First, know which path you are on
“We homeschool” can describe different arrangements. This guide is for families whose children are enrolled with a BC independent online learning school, often still called a DL or IDL school. Registered homeschooling is a separate option with different requirements.
BC’s official comparison says enrolled online learners follow the provincial curriculum with certified-teacher supervision and assessment. Registered homeschoolers are not required to follow that curriculum. Knowing which arrangement you have makes the conversation with your school much clearer.
Look beyond the grade on the cover
In our work with families, we often begin by asking for a curriculum’s index or table of contents. We cross-reference it with the relevant BC grade or course. A publisher’s grade label alone does not tell us what is covered.
An index is a useful starting point, but a representative lesson shows more: what the child actually does, how much support is needed, and whether the work asks them to explain their thinking.
Know, do, and understand
- Content · Know
- The knowledge and topics students learn.
- Curricular Competencies · Do
- The skills, strategies, and processes students practise.
- Big Ideas · Understand
- The broader concepts students come to understand and connect.
These are complementary parts of BC’s curriculum. A list of topics does not, on its own, show all three. In the materials families bring us, Big Ideas are often not labelled explicitly. We then need to look at the actual lessons and how they relate.
Before you buy, send these three things
- The exact title, level, and edition you are considering.
- The contents or index, plus a few sample lessons.
- A short note explaining why you think it suits your child.
Ask your teacher which requirements it supports, what is still missing, and what learning evidence they will need. This is a conversation about a workable plan, not simply whether a book is “approved.” A publisher’s mapping can help; your school still makes its own educational decisions.
Where our curriculum fits
Everything above is work you do because the resource will not do it for you — finding the index, cross-referencing the grade, drawing out the Big Ideas, then explaining it all to your teacher.
That is the step we are writing out of the process. Each title is being written to cover the Ministry’s curricular competencies and content for its grade and course, and the mapping is published with it — so the answer to the question at the top of this page arrives with the book, instead of being assembled afterwards.
Less administration. More time learning together. That is the whole intent.
Your school still makes its own decisions, as above. But you should not have to do the mapping yourself to find out where you stand.