How do you make your own curriculum?

[Kathleen in NJ]

I am not talking about piecing together curriculum.  I am wanting to make my own curriculum.  I have taught in co op classes for years and have basically made my own curriculum's for those classes.  Several history classes and a writing and literature class.  I have all of my lesson plans for what I did.

 

I am trying to figure out how to go about making my own curriculum (that I could sell).  

 

 I have no idea how to figure out what is ok to put in and not put in a curriculum that I plan to sell.  I have other curriculum's made by homeschoolers (that I bought) that tell you to read this book and that book and do an activity out of this book.  I am trying to figure out how I would know what is ok to put into something I make and what is not.

 

I am not sure where to start.

 

Any advice?

 

Any one on here that has made their own curriculum (to sell)?

[Hunter]

You might like these books.

 

Obviously :lol: The Well Trained Mind

http://www.amazon.com/Well-Trained-Mind-Guide-Classical-Education-ebook/dp/B001NLKZSM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1428533707&sr=1-1&keywords=the+well+trained+mind

 

Kathryn Stout Design-a-Study

http://www.designastudy.com

 

Luke's Lists

http://www.currclick.com/browse.php?keywords=luke%27s+list&manufacturers_id=685&x=0&y=0&author=&artist=&pfrom=&pto=&sdate_from=&sdate_to=&stime_from=&stime_to=

 

Core Knowledge Scope and Sequence

http://www.coreknowledge.org/download-the-sequence

 

The Educated Child

http://www.amazon.com/The-Educated-Child-Parents-Preschool/dp/0684872722/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1428533658&sr=1-1

 

There are outlines at the end of the longer articles in Worldbook Encyclopedia, that are VERY helpful. For example check out the ouline at the end of "American Literature".

 

OOP, but still available used is The Complete Home Learning Source Book. The journal articles are examples of the author writing her own curriculum.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Home-Learning-Source-Book/dp/0609801090/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1428533928&sr=1-1&keywords=homeschool+sourcebook

[FO4UR]

Are you asking about the legality of quoting other books?  I think avoiding that issue is why some use public domain texts.  

 

That said, if you are putting together a curriculum that would require your customers to purchase their work, I think it would not be difficult to get permission.  idk.   :lurk5:

 

 

 

I write a bunch for my dc, and I started saving it a while back.  I've been self-publishing things that are not a copyright issue and things that I think other HS moms would benefit from. It does take some $ to start up b/c you have to get a license for any fonts you are going to use.  Those are $$$!!!!  If you don't already have the software required to create secure documents, that's a chunk of $.  Time.  It takes time to move things from "This works for ME," to "Other HS moms can understand how to use this."  I got started for the sake of my own dc. If I don't ever make much $ from my books, I'm OK with that b/c I made them for them anyway. I do hope that I am building a future career in teaching/tutoring/founder of the most amazing private school ever as I work, HS and write...perhaps 10 years down the road...so IOW, I wouldn't put the effort and $ into it unless you have motives beyond selling them b/c the market is absolutely saturated.

 

Also, things that work in a co-op are not necessarily going to work for HSers.  It's important to understand the dynamics of home-homeschooling if you want to sell to homeschoolers. 

[G5052]

I looked into this and have a friend who supported her family ten years ago by speaking at homeschool conferences, giving workshops, and selling her materials as well as others.  

 

I developed a variety of custom modules for teaching science and also have materials I developed for teaching grammar and writing.

 

It's fine for very part-time income because you want to do it.  But it's a huge amount of work too.  At the time I decided that it was too much for me. We needed real income without that much time away from family.  And my friend had to close her business.  The homeschool conference end of it tanked, people buy far less from small homeschool vendors than they used to, and Amazon sold many of the things she did for less money.

 

There are people who sell downloads and make a little money.  But there's also a lot of free materials out there and that hurts you too.

[Hunter]

I agree the market is saturated. You need to do something unique or do it so much better than what is already written.

 

I'm just so dissatisfied with a lot of what is on the market, but someone is going to have to do it better, cheaper, and be totally up to date on eBook technology and preferably also sell it in hardcopy at Amazon with prime shipping, to get my attention.

 

I think we are reaching the peak of some trends. I sense some radical changes in the nearish future. It's hard to predict whether it will be soon soon, or just soonish, but when it hits, I think it will be fast, and only people that started getting ready will be able to deliver and grab the first rush and secure their place as the originals that all the wannabes later copy. 

 

I predict a major back-to-basics movement like what came after the New Math of the cold war era. I predict an increase in moms with less formal education and smaller homeschool budgets again. I think a lot of the big spending and highly educated families will return to private schools, soon. I do NOT think we are going to return to 1980's/1990's style homeschooling; it's a new day. But...I predict some big changes coming and I don't think what is currently available is what people are going to be looking for. I think they will prefer the oldschool stuff to what is on the market now, if that is all they have to choose from, but that they will really want something quite different.

 

The people that will be making the money are those that can predict the coming changes, are fully prepared to meet the demand at it's swell, and are QUALIFIED to do it RIGHT.

[FO4UR]

I agree the market is saturated. You need to do something unique or do it so much better than what is already written.

 

I'm just so dissatisfied with a lot of what is on the market, but someone is going to have to do it better, cheaper, and be totally up to date on eBook technology and preferably also sell it in hardcopy at Amazon with prime shipping, to get my attention.

 

I think we are reaching the peak of some trends. I sense some radical changes in the nearish future. It's hard to predict whether it will be soon soon, or just soonish, but when it hits, I think it will be fast, and only people that started getting ready will be able to deliver and grab the first rush and secure their place as the originals that all the wannabes later copy. 

 

I predict a major back-to-basics movement like what came after the New Math of the cold war era. I predict an increase in moms with less formal education and smaller homeschool budgets again. I think a lot of the big spending and highly educated families will return to private schools, soon. I do NOT think we are going to return to 1980's/1990's style homeschooling; it's a new day. But...I predict some big changes coming and I don't think what is currently available is what people are going to be looking for. I think they will prefer the oldschool stuff to what is on the market now, if that is all they have to choose from, but that they will really want something quite different.

 

The people that will be making the money are those that can predict the coming changes, are fully prepared to meet the demand at it's swell, and are QUALIFIED to do it RIGHT.

 

 

Interesting.

 

I think as CC is both more admired and despised, it's going to create the new trend, whatever that may be.  

[G5052]

I agree the market is saturated. You need to do something unique or do it so much better than what is already written.

 

I'm just so dissatisfied with a lot of what is on the market, but someone is going to have to do it better, cheaper, and be totally up to date on eBook technology and preferably also sell it in hardcopy at Amazon with prime shipping, to get my attention.

 

I think we are reaching the peak of some trends. I sense some radical changes in the nearish future. It's hard to predict whether it will be soon soon, or just soonish, but when it hits, I think it will be fast, and only people that started getting ready will be able to deliver and grab the first rush and secure their place as the originals that all the wannabes later copy. 

 

I predict a major back-to-basics movement like what came after the New Math of the cold war era. I predict an increase in moms with less formal education and smaller homeschool budgets again. I think a lot of the big spending and highly educated families will return to private schools, soon. I do NOT think we are going to return to 1980's/1990's style homeschooling; it's a new day. But...I predict some big changes coming and I don't think what is currently available is what people are going to be looking for. I think they will prefer the oldschool stuff to what is on the market now, if that is all they have to choose from, but that they will really want something quite different.

 

The people that will be making the money are those that can predict the coming changes, are fully prepared to meet the demand at it's swell, and are QUALIFIED to do it RIGHT.

 

Yes, my friend who was making money with curriculum 10 years ago has often said that cheap + quality + fast delivery wins hands down these days.  What she did wasn't cheap, and a lot of what she sold was also a relationship with her.  She talked with them at conferences, talked with them over the phone, and had pictures of her family in the catalog.  They strived to be quick on shipping, but they weren't Amazon in terms of speed. Sometimes it took them a few weeks during conference season, and people accepted that then.  Not now though.

 

The last year they went to conferences, she said that they watched person and after person compare their prices on their phones or from Internet print-outs that they brought along.  And many walked away.

[FO4UR]

Yes, my friend who was making money with curriculum 10 years ago has often said that cheap + quality + fast delivery wins hands down these days.  What she did wasn't cheap, and a lot of what she sold was also a relationship with her.  She talked with them at conferences, talked with them over the phone, and had pictures of her family in the catalog.  They strived to be quick on shipping, but they weren't Amazon in terms of speed. Sometimes it took them a few weeks during conference season, and people accepted that then.  Not now though.

 

The last year they went to conferences, she said that they watched person and after person compare their prices on their phones or from Internet print-outs that they brought along.  And many walked away.

 

 

I saw a lovely little B&M homeschool store close b/c people would come in to browse, compare curriculum, and get advice from the store-owners.  But then, most customers ordered online.  Don't complain about not having the B&M store if you aren't willing to pay $3 more to have hands-on shopping and real-life advice from a HS veteran, kwim.  

[Hunter]

I see some potential things politically and in the public schools and colleges, that have nothing to do with homeschooling, but if and when they happen, homeschooling will be drastically affected.

 

I think we are going to see some HUGE changes happening in the USA, and I think the dominoes are going to fall FAST.

 

I think we are going to a large shifting of WHO homeschools, rather than just a shifting of HOW current homeschoolers homeschool.

 

 

[Farrar]

My understanding of the legalities is that you can tell people to read a text or do an activity from a text without any issue. You can also quote a text, but only in a limited way. For example, you could take a math problem from a book with attribution, but not a whole page of problems.

 

I agree that the market is pretty full for *most* things. There are some things people are looking for - more options for secular science or geography for example, an all in one language arts program that really works, a good US history for middle to upper elementary school... I'm sure there are other specific things. But to do those things might be a particular calling.

[happypamama]

I saw a lovely little B&M homeschool store close b/c people would come in to browse, compare curriculum, and get advice from the store-owners.  But then, most customers ordered online.  Don't complain about not having the B&M store if you aren't willing to pay $3 more to have hands-on shopping and real-life advice from a HS veteran, kwim.  

I wonder if part of that is because they want to look at something in person but then purchase in PDF form.  I'm sure I've been guilty of that at times, although probably not from any specific B&M homeschool store, because I've never seen such a thing.  (Oh, it would be nice, though!  Especially if they had things like science materials in small packages, portioned for using with just a couple of children, rather than an entire classroom; it's frustrating to have to buy a huge package of something, only to use a tiny amount of it.)  But I am sure I've gone to conventions or whatever and have looked at stuff because sometimes flipping through actual paper is the best way to get a feel for something, but then I've purchased the PDF online because PDF is a better deal for multiple children.

 

Hunter, I hope your predictions for changes in the US and how homeschooling goes don't mean bad things!  (Although, since I already live in a high regulation state, maybe we won't be as affected.)  I see a lot of people homeschool because they don't want their children in a public school for either academic or religious reasons (or both), but they can't afford private school.  If private or even public charter schools were options for them (we have, for instance, a Montessori charter school that some former homeschoolers like a lot), they'd opt for those.  I don't know how many of our local homeschoolers homeschool as part of a larger lifestyle; that'd be an interesting discussion.

[Southern Ivy]

I see some potential things politically and in the public schools and colleges, that have nothing to do with homeschooling, but if and when they happen, homeschooling will be drastically affected.

 

I think we are going to see some HUGE changes happening in the USA, and I think the dominoes are going to fall FAST.

 

I think we are going to a large shifting of WHO homeschools, rather than just a shifting of HOW current homeschoolers homeschool.

I would LOVE to hear more of your thoughts on this - actually, on all of your thoughts concerning a change in homeschooling. Care to start a new thread with more a more in depth view point? Pretty please! 

[Hunter]

I would LOVE to hear more of your thoughts on this - actually, on all of your thoughts concerning a change in homeschooling. Care to start a new thread with more a more in depth view point? Pretty please! 

 

If someone ELSE starts a thread on this topic, I'll contribute. I'm a bit fragile right now. I'm not up to hosting a debate, or feeling like I need to defend myself. I'd need to be able to pull out of the discussion, and not feel like I need to "like" what everyone says, no matter what they say.

 

The stuff I see on the news scares me, not excites me. Some, I worry will be bad. People are wonderfully adaptable though, and I think the dust often settles quickly and then it's just different, and sometimes even better.

 

A general thread about topics in the news that might affect the future of homeschooling would be an interesting thread for everyone. Someone healthier and with better social skills than me would need to host it, though. It could get really hot really fast.

 

I would host it in the General Homeschooling subforum and I would require people to stay focused on how that news topic might affect HOMESCHOOLING instead of focusing on the NEWS TOPIC itself. If moderators got involved it would be easier to to moderate as all post not focusing on HOMESCHOOLING could be removed as off topic instead of having to decide if the post was just generally inappropriate.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

Hunter, I'll do it. I'm going broader -- just a thread on "Homeschooling into the Future: Changes?" kind of thing, here in the General Ed forum.

[Hunter]

Hunter, I'll do it. I'm going broader -- just a thread on "Homeschooling into the Future: Changes?" kind of thing, here in the General Ed forum.

 

Thanks!!!  :grouphug:

[stutterfish]

The US market might be saturated, but the UK home educator market is increasing and needs secular resources that are geared to them, rather than the US market. Although a lot of families in the UK have a fairly relaxed approach in the younger years, once their kids get to age 10-13 there's a gap of a few years before kids are ready to start exam courses and there's not a lot available in the UK that fits. A good language arts course, similar to those available in the US, but with UK spelling and totally secular, would be useful, particularly if it was geared towards catch-up for pre-teens with little formal experience. If someone could write a biology and physics course in the style of Ellen McHenry's 'The Elements', that would be perfect! :)