Moving Beyond the Page
Moving Beyond the Page is a comprehensive mastery-based curriculum for families teaching their children from home for levels PreK through 8th grade. It is primarily geared towards gifted children and includes extensive hands-on and experiential learning inspired by Montessori, Waldorf and Unschooling philosophy. The Moving Beyond the Page program consists of daily lesson plans that outline big ideas, skills to master, include questions and project-based activities to reinforce concepts.
Core components:
Lessons aim to foster creativity and adapt to different learning styles/levels, allowing for personalization. The program also emphasizes project-based learning and interdisciplinary studies.
The curriculum strives to make concepts relevant to student’s lives so they are able to understand why they are learning, as well as retain and apply what they’ve learned in the real world.
Moving Beyond the Page ensures their curriculum meets and exceeds all state and national standards, so this is a good choice for parents who are concerned about their children performing at grade level.
Pros:
It supports accelerated learning. The mastery-based program supports students learning at their own pace. They can accelerate learning when they are catching on quickly or slow down and take a break without falling behind.
It’s not time-consuming. Most parents using this curriculum only need to teach their children 1-2 hours a day, 3-4 days/week to meet or exceed state standards for learning.
There are a lot of choices. There are many options for each lesson, so parents can pick and choose the one that works best for their child.
The curriculum is engaging for the students. Children find it interesting and relatable.
It adheres to state and national standards. Parents can ensure that their children are meeting or exceeding standards for their grade level. by following the curriculum.
It’s project-based and includes multiple modalities for learning in each lesson. This curriculum excels at supporting hands-on learners through carefully thought out activities to support each learning concept.
It’s easy to teach multiple levels at once. The program excels at differentiated instruction, so If a parent has siblings or is teaching a group, it’s easy to use the curriculum to help them all learn and grow simultaneoulsy.
Cons:
In some cases, It can be time-consuming and feel slow. Some parents using the curriculum feel that there are too many lessons and it takes a long time to get through it all, not leaving their children enough time to play outdoors or engage in other types of learning. However, others appreciate the options and don’t find it necessary to complete all lessons for each concept.
The Social Studies component is controversial. A few parents felt the social studies component was not aligned with their socio-political values and might be too nationalistic and uninclusive. In particular, parents were unhappy that the World History and cultures unit was too short, as the curriculum focused more heavily on American history from a particular vantage point that was not as inclusive as they’d hope.
It’s expensive. This program is on the pricier side compared to other more inexpensive or free programs.
Some parents felt the program lacked depth and breadth. The most common complaint about this curriculum is that while many lessons allow families to really delve in depth, others feel superficial like ‘busy work.”
Reviews from educators:
“Finding a curriculum that aligned with my constructivist theory background in education was hard to come by. I searched and searched and could never commit to anything because I knew it just would not work with my style of teaching or my oldest son’s learning style. I didn’t want to be at a table all day with silly workbooks that would bore us both to tears. Yet, without creating something entirely on my own, I didn’t think that anything that was a fit for us even existed. As time for our first year of homeschooling drew closer and still no curriculum had been purchased, I got an email from Moving Beyond the Page, and the rest is history! I have loved incorporating literature into the math lessons, playing interactive games and using unit studies in all of the subject areas. One of my favorite aspects of this curriculum is the different option in the activities for the student to complete. This gives variety and differentiation to the learner. I have nothing but great things to say to other moms when they are beginning to look for curriculum to begin homeschooling or are wanting to change their current curriculum .” - Amber Micka
“In contrast to most of the comprehensive unit studies written for homeschoolers, the content and approach of the program are decidedly secular. Christianity is treated in the same manner as Native American belief systems, Islam, and other religions. However, parents are encouraged to discuss their own religious beliefs with children in numerous activities. While the approach to religion might bother some, others will appreciate the openness. Many parents will also appreciate an emphasis on character education as well as the attention given to ecological issues.” - Cathy Duffy
Reviews from parents
“My daughter has dyslexia and is actually doing well with is program . We love it it is giving her a love for reading with all the literature that is put forth through out the curriculum. We absolutely love MBTP!!! - Daniele
“We found this curriculum halfway through my daughter's first grade year. We completed Level 6-8 Concept 2 Measurements and half of Concept 3 Culture. I am very impressed. Each day's lesson includes about five activities. Some are hands-on activities with materials you find around the house, some relate to a book we've read, and some are activities from the Student Activity Book. My daughter has learned a ton and prefers MBTP to any other schoolwork we do (we also use Explode the Code and Math Mammoth). I plan to finish Concept 4 this summer and move her to Level 7-9 in the fall, as well as purchase 7-9 in the fall. We love it so far!” - Laina
“We pulled our son out of public school half way through 6th grade, for a multitude of reasons. I looked diligently for a curriculum that would fit well with his learning style. He is a gifted and self motivated learner who needs to be able to tick off boxes. We decided to go with Moving Beyond the Page after digging through lots of curriculum reviews and information, settling on the Age 11-13 package. It has been wonderful! The way the curriculum ties the subjects together has opened our son up to higher thinking and asking more philosophical questions, extending outside the classroom... My son says he loves Moving Beyond the Page, because he finally feels like he is learning again.” See more
“Moving Beyond the Page is coordinated with state and national standards, but judging by what I observed, it far exceeds any and all of them. This is meaty, rich, challenging curriculum, with great expectations for your student. It is written with the gifted student in mind, therefore, it is vital that you ensure your student meets those minimum requirements above in order for them to be successful. This is not fluffy and if your student cannot fully meet the requirements as listed, you’ll want to step down a level. “ Marcy
