A Special Way to Bless Families With Curriculum

Did you know that there is a way you can share your talents and passions that will bless other homeschooling families and your own family as well?

SchoolhouseTeachers.com, the curriculum arm of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, publishes educational content on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, and we want you to be a part of creating the content we offer on the site. Everyone who contributes regularly receives a free membership the entire time they are part of our team. In addition, there is an opportunity to earn free advertising for your website or business, depending on the material contributed.

There are two main ways you can contribute, as a Schoolhouse Teacher or a Star Contributor. The Teachers are responsible for all of their content that is shared on the site. This section would include teachers of traditional subjects, such as math or writing, as well as a growing list of elective courses, including Social Justice, Sewing, Nature/Outdoors, Filmmaking, and many others.

Much of our Schoolhouse Dailies content is produced in a team environment by our Star Contributors. While a few Star Contributors develop their curriculum independently, many work as an online team to create much of the material you see on our Dailies tab.

Let me show you some examples of each type of writing. There is some overlap between what defines a “Schoolhouse Teacher” and what defines a “Star Contributor,” but this should give you a good feel for the types of things each write.

Schoolhouse Teachers

Schoolhouse Teachers provide:

1) A monthly greeting. This is something that is short and basic that introduces you, your vision for the course, and might share something related to the new month that is beginning.

2) A monthly lesson. We ask for four weekly lessons a month (except during the holidays and a few other times we can discuss) OR one very meaty, monthly lesson. Our teachers each have their own unique way of presenting material, and we will do everything that we can to work out the best arrangement for both you and the site. Some subjects cover a different theme each month, such as various topics for Literature Kits or Lapbooking. Others simply progress through a subject logically, such as learning a language, math, or a musical instrument.

3) An activity of some kind. We want the students to have some way to practice or act on the material you have taught. It has been exciting to see all the various ways our teachers have created this element. Some teachers, such as Charlene Johnson with Pre-Algebra and Tyler Hogan with Geography, include printable worksheets with their lessons. Some include assignments the students need to complete independently. Some provide a mixture of both. We just want the student to have a way to show what he/she knows.

4) One other element several of our teachers like to include is a short video, either once a week, once a month, or periodically throughout the course. Kurt Hoffman, who taught Social Justice, included a short video where he could talk to the students briefly each week. Jerry Jennings taught beginning and intermediate guitar via mostly video-based lessons, just as Nancy Blue is teaching beginning violin through the use of video. With the ever-changing advancements in technology, I’m pretty sure this element of the lessons will continue to change and vary from person to person. But please don’t let the idea of video or technology intimidate you. It is NOT required, but we also don’t want you to feel limited to the printed page.

There have been more than 60 teachers who have worked with SchoolhouseTeachers.com since it launched in March 2012. There are around 40 teachers who are working with us right now, with new classes starting every month.

What sorts of classes are we looking for?

This is one of the aspects of my job that makes it exciting. I may begin a day looking for a foreign language teacher and end the day with a lead on an archaeology teacher. We never know who God is going to bring to the site next. Some classes we are actively looking for teachers for. Other teachers find us, such as Kurt Hoffman, who talked to us about his ideas and shared his  amazing social justice book for teens with us, which we brainstormed with him to turn into a  class . . . about how teens can fight to end global slavery!

Here are some of the classes we are looking to fill currently:

• Foreign languages—German, Latin, Greek, English as Second Language, Arabic, and additional Hebrew courses that would continue on from the Introduction to Hebrew Evonne Mandella provided

• Science classes—we are looking for multiple science classes for various ages from elementary through high school, including forensic science, Earth science, paleontology from a Creationist worldview, and others

• Reading comprehension (to join a couple of other reading-related offerings on the site)

• Math—various grade levels

• History—you could choose almost any focus here including US, English, world history, Middle Ages, the history of a specific nation or continent, etc. At the site today, we have a Classical History course (36 weeks, completed and archived, available for use by parents at any time); two Asia history courses (one archived and one running “live,” or currently); and we provide a good deal of history to younger students through our Figures in History (currently running) offering. As you can see, we have room for American history courses, especially!

• Additional classes for music or instruments

• Writing for reluctant writers

• Hands-on courses such as wilderness survival, CPR and first aid, flight and rocketry studies, robotics, and shop classes.

• Classes just for preschoolers

If you’d like to talk to us about teaching any of those classes, or another one that you are skilled in, please send Bob Irvin, our Executive Editor at SchoolhouseTeachers.com, an e-mail and let him know! You can reach him at birvin@thehomeschoolmagazine.com. We’ll be happy to talk to you about it. In exchange for becoming a Schoolhouse Teacher, you receive exposure to the customer base of both SchoolhouseTeachers.com and The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine through social media, blasts, newsletters, and other advertising.

Star Contributors

The final way you can write for SchoolhouseTeachers.com is by being a Star Contributor. I LOVE being a Star Contributor. I started volunteering with SchoolhouseTeachers.com in March of 2012, and I can’t begin to tell you what a blessing it has been!

The main difference between the Star Contributors and the Teachers is that Star Contributors have the option of working together in a team environment to produce material, whereas our teachers generally create all of their content individually. Some of our team projects have included Everyday Easels and This Day in History. Or, you may prefer to develop a project on your own as several of our contributors have done on projects such as Ditch the Desk, Pre-K Activities: Read and Play, Schoolhouse Spelling, and many others. You can see a snapshot of the Dailies we are looking for volunteers to help write here, but the possibilities for projects are almost limitless!

How to get started

Whether you contribute as a Schoolhouse Teacher or a Star Contributor, you’ll be serving other families with your talents and gifts, and you will receive a free membership to the site for your own family as well.

If you’re not sure where you think you might fit at SchoolhouseTeachers.com, that’s OK, too! We’ll figure it out together! Working for the site is so much more than a professional commitment. It involves being part of a team whose mission is to glorify the Lord in all we do and write and to bless homeschoolers around the world in every way that we can. We want to talk to high schoolers, parents, teachers, grandparents, and writers with a heart for kids. There is no strict set of requirements you have to meet. Just introduce yourself, share your ideas, and let’s see if we can find a way to work together.

Contact us

If you think you’d like to explore being a Schoolhouse Teacher, e-mail Bob Irvin, Executive Editor of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, at birvin@thehomeschoolmagazine.com.

If you think you’d like to explore being a Star Contributor, e-mail Julie Coney, Schoolhouse Dailies Editor, at jconey@thehomeschoolmagazine.com.

If you could, please also do me a favor. When you e-mail either Bob or Julie, could you copy me? I’d love to meet you! You can find me at bhudson@thehomeschoolmagazine.com.

And, if you’re not sure who to e-mail, send a note to all three of us! We’ll help you find the best fit! I hope we hear from you soon!

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 creates curriculum for SchoolhouseTeachers.com as a member of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s® Star Contributors Team and would love to tell you more about how you can join the team. Please stop by and meet the star of her children’s series at Exploring with Jake, or visit her at her author’s website at http://writebonnierose.com/.