The Illusion of Inclusion: Why Moving Beyond the Page Isn’t Secular or Inclusive

As a secular homeschooling parent committed to inclusive, anti-racist education, I often find myself searching for curricula that align with both my academic goals and my values. Moving Beyond the Page (MBTP) is frequently recommended in secular homeschooling circles and praised for its literature-based approach and creative projects. But after working through its materials and examining its structure more deeply, I can say without hesitation: Moving Beyond the Page is not truly secular or inclusive.

In fact, it reinforces many of the same norms and exclusions that marginalized families are often trying to escape when we choose to homeschool.

*Note: the company “Epiphany Curriculum, LLC” is dropping the “Moving” and just calling themselves “Beyond the Page”. Given that most homeschoolers still know them as Moving Beyond the Page (MBTP) I will continue to call the curriculum that in this article.

The Problem with “Technically Secular”

MBTP markets itself as a secular curriculum, and it’s true that it doesn’t include overtly religious instruction. But ‘secular’ isn’t just about removing references to God — it’s about creating a learning environment free from the biases that often accompany dominant cultural narratives, including nationalism, colonialism, and normative assumptions about race, gender, and family.

MBTP fails at that.

The curriculum presents a very narrow lens: one that centers white, cisgender, neurotypical, able-bodied, heterosexual experiences. Its book selections, writing prompts, and historical content often reflect outdated or harmful perspectives, or leave important ones out entirely.

Curriculum Structure and Why It Falls Short for Gifted Learners

Moving Beyond the Page is a literature-based, interdisciplinary unit study curriculum that integrates language arts, science, social studies, and math (optional) through thematic units. The program is designed to encourage critical thinking, creativity, and real-world connections, with a strong emphasis on written expression. While the integration across subjects can be convenient for some families, the format leans heavily on pre-planned activities and surface-level engagement rather than open-ended inquiry.

Key Features of the Format:

• Unit Study Structure: Each subject is organized into themed units that revolve around a central book or topic. Language arts units are always built around a specific piece of literature, while science and social studies units often pair with hands-on projects and informational texts.
• Literature-Based: The curriculum uses high-quality, often award-winning children’s books as the foundation for lessons. Students read the literature as part of their lessons and complete activities that engage with the themes, characters, and plot.
• Worksheets and Written Activities: Most lessons include printable worksheets that involve comprehension questions, vocabulary exercises, grammar activities, and written responses. Students are expected to complete a fair amount of written work.
• Discussion Prompts: Each lesson includes guiding questions for discussion, encouraging parent-child or teacher-student dialogue. These are often meant to foster deeper comprehension or explore broader themes.
• Projects and Activities: Units often include hands-on projects, experiments, or creative assignments designed to reinforce concepts in a multi-sensory way. However, many projects still require substantial parent facilitation and may include a written component.
• Assessment and Final Projects: Each unit culminates in a final project or activity that acts as a summative assessment. This might be a written report, a presentation, or a creative project that synthesizes the unit’s themes.
• Teacher’s Guide Format: The parent/teacher guide provides step-by-step instructions for each day, including objectives, materials, discussion questions, activity directions, and answers for the worksheets.

The program claims to be designed for gifted learners, but in practice, it doesn’t truly support the needs of gifted or twice-exceptional kids who thrive on in-depth exploration and intellectual flexibility. Its predefined structure and rigid pacing discourage deep dives or student-led tangents, things that are often essential for keeping gifted learners engaged. While MBTP does include age ranges for each level, this mostly serves accelerated learners who are working ahead in grade-level material. It doesn’t account for asynchronous development or kids who need the freedom to explore interests in a nonlinear, interdisciplinary way.

Literature Choices That Fall Short

MBTP relies heavily on classic and mainstream literature, much of which is written by white authors and reflects dominant cultural narratives. For example:

• Books like Little House on the Prairie and Sarah, Plain and Tall are used without any critical lens on their colonialist and racist undertones.
• The assumption that all families celebrate Easter and Christmas even if they mention that some families might do this in a “secular” way
• The only books about the Civil Rights being written by white authors
• Queer characters, gender-diverse families, and stories centering neurodivergent or disabled kids are completely absent.

While Moving Beyond the Page does occasionally include books written by BIPOC authors (primarily in the upper levels) these selections tend to focus almost exclusively on trauma, oppression, or the struggles of being a person of color. This limited representation reinforces a narrow and often harmful narrative, reducing BIPOC experiences to hardship rather than celebrating the full range of identities, cultures, and stories. The absence of joyful, everyday, or genre-diverse books by BIPOC authors reflects a broader lack of intentional inclusion and cultural responsiveness in the curriculum.

This isn’t inclusion: it’s tokenism at best, erasure at worst.

History Through a Sanitized Lens

MBTP’s approach to history is particularly problematic. U.S. history units often take a patriotic tone that glosses over, or outright ignores, the deep violence of colonization, slavery, and systemic racism. Indigenous peoples are presented as part of a past that’s been “overcome,” not as living communities still fighting for sovereignty and rights today.

Even outside of U.S. history, cultural insensitivity is a recurring issue. For example, the curriculum includes a lesson titled “Gypsy”, a term widely recognized as an ethnic slur against the Romani people. It is presented without any context about its harmful origins or the continued discrimination Romani communities face. This lack of critical framing reinforces stereotypes rather than challenging them.

Critical thinking is encouraged in theory, but in practice, learners are rarely invited to question the narratives of Manifest Destiny, American exceptionalism, or the morality of the founding fathers.

When curriculum avoids difficult truths, it reinforces dominant ideologies by default.

Evolution as an Afterthought

Despite presenting itself as a science-rich curriculum, MBTP gives evolution minimal attention. It appears in just one upper-level unit, meaning students may go years without encountering one of the most foundational concepts in modern biology. This limited exposure sends the message that evolution is optional or secondary, rather than central to understanding life sciences. For secular families or those prioritizing accurate, standards-aligned science education, this omission can be a significant drawback — especially given how early and consistently evolution is integrated into frameworks like the NGSS.

Limited or Outdated Sex Education

MBTP’s approach to sex education is minimal and outdated. While some basic gender binary content around puberty is included in the upper levels, there’s little to no attention given to healthy relationships, consent, gender identity, or sexual orientation. In a curriculum that claims to serve gifted and curious learners, this lack of comprehensive, inclusive sex ed is a major oversight, and leaves many families needing to supplement with more affirming and current resources.

Inclusion Isn’t Optional — It’s Foundational

Inclusive, secular homeschooling should do more than avoid religion. It should actively affirm and reflect the diverse identities and realities of the children learning from it. MBTP does not do this. It presents a sanitized, majority-centered worldview dressed up in hands-on projects and gentle language. It reminded me strongly of the type of public school education I had in the 90s.

We shouldn’t have to rewrite history lessons, replace reading lists, and soften ableist or heteronormative assignments just to make a curriculum usable.

What We Really Need

The homeschooling world is long overdue for resources that go beyond the page — and into the real world. That means:

• Centering BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled, and neurodivergent voices in both literature and lesson design.
• Telling the truth about history
• Teaching evolution as a foundational concept in biology, not an optional topic saved for later grades.
• Making room for families who don’t fit a single mold.

Until MBTP, and other curricula like it, are willing to engage with those realities, they are not truly secular. They are just religion-free, and that’s not enough.