Vanguard Parents

Topic

Curriculum

Honest, parent-written reviews and shortlists — what is worth your money and what is not.

14 pieces on this topic

A timeline running from ancient to modern with a temple, a clock, a globe and a book marking the eras
Guide

Classical education explained — the trivium without the intimidation

Grammar, logic, rhetoric: what the three stages actually mean at the kitchen table, what a classical week looks like at each age, and whether you really need Latin.

24 Aug 2026

A savings jar beside a rising bar chart and a dotted growth line
Guide

Homeschooling on a budget — a complete year for almost nothing

A genuinely free curriculum for every core subject, where to buy used, and the few purchases actually worth paying real money for.

24 Aug 2026

A beaker beside an orbiting atom diagram, with a tree in the background
Guide

Teaching science at home — without a lab, a degree, or a boxed kit

What science education is for at each age, how to run real experiments in a kitchen, and how to solve lab sciences for exam-track teenagers.

24 Aug 2026

A lined notebook part-filled with handwriting, with a fountain pen resting beside it
Guide

Teaching writing at home — the sequence nobody explains

Why writing is the subject parents dread most, the four-stage progression from copywork to essay, and what to do about a child who freezes at a blank page.

24 Aug 2026

A clock beside a simple list of the day's blocks — morning basket, math, break, reading
Article

The 12 mistakes almost every family makes in their first homeschool year

Collected from parents who made them: the expensive purchases, the imported school habits, and the one that actually makes families quit.

24 Aug 2026

A worked sum on a whiteboard beside coloured base-ten blocks
Resource

The best homeschool math curriculum — eight compared, honestly

Singapore, Math Mammoth, Beast Academy, Saxon, Math-U-See, Teaching Textbooks, RightStart and Khan compared by cost, prep time and the child each one actually suits.

24 Aug 2026

A beaker beside an orbiting atom diagram with a tree behind
Resource

Homeschool science curriculum — what to use at each age

What science curriculum is genuinely worth buying at each stage, why elementary science needs none at all, and how to solve lab sciences for exam-track teenagers.

24 Aug 2026

Shelves of colourful books with a library card in the foreground
Resource

Free homeschool curriculum — a complete year, every subject, no cost

A genuinely complete free curriculum for every core subject and every age, with honest notes on where each free option is weakest and what it cannot replace.

24 Aug 2026

Resource

All About Reading review — the program that rescues reading

A parent review of All About Reading, the scripted Orton-Gillingham phonics program — who it saves, what it costs you in time, and who can pass.

11 Jun 2026

Resource

Math Mammoth review — rigorous, cheap, and a little beige

An honest parent review of Math Mammoth, the budget-friendly mastery math curriculum that teaches itself — if your kid can handle the dense pages.

11 Jun 2026

Resource

The Story of the World review — history your kids will ask for

A parent review of Susan Wise Bauer's narrative world history series — what it does brilliantly, where it simplifies, and how families actually use it.

11 Jun 2026

Guide

How to teach reading at home: a complete homeschool guide

From sounding out the first letter to fluent chapter books — a phonics-first roadmap, the four curricula worth your money, and what to do if it isn't clicking.

11 May 2026

Resource

2026 curriculum shortlist — the ones we'd actually recommend

A short, opinionated shortlist across math, literacy, science and history — vetted by parents who actually taught them for a full year, with the drawbacks stated.

3 May 2026

Guide

A no-nonsense math roadmap for elementary years

What to actually teach in math from age 6 to 10, what to skip, the three curricula worth your money, and what to do about a child who has decided they hate it.

2 May 2026

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