Curriculum guide: every way to teach, explained

57 approaches to teaching children from preschool to 12th grade, in plain words: where each came from, a day in it, what the research says and how to try it.

There is no single best curriculum. There are a handful of big ideas about how children learn, and most programs a school or a family buys follow one or two of them. Montessori trusts the child to choose; classical education teaches in three stages; Singapore math moves from objects to pictures to numbers; the science of reading teaches the code of letters and sounds directly. Each page here explains one approach, what it does well, what its critics say and what the evidence shows, so you can choose, or mix, with your eyes open.

Written by Peabody Teach from each approach’s own sources and the research we could read. No affiliate links; no program pays to appear. For a program-by-program comparison with prices, see homeschool curriculum compared.

Following a country’s curriculum? Find your curriculum: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and more, with school years side by side and how to set one for your child on Peabody.

A child of 2 to 5 · preschool

Learning to read · K to 2nd grade

Math at any age · K to 12th grade

Teaching at home · every age

Preschool and the early years

How the youngest children are taught, from Montessori and Reggio Emilia to play-based and academic pre-K.

MontessoriBirth to 18 in some schools; most programs run ages 3 to 6 and 6 to 12
Children choose their own work from hands-on materials in a mixed-age room, with the teacher as guide and the materials showing mistakes.
Reggio EmiliaBirth to 6, in infant-toddler centers and preschools
Long projects grow from children's own questions, explored in paint, clay, light and talk, with teachers documenting what children think.
WaldorfEarly childhood (birth to 7) through 12th grade
A steady daily rhythm of play, story, song, crafts and outdoor time, with formal reading delayed to about age seven and few or no screens.
HighScopeInfants to age 5, mainly preschool (3 and 4)
Children plan what they will do, do it, then talk about it with an adult: "active participatory learning" tied to the famous Perry Preschool study.
The Creative CurriculumPreschool, ages 3 to 5
A published preschool curriculum built on interest areas and multi-week "studies" of a topic, checked with the GOLD observation tool.
Play-based learningRoughly ages 2 to 8, most often preschool and kindergarten
Children learn through play they lead, with adults setting up the space and gently steering it toward a goal: the mainstream view of good early teaching.
Forest school and nature preschoolMostly ages 2 to 7
Children learn outdoors, often all day and in most weather, through play, exploring and supported risk in woods, fields and gardens.
Academic pre-K and direct instructionAges 3 to 5, in preschool, pre-K and kindergarten
Teacher-led, planned lessons in letter sounds, counting and other school-readiness skills, from scripted Direct Instruction to content-focused pre-K curricula.

Whole-school philosophies

Ways of educating a child across every subject and every year: classical, Charlotte Mason, project-based and more.

Classical educationAges 5 to 18, in three stages
Facts and memory work when young, logic in the middle years, argument and writing in the teens, with history taught in order.
Charlotte MasonAges 6 to 18, with a gentle kindergarten year
Short lessons, real books instead of textbooks, telling back instead of worksheets, and time outdoors watching nature.
Core KnowledgeAges 4 to 14 (preschool to 8th grade)
A free, grade-by-grade list of the history, science, literature and art every child should meet, so knowledge builds year on year.
Project-based learningAges 5 to 18
Students spend weeks answering a real question or solving a real problem, and finish by showing what they made to an audience.
Unit studiesAny age; most used from preschool to about 8th grade
One theme, such as oceans or the Middle Ages, carries reading, writing, science, history and art for days or weeks.
UnschoolingAges 4 to 19
No set curriculum: children choose what, when and how to learn, and adults help them follow their own questions.
Eclectic homeschoolingAny age
Mixing approaches subject by subject: structured math and phonics, say, with literature-rich history and a theme or project on top.
Mastery-based learningAges 5 to 18
Children move on when they show they've learned a skill, not when the calendar says so, with help until they get there.
What works in every approachEvery age; most studies are of school-age students
The handful of study and teaching habits with strong research behind them, which fit inside Montessori, classical, school or anything else.

Reading, writing and English

How children learn to read and write, and the long argument over the best way to teach it.

The science of readingAges 4 to 10 for learning to read; the ideas hold for older struggling readers too
A name for the research on how children learn to read: sounds and letters taught in order, plus the language and knowledge that make words mean something.
Structured literacy and Orton-GillinghamAges 4 to 8 as a classroom approach; any age, adults included, as help for struggling readers
Explicit, step-by-step teaching of English sounds, spellings, syllables and word parts, each step building on the last; the root of most dyslexia programs.
Balanced literacy and whole languageAges 4 to 14, mostly in elementary classrooms
Reading taught through real books, choice and small groups with leveled texts, with phonics in context; widely used, and now heavily criticized by reviewers.
Knowledge-building EnglishAges 4 to 14, preschool through 8th grade
Reading and writing organized around weeks-long topics in science, history and the arts, so children build the knowledge and words comprehension depends on.
Writer's workshopAges 5 to 14, kindergarten through middle school
A daily writing block of a short mini-lesson, a long stretch of children writing their own pieces while the teacher confers one-to-one, then a share.
Explicit writing instructionAges 6 to 18; sentence work from the early grades, strategy teaching from about age 8
Writing taught step by step: strong sentences first, then planning, drafting and revising with named strategies the teacher models and the student practices.
Amplify CKLAKindergarten through grade 5, roughly ages 5 to 11
A K-5 language arts program from Amplify with a structured phonics progression and decodable readers; here is what it holds and the free practice beside it.
ARC CoreKindergarten through grade 5, roughly ages 5 to 11
A writing-first English language arts curriculum from American Reading Company with four units a year; here is what it holds and the free practice beside it.
BookWormsKindergarten through grade 5, roughly ages 5 to 11
A K-5 reading and writing curriculum from Open Up Resources with Shared Reading and small-group work; here is what it holds and the free practice beside it.
EL Education K-8 Language ArtsKindergarten through grade 8, roughly ages 5 to 14
A K-8 language arts curriculum from the nonprofit EL Education that builds reading on structured phonics and content-rich texts; here is what its pages say.
Fishtank ELAKindergarten through grade 8 here, roughly ages 5 to 14 (the publisher also lists grades 9 to 12)
A knowledge-building English language arts curriculum from Fishtank Learning, with free lesson plans on sign-up; what it holds and the free practice beside it.
Louisiana GuidebooksGrades 3 to 8 here, roughly ages 8 to 14 (the Department also lists grades 9 to 12 and older units for K-2)
Louisiana's own English language arts curriculum, built from text sets and openly licensed; what it holds and the free practice beside it.
Reading ReconsideredGrades 5 to 8 for the curriculum, roughly ages 10 to 14
A book of methods for rigorous reading teaching, plus a separate book-based curriculum for grades 5 to 8, and the free practice beside them.
Wit & WisdomKindergarten through grade 8, roughly ages 5 to 14
A K-8 literacy curriculum from Great Minds built on knowledge modules with an end-of-module writing task; what it holds and the free practice beside it.

Math

From counting to calculus: mastery and spiral, Singapore and Saxon, facts and fractions.

Singapore mathAges 4 to 14, with most programs covering 1st to 6th grade
Fewer topics in more depth, each one learned with objects, then pictures, then numbers, with the bar model for word problems.
Mastery mathAges 5 to 14, mostly the elementary years
Teach one topic in small connected steps until it is secure, keep the whole class together, and only then move on.
Spiral mathAges 4 to 18, depending on the program
New topics in small pieces, and every day's practice mixes in problems from earlier lessons so nothing is learned once and dropped.
Problem-based mathAges 5 to 18
Children work on a well-chosen problem first, share their ways of solving it, and the teacher then draws out the math.
Math fact fluencyAges 5 to 12
Knowing addition and multiplication facts by heart, built from strategies first and then short practice, as one strand of math, not all of it.
High school math pathwaysAges 12 to 18
The order of high school math courses: traditional or integrated, when to start algebra, and where calculus, statistics and data science fit.

Science, history and other subjects

Phenomena-based science, history in order, coding, languages and music.

Phenomena-based scienceAges 5 to 18, kindergarten through high school
Science that starts with something puzzling to explain, so children ask questions, investigate and argue from evidence before they get the answer.
Chronological historyAges 5 to 18; most families start the cycle around 1st grade
History taught as one story in time order, from the ancient world to today, usually through narrative books, maps and a timeline.
Inquiry-based social studiesAges 5 to 18, strongest from about 3rd grade up
Social studies built around a big question: students work through documents, maps and data, then make and defend an argument.
Computer science for kidsAges 4 to 18, from unplugged games to AP courses
How children learn computing, from unplugged games and tap-the-blocks coding to Scratch projects and high school programming courses.
Music education: Orff, Kodály, Suzuki and DalcrozeAges 3 to 18; Suzuki often starts at 3 to 5
Four famous ways to teach children music: Orff through play and xylophones, Kodály through singing, Suzuki through listening, Dalcroze through movement.
World languagesAny age; immersion programs usually start in kindergarten
How children learn a second language: proficiency goals, lots of understandable input, story-based methods like TPRS, and immersion schools.

Standards and national curricula

The frameworks schools and exams follow: Common Core, the IB, Cambridge and others.

Common Core and state standardsKindergarten to 12th grade, about ages 5 to 18
A list of what a child should know and be able to do in each grade: the goal posts, not the lessons. Most US public schools follow a set like it.
International Baccalaureate (IB)Ages 3 to 19, in four programs
Four linked programs from age 3 to 19, built around inquiry, big ideas and reflection, ending in the IB Diploma or the Career-related Programme.
Cambridge International (IGCSE and A Level)Ages 5 to 19, in four stages
A subject-by-subject program for ages 5 to 19, with Checkpoint tests in the early stages and IGCSE and A Level exams later. Schools can take one stage or all.
National curricula abroadSchool age, about 5 to 16 or 18, depending on the country
How six other countries set what children learn: England's key stages, Australia's F–10, Canada's provinces, Singapore, Finland and Japan, side by side.

School curricula around the English-speaking world

England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa: how each counts school years, what it expects and how it tests.

National Curriculum in EnglandAges 4 to 16: Reception, then Years 1 to 11
England's year groups, key stages and national checks, with what each year expects in reading and maths and how it lines up with US grades.
Curriculum for Excellence (Scotland)Ages 3 to 18: early years, P1 to P7, S1 to S6
Scotland's curriculum from age 3 to 18: five levels that each span about three school years, P1 to P7 and S1 to S6, and how to follow it.
Curriculum for WalesAges 3 to 16: Reception and Years 1 to 11
Wales's curriculum: six areas of learning, five progression steps at about ages 5, 8, 11, 14 and 16, and online reading and numeracy assessments.
Northern Ireland CurriculumAges 4 to 16: P1 to P7, then Years 8 to 12
Northern Ireland's curriculum: a play-rich Foundation Stage in P1 and P2, two key stages to P7, six areas of learning, and how P1 lines up with Reception.
Ireland's Primary CurriculumAges 4 to 12 in primary: Junior Infants to 6th Class
Ireland's eight primary years from Junior Infants to 6th Class, the 2023 Primary Curriculum Framework and new maths, and the tests in 2nd, 4th and 6th.
Canada's provincial curriculaKindergarten to Grade 12, set province by province
Canada has no national curriculum: how Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta each set theirs, what changed in reading recently, and the provincial tests.
Australian CurriculumFoundation to Year 10, about ages 5 to 16
Australia's curriculum from Foundation to Year 10: Version 9.0, eight learning areas, NAPLAN in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, and how NSW and Victoria differ.
New Zealand Curriculum (Te Mātaiaho)Years 0 or 1 to 13, from a fifth birthday to about 18
New Zealand's refreshed curriculum: structured literacy in every state school since 2025, year-by-year English and maths, and how NZ's years line up.
India's school boards: CBSE, ICSE and NCF 2023Ages 3 to 18: pre-school, then Classes 1 to 12
How India's school curriculum is organised: the 5+3+3+4 stages of NCF 2023, NCERT books and CBSE, the ICSE and state boards, and the Class 10 and 12 exams.
South Africa's CAPS curriculumGrade R to Grade 12, about ages 5 to 18
South Africa's CAPS from Grade R to Grade 12: four phases, a home language and a first additional language, school-based assessment, and matric.

All of them side by side

How much each asks of the adult: laid out for you (lessons come written in order; the adult follows them); a plan you adapt (a clear plan or sequence, with room to choose books, pace and activities); you and the child shape it (few set lessons; the adult observes, prepares and follows the child's interests). Screens: screens fit well, some screen time, little or no screen time.

Approach	Ages	Planning	Screens	Tends to suit
Montessori	Birth to 18 in some schools; most programs run ages 3 to 6 and 6 to 12	You and the child shape it	Some screen time	Children who like to work with their hands at their own pace, and families who want independence and concentration as much as early academics.
Reggio Emilia	Birth to 6, in infant-toddler centers and preschools	You and the child shape it	Some screen time	Families and teachers who value creativity, conversation and art, and who are comfortable with a slower, less sequenced path to early academics.
Waldorf	Early childhood (birth to 7) through 12th grade	A plan you adapt	Little or no screen time	Families who want a slow, imaginative, screen-light childhood with a lot of play, art and outdoor time, and who are comfortable with reading starting around seven.
HighScope	Infants to age 5, mainly preschool (3 and 4)	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Preschools and parents who want child-led play inside a clear daily routine, with a defined set of skills to watch for.
The Creative Curriculum	Preschool, ages 3 to 5	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Preschools and teachers who want a complete, play-based program with planned studies and an assessment system that funders and Head Start recognize.
Play-based learning	Roughly ages 2 to 8, most often preschool and kindergarten	You and the child shape it	Some screen time	Almost any young child, and families and teachers who want skills learned inside play, with an adult who guides rather than lectures.
Forest school and nature preschool	Mostly ages 2 to 7	You and the child shape it	Little or no screen time	Children who love to move and explore, and families who want far more outdoor time than a typical preschool offers.
Academic pre-K and direct instruction	Ages 3 to 5, in preschool, pre-K and kindergarten	Laid out for you	Some screen time	Children who do well with clear, explicit teaching, and families who want a firm start on letter sounds and counting, balanced with play.
Classical education	Ages 5 to 18, in three stages	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families who want a long, clear plan built on reading aloud, history in order and memory work, and who can teach much of it themselves.
Charlotte Mason	Ages 6 to 18, with a gentle kindergarten year	A plan you adapt	Little or no screen time	Families who love reading aloud, want short lessons, nature and art in the week, and prefer few screens for young children.
Core Knowledge	Ages 4 to 14 (preschool to 8th grade)	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Schools and families who want a clear, free map of what to teach each year and believe broad knowledge is the road to strong reading.
Project-based learning	Ages 5 to 18	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Children who like making things and working with others, and adults ready to plan a project around clear learning goals.
Unit studies	Any age; most used from preschool to about 8th grade	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Homeschool families teaching several ages together and children who love going deep on one topic, with math and phonics on their own track.
Unschooling	Ages 4 to 19	You and the child shape it	Some screen time	Children with strong interests and parents who trust self-directed learning and can keep the home rich in books, materials and outings.
Eclectic homeschooling	Any age	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families who like parts of several methods and want structure where skills build and freedom where interests lead.
Mastery-based learning	Ages 5 to 18	A plan you adapt	Screens fit well	Children whose pace differs from their grade in some subjects, and adults willing to check often and reteach.
What works in every approach	Every age; most studies are of school-age students	A plan you adapt	Screens fit well	Every parent and teacher, whatever their approach: these are habits to add, not a method to switch to.
The science of reading	Ages 4 to 10 for learning to read; the ideas hold for older struggling readers too	A plan you adapt	Screens fit well	Every beginning reader, and especially children at risk of reading difficulties, including those with dyslexia.
Structured literacy and Orton-Gillingham	Ages 4 to 8 as a classroom approach; any age, adults included, as help for struggling readers	Laid out for you	Some screen time	Every beginning reader, and above all children with dyslexia or others who have not learned to read from less explicit methods.
Balanced literacy and whole language	Ages 4 to 14, mostly in elementary classrooms	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Children who already decode well and families who want lots of real books and choice; it is a poor fit, on its own, for children who struggle to sound out words.
Knowledge-building English	Ages 4 to 14, preschool through 8th grade	Laid out for you	Some screen time	Children who love facts and big topics, and schools or families who want English time to teach science, history and the arts too.
Writer's workshop	Ages 5 to 14, kindergarten through middle school	A plan you adapt	Little or no screen time	Children who like to tell stories and share ideas, and teachers who want daily writing with room for choice.
Explicit writing instruction	Ages 6 to 18; sentence work from the early grades, strategy teaching from about age 8	A plan you adapt	Little or no screen time	Children who stall at a blank page, struggling writers and those with learning differences, and any class that wants writing taught step by step.
Amplify CKLA	Kindergarten through grade 5, roughly ages 5 to 11	Laid out for you	Some screen time	Schools and families who want a structured, step-by-step phonics progression in kindergarten to grade 2 and a published program to follow through grade 5.
ARC Core	Kindergarten through grade 5, roughly ages 5 to 11	Laid out for you	Some screen time	Teachers and schools who want writing to lead the day in kindergarten to grade 5, with topic units across science, social studies and literature.
BookWorms	Kindergarten through grade 5, roughly ages 5 to 11	Laid out for you	Some screen time	Schools and teachers who want whole-class reading of grade-level text and small-group instruction in one K-5 program.
EL Education K-8 Language Arts	Kindergarten through grade 8, roughly ages 5 to 14	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Teachers and schools who want a knowledge-building language arts program for kindergarten to grade 8 from a nonprofit that says it is built on the science of reading, and who are ready to learn its routines.
Fishtank ELA	Kindergarten through grade 8 here, roughly ages 5 to 14 (the publisher also lists grades 9 to 12)	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Teachers and schools who want a knowledge-building curriculum for kindergarten and up, who can read free lesson plans first, and who will add a phonics program for children still learning to decode.
Louisiana Guidebooks	Grades 3 to 8 here, roughly ages 8 to 14 (the Department also lists grades 9 to 12 and older units for K-2)	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Teachers and schools in grades 3 to 8 who want a free, openly licensed, text-based curriculum with built-in assessment, and who will plan early reading separately.
Reading Reconsidered	Grades 5 to 8 for the curriculum, roughly ages 10 to 14	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Teachers who want to sharpen how they teach reading in grades 5 to 8, and schools looking for book-based units in those grades.
Wit & Wisdom	Kindergarten through grade 8, roughly ages 5 to 14	Laid out for you	Some screen time	Teachers and schools who want a knowledge-building literacy curriculum for kindergarten to grade 8 with assessment inside each module, and who will add a foundational skills program for early readers.
Singapore math	Ages 4 to 14, with most programs covering 1st to 6th grade	Laid out for you	Some screen time	Children who want to know why math works, and adults ready to teach with objects and drawings rather than hand out worksheets.
Mastery math	Ages 5 to 14, mostly the elementary years	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Children who need time and security before moving on, and adults who want a clear sequence and a simple rule for when to advance.
Spiral math	Ages 4 to 18, depending on the program	Laid out for you	Some screen time	Children who forget what they do not keep using, and adults who want a predictable daily lesson with review built in.
Problem-based math	Ages 5 to 18	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Curious children who enjoy puzzles and talking about their thinking, with an adult who can lead discussion and still close each lesson with a clear method.
Math fact fluency	Ages 5 to 12	A plan you adapt	Screens fit well	Every child from kindergarten to 6th grade, as one short daily part of math, with strategies first and the clock only after.
High school math pathways	Ages 12 to 18	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Parents and teachers planning the years from 7th to 12th grade, and anyone deciding whether a student is ready for algebra in 8th grade.
Phenomena-based science	Ages 5 to 18, kindergarten through high school	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Classes and families who want children to do science hands-on and can give one big question several weeks.
Chronological history	Ages 5 to 18; most families start the cycle around 1st grade	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families and schools who want history to read as one connected story, and children who love being read to.
Inquiry-based social studies	Ages 5 to 18, strongest from about 3rd grade up	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Upper-elementary to high school students who like to argue, and teachers who want history and civics to build reading and reasoning.
Computer science for kids	Ages 4 to 18, from unplugged games to AP courses	A plan you adapt	Screens fit well	Almost any child; block and unplugged lessons for the youngest, real projects for older ones.
Music education: Orff, Kodály, Suzuki and Dalcroze	Ages 3 to 18; Suzuki often starts at 3 to 5	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Any child who likes to sing, move or play; Suzuki suits families who can practice with the child every day.
World languages	Any age; immersion programs usually start in kindergarten	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families and schools ready to give a language daily time over several years, starting as early as they like.
Common Core and state standards	Kindergarten to 12th grade, about ages 5 to 18	A plan you adapt	Screens fit well	Any family whose child is in, or may return to, a US public school, and homeschoolers who want a clear list of goals for each year.
International Baccalaureate (IB)	Ages 3 to 19, in four programs	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families who like question-led, connected learning, who may move between countries, or whose teenager wants a demanding, well-traveled diploma.
Cambridge International (IGCSE and A Level)	Ages 5 to 19, in four stages	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families at international schools or who move between countries, and teenagers who want a wide choice of exam subjects at 14 to 19.
National curricula abroad	School age, about 5 to 16 or 18, depending on the country	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families who have moved or are about to, parents comparing schools abroad, and anyone curious how other countries organize what children learn.
National Curriculum in England	Ages 4 to 16: Reception, then Years 1 to 11	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families in England, British-curriculum international schools, and families abroad who want to keep pace with England's year groups.
Curriculum for Excellence (Scotland)	Ages 3 to 18: early years, P1 to P7, S1 to S6	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families with children in Scottish schools, and anyone who likes broad stages a child moves through at their own pace.
Curriculum for Wales	Ages 3 to 16: Reception and Years 1 to 11	You and the child shape it	Some screen time	Families with children in schools in Wales, and teachers interested in a curriculum built on big ideas and a continuum rather than year lists.
Northern Ireland Curriculum	Ages 4 to 16: P1 to P7, then Years 8 to 12	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families with children in Northern Ireland's schools, and anyone interested in a long, play-based start to primary school.
Ireland's Primary Curriculum	Ages 4 to 12 in primary: Junior Infants to 6th Class	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families with children in Irish primary schools, and teachers curious about a recent, play-and-talk maths curriculum.
Canada's provincial curricula	Kindergarten to Grade 12, set province by province	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families in Canada or moving there, and teachers comparing provincial approaches to early reading and math.
Australian Curriculum	Foundation to Year 10, about ages 5 to 16	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families with children in Australian schools, and families moving to Australia who want to see what each year expects.
New Zealand Curriculum (Te Mātaiaho)	Years 0 or 1 to 13, from a fifth birthday to about 18	A plan you adapt	Some screen time	Families with children in New Zealand schools, and anyone following the move to structured literacy.
India's school boards: CBSE, ICSE and NCF 2023	Ages 3 to 18: pre-school, then Classes 1 to 12	Laid out for you	Some screen time	Families with children in Indian schools, Indian families abroad keeping up with a board, and teachers curious about NCF 2023.
South Africa's CAPS curriculum	Grade R to Grade 12, about ages 5 to 18	Laid out for you	Some screen time	Families with children in South African schools, and teachers interested in a detailed, term-by-term curriculum with two languages from the start.

Most families and teachers mix

Few classrooms or homes follow one approach to the letter. A common mix is a structured, explicit program for reading and math, where the research on teaching the basics directly is strongest, with a looser approach for history, science and the arts. The eclectic homeschooling page shows how families put the pieces together, and what works in every approach covers the study habits that help whichever you pick.