Reusable Curriculum

[KaceeM]

I am in the process of developing a new curriculum. We originally were going to use traditional workbooks but as development progressed the idea of using dry erase materials that could be filled in different ways depending on the lesson was brought up. Since the workbooks are not fully finished and edited we still have the opportunity to switch but we don't know how well it would go over so that's where you guys come in. Would you be interested in a program like this? No workbooks, minimal activity pages, reusable dry erase materials, plus flashcards/charts, all planned out with corresponding crafts, literature, etc. The curriculum covers Language Arts and Reading, Math, Science, History and Art.

Edited September 11, 2018 by KaceeM

[Arcadia]

My side of my family won’t because we somehow don’t fancy flash cards and dry erase markers. DS12 used up a lot of alcohol wipes to get that perfect clean look after erasing. DS13 and I can smell expo markers that are supposedly odorless. 

Some of my husband’s relatives do like dry erase markers and white boards. My husband’s brother and wife both love flash cards so their kids are forced to use flash cards. So I could see BIL or his wife buying your curriculum for their 10 year old or 13 year old. They are the kind that would buy Barron’s flash cards sets because they don’t want their kids to spend so much time on electronic flash cards like Anki, Quizlet.

[purpleowl]

No. I prefer to buy consumable things in pdf format so I can print out what I need for each kid. 

Also, I need to keep a portfolio of student work per my state's laws, so it's helpful to have actual completed pages of completed work that I can use for that.

[MeaganS]

No for me either. That just sounds messy and not that great. I agree that I'd rather have a pdf I could print. Or just the one piece that I could rebuy rather than needing to buy a whole curricula again. 

[8filltheheart]

We wouldn't be interested, but we don't use workbooks, activity sheets, or flash cards.

[Lecka]

I like the idea, but it is too smeary here.  

I think people who want to can use a page protector so easily, too.  

Really it is the kind of thing I like but other than white boards all my experience has been that it is smeary and my kids wipe away their own writing by accident as they keep writing.  And then they have dry erase marker on their wrist sometimes.  

They do fine with a white board I think because it is larger.  

I also sometimes like to keep things to be able to compare and see progress.  

Edit:  really it’s something I would like to have work out, but ime my kids smear their own writing.  My daughter is left-handed and my older son will drag his wrist across everything if he goes back to do anything at the top of the page.  I think.  

If it doesn’t actually smear or rub, there will be lines if a button or watch drags across, and it looks dingy pretty fast.  

Is this just me?  Lol. 

I think for my daughter who is left-handed, she is just going to be dragging her hand across what she has just written no matter what?  I have not figured out any tricks for this if they are out there.  

Obviously I know page protectors work great for many..... so it must work for other kids.  

Edited September 11, 2018 by Lecka

[regentrude]

I would not have been interested.

1. We never used any workbooks/"activity" sheets/flash cards etc. 

2. I hate the smell of dry erase markers, the plastic waste, the chemicals.

Edited September 11, 2018 by regentrude

[Lecka]

I am drawn to it with one son who does not do as well with pencils (but better now that he is older) and did GREAT with the ease of erasing a dry erase marker written on a white board.  

But it wouldn’t work the same with a page protector for him.  

[Farrar]

My kids are past the age you're talking about, but maybe? It would really depend on the other elements. But we were heavy users of white boards.

I think from a practical standpoint, you'll likely be better off just making it consumable paper. Then, if it does well enough, produce the whiteboards as an option for an extra cost.

[KaceeM]

Thank you for all of the feedback! We ran this poll on our Facebook page as well and got some great feedback there as well. It seems the general consensus is that it SOUNDS like a great idea but the execution might not match up to what we hope for it. I believe we have decided to offer the consumables as PDF only, provide certain dry erase materials (things that will be used often such as number bond mats, tens frames, etc) and make the rest of the program non-consumable. The hope is to make the program affordable, and usable with multiple children as well as making it easy to go back and review/redo concepts without having to make entire consumable review materials.

[nixpix5]

I am late to the game but I too thing staying as a consumable pdf is ideal. We do use dry erase boards daily but they are easy enough to implement. If I want to make a worksheet dry erase I slide them into plastic pockets that I bought for a buck at the dollar store and they are instantly dry erase. 

[Petrichor]

3 hours ago, nixpix5 said:

I am late to the game but I too thing staying as a consumable pdf is ideal. We do use dry erase boards daily but they are easy enough to implement. If I want to make a worksheet dry erase I slide them into plastic pockets that I bought for a buck at the dollar store and they are instantly dry erase. 

Pretty much this. Though I prefer just photocopying a spiral bound workbook. Then we have the flexibility of using whatever we want to write on it.

I do like the idea of laminated number bond pages, tens frames, times tables, 100s chart, clock face, number lines, etc.

I would probably buy a small workbook of laminated math reusables like that, especially if it's spiral bound or otherwise able to lay flat. But I would be unlikely to invest in a whole new math curriculum just because something like that was included. No offense, lol, I just happen to like what I'm using ?