foreign Language·Handwriting Without Tears·All About Spelling - Curriculum ReviewJun 22, 2026
The K-3 history and geography landscape: chronological-narrative, literature-based, and worldview-explicit programs, and the question each one answers
Nine elementary history programs across three families that disagree about what early history is. Story of the World and Mystery of History run the chronological narrative. BookShark, Build Your Library, Beautiful Feet, and Torchlight teach it through literature. Notgrass and My Father's World state a Christian worldview openly, with the secular-to-Christian range running through all three. Plus where K-3 geography actually lives, the Texas ESA July disbursement, and the dispatch.
Issue 08 covered the K-3 science landscape and made the point that the programs are not interchangeable because they answer different questions. History in the K-3 band has the same structure and one extra wrinkle, because in our assessment history is where worldview is least hidden. The programs s…
Curriculum Review·History Curriculum·Geography·Story Of The World·Mystery Of History·Bookshark - Curriculum ReviewJun 15, 2026
The K-3 science landscape: kit-driven, literature-based, and worldview-explicit programs, and the question each one answers
Eight elementary science programs across three families that take three different positions on what early science is. Mystery Science and Generation Genius on video, BookShark and Sassafras through literature, Apologia and Berean Builders from an explicit Christian frame, with REAL Science Odyssey and the Charlotte Mason nature-study tradition between them. Plus the Texas launch timeline, the Tennessee award amount, and the dispatch.
Issue 07 covered the K-3 art and music landscape and made the point that art programs are not interchangeable because they answer different questions. Science in the K-3 band has the same structure. The programs split into three families. The kit-driven and video courses, including Mystery Science…
Curriculum Review·Science Curriculum·Mystery Science·Generation Genius·Apologia·Bookshark - Curriculum ReviewJun 8, 2026
The K-3 art and music landscape: Meet the Masters, Atelier, Charlotte Mason picture study, and Hoffman Academy for piano
Three art programs graded on the same rubric, plus the one piano program that anchors the music side. What an art-history-plus-project program, a video-based studio course, and a free narration tradition each do well, and where Hoffman Academy fits for families adding music. Plus the Texas final ESA rules, the Tennessee universal scholarship program, and the dispatch.
Issue 06 covered Math-U-See versus Saxon Math K-3, two math programs for the elementary years. Issue 07 turns to art and music. The art conversation runs through three programs that take three different positions on what elementary art instruction is for. Meet the Masters treats it as an art-histor…
Curriculum Review·Art Curriculum·Music Curriculum·Meet The Masters·Atelier·Charlotte Mason - Curriculum ReviewJun 1, 2026
Math-U-See vs. Saxon Math K-3, and the Texas Education Freedom Accounts figures
Two homeschool math programs, graded on the same rubric. Plus the Texas Education Freedom Accounts application figures and the Florida Step Up application dates.
Issue 03 covered Singapore Math Dimensions versus RightStart Mathematics, two conceptually rigorous elementary math programs. Issue 05 covered All About Reading versus Logic of English Foundations, two scripted phonics programs. Issue 06 covers two math programs for the elementary years: Math-U-See…
Curriculum Review·Math U See·Saxon Math·Elementary Math·K 3 Math·Texas - Curriculum ReviewMay 25, 2026
All About Reading vs. Logic of English, and Tennessee's Education Freedom Scholarships
Two scripted phonics programs, graded on the same rubric. Plus Tennessee's Education Freedom Scholarship status, the ALEKS-versus-Khan Academy self-paced-math read, and Florida's one-application rule.
Issue 04 paired Brave Writer and the Institute for Excellence in Writing on the same rubric. Issue 05 covers the elementary reading-and-phonics decision tree: All About Reading from All About Learning Press against Logic of English Foundations, graded across the rubric's eight criteria. Plus Tennes…
Curriculum Review·All About Reading·Logic Of English·Phonics·Tennessee·ESA - Curriculum ReviewMay 18, 2026
Brave Writer vs. IEW, and the Texas Education Freedom Accounts timeline
Two writing programs with elementary and middle-school levels, graded against the same rubric. Plus the multi-tool AI-tutor read for homeschool families, the Florida Step Up PEP acceptance step, and the Texas Education Freedom Accounts timeline.
Issue 03 paired Singapore Math Dimensions and RightStart on the same rubric. Issue 04 does the same for two writing programs, Brave Writer and the Institute for Excellence in Writing, across grades 3 to 8. Plus: a multi-tool comparison of AI tutoring options (Khanmigo, MagicSchool, Curipod); the Fl…
Curriculum Review·Brave Writer·Iew·Writing Curriculum·Texas·ESA - Curriculum ReviewMay 11, 2026
Singapore Math Dimensions vs. RightStart Mathematics
Plus Tennessee's Education Freedom Scholarships, what Khanmigo costs homeschool families, and how Florida's Step Up PEP funding order works.
The promised second curriculum review: Singapore Math Dimensions K-5 against RightStart Mathematics Levels A-F, two conceptually rigorous elementary math programs. Tennessee's Education Freedom Scholarship program, as the state Department of Education describes it. What Khanmigo costs homeschool fa…
Curriculum Review·Singapore Math·Rightstart Mathematics·Math Curriculum·Tennessee·ESA - Curriculum ReviewMay 4, 2026
TGTB Level 3 vs. Logic of English Foundations
Plus a one-page guide to picking math curriculum and Wisconsin's annual October 15 homeschool filing date.
The promised first full curriculum review: The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts Level 3 against Logic of English Foundations Level D. A one-page decision tree for choosing elementary math curriculum, and a note on Wisconsin's annual PI-1206 filing date.
Curriculum Review·Good And Beautiful·Logic Of English·Language Arts·Math Curriculum