Homeschooling Programs

Written By Manisha Snoyer (co-founder of Modulo)
Homeschooling Programs

How to find the best homeschooling programs

At Modulo, we help families customize their children’s homeschooling programs. At Modulo, we call homeschooling programs: “modules.” These “homeschooling programs or “Modules” are the building blocks families select from to form the ideal education for their unique child that works well for their family’s lifestyles and goals. 

Some families use homeschooling programs as the primary means of educating their child. Other families send their child to school but use homeschooling programs to enrich their child’s education. 

This is a guide on homeschooling programs, what kind of criteria is important to look for when choosing homeschooling programs, the types of homeschooling programs available and how the find the best homeschooling programs in-person or online. 

Criteria to consider when selecting a homeschooling program

Not all homeschooling programs are created alike. When choosing a homeschooling program,  some important factors to consider are:

  • If the homeschooling program is accurate (no factual errors)

  • If the homeschooling program based on scientific understanding (does the program teach evolution and climate change) 

  • If the homeschooling program is secular or religious (many homeschooling programs include religious content and many homeschooling groups share a common religion. Some are more inclusive than others)

  • If it’s diverse and inclusive: Especially for a group activity or a social studies, literature or history program. This is especially important as many new families choose to homeschool because they do not feel their stories/

Types of homeschooling programs 

Generally families mix and match from a variety of homeschooling programs. Families often want to have a healthy blend of intellectual, social and childcare experiences to support their children and themselves. These are the most common blending of homeschooling programs we’ve seen. 

  • Independent study homeschooling programs

    • This can be an app, a book, a youtube channel or any other homeschooling program that allows childrento direct their own learning. 

  • Curriculum: Parent (or caregiver-led) homeschooling programs. 

    • This could be a curriculum or a class where a parent shares their skills with their child. 

  • Tutoring: 1-1 homeschooling programs

    • Families hire an subject matter expert or teacher to give their child 1-1 lessons such as math, science or a complete curriculum . This could also be an internship. Sometimes families might ask an expert to talk to their child. 

  • Classes: Local homeschooling programs

    • This could be an extracurricular class specifically designed for homeschooling students or an afterschool class in which homeschooling students also participate. It could also be a homeschool co-op where parents band together and hire a teacher or a co-op where parents take turns teaching the kids. 

  • Meetups: Social homeschooling programs

    • These types of homeschooling programs include homeschooling groups, meetups, field trips and park days. Sometimes the groups are focused just on the kids - but they can also provide valuable opportunities for families to make friends and build community as well. 

  • Assessment & Support homeschooling programs

    • These types of homeschooling programs include exams to track children’s progress, child life specialist and homeschooling consultants to help families with their child’s education, social/emotional development, address any learning issues and also assist with practical work like filing homeschooling paperwork or applying to college. 

How to find homeschooling programs

At Modulo, we help busy families find the best homeschooling programs for their unique child. It generally takes us about 20 hours to get one family off the ground running. However, it’s perfectly easy to do this on your own - and can be a really fun and creative process. Don’t forget that homeschooling isn’t fixed. A good homeschooling program will constantly change and evolve as the child evolves. One of the benefits of homeschooling is that it can be very flexible. 

When we’re evaluating homeschooling programs, we try to find secular, inclusive, academically rigorous programs that children and families enjoy. Our process works well and we’re happy to share it with you. 

  • How to find independent study homeschooling programs

    • There are so many great tools for children to use to teach themselves. We recommend frequent trips to the library, letting kids browse Youtube Kids for interesting videos and using a tool like Curiosity Stream to allow them to watch as many documentaries as they like. Here are our 50 favorite adaptive learning apps that kids can choose from to learn from home. 

  • Curriculum: Parent (or caregiver-led) homeschooling programs. 

    • We’ve found that online, secular homeschooling groups like SEA homeschoolers are a great place to find recommendations for high quality, mastery-based curriculum to use at home. Many people in the groups are teachers and have vetted curriculum with their own kids. Try to look specifically for programs recommended by teachers. To help you further, we’ve built a free curriculum planner to help any family find exceptional, mastery-based homeschooling curriculum based on their children’s unique learning style and considerations such as screen time and cost. As a foundation, we recommend choosing a complete curriculum, math and literacy supplement. 

  • How to find Tutoring: 1-1 homeschooling programs

    • To find an exceptional local tutor, we recommend connecting with your local college or university. Undergraduates make very passionate and inspiring tutors. You can reach out to undergraduate students directly via LinkedIn or ask the office of career services. Another great way to find tutors is by asking other families in your local, online parenting group who they’ve worked with or search for “tutor” in that group.  

  • How to find Classes: Local homeschooling programs

    • To find phenomenal local classes, a great place to start is yelp or google maps. Simply search for the type of class you’re looking for and carefully read the reviews by other families. It’s important to read the reviews because it’s not enough for the homeschooling program to have five stars, the type of comments will reveal if this is the kind of program that your individual child would enjoy and if it fits your criteria. For example, some classes are fun for kids, but don’t have much project-based learning.  When you’re ready to enroll, you can also post in your local parenting group and ask other people’s opinions of the class. 

  • How to find Meetups: Social homeschooling programs

    • There are so many wonderful homeschooling groups that you can join in your community. These can be more hard to find. What we recommend is going on Facebook or Meetup and looking for unschooling groups near you. These tend to be the most diverse and inclusive.  You can also post to a national group like SEA Homeschoolers and ask if there are other families or groups in your area (or search the comments section for your city). All groups have a search feature that is important to take advantage of. If the group doesn’t meet actively, you can post a picture and ask if anyone wants a playdate or suggest a meetup in the park.  

  • How to Find Assessment & Support homeschooling programs

    • These types of homeschooling programs include exams to track children’s progress, child life specialists and homeschooling consultants to help families with their child’s education, social/emotional development, address any learning issues and also assist with practical work like filing homeschooling paperwork or applying to college.  We really like MobyMax exam to see if kids are at grade level. You can also search for Academic Readiness and Developmental Milestones at Understood.org if you are looking for a more broad overview. Modulo offers support to families for secular homeschooling. And we’re happy to support you or refer a specialist near you. A local meetup or facebook group can also be a great way to get referrals. All that said, one of the reasons there is so much assessment in schools is because it can be hard to track the progress of 30 kids and make sure everyone is on track without an exam. When its you and your kids, it’s much simpler to make sure they are where they need to be. 

We hope this is helpful. For more help finding homeschooling programs, feel free to reach out to us anytime for advice around academic, social or childcare questions around homeschooling! 

Manisha Snoyer (co-founder of Modulo)

For the last 20 years, I’ve taught over 2000 children in 3 countries (of all socio-economic backgrounds). I pioneered an English language program in a conflict region in the Middle East. I’ve worked as a bilingual public school teacher at some of the highest and lowest performing public schools and in all five boroughs of NYC. I’ve tutored 18 subjects in three languages to some of the wealthiest families in NYC, San Francisco and Paris to make up for shortcomings in private schools they were paying up to $60,000 a year to attend.

Since 2015, I’ve helped hundreds of parents start microschools (way before this was a household buzzword). I founded CottageClass, the first marketplace for microschools and learning pods that was part of the Techstars 2018 class. In 2019, I created a virtual learning program to help families through the pandemic, a free online math tutoring program (masteryhour.org), and schoolclosures.org, a hotline developed in collaboration with Twilio and 80 other partners including Khan Academy, Revolution Foods and the Crisis Text Line, that served 100,000 families impacted by school closures.

I’ve climbed trees with children in forest schools in San Francisco, and tested new digital apps with kids in seven countries.

I’ve also coached dozens of families at different stages in their homeschooling journey. Most recently, I founded Modulo with homeschooling dad, best-selling author and tech entrepreneur Eric Ries, to help families curate their children’s education, social and childcare experiences drawing from a diverse array of in-person and online resources.


During the last three years, I’ve devoted much of my time to reviewing and testing secular homeschooling curriculum and other resource. I’ve spent the last three years talking to thousands of secular homeschooling families, and poring over tens of thousands of secular curriculum reviews and testing physical curriculum and digital apps for with hundreds of students to find the highest quality, most engaging, personalized learning materials for every type of learner.

I’ve spoken about homeschooling and modular learning at multiple venues including SXSW EDU, NY Tech Meetup, and on the LiberatedEd podcast.

In 2022, Modulo was one of 8 organizations who were awarded the Bridge Grant from the Vela Education Fund to expand access to homeschooling and modular learning to under-resourced communities.

My experience in education and homeschooling has led me to believe that there is no perfect education for every child, but families have an extraordinary amount of wisdom they can apply to building the perfect education for their individual child.

My goal with Modulo is to make it possible for any family to easily build a customized education that their child will love, and that will empower the whole family to thrive, taking into account, social, emotional and academic needs.

I love to answer questions from parents and receive feedback on how we can improve Modulo, so feel free to reach out anytime! I personally answer all the questions and comments readers leave on my blogs.

In my free time, I like hiking, traveling the world, tasting ceremonial grade matcha, enjoying dark chocolate.

I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Brandeis University with highest honors, with a double degree in French Literature and American Studies and minors in Environmental Studies and Peace & Conflict Studies.

And I love to learn!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/manisha-snoyer-5042298/
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