When everything happened in China (the ban on foreign online tutoring), so many people were getting on WeChat to reach out to their students and teach them independently. I was feeling overwhelmed at this time because I thought I would have to create my own curriculum, and I did not have the time or energy to do that. With the help of many Facebook groups for online teachers, I discovered that it did not need to be difficult. There are a variety of curriculums available for teachers to use. Some of them are free and others require a payment. I want to help you find the perfect curriculum for your online teaching business.
#1 Engoo:
Engoo is an online tutoring platform, but they have a library of materials that are free to use. You do not need to be an independent contractor with Engoo to use their materials.
Engoo has the following materials available:
- Daily News
- Travel and Culture
- Health and Lifestyle
- Describing Pictures
- Business English
- English for Kids
- Discussion Questions
- IELTS Speaking Test Preparation
- Grammar Lessons
- Vocabulary Lessons
- Pronunciation Lessons
- Conversation Topics
- World Literature
- Speaking Tests
- TOEIC Preparation
- TOEFL Preparation
- Elementary Reading Series
All of the Engoo materials are labeled with their difficulty level. The levels are 1 to 10: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Proficient
Out of these materials, the Daily News Lessons are very popular. They are great for adult learners who want to practice their conversation skills, or for advanced learners of all ages. The lessons start by pre-teaching vocabulary words, followed by reading a real and current news article together. After the article there are 10 discussion questions to go through with your student about the article. Daily News Lessons are meant to last 25 minutes. Engoo posts many new lessons daily so you will always have new material to choose from. I have been using Engoo materials for over 2 years, and while I do think some of the lessons can be a bit dull, I really do enjoy the Daily News. Check out the website to see which lessons work for you.
Engoo Materials: https://engoo.com/app/materials/en
#2 Abridge Academy:
Abridge Academy Curriculum was founded by Katie Prescott in 2018. The lessons are child friendly and very interactive with drag and drop, quizzes, and games. There are unit reviews (assessments) at the end of each unit. They have a Core Curriculum and Niche Courses.
Core Curriculum:
- Over 200 interactive ESL lessons for beginners
- Homework sheets and flashcards
- The option for British or American audio
- You can use the lessons on any teaching platform (ClassIn, Koala Go, Zoom)
Niche Courses:
- Over 100 reading, STEM, and debating lessons
- Can be used for beginner or advanced learners
- Can be used for marketplaces such as Outschool or AllSchool
It is important to note that you can use this curriculum with any teaching platform, but you should check the features of the platform first to see how interactive the lessons will be. Perhaps with some platforms, the student will not be able to click on things or drag and drop from their end. If the platform does not have these features, you can still do the lesson with the annotation tools, or click the answer for your student.
Abridge Academy has 3 packages to choose from: free, basic, and ultimate.
Free: A few lessons from different levels. You can use the free version to test out the curriculum and see if it is right for you.
Basic: $9.99 a month, access to the core curriculum, with new lessons added every week.
Ultimate: $11.99 a month, it has everything from the basic plus the niche courses.
Try out the free lessons so you can see what the curriculum is like, and you can also see some samples of the homework and flashcards.
Abridge Academy Website: https://abridgeacademy.com/
Use my referral link if you would like to subscribe to Abridge Academy: https://abridgeacademy.com/curriculum?ref=seahorsedigitalenglishÂ
#3 ESL Pals:
ESL Pals is a wonderful curriculum because it has lessons for both children and adults. The lessons are available as downloadable PDFs with supplementary materials such as videos. There are over 500 lesson plans to choose from, and they add more lessons daily.
ESL Pals has the following materials available:
- Free Lessons
- General Adult Curriculum (A1 to C2)
- Business Curriculum (B1 to C2)
- Kids Curriculum (Level 0,1,2,3)
- Grammar Curriculum
- Conversation Classes
There are 3 subscription packages available at ESL Pals:
6 Month $49: Unlimited access to the library for 6 months, cancel anytime.
12 Month $79: Unlimited access to the library for 12 months, cancel anytime.
6 Months Teacher Collab $199: 5 teacher logins available, unlimited access to the library for 6 months, cancel anytime.
I would recommend trying some of the free lessons to see if this curriculum is a good choice for your teaching business.
ESL Pals: https://eslpals.com/
#4 Crystal Clear ESL
Crystal Clear ESL is another popular choice for online ESL teachers. In addition to being a curriculum, they also offer a free course for teachers to take called How to Teach English Online. This course has 7 units filled with valuable information, and I highly recommend registering for it.
How to Teach English Online: https://esl-curriculum.com/course/how-to-teach-english-online/
Crystal Clear ESL has 3 membership plans: Business English, Crystal Clear Kids’ Curriculum, and Crystal Clear Phonics Curriculum.
Business English: $9.99 Monthly, free trial for the first two weeks, built in homework
Crystal Clear Kids’ Curriculum: $9.99 Monthly, free trial for the first two weeks, levels pre-A1 through B1 similar to Cambridge Movers and Flyers, songs, games, exercises, and assessments are all included in the lessons, suitable from age 4.
Crystal Clear Phonics Curriculum: $5.99 Monthly, free trial for the first two weeks, pre-A1 similar to Cambridge Starters, suitable from age 3.
Visit the Crystal Clear ESL website to see if this curriculum is right for you: https://esl-curriculum.com/
#5 ChitChat 2 Fluency
Last but not least is ChitChat 2 Fluency. This curriculum was created by a former VIPKid Teacher. It has everything you need if you are teaching children.
There are 3 sections of lessons with ChitChat 2 Fluency: Novice and Beginner Levels, Intermediate Levels, and Supplementary Levels.
Novice and Beginner Levels: Unit 1-5 in Novice, and Unit 6-10 in Beginner.
Intermediate Levels: Pre-Intermediate Unit 1-4, Intermediate Unit 5-7, and High Intermediate.
Supplementary Levels: American Slang Phrases, Conversational, Grammar, Holiday, Places, Sight Words, Survival English for Kids, and Word Families.
The pricing for this curriculum was a bit unclear, but you can visit the website and have a look around: http://www.chitchat2fluency.com
My life became easier once I discovered pre-made lessons, and I hope you will be able to find a curriculum that works for you.