homeschool | Curriki Library

Choose Curriki for Your OER Library

May 9, 2018 by lhamm

By Kim Jones, Chairman and CEO, Curriki

When assembling a library of Open Educational Resources that will best meet their educational goals for their students, teachers have a lot of factors to consider. The resources have to be relevant. They have to meet standards. They have to make your life easier. They have to engage your students. They have to be economical – or, better yet, free. They have to be top-quality.

Where can you find all that? Curriki.

Why Curriki? Top Reasons

Here are the Top 10 reasons teachers and homeschoolers should use Curriki for their OER Library:

Curriki is free, a great alternative to costly textbooks.
Curriki’s Open Educational Resources are consistently top-notch – the nonprofit even won a 2017 CODiE award for the quality of its educational resources.
Curriki offers OER for every grade level from K-12.
Curriki offers OER in every subject area, from English to foreign languages to STEM and more.
Curriki OER is created by teachers for teachers – and also by select partners with expertise in the areas being taught, such as Learn Liberty, Oracle and the Constitution Center – for others for use, adapt and share at no cost.
Curriki curates resources into course-sequenced, standards-aligned units to make it easy to find materials.
Curriki gives teachers the opportunity to share the learning resources they are most proud of with other teachers.
Curriki OER is perfect for lesson plans, offering worksheets, activities, videos, interactive learning and more.
Curriki materials offer you complete flexibility, as they are easily revised or adjusted with no ownership rights.
Curriki has partnered with some awesome content providers to give your students the best educational experience — including NASCAR, Oracle, AT&T, Learn Liberty, PBS Kids, Smithsonian magazine and too many more to count.
Curriki offers more than 262,000 educator-vetted learning materials in all K-12 subject areas and in many formats — from individual lesson plans, instructional videos and units, to games and simulations.
Curriki’s library is constantly expanding
Curriki has long arms — with more than 559,000 members, it has reached more than 14 million users worldwide!
Curriki is community. Curriki’s online community of educators, learners and committed education experts works together to create quality materials that benefit teachers, parents and students globally.

Monthly Featured Resources

Every month we feature fresh resources on the Curriki home page. Drop by regularly to see what’s new and interesting! This month you’ll find two high school course-based collections:

English 10 – This course prepares high school sophomores for continued study in college preparatory work, often AP English Language or Literature. https://library.curriki.org/oer/English-10-26557/
AP Computer Science Principles Course– This course introduces students to the creative aspects of programming, abstractions, algorithms, large data sets, and more! https://library.curriki.org/oer/AP-Computer-Science-Principles-Course/

Find What You Need

The links below help you quickly find Curriki resources by grade span:

PreK
K-2
3-5
6-8
9-10
11-12

Browse Curriki’s entire resource library.

Support Curriki’s Mission

Curriki’s mission is to eliminate the gap between those who have access to high-quality education and those who do not. By supporting Curriki, you’re supporting the have-nots!

Join today at curriki.org. And spread the word!

Kim Jones is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Curriki. Kim is active in driving policy initiatives and is regularly featured as an honorary speaker on the impact of technology in education at influential meetings around the world. Learn more at Curriki.org.

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Follow Curriki on YouTube — we have a number of fascinating, educational new videos!

Summer Learning for Homeschoolers

July 19, 2017 by lhamm

By Lani deGuia, Guest Blogger and Curriki Member

Summer: it’s the time of year when school is officially done!

…or is it?

For many homeschooling parents, the learning doesn’t end in June. Homeschool can be extremely effective when implemented year round. This doesn’t mean the format for the school year strictly remains unchanged throughout the summer months. That could easily burn out children and parents alike. One of the key underpinnings of homeschooling is allowing the child’s curiosity drive learning.

Louvre Museum (Source: Pixabay.com)

Summer is the perfect opportunity to capitalize on that. Summer months are a good time to lay out flexible learning options for both content and a daily schedule. Several reasons for continuing homeschool throughout the summer include:

Maintaining structure and routine. Most children benefit from some type of routine as it helps foster a sense of well-being and purpose.
Providing extra time for re-teaching and remediation. Summer is the perfect time to regain ground on concepts that were a struggle during the year.
Avoiding summer slide. If skills are maintained throughout the summer, there is no opportunity to fall back on progress!
Focusing on passion projects. Make the child’s curiosity the driving force in what they want to learn and explore this summer. When kids are driving the direction of their learning, they stay engaged and appreciate the new knowledge and skills even more.
Experiencing the world-. Use summer months as a chance to go out and see what your communities have to offer through field trips.

Here are additional resources that can help you map out your experiential homeschooling summer plans!

Discovering National Parks

In this ArtsEdge lesson plan from the Kennedy Center, students will learn about the history of national parks and the connection to environmental and political activism. This is the perfect introduction before you explore a national park that is closest to your home. To get you started, check out for contacts for national parks from the American Museum of Natural History.

Museum of Online Museums

If the weather or your location limits museum excursions and exploration, check out this resource which hosts a directory of virtual field trip experiences. Your child is sure to get enthralled following a rabbit hole through the vast options in the directory!

Encyclopedia Smithsonian

Have a chance to visit the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. this summer? Whether you will or not, this resource can act as a guide through the various artifacts on display at the museum as well as an opportunity to research what you missed in more depth.

Fundamentals of Piano Practice

Is perfecting their inner Beethoven or Elton John on your child’s summer wish list? This is particularly good for older children who are self-directed and have prior experience with piano. This free online course is downloadable as a PDF and breaks down piano practice into a science. If guitar is more of their interest, check out this resource from the Wolfram Demonstration Project which shows demonstrations of 350 different guitar chords.

Make your own Craft Cartoons

Perhaps your child has a talent or interest in art? How much more fun is it to put humor and art together to create their own cartoon? This resource allows you to choose characters, set a language, and design your own comic strip. Finished comics can be printed or emailed to friends and family!

Have any additional homeschooling summer fun resources to share? We hope your homeschool “summer session” is off to a great start!

Lani deGuia is a Norfolk, VA-based Educational Consultant with experience writing and developing curriculum and managing school technology.

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Curriki in 2017: Who Uses Curriki, and Why Does It Matter?

January 3, 2017 by lhamm

By Kim Jones, CEO, Curriki

students Curriki believes technology plays a crucial role in breaking down the barriers between those who have access to high-quality education and those who do not. Curriki helps bridge this educational divide by providing free and open resources to everyone.

This is more important in 2017 than ever before, as technology continues to shrink our world and give Curriki access to more educators and learners.

With a community of over 10 million global users, Curriki encourages collaboration by educators with diverse experiences from around the world to develop peer-reviewed and classroom tested learning resources and to create a culture of continuous improvement.

Curriki would not be able to fulfill its ambitious mission without the enthusiastic participation of its wide array of users:

Who Uses Curriki?

Curriculum Teams! We provide group spaces for members to collaborate on curriculum development, share ideas, and support one another.
Educators! Teachers and homeschool parents are on the educational front lines, and Curriki provides an endless library of materials.
Parents! Curriki has pre-screened and reviewed materials so parents can easily find what they are looking for.
Pre-Service and New Teachers! Use the collective knowledge of the global community to develop your skills and lesson banks.
Content Providers! They generously share their materials & create learning resources for the Curriki community.
YOU! Join Curriki.org and join the effort to make high-quality educational materials available for all. It’s free!

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Back to School for Homeschoolers

September 27, 2016 by lhamm

By Janet Pinto, Chief Academic Officer & Chief Marketing Officer, Curriki

Crayons Homeschoolers have a unique challenge when a new school year starts because there’s no change in environment – kids live and learn in the same place. So how do you get kids engaged in and focused on learning again?

Making the New Year Special

Love to Know has some suggestions that include making sure homeschool kids have new school clothes and school supplies. The homeschooling website then divides its suggestions by age group:

For Younger Kids

Name Your School – Younger children enjoy giving their homeschool year a unique identity, so spend some time together creating a school name and mascot.
Start a Memory Book – Create a memory book to keep track of your child’s progress – either one each year, or one that will last throughout your child’s academic journey.
Throw a Back to School Party – Throw a back to school party to ignite your child’s excitement for the new school year.
Hold a Scavenger Hunt – Hide school supplies and small treats around your house and send your children on a scavenger hunt to collect what they need for the new school year.

For Older Children

Ask older kids for ideas on how they want to mark the new school year. Some ideas might include:

Design a school T-shirt
Create a special work area
Take a back to school field trip

Creating Back to School Traditions

Simple Homeschool offers 10 back to school traditions to use each year, such as serving up a special breakfast, taking an annual photo, marking the child’s height to celebrate their growth and more.

All Things with a Purpose offers the creative idea of throwing a “Not Back to School Party” with friends and family celebrating the fact that you don’t have to go back to school.

Share Your Ideas!

What did you do this year to make the first day back to homeschool special? Share your ideas here!

Janet Pinto

Janet Pinto, Chief Academic Officer & Chief Marketing Officer, leads and manages all of Curriki’s content development, user experience, and academic direction. Learn more at Curriki.org.

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