Build a full-year literature-based homeschool curriculum with a book spine in reading order and history, language arts, and other subjects sequenced around it.
A single literature-based unit study builds one book into one cross-subject unit. This tool works at a bigger scale: it plans an entire year's spine of books, in reading order, with history, language arts, and often science hanging off that spine as the year moves forward, the difference between one book-based unit and a whole curriculum built the same way. Set [CHILD_AGES_OR_GRADES] and the term you're planning for in [TERM_LENGTH:select:full school year,one semester]. If you already have books chosen, list them below: [BOOK_LIST?] Name which subjects should hang off the literature spine in [SUBJECTS_TO_SPINE?], most commonly history and language arts, sometimes science, versus which subjects run on their own separate track all year. 1. Build a reading list in order for [TERM_LENGTH], using [BOOK_LIST?] where given and reasonable additions where it's thin, sequenced so each book's era or setting picks up roughly where the last one left off if history is one of the spined subjects. 2. For each subject in [SUBJECTS_TO_SPINE?], show what that subject looks like across the year when it's following the literature spine instead of a standalone textbook, history moving chronologically through whatever era each book is set in rather than a fixed curriculum's own sequence. 3. Flag any subject in [SUBJECTS_TO_SPINE?] that's a poor fit for a literature-spine approach for this particular list, math almost never spines well off literature, and confirm it's running on a separate track rather than being forced into the reading list. 4. Note the pacing risk of a literature-spine year: a slow reader or a longer-than-expected book can push the whole spine's sequence behind, so build in one or two buffer weeks across [TERM_LENGTH] rather than assuming every book finishes exactly on schedule. Close by naming the one book on the list most likely to need an alternate pick, based on length, reading level mismatch with [CHILD_AGES_OR_GRADES], or thin subject connections, so you have a backup in mind before the year gets there.
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Get Early AccessA literature-based unit study fuses one book into one cross-subject unit. A literature-based curriculum does the same thing at the scale of a full year, a sequenced spine of books that history, language arts, and sometimes science follow instead of a standalone textbook's own sequence. Planning that spine, in order, with the right subjects actually hanging off it, is most of the work before a single book gets opened.
Set [CHILD_AGES_OR_GRADES] and [TERM_LENGTH], and this tool builds a sequenced reading list from [BOOK_LIST] or reasonable additions, shows what each spined subject in [SUBJECTS_TO_SPINE] looks like following the literature order instead of its own curriculum, flags any subject that's a poor fit for spining, math almost never works this way, and builds in buffer weeks for the pacing risk a slow reader or a long book creates.
Once the spine is set, run individual books through the literature-based unit study generator for deeper cross-subject activities on any title that deserves more than the base reading schedule. Keep the full-year spine in the Dock Editor so it's easy to swap a book if the pacing slips.
Start by getting the template into the Dock Editor, or into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Fill in [CHILD_AGES_OR_GRADES] and choose [TERM_LENGTH], a full school year or one semester.
List titles in [BOOK_LIST] and the tool fills gaps with reasonable additions where the list is thin.
Set [SUBJECTS_TO_SPINE], usually history and language arts, and see which subjects should instead run on a separate track.
Check that each book picks up roughly where the last one left off, and that buffer weeks are built in for slower reading stretches.
Keep the suggested alternate pick in mind for the book most likely to need swapping due to length or reading level.
Plan a full year's book-driven spine instead of piecing together one unit study at a time as the year goes.
Rebuild history and language arts around a reading spine for the coming year, with a clear sense of which subjects should stay on their own track.
Plan one shared book list that works across siblings, with [CHILD_AGES_OR_GRADES] shaping how the reading pace and depth adjust per child.
Build a shared yearly reading sequence for a group, with the subjects each book supports mapped out ahead of the first meeting.
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