Thank you so much for your interest in our program! When we founded the Learn + Live Letter in 2020, it was our goal to create a curriculum that fostered joy in learning—for both your child and you. In this post, we’ll break down exactly what to expect when you subscribe, how the curriculum works, and how you can tailor it to your family’s needs.
For more information, we also recommend visiting our FAQs page, as well as our Levels page for our full scope + sequence and pricing information.
How the program works
Each Learn + Live Letter Level offers either 36 week-long units or nine 1-month unit studies covering a variety of themes. Your membership provides you access to our unit studies much like a gym membership provides you access to classes. By purchasing a membership, you are purchasing access, not the unit study itself. We do this so we are able to provide and maintain links to a variety of multimedia sources you will incorporate into each lesson, as well as add and update new books as they are published and remove older resources, if necessary.
Instead of downloading, the unit studies live on our website and you have access to them as long as your membership is active. Once your membership is over, your access ends as well. As a member, you will have access to all published units so that you can choose the themes and topics that interest your child.
Not sure where to start? We have also created seasonal schedules for each level to guide your school year, which you can find here.
When you first subscribe
After subscribing, you’ll be taken to a welcome page with information about what to do until you begin using our lesson plans. You will also receive a welcome email with this information so you can access it at any time. One of the first things we recommend doing is checking out this blog post of 20 common homeschool supplies you should have on-hand for Levels 1, 2, and 2+ or this post of 14 supplies you will need for Level 3. These supplies are commonly used throughout our unit studies, and having them at home will cut back on how much you need to order each month.
What to expect
As a subscriber, you will receive an empowering newsletter sent directly to your inbox at the start of each month from September to May. These encouraging letters are themed to provide guidance around a common homeschool topic or main point, along with tips and suggestions for overcoming it. (Have topics you want us to cover? Send us an email at help@learnandliveletter.com or DM us on Instagram!)
Each newsletter will also help guide you on which units we are featuring for the month. For Levels 1 + 2, we will recommend two unit themes that align with the current season, along with a link to the full schedule for you to peruse.
For Level 2+ and Level 3, we will also highlight the new units we will publish throughout the year. There will also be a link to review all previously published units in these levels.
Whether you are following the seasonal schedule or skipping around, we encourage you to review the supplies list for each unit you plan to do at the start of each month to determine if you need to order any supplies or books in advance. This will help you get organized and prepared for all the hands-on learning you and your children will do. (For more information about our book selections, please see our FAQs page.)
What to know about Level 3
The biggest difference between Level 3 unit studies and the others is that they are each one month long. Each unit is country and culture-based and includes history, STEM, and food activities (with math and science applications) that are hands-on project-based. The lessons emphasize shared reading with many picture books, chapter books, magazine and book resources as the spine, as well as video documentaries. Lessons will also include learning to write in different styles, including persuasive, narrative, research, creative, and descriptive.
As with all of our lessons, we encourage you to follow your child’s lead and do the activities that interest them. Like the other levels, you will have access to all released unit studies as long as your subscription is active, so feel free to adjust or revisit lessons and activities as desired.
While our program does include reading, writing, and math applications, for older children you will likely need an additional math curriculum and grammar program. We would be happy to guide you in finding a program if you ever need help—simply email us!
Additional help for you
One of the core tenants of L+L is providing a lot of support for our subscribers. While we are an eclectic homeschool program, we provide education around various homeschool philosophies and struggles to help you find what homeschool style ultimately works best for your family. You can find all of our “for parents” blog posts here.
To help ease the stress of end-of-year portfolios and evaluations, we also include a printable tracking document in each unit that helps you record books read, skills worked on, and activities completed, as well as space to record personal reflections as you continue through your homeschool journey. By the end of the year, you’ll likely find much of the information you need has already been recorded in these documents.
Finally, we also encourage you to follow us on Instagram for additional guidance, encouragement, and our favorite homeschooling tips!
Hi, do you have any tips or examples on how to prep, structure, or organize by month, week, or day?
Thank you!!
Hello! Yes, we share a variety of these tips on our Instagram page, but we will be sharing more in the next week or two. Generally, we recommend preparing for Levels 1-2+ at least one week out. This enables you to select which activities you will do each week, find either the recommended books (or something similar), and prepare any materials you will need in advance so it doesn’t affect the flow of your lesson time. For Level 3, you can prepare for the month the week before beginning a new unit.
We also publish the full year of our previously launched levels so parents can decide which order of units works best for them. (They are currently organized by seasonality in the northern hemisphere.)
Have you ever heard of families using L+L to create a co-op or other type of homeschool group learning?
Thanks!
Yes! Level 3 is especially conducive for group learning, but all of our units can be adapted for this type of homeschool.