Life curriculums are the latest buzz online and it’s making “back-to-school” more of a universal experience.
TikTok creator Elizabeth Jean started this trend last month. In a video, she talked about her agenda for the month of July.
It included lots of cookbooks so she could master the chocolate chip cookie, a few books that help her hone her “inner alchemy” and a memoir.
In the past, she’s watched movies that received the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival as a part of her coursework. There’s no hard and fast rules to this.
“What would my inner child want to be spending time on?” That’s the question she asks herself every time she picks out what to study.
Social media users are posting their own curriculums, from taking on flower arranging to reading. One user, @liveplanted, a mom, said she made similar curriculums for herself and her two daughters, 5 and 2 years old, whom she homeschools.
The curriculum for a 2-year-old
The approach toward the younger child is more “observational‚” she says. While the younger one is developing language through word books, dictionaries with pictures and flashcards, her older daughter is working her way through a large collection of William Steig books.
He is a well-known illustrator and children’s book author who created the character Shrek, which ultimately inspired the DreamWorks studios’ animated films. “We really love storytelling,” the mother says in the video.
In a separate video, the mom of two reveals her own syllabus. Here are a few highlights from her reading list to inspire her to sew and become better at the practicalities of homeschooling:
- Lena Corwin – Cloth: 100 Artists. A look into the heritage techniques in weaving, quilting and dyeing.
- River’s Daughter. A memoir about finding courage in outdoor life.
- Homeschool Hacks: How to Give Your Kid a Great Education Without Losing Your Job (or Your Mind). This book provides solid tips and tricks, including how to get past the legalities of homeschooling.
- Homeschool Adventures: Learning through the Power of Field Trips. It explores the use of adventure as a tool for learning and ideas on where to take your children.
- How to homeschool the kids you have: Advice from the Kitchen Table. This book helps parents create a robust academic program for their children.
Physical exercise is a part of the curriculum for the whole household, although this mom is challenging herself to walking 10,000 steps and attending a handful of workout classes a week. The comments are flooded with questions from parents on how to make a curriculum for their own young children.
Her structure gives her and her children the flexibility to explore new concepts in their own unique way and pace.
Homeschooling on the rise
Jean’s story, along with others’, signals a broader shift toward adaptable learning experiences and an emphasis on a tailor-made and practical curricula. This trend parallels the rising interest in homeschooling, too.
According to a Washington Post analysis, published two years ago, homeschooling is the “fastest growing form of education” in the U.S.
The homeschooling community is diverse and encompasses a wide range of political, religious and educational beliefs, as Kelsey Dallas reported for the Deseret News in 2023.
“It now carries less of a stigma among liberals, as well as among people who don’t regularly attend church,” reported Dallas.
The pandemic helped many parents become more comfortable educating their children at home. Many even replaced public schools’ online learning models during COVID-19 with their own approach to teaching. Other parents have listed culture wars — related to gender, race and religion — as the reason for taking on homeschooling, as Deseret News opinion editor Jay Evensen wrote in 2023.
But aside from these circumstantial reasons, many parents are simply looking to meet their children where they are or have bigger ambitions that their local public school curriculum can’t fulfill.
Will Estrada, the senior counsel for Home School Legal Defense Association, told the Deseret News that the largest growth has been among families that consider themselves left of center or low-income.
A recent study found that 27% of homeschooling parents identify as politically independent and 32% as politically moderate.
At the heart of these findings is a simple fact: “Every parent loves their child,” said Estrada, a homeschool graduate himself who has dedicated his life to defending parental rights. “They don’t want someone else telling them how to raise their child.”