Spotlight on a homeschool momtrepreneur
Learn how a homeschool mom and software developer built Great Books Homeschool, a new secular, literature-based homeschooling program inspired by her own kids.
Note from Manisha: I recently connected with Julia through a homeschooling father I know. I was intrigued to learn about how she’d built a new secular homeschool curriculum inspired by her own experience educating her child from home, bringing together her talents as a developer and entrepreneur with her desire to create quality learning tools for her own child. I asked her to share her experience and work with all of you….
by Julia Kurnia, founder of Great Books Homeschool, a new customizable curriculum based on great books
From the time my first child was born, I knew that I wanted to homeschool. I've always been a voracious reader, and as a kid would spend hours every day reading children's literature (including surreptitiously during class at school). In college I learned foreign languages so that I could read Cervantes, Victor Hugo and Goethe in the original. My current career as an entrepreneur and programmer was inspired by classic motivational authors like Stephen Covey and Seth Godin. Though it's not my educational background, I loved reading about the latest advances in popular science books. I felt like all the books I'd discovered over the years were a treasure trove, and couldn't wait to share them with my children.
I also believe that a quality, customized homeschooling experience is the best education one can provide. One reason is that it allows students to cover the foundational subjects at their individual level of challenge without the inefficiencies of a group environment, freeing up much more time for self-directed exploration and projects. The resulting independence and creativity will be more important than ever in a world where technological progress is putting a premium on lifelong learning.
I wanted to give my children the best possible education, but I quickly learned that there was no single "best practice" for homeschooling. Approaches varied from standardized curricula that aimed to provide a replica of the classroom experience at home, to unschooling approaches that gave children full control over what to learn. While each philosophy had merits, they were often too dogmatic and as a result, unnecessarily limited the scope of education.
Figuring out a specific curriculum was even more of a challenge. Early on, we made a financial sacrifice to purchase an expensive "comprehensive" grade one package from one of the top homeschool curriculum providers in America. When it arrived, we found that it was far too easy (even though it had been advertised as rigorous), outdated and contained mostly unnecessary busy work. Some of the online curricula options were more modern and customizable, but they required kids to spend too much time in front of a screen. I liked a lot about the classical approach, but also wanted my kids to learn about technology and entrepreneurship and to study modern languages instead of Latin.
We eventually developed a common-sense hybrid approach to homeschooling, which combines a rigorous academic core, lots of great literature, and plenty of time and freedom to pursue individual interests and creative projects. It has worked well for our family: both of our sons are a year or two ahead of their age-matched peers in writing and math, read extensively for fun and have developed side projects like competitive chess, painting, building a website and even writing a science fiction novel.
Designing a curriculum from scratch ended up requiring an enormous amount of time as well as expense, as we researched, tried out and rejected many books and courses along the way. I thought how much of that work had been saved if what I was looking for - a challenging, complete and customizable gifted curriculum based on great books - were already available at the time I started homeschooling. So in 2022 I started Great Books Homeschool.
Great Books Homeschool is different from the options already out there in several ways. Most other literature-based curricula consist of either a physical package of books, or a PDF file containing reading materials. Great Books Homeschool is instead offered online as part of a homeschool planning tool that allows parents to customize the curriculum for each of their children, and automatically generates records and transcripts in the required formats.
The customizable online format makes it possible for us to offer a much broader range of materials than other curricula. There's a strong emphasis on classic literature (especially in high school) and history (we think we have one of the best collections of children's historical fiction out there), but also on things like computer programming, philosophy and astrophysics. Art is included as a serious subject on par with traditional academic disciplines. Our high school curriculum includes the core courses needed to qualify for admission to top universities, plus courses on remarkable biographies, futures studies, life skills and leadership. We don't produce our own material, but rather curate the best books and other learning resources we've found and organize them into a structured and complete K-12 curriculum. About 80% of the curriculum consists of books, but we also include some great movies, online courses and even graphic novels.
Great Books Homeschool is designed with gifted students in mind and is a great fit for intellectually curious kids and teens who love to read. It is secular, but not anti-religious (in fact our high school curriculum includes a religious studies elective). It requires parents to spend time reading aloud to children during the early grades, but can be completed independently by the time students are in middle school. The cost of using Great Books Homeschool is moderate: most of the books are available at local libraries, and the textbooks can often be purchased second-hand.
We will be running a beta program during the 2023-2024 academic year, starting in August. Beta program participants receive complimentary access to the Great Books Homeschool program, in return for providing monthly feedback about how the curriculum has been working out.
To apply to join the beta program, first sign up for a free account at our website, www.greatbookshomeschool.com. Once logged in, complete the application form at https://www.greatbookshomeschool.com/parent/beta-application?via=mod. The deadline to apply is July 31, 2023.
I always welcome the chance to connect with other homeschooling families. You can reach me with comments and questions at team@greatbookshomeschool.com or post them below.