I built this customizable literature-based K-12 homeschool curriculum, based on my experience as a homeschool parent. It's designed especially for intellectually curious kids who love to read.<p>One of the main benefits of homeschooling is the ability to design customized programs of study that let kids learn at their level of challenge in each subject. But since designing custom curricula from scratch requires a huge time commitment and familiarity with children's literature and academic materials, most homeschooling parents don't take advantage of this potential and instead opt for prepackaged curricula.<p>Great Books Homeschool eliminates a lot of the work involved in designing a complete and rigorous curriculum for homeschooled students. The website generates a default program of study for each student, then helps parents customize it. Transcripts and other records are generated automatically.<p>Pricing is normally subscription based, but we're offering complimentary access for twelve months to the first 50 users who sign up for our beta testing program. In return, beta testers are requested to complete a monthly questionnaire about their experience with the curriculum.<p>If you would like to participate in the beta testing program, please first create a free trial account at <a href="https://www.greatbookshomeschool.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.greatbookshomeschool.com</a>. Once signed in, go to <a href="https://www.greatbookshomeschool.com/parent/beta-application?via=hn" rel="nofollow">https://www.greatbookshomeschool.com/parent/beta-application...</a> and complete the application form.<p>Questions and comments are welcome!
I have a question about home schooling in general. I'm a teacher with 20+ years of mathematics teaching experience at a community college. I don't know how to teach physics, chemistry, literature, reading, grammar, biology, etc. I especially don't know how to teach such topics to children. I don't know how to spot a learning disability except in an extreme case or to know if a student likely needs special education.<p>What makes parents with no specialized training think they can do better than the public school system?<p>My sister homeschooled all 8 of her kids from kindergarten through high school and it shows. It especially shows among the younger kids. Three of the younger kids clearly needed special help and had learning disabilities but her pride prevented her from getting them tested or even acknowledging the possibility that she was wholly incapable of adequately teaching them.<p>What is it about teaching that makes people with no training think they can do better than trained professionals? Do such people think they can be a police officer without training? a nurse or doctor without training?<p>I don't intend this to be confrontational. I'm curious about the thought process. I know there are cases where a parent can be better than what is provided by the public school system but I think far more parents are homeschooling who shouldn't be. I assume you are the exception and your efforts at homeschooling are justified.
Interesting idea!<p>Anyone who likes the idea of a great books program should check out St. John's College in Annapolis MD and their curriculum:<p>Suggested book curriculum by year: <a href="https://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/undergraduate/great-books-reading-list" rel="nofollow">https://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/undergraduate/great-bo...</a><p>All in one PDF: <a href="https://www.sjc.edu/application/files/4115/4810/0934/St_Johns_College_Great_Books_Reading_List.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.sjc.edu/application/files/4115/4810/0934/St_John...</a><p>There's also the old Britannica Great books printed book set. You can just look at their book list and get them one by one when you're ready:<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Books_of_the_Western_World" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Books_of_the_Western_Wor...</a><p>Also, almost all of these books are old enough that their copyrights have expired so you can download them for free from the Gutenberg e-library: <a href="https://gutenberg.org/" rel="nofollow">https://gutenberg.org/</a><p>For example, here is a free copy of Plato's Gorgias:<p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1672/pg1672-images.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1672/pg1672-images.html</a><p>One feature I've wished for is some way to format these free books and make them more reader-friendly. That would save future readers time to do it themselves. I would pay for something like that.
Homeschool dad for 12 years here. I like the direction you are going, I see this as useful, productive, helpful. My concern is your pricing seems to be pretty far off from what homeschool parents generally pay. I would suggest something more in line with $40-$100 a year. more than that you will get a lot of hesitation, less than that, it might come across as not valuable.
$40/month for a list of books to check out at the library seems a bit much. Transcripts aren't difficult so what additional value do you offer for that price?
> It's designed especially for intellectually curious kids who love to read.<p>What does "intellectually curious" mean here exactly? The reasons people homeschool mostly seem to be about being (over)protective, which goes against it:<p>"Parents were asked which of the reasons they homeschooled was the most important reason. Figure 2 and table 4 show the most important reasons students were being homeschooled in 2003, as reported by parents of homeschooled students. Concern about the environment of other schools and to provide religious or moral instruction were the top two most important reasons cited. About a third of students had parents who cited concern about the environment of other schools as their most important reason for homeschooling (31 percent). Approximately another third of homeschooled students had parents who were homeschooling primarily to provide religious or moral instruction (30 percent). Sixteen percent of homeschooled students had parents whose primary reason for homeschooling was dissatisfaction with the academic instruction available at other schools, making this the third most common primary reason for homeschooling."<p><a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/homeschool/parentsreasons.asp" rel="nofollow">https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/homeschool/parentsreasons.asp</a><p>It would be great if you could help some to get some what they're missing from being shielded from other schools, but to make it sound like homeschooling is more efficient and that all the time saved enables more learning does not reflect the typical homeschool experience.<p>Also some do online charter school where a company gets thousands of dollars a year per student to give people lousy content (when there's great free content on Khan Academy) and no social connection. It seems pretty bleak. <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/education/comments/3r4w96/study_on_online_charter_schools_it_is_literally/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/education/comments/3r4w96/study_on_...</a>
I like the idea. I'm having a bit of trouble picturing exactly what I'd be getting though – what format are the book lists presented in, and what sorts of materials do you include with them?<p>A page with a couple sample emails that I could read without having to create an account would help me. Maybe there is one somewhere, but I couldn't find it.
From the overview by grade page [0]<p>> Note that the curriculum does not introduce writing this year. [...]<p>I find this strange. I have a lot of penmanship homework from my two years (!!) of kindergarten and first grade. It seems odd to me to not include it in kindergarten. Your reasoning seems to make sense to me, but I'd be tempted to teach in the way I was taught because it worked -- for better or worse -- for me.<p>Are there a developmental psychology resources that you use for making decisions like these?<p>---<p>From [0], you have<p>> We have includes Calico Spanish<p>It should be "We have included".<p>---<p>From [0] and from the subject guides drop-down<p>> Supervise your child's writing practice closely in the beginning to ensure that he or she is forming letters using the correct stroke direction and order. Incorrect habits established at this stage are difficult to unlearn later.<p>I don't see an inclusion of penmanship here anywhere. As I understand it, penmanship is incredibly important for the development of fine motor skills in children (note that girls will develop faster than boys in this area of study). Are there plans to include penmanship?<p><edit> Nevermind, I found it in the 3rd grade section.[1] </edit><p>---<p>> Allow your child to choose any easy readers, comic books or simple series books that appeal to him or her. The priority at this level is to establish the habit of reading for enjoyment.<p>Yes! I refused to learn to read until my mother got me a subscription to Sonic the Hedgehog (we had the first issue of the comic book series for a long, long time). After I got started in comic books, my reading habit was fueled by my own interests.<p>---<p>From [1]<p>> You should complement your child's science exploration by taking frequent trips to your local library and having him or choose nonfiction or science-related books to incorporate into independent reading time.<p>This is awkwardly phrased.<p>---<p>I could keep going. I want to keep going, but I've other tasks that need my attention. Thank you for creating this and I wish you luck in rolling it out!<p>[0] <a href="https://www.greatbookshomeschool.com/grades" rel="nofollow">https://www.greatbookshomeschool.com/grades</a>
[1] <a href="https://www.greatbookshomeschool.com/grades#Thi" rel="nofollow">https://www.greatbookshomeschool.com/grades#Thi</a>
Hello. I am truly not throwing rocks, because I think that a well-curated curriculum for this area of learning is very important.<p>Nevertheless, AI is upon us, so here is a link to a “Poe:Sage” answer to the question:<p>“what is a good homeschooling curriculum for k-12 based on ‘the great books’ of western culture.”<p>I hope you find this useful…<p><a href="https://poe.com/s/Um9NGaFBlpJNJpNwPFSk" rel="nofollow">https://poe.com/s/Um9NGaFBlpJNJpNwPFSk</a>