Texas TEFA families: how I would spend $2,000 on reading and writing
If you homeschool in Texas and were accepted into Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA), you have $2,000 for this school year. Here is how I would cover reading and writing without spending most of it.
My short list
- Reading: the UFLI Foundations teacher manual. About $70 plus shipping from Ventris Learning. Clear, explicit phonics you can teach at home.
- Writing: Writing Our World®. $250 for one student for one year. The full scope and sequence, from the sentence to the multi-paragraph essay, plus a certificate of completion once you teach your student all the way through.
- One book for you: The Writing Rope™. If you read one book about how writing works, make it this one.
That is about $320, and you still have most of your account for everything else.
Yes, you can teach writing in 15 minutes a day
I teach this curriculum myself, at a table with my students in East Nashville. If you use it consistently and follow the lessons as written, you will see your student change as a writer. Here is what one lesson looks like at your kitchen table:
- Learn a few new vocabulary words together.
- Take a quick Google Earth trip to the place you are writing about, so your student has something real to say.
- Teach the writing goal. I show you. We try it together.
- Your student does a short free write on their own.
Same routine every day. That is the point. Your student always knows what comes next.
How to buy it with TEFA funds
- Log in to your TEFA account in the Odyssey marketplace.
- Search "Writing Our World".
- Add it to your cart and check out with your account funds.
- Your student's login arrives by email.
Not sure yet? Start for free and try real lessons first. Questions? Email me at [email protected].
Kait Feriante, creator of Writing Our World® by Redwood Literacy
