Former Texas Congressman Ron Paul will roll out his homeschool curriculum on Sept. 2 that is free for students in kindergarten through the fifth grade and will "teach the biblical principle of self-government and personal responsibility."
Gary North, director of the Ron Paul Curriculum, said he and the three-time presidential candidate believe there's a "tremendous need" for a homeschool curriculum that offers a history of liberty, as well as liberty's rivals; a thorough understanding of the Austrian school of economics; and a program that is based on primary sourced documents, as opposed to textbooks, which "dumb down the material."
In the introductory video, North explains that the curriculum will include a series of online lectures and reading assignments that allow students to work at their own pace, and will also foster an environment where students can teach each other about learned concepts. The curriculum, for which there are no textbooks, does require students to write a weekly essay starting in the fifth grade. North also noted that unlike traditional school environments, the Ron Paul Curriculum doesn't include "busy work," and it doesn't "waste the students' time."
The curriculum requires students to post their essay entries on a blog page for parents to review; and students are required to create their own YouTube channels, as well as learn about video production, website design and Internet marketing.
According to Tom Woods, a New York Times best-selling author and Ludwig von Mises Institute senior fellow who will be among the instructors for the high school curriculum, the program doesn't only "teach from a different point of view," or "teach material that no other school or curriculum offers," but according to his website the curriculum "also emphasizes oral and written communication, so that students will be able to spread and defend their ideas effectively."
Woods, who said his role will be to teach high school courses in Western civilization, the U.S. Constitution, government and the history of American wars, explained that the course schedule is "centered around a 36-week schedule, five lessons (25 minutes each), per week per course."
The Ron Paul Curriculum website states that high school students can expect to spend "90 minutes per day per course: lectures and reading."
The curriculum for kindergarten through fifth grade students will be available for free on YouTube and by accessing PDF documents online. Parents, however, can participate in a parents' forum at a cost of $250 per year.
Likewise, the cost of tuition for sixth through 12th grade students is $250 per student per year, and an additional $50 for each course.
Before Sept. 2, the website is offering a high school preparation course for $25 that teaches students proper study habits, time management and note-taking skills, as well as typing, speed reading, public speaking and essay writing.
Sixth through 10th grade curriculums will be available on Sept. 2 and the entirety of the Ron Paul Curriculum is expected to be available for kindergarten through 12th grades by December 2015.