Evan-Moor Educational Publishers was founded in 1979 by Joy Evans and Jo Ellen Moore in Monterey, California. The company started as an endeavor to create educational materials that are both engaging and accessible, with a strong focus on supporting teachers and enhancing student learning. The founders, both experienced educators, recognized a gap in quality educational resources that effectively addressed the needs of diverse classrooms. They began by creating teacher resource books that provided ready-to-use activities designed to stimulate learning and comprehension across various subjects. Evan-Moor has grown significantly since its inception, recognized for its comprehensive educational materials that cater to both classroom and home settings. The company’s reputation among educators and homeschooling communities speaks volumes about its efficacy and impact in fostering learning.

Grades Covered: The materials cater to students from PreK through 8th grade, providing tailored content for each stage of learning.

Cost : Evan-Moor's products are priced variably, with individual books and activities typically ranging from $10 to $100, depending on the type of resource. Bundles and larger sets offer more comprehensive solutions and typically reflect a discount, providing cost-effective options for extensive curriculum needs.

Unique Features

Evan-Moor's curriculum is distinguished by its versatility and depth across a wide range of subjects. It offers materials that are aligned with current educational standards, including Common Core, ensuring that students receive educationally sound and effective learning experiences.

Curriculum Overview

Evan-Moor provides extensive resources for grades PreK through 8, offering both print and digital formats. Their curriculum is especially noted for its structured approach, which is designed to facilitate consistent daily practice and skill mastery. Evan-Moor’s curriculum encompasses a broad array of subjects, aimed at developing core competencies and encouraging a lifelong love of learning:

  • Reading: Fundamental skills, comprehension, and varied literary genres

  • Writing and Language Arts: From basic grammar and sentence structure to advanced composition

  • Mathematics: Foundational skills, problem-solving, and logical reasoning

  • Science: Basic concepts, scientific thinking, and exploration of the natural world

  • Social Studies: Historical facts, cultural understanding, and geographic literacy

  • Critical Thinking: Analytical skills, logic puzzles, and problem-solving activities

  • Art and Creativity: Projects that encourage creativity and self-expression

Implementation in Homeschool Settings

Homeschooling families value Evan-Moor for its adaptability and structured format, which allows parents to customize their educational approach. Whether used as a supplement to other teaching materials or as a primary educational tool, Evan-Moor’s resources integrate smoothly into diverse homeschooling dynamics.

What parents like

The systematic and comprehensive nature of Evan-Moor’s materials makes them a popular choice among educators and parents alike. They are praised for their clarity, ease of use, and the solid educational foundation they provide. Parents particularly love the art and writing curriculum.

Areas for Improvement

While widely respected, some feedback suggests that Evan-Moor could expand its offerings for upper middle school grades and incorporate more interactive and digital resources to keep pace with technological advancements in education.

Ideal Fit

Evan-Moor is particularly well-suited for families seeking a thorough, standards-aligned approach to education that covers a broad range of subjects comprehensively. It is ideal for those who appreciate structured learning and are looking for extensive practice materials to ensure mastery of fundamental skills.

Non-Ideal Fit

This curriculum may not align well with families looking for a more relaxed educational approach or those who prioritize project-based or experiential learning methods over traditional instructional styles.

Availability

Evan-Moor’s resources are accessible through their official website, educational retailers, and online platforms like Amazon. This broad availability ensures that homeschooling families can easily obtain the materials they need.

Top Alternatives to Evan Moor for Secular, All-in-One Homeschooling Curriculum

For Hands-On, Nature-Based Education: Blossom and Root
Book Lovers, Gifted and Profoundly Gifted Learners:
Torchlight Curriculum
For Gifted, Workbook-Lovers:
Critical Thinking Co
Adaptive learning app for kids who love video games :
BrainPOP Homeschool
For Middle and High School Students:
Build Your Library
For kids who love watching videos, here are highly Engaging Free YouTube videos for middle and high school: Crash Course
For Project-Based, Standards-Aligned Curriculum and Online School: Oak Meadow
For Free or Freemium online curriculum:
Khan Academy Kids, Khan Academy or FishTank Learning
For more Traditional/schoolish Standards-aligned adaptive online learning: Time4Learning

Explore more All-in-One Homeschooling Curricula

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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