A written plan for your child's whole school year, built around how your child learns and what your scholarship can buy. We meet by video for an hour, and within a week you have the plan: a curriculum pick for every subject with the reason it fits, what each one costs, the exact steps to buy it with PEP or FES-UA funds, a pacing guide, and a checklist of what your program requires this year. I am Brandon Smith, a Florida-certified teacher and approved Step Up For Students Choice Navigator.
Book the Roadmap · $800
Before we meet, you fill out the Diagnostic Intake Questionnaire from your confirmation email. It asks about your child, what you have used, the kind of year you want, and your scholarship. If you are paying with PEP or FES-UA funds, you also reserve the $800 in EMA before the call.
We meet on a live video call for one hour. You do most of the talking. I ask about each subject, what has worked and what has not, how your child learns, how much time you have, and what you want the year to look like. I do not name programs on the call. The picks come in writing, after I have checked each one against your scholarship's rules.
Within a week I send the written Roadmap: a program for every core subject, with a second pick where two fit well, the reason each one matches your child, its price, and the steps to buy it with scholarship funds or privately. It also has a budget at a glance, a pacing guide, a sample week, and a checklist of what your program requires this year, through the end-of-year test or evaluation. The sample below shows the shape of it.
$800, one student, flat fee. I do not sell curriculum and I take no publisher commissions, so the pick is only ever the pick. If one subject is the problem and the rest of the year is fine, the $200 Single-Subject Reset is the better buy, and I will say so on the call rather than sell you a Roadmap.
Book the Roadmap · $800
A SAMPLE ROADMAP
Maya is an invented second grader on FES-UA. The programs, the prices and the purchase steps are real. Mathematics is shown in full. The other four subjects are blurred, because the picks are what you are paying for. Everything else is as a family receives it.
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CUSTOMIZED ACADEMIC YEAR ROADMAP
Maya is an FES-UA student in a home education program, registered with Orange County Public Schools by notice of intent. The FES-UA Family Handbook asks for a Student Learning Plan only from students who attend a hybrid private school two or more full days a week, so there is nothing to enter in EMA for her. This page goes in the front of her portfolio binder. It is the plan the roadmap is built around.
Goal 1, English Language Arts: reading words with blends and digraphs without guessing, and printing every lowercase letter from memory. Goal 2, Mathematics: adding and subtracting within 20 from memory, without counting on her fingers. Goal 3, Science: animals and their habitats, plants and materials, through video lessons and hands-on activities. Goal 4, Social Sciences: stories of the ancient world, with a map, twice a week. Personal Goal 1, Self-Advocacy: asking for a break, her headphones or help in words before she leaves the table. Personal Goal 2, Time Management: following a posted picture schedule and marking off each block herself.
I checked every item below against the two documents that control FES-UA spending: the 2026-27 FES-UA Purchasing Guidelines (Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities) and the FES-UA Family Handbook (Step Up For Students, last modified September 16, 2026). I built the list from what you told me: reading is the hard part, Maya's hand tires, noise can end a lesson, she does best when she knows the plan, and you have about two hours a day. Each entry tells you what to search for in MyScholarShop, what it should cost, and how to get reimbursed if it is not in the store the day you shop. Store stock changes week to week, so search every item every time. Prices are current as of the issue date.
Numbers are where Maya feels smart, so math goes first in her morning. Pick one.
Pick 1 (my first choice)
Math-U-See, Alpha Set (Demme Learning): Instruction Manual, Student Workbook, Tests booklet, Integer Block Kit, and one year of the lesson videos. The placement check decides the level; if it points to Beta, buy the Beta Set.
Why it fits. You told me Maya likes numbers but counts on her fingers once a sum passes ten, and that crowded, colorful pages make her shut the book. Math-U-See pages are black and white, and the blocks let her hold a number in her hand before she writes it. The week always runs the same way: one video lesson that you watch together, then a page or two a day for 10 to 35 minutes. Alpha stays on single-digit addition and subtraction, which is the skill behind the finger counting. Two honest notes: the workbook asks for a lot of written answers, so on tired-hand days let her build the answer with blocks and say it while you write; and because it stays on one operation so long, some topics her public school friends meet in second grade arrive later. That is how the program is built.
How to get it. Take the free placement check at placement.mathusee.com first. Then search MyScholarShop for “Demme Learning” and choose the level the check gave you. If it is not there, buy the set at store.demmelearning.com, save the itemized, paid-in-full receipt, and submit it in EMA for reimbursement under Curriculum.
Cost. $220.12 for the Alpha Set. The Beta Set costs the same.
Pick 2 (also a strong fit)
CTCMath, Single Membership, 12 months (online).
Why it fits. Choose this if you need math to run without you some mornings. One teacher's voice explains each idea in a video of about 4 to 9 minutes, then the program asks questions on that one idea and grades them for you. It is plain next to the animated math apps, and for a child who gets stuck on screens that is a point in its favor. Two honest notes: it is still screen time, so set the timer for one lesson and stop; and it has no blocks, so keep counters on the table for the first months.
How to get it. Start the free trial at ctcmath.com and let Maya try two lessons. If she takes to it, search MyScholarShop for “CTCMath” (check the Rainbow Resource listings too). If it is not there, buy the membership at ctcmath.com, save the itemized, paid-in-full receipt, and submit it in EMA for reimbursement under Curriculum.
Cost. $257 for 12 months, or $39.90 a month, at the public price. CTCMath also runs a homeschool discount on its family membership, so ask about it before you pay.
Reading is the wall this year, so it gets the part of your morning that needs you. This section has three pieces: a reading and spelling program you teach, a handwriting book, and typing that starts in January. I left out a separate writing program on purpose. The reading lessons already have Maya write sounds, words and sentences, and for a hand that tires, that plus handwriting is enough this year.
Picks withheld for the sample
Science is two short sittings a week, built on animals because animals are what Maya asks about all day. Pick one.
Picks withheld for the sample
Two short sessions a week is plenty of social studies for a second grader. Pick 1 plays itself. Pick 2 is couch time with picture books. Pick one.
Picks withheld for the sample
Maya draws every day, and that counts. I am adding two things: the social thinking work you asked about, and an art course that treats her drawing as a real subject.
Picks withheld for the sample
These are not curriculum, but each one came up on our call and each is an eligible FES-UA expense under the 2026-27 FES-UA Purchasing Guidelines. PEP follows different rules on several of them, so do not compare notes with a PEP family on this page.
Headphones. You told me the vacuum, the blender and her brother's cartoons can each end a lesson. Headsets, headphones and earbuds are eligible FES-UA purchases under Digital Periphery Devices. Search MyScholarShop for over-ear headphones; a basic pair runs about $13 to $25. Use them for the audiobook and the science videos, and keep them where Maya can reach them herself.
A timer and a whiteboard. A timer she can see shows Maya how much of a lesson is left, and a small whiteboard with a fat marker makes dictation easier on her hand. A timer or clock and a whiteboard are both on the At-Home Classroom Furnishings list in the FES-UA Purchasing Guidelines. Search MyScholarShop for each one.
Speech and OT. If insurance is not already paying for Maya's speech or OT sessions, the scholarship can. Both are Specialized Services when the therapist is licensed by the Florida Department of Health. Ask each therapist whether she takes direct pay through Find Providers in EMA, where payment is approved after each session. If she does not, pay her and submit an invoice on her letterhead with Maya's name, the dates and type of service, the amount, and the therapist's name and license number. Sessions that insurance paid for cannot be submitted.
Aquarium and zoo days. Maya's own ticket to an aquarium or a zoo is an eligible FES-UA field trip expense, and so is her share of a membership. Your ticket and her brother's are not. Buy from the venue, save the receipt that shows her ticket, and add one sentence about what she was studying when you submit it, because the guidelines ask for a statement of educational benefit on some field trip requests.
A device, later. Your laptop works, so there is nothing to buy now. For later: a laptop or a tablet is a Digital Device, allowed once every two years, and a keyboard, mouse or printer is a Digital Periphery Device. Submit each item under its own category. Step Up names the wrong category as a common reason a request is denied.
Annual evaluation. Maya is a home education student, so Florida law asks for one evaluation of her progress each year. A portfolio review by a Florida-certified teacher is one of the accepted methods, and the fee is an eligible FES-UA expense. I do these. Book Maya's with me in spring 2027 ($50).
Mathematics: Math-U-See Alpha Set
$220.12
Reading and spelling
$140.00
Handwriting
$15.00
Typing, January to May
$80.00
Science
$200.00
Social studies and history
$50.00
Social thinking
$140.00
Art
$60.00
Headphones
$20.00
Curriculum for the year, every first choice
about $925
Maya's award is about $10,000, so curriculum takes less than a tenth of it. The rest is there for speech, OT, her spring evaluation and next year. The next quarterly deposit reaches Step Up on November 1 and posts to her account within two weeks. Unspent funds roll over, with two rules to remember: Step Up cannot make a deposit that would push the balance over $50,000, and an account with no spending for two fiscal years in a row is closed.
Mathematics
4 days a week, about 20 minutes. Monday: watch the new lesson video together and build it with the blocks. Tuesday to Thursday: one or two workbook pages. Alpha has 30 lessons at one a week, so starting now it runs into June. If a lesson needs a second week, give it one. If you chose CTCMath: one video lesson and its questions each day, with the timer on.
English and Language Arts
Reading 4 days a week in two sittings (about 20 minutes, then 15). Handwriting 4 days at 10 minutes. Typing 3 days at 10 minutes, starting in January. This is your teaching block. First sitting: the new sound and the letter tiles. Second sitting, after a break: reading practice and dictation. Once a week, date one page of her writing and put it in the portfolio folder.
Science
1 lesson a week in two sittings: the video on Tuesday (about 20 minutes) and the activity on Thursday (about 30). Second grade has 22 lessons, so one a week carries you to about spring break. Begin with the four animal lessons. Read the supply list on the weekend. If you chose Pick 2: half a chapter of the audiobook twice a week and one lapbook piece on Thursday.
Social Studies and History
2 audiobook sections a week, about 6 minutes each, while she draws. Then find the place on a map together. Monday and Wednesday after the snack break, or in the car on the way to speech. At this pace you will be a little past halfway through the book by June; pick it up again in the fall. If you chose Pick 2: two read-aloud lessons a week, best outside the school morning.
Electives and Enrichment
Social thinking on Friday (30 minutes) plus one bedtime reread of the same storybook during the week. Art on Friday: the video lesson, then the project on her own. Friday is the light day: one reading sitting, then social thinking and art. Give each storybook unit about six weeks. Tell the speech therapist which storybook you are on so she can use the same words in her sessions.
Two hours at most, Monday through Thursday. 9:00 Maya sets the timer and checks the picture schedule (5 min). 9:05 Math (20 min). 9:25 Movement break (10 min). 9:35 Reading with Mom, first sitting (20 min). 9:55 Handwriting (10 min). 10:05 Snack and outside (10 min). 10:15 Reading, second sitting (15 min). 10:30 History audiobook while she draws on Monday and Wednesday (about 10 min), the science video on Tuesday (20 min), or the science activity on Thursday (30 min). The longest day ends at 11:00. Friday is shorter: one reading sitting, social thinking, and the art lesson. Start smaller than this. Week one is reading and math only; add handwriting in week two, science in week three and history in week four. Post the schedule where Maya can see it and let her move a clothespin down the list as each block ends.
Step 1. Confirm Maya's home education notice of intent is still on file with Orange County Public Schools. Florida law (s. 1002.41) requires it within 30 days of starting a home education program, and the FES-UA Family Handbook requires a filed letter of intent before a home education student can use scholarship funds. You filed it last year, so this is a two-minute check. Keep the district's confirmation in the front of the portfolio binder.
Step 2. Do the two placement checks before you buy anything: math at placement.mathusee.com and reading at the link in your reading section. Send me the results. They decide which levels you order.
Step 3. Purchase in this order. Now: the reading kit, the math set, the handwriting book and the headphones. In two weeks: science and history. In November: social thinking and the art book. In January: typing. Search MyScholarShop first every time. If you pay out of pocket, save the itemized, paid-in-full receipt (items, full date, price breakdown, payment method) and submit it in EMA under the right category. Purchases must fall between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027, and reimbursement requests are due by July 31, 2027. Reviews can take up to 60 days.
Step 4. Set up the portfolio binder today: a log of what you do, written as you go, with the titles of the books you read, plus one folder per subject for samples of her work. Florida law has you keep it for two years and show it only if the superintendent asks in writing with 15 days' notice. Maya's dated handwriting pages and her drawings are the kind of samples it is meant to hold.
Step 5. At the next speech and OT visits, ask two things: whether each therapist takes direct pay through EMA, and whether the OT agrees with the handwriting level I chose. Bring the social thinking box to speech once it arrives.
Step 6 (spring 2027). Book Maya's annual home education evaluation with me a month before your district's due date. It is due once a year, on the schedule the district gave you when you filed the notice of intent, and the fee is an eligible FES-UA expense.
If you need help with anything, email brandon@flcurriculum.com. I will check in with you in about a week, once you have had time to read everything. When I do, tell me how the two placement checks went, because those results decide which levels you order. In January we add typing. In the spring we plan Maya's evaluation and start looking at third grade.
Brandon Smith Florida Certified Teacher #1301675 · Approved Step Up For Students Choice Navigator Florida Curriculum Consulting LLC
Maya is an invented student. The programs, their prices and the scholarship rules are real and were checked on the issue date above. In a real Roadmap the four blurred subjects are written out the same way mathematics is. The document runs about 15 pages and arrives as a PDF within a week of our call.
WHO IT IS FOR
The whole year, one student. Find your family below.
01
You are starting home education, your child was just awarded PEP or FES-UA, or you are putting a year together from scratch and do not want to guess with the money. The Roadmap gives you the whole year on paper before you buy anything.
02
Both scholarships can pay for the Roadmap, because Choice Navigator services are an eligible expense under each program's rules. Choose Reserve Without Paying when you book and reserve the $800 in EMA before we meet. Private-pay families pay by card when they book.
03
Two or more subjects are not working, or the year never came together, and you want one plan instead of a series of patches. If a single subject is the problem, the $200 Single-Subject Reset is the better buy, and I will tell you that on the call.
Not sure whether you need the Roadmap or a Reset? Book the free 15-minute call and we will sort it out.
WHAT HAPPENS
Straight answers to what parents ask me before they book.
The Diagnostic Intake Questionnaire from your confirmation email. It asks about your child, what you have used, your scholarship and the kind of year you want. If you have an IEP, a recent evaluation or last year's work samples, send those too. If you send nothing, we still meet and I ask.
No. The hour is with you. You know what the lessons look like at the table, and that is the information I need. I do not evaluate a child over a video call, and I will not pretend to.
No. On the call I listen and ask. Every pick in the Roadmap is checked against your scholarship's purchasing rules and the publisher's own placement guidance before it goes in writing, and that takes longer than an hour. You get the picks in the document, with the reasons.
Yes. Choice Navigator services are an eligible expense under both PEP and FES-UA. Choose Reserve Without Paying at checkout and no card is asked for. Then reserve the $800 in EMA before we meet: open the Marketplace, select your student, choose Choice Navigator as the service category and service type, Online or Virtual as the class type, and type in Florida Curriculum Consulting. If you pay by card and plan to ask for reimbursement, I send an itemized paid receipt and a copy of my teaching certificate.
In most cases, yes, and the Roadmap gives the steps for each one: search MyScholarShop first, and if the program is not there, buy it direct and submit the receipt in EMA under the right category. The device to run an online program is the one exception. FES-UA funds can buy it. PEP funds cannot.
Tell me on the call. If a program you own fits your child, it stays in the plan and I say so. I do not replace things for the sake of it, and nothing I recommend earns me a commission.
Most families meet within a week of booking. The Roadmap arrives within a week of the call, and most programs ship or unlock within a week after that. Purchases follow the order in your checklist, so the first subjects can be running before the rest arrive.
You will get 35 answers, and every one of them was a great fit for someone else's child. I have vetted over 200 curricula in 15 years of doing this. I do not sell any of them, and every pick is matched to your child and checked against your scholarship's rules.
Sources: PEP Purchasing Guide, Florida Statute 1002.395, FES-UA Family Handbook, FES-UA Purchasing Guidelines and PEP Family Handbook.
READY TO BOOK?
One hour by video, $800, one student, the whole year in writing. Paying with PEP or FES-UA funds? Choose Reserve Without Paying and no card is asked for. Not sure yet? The free 15-minute call is the place to start.
Clarity for your child’s future.
Confidence in every decision.
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