Courses for the Free Christian Curriculum
You have read my recruiting article for volunteer Christian teachers to produce video-based courses for my free Christian curriculum.
Here is what the program needs in the lower grades. I will be teaching the high school courses on social science and the humanities.
GRADES 1-3
Each course for grades 1-3 has 180 lessons. Each video lesson should be about 10 to 15 minutes long. Here are the courses I need.
Phonics
Literature
Mathematics
Science
Social studies
Samples of screencast videos are here: https://www.ronpaulcurriculum.com/public/department185.cfm
Science courses can be a mixture of narrated PowerPoint lessons and YouTube videos. The focus of grades 1-3 should be on animals and their environments. Kids love animals. They are ready to learn about them.
The homeschool teacher probably sits next to the student in grades 1-3. They watch together. Young students cannot write. So, the daily video lesson must be supplemented by a workbook of some kind. After a video lesson, the student is asked to do something. (This is easy to figure out in the math course.) The teacher and the child do the daily assignment together.
Ideally, older siblings will teach younger ones. This will help them become more confident about their studies.
For teaching math and phonics, use a screencast program and a cheap tablet. For information, go here.
The literature course should include lots of Bible stories. Read aloud. Then ask questions. Sample lessons:
https://www.ronpaulcurriculum.com/public/10731.cfm
https://www.ronpaulcurriculum.com/public/10732.cfm
A public domain book filled with Bible stories is here. Another is here.
Lists of children's books in the public domain are here.
The children's books by Thornton W. Burgess are wonderful. Most of them are in the public domain: pre-1926. A list of them (with publication dates) is here. Dover Books sells a set of his public domain books. You can legally make PDF copies of them, with the drawings.
Provide lessons on all of Aesop's fables. A public domain edition is here.
Social studies is a required course in many American states. Some American families will use this curriculum. Social studies can be on any aspect of society. Focus on how children live today or used to live in less prosperous times. This will help keep their attention. Do not focus on just one culture. Provide materials on life in other societies. In addition to your screencast lesson, you may use embedded YouTube videos.
A course on geography would work for third grade. Present lessons on what a nation is like, or what a river is like. Use YouTube videos.
If the U.S. government publishes something, such as a map, it is in the public domain.
If you have taught social studies to young children offer alternatives. But remember: the targeted market is the Third World.
GRADES 4-5
Each course in grades 4-7 has 144 video lessons plus 36 weekly writing assignments. Each course is structured on a 4/1 week. The fifth days is for students to write an essay. The only exception is mathematics. There is a weekly exam for mathematics instead of a writing assignment.
The video lessons must be about 20 to 25 minutes. Second, there is a daily reading assignment in the social sciences and humanities courses. These should be about 3,500 words. (A student should read no slower than 200 words per minute, but some will read slower.)
The video should talk them through the reading assignment. Explain what is important and why.
Here are the needed courses in grades 4-5.
English (grammar)
Literature
Mathematics
Science
History of Israel
For grammar, you could use any of these books as guides, which are in the public domain:
It is best to create your own grammar lessons. Diagram lots of sentences. Use a tablet. Assign lots of diagramming exercises. Help students learn the parts of speech. Use sentences from the daily literature assignment. Tie the grammar lessons to literature.
For literature, the works of Robert Lewis Stevenson are good. So is Kipling's The Jungle Book and his Just So Stories.
For the course on the history of Israel, follow the outline provided by De Graff, Promise and Deliverance. The books are copyrighted. Lecture through the book. Assign readings in the King James Bible. For information on Old Testament chronology, use these newsletters.
GRADES 6-7
English (grammar)
King James Bible
Mathematics
Science
Church history
Teach the King James Bible as literature. It is great literature. It is the greatest piece of literature ever produced by a committee. A good way to teach it as literature is to compare passages in a standard translation. Talk them through the differences. Why is the KJV more compelling as literature? This Bible is in the public domain: https://bit.ly/UnlockedBible.
It is time to teach students about writing style. Use this classic book:
Church history is easier to teach if you use biographies. Wikipedia's articles are in the public domain. You can edit these articles.
Use lists of the most important events in church history. Start here. There are also several books on these events.
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If you want to participate, do this.
1. Send me an email: garynorth@garynorth.com.2. In the subject box, write: Curriculum Volunteer.
3. Let me know which course(s) you want to teach. Tell me which public domain materials you will use unless you plan to create your own.
If I give you the go-ahead, you will then produce two sample lessons. Post them on your YouTube channel. It is free to set up a channel. Then send me the links. I will be able to judge your work.
Return to the page on the project: https://www.garynorth.com/public/22206.cfm.