By this point in the process, you have lots of content and a good idea of where you’d like to take it. Today, let’s look at putting the pieces together.
Now that you have a sense of how much content you can write about your topic, what size lessons fit it the best? Do you have enough for a series of daily lessons? Would weekly serve your topic better? If you have a class that encourages a lot of independent exploration of the topic, be sure to give the students ample time to do that.
Next, think about how parents will track their child’s progress through the material. Do you want to provide quizzes or a way for the parents to grade their child’s understanding or do you want to keep the treatment of your subject lighter and let it up to the parents to grade their child’s work if desired? If it is a traditional subject like math, I’d encourage you to provide a few quizzes or review sheets that could be used as such. If it is a more supplemental topic like the history of cars, a quiz isn’t as necessary, however for SchoolhouseTeachers.com, we generally ask for at least one quiz or test in each class for the parents who wish to use that method.
The final step is to lay out your material with the proper headings, subheads, and activities. Be as consistent in your formatting as possible; it makes the material easier for parents to skim and organize to fit their days. If you provide worksheets or assignments that have clear right and wrong answers, be sure to provide an answer key. If you assign things like essay questions or writing assignments, an answer key is optional, though you may want to consider offering parents some suggestions of things they can look for in their student’s finished work.
Keep in mind that your course may be used by learners of all types. When I write curriculum, I always lean toward printable worksheets and written assignments because that is the type I always preferred as a child. I have to go back through the material and specifically add hands-on ideas, projects, and other methods for the child to show what he has learned that aren’t completely dependent on writing.
When it comes time to pitch your class idea to me, there are few things I’d like to see. I need a cover page with your contact information on it, a query letter where you share the overall idea of your class, an outline of what the class will cover, and the first lesson (or first few lessons). The outline does not have to be complete; I just need to know that you know where you are going with the material.
SchoolhouseTeachers.com compensates authors for their classes through exposure and advertising space. We currently serve over 5,000 members around the world, and that number is growing monthly. We also offer free advertising space in The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, which is distributed to tens of thousands of readers each quarter and promoted to hundreds of thousands of fans through social media.
I am very excited to meet with you at the 2016 Write2Ignite conference! If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below or feel free to email me anytime at bhudson@theoldschoolhouse.com. I look forward to seeing you soon!
Read: How to Write a Query for SchoolhouseTeachers.com Part One.
Read: How to Write a Query for SchoolhouseTeachers.com Part Two.
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Bonnie Rose Hudson lives in central Pennsylvania. Along with spending time with her family and writing, making kids smile is her favorite thing to do. Her heart’s desire is for every child to feel the love of God and know how special they are to Him. She loves creating curriculum and working for SchoolhouseTeachers.com, the curriculum arm of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, as the site’s executive editor. At TOS, she found a place where her love of God and history combine with her love of writing to bring encouraging, educational, and entertaining material to students and their families. She would love for you to visit WriteBonnieRose.com to discover how you can write for the homeschool market.
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