Secular & Decolonizing Homeschooling Resources and Connections

Written By Manisha Snoyer (co-founder of Modulo)

Secular & Decolonizing Homeschooling Resources and Connections is a vibrant private Facebook group with over 12,000 members, dedicated to offering a supportive community for parents and educators committed to a progressive, inclusive, and science-based homeschooling curriculum. Founded on June 28, 2020, the group emphasizes anti-racist and anti-bigotry education and fosters discussions on politics, systematic racism, inclusive and accurate history, LGBTQ+ topics, and science as essential components of learning.

The group is designed for individuals open to challenging conversations about white supremacy, oppression, and other critical societal issues, encouraging members to confront and grow beyond their existing worldviews. With strict guidelines against bigotry, pseudoscience, and unsupportive behavior, the group maintains a focused, educational discourse, free from religious preaching or evangelizing.

Members can expect a dynamic environment with regular posts and updates, and are required to actively engage in discussions, adhere to the group's rules, and respect its privacy and confidentiality standards. For parents seeking a curriculum that offers a factual, unwhitewashed view of history and promotes critical thinking, this group provides a plethora of resources and community support to enhance the homeschooling experience.

Here are some of the recommended resources

A group member created a spreadsheet of decolonized, secular homeschooling resources that is regularly updated. It’s viewable here. Here are some of the highlights.

All-In-One:

  • Magic Forest Academy: Covers all subjects for grades 1-7th, nature-based, in development phases with pricing between $0-100.

  • Crash Course: Suitable for 9th grade and above, offers full video courses for free.

  • Ted-Ed: Available for all ages, provides free video lessons.

  • Black Apple Curriculum: For Kindergarten, $10 per course, curriculum is in development.

Art:

  • Drawspace: Offers a wide range of drawing lessons for varying skill levels, prices vary.

  • Art for Kids Hub: Engaging drawing and crafting videos for children, membership required for full access.

  • The Art Assignment: Provides creative art projects and history, free resources available online.

Science:

  • Mystery Science: Engaging science lessons for elementary students, membership required for full access.

  • National Geographic Kids: Free resources, includes videos, articles, and fun facts for a younger audience.

  • Khan Academy: Free comprehensive lessons in many subjects including advanced sciences for older students.

Social Studies:

  • Curiosity Chronicles: Offers a non-whitewashed global history, available at various price points.

  • Big History Project: Free online social studies course that spans 13.8 billion years of history.

  • iCivics: Free civic education materials designed to encourage student engagement in the democratic process.

Sources and Further Reading

Secular and Decolonized Curriculum and Resources

Teaching Hard History | Southern Poverty Law Center

What Decolonization Means | History | Duke University

What Is Secular Homeschool Curriculum | SEA Homeschoolers

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Join us as we dive into the vibrant community of Secular & Decolonizing Homeschooling Resources and Connections. Our review highlights how this group empowers parents and educators with a rich array of resources aimed at providing a progressive, inclusive, and science-based educational experience. Discover how this community actively engages in crucial discussions on anti-racism, history, and more to foster a well-rounded learning environment.

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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