On the curriculum hunt

Dear Curriculum Publishers,

I want to let you know there is this "brand new" movement in America called homeschooling. It is creative, innovative and not one-size fits all. It is an untapped market, you should definitely do a little research, as I'm pretty sure this market would be a financial boon for your industry.

Sincerely,
Homeschool Charter Administrator, desperate for curriculum options

As a homeschooler who is also a teacher, I write a lot of my curriculum. Sometimes this is out of pure inspiration but more often than not, it's out of a pure lack of materials. There are so few curriculum materials on the market that are actually designed for homeschoolers, not just tweaked to fit the market. Don't believe me? I challenge you to find a language arts curriculum for middle school that is integrated with reading fiction and nonfiction, grammar, writing and spelling that is secular for public purchase and has a teacher's guide written for one on one instruction. (By the way, if you find it, please let me know- I'm desperately searching for this option!)

Yes, there are some options available for science and history. I'm a huge fan of Pandia Press and Intellego but what happens outside of those options? If a student doesn't have internet access readily available, Intellego isn't helpful. If a family doesn't like the interwoven approach of History Odyssey and wants a different option, what's out there? As a homeschool administrator, I want to offer a selection of options for my families, not just one curriculum that I personally love. I want to make creative curriculum available that focuses outside the worksheet for my families and gives them the opportunity and inspiration to extend learning.

If you're already homeschooling, you know exactly why it's important to find curriculum for homeschoolers. It's very frustrating to have a project that has "In your group" or "Talk to your partners"or "Meet with another group and share information."  It is a constant reminder that you are weird and you don't belong. It's annoying to constantly retool directions that don't match or correct your terms from "Discuss with your group," to "Tell me what you think."

Beyond just annoyance, it's expensive and difficult to use a science curriculum that isn't designed with individual instruction in mind. A middle school science lab guide is designed for 120ish students. I need science lab materials listed for one student- it's far too expensive for me to go out and by a giant container of ethanol for experiments when I need a tablespoon. If I had a classroom and a lab, it would be feasible, but my house is full of leftover chemicals I don't need right now.

Sometimes it's not just about changing the materials but changing the lesson. Traditional classroom instruction models don't work at the kitchen table. Each-one-teach-one or jigsaw lessons with one kid? Weird and unnecessary. Read the history text and answer the questions, day after day? Boring. Assignments that require a group dialogue? Irrelevant.

The best part about publishers rethinking the curriculum for homeschoolers is that it helps everyone, including classroom teachers!  Thinking about one-to-one instruction for curriculum helps teachers create flipped classrooms, intervention, afterschool RTI program instruction. It also encourages teachers and schools to move beyond the lecture/worksheet model. My son would laugh me out of the house if I stood up and gave him a 30 minute lecture and asked him to take notes. So I have to spend a lot of time taking the content for instruction and turning it into something engaging, interesting and analytical. If I could buy an option of this for my families that was fabulous but saved time and money, I would buy it today!

More and more homeschoolers are abandoning traditional classrooms for a huge host of reasons. It's time for publishers to see these families as customers and start making options that work for us too! I promise, if publishers take the leap, it will pay off in the end!