CHRISTIAN EDUCATION: Market for home education products expected to grow

BY CRAIG FROMAN, assistant editor, New Leaf Publishing Group

The publishing landscape has changed dramatically in the last five years. The increase in self-published books, bookstore closings, e-books and more have forever altered some publishing traditions that existed intact for more than 500 years. A part of the dynamic trends that have seen an increase in sales, even as other titles have collapsed, has been in the area of Christian education.

Many trends were recognized in the category of Christian education publishing last year. It has truly become a thriving growth market, where many other categories and genres of Christian publishing have become either stagnant or weak. Also, in the past many secular fields of study that seemed “neutral” to the faith were allowed to be studied alongside Christian materials. Now as the market expands, so has the desire for all education books to include a biblical worldview.

Looking ahead, research shows an expected growth of nearly 10% in the homeschooling market alone. This single growth trend will surely have a significant impact in the area of Christian education publishing. As competition for this market expands, an increasing number of higher-quality materials will find their way into the marketplace.

Families are choosing private Christian schools and homeschooling as viable options for their children. This has occurred for several reasons, including the desire for more regular religious instruction, a biblical worldview that embraces creation rather than evolution, safety issues and academic excellence.

We have an imprint dedicated to creation-based homeschool resources, reference titles, apologetics and quality children’s literature. This imprint is called Master Books. We have considered ourselves a supplemental Christian education resource provider for many years, and now we are focusing our product development on curriculum, specifically unit studies and full-year curriculum titles for all ages.

The homeschooling market is a growing market in many ways. Conservative estimates state that there are about 2 million students being home-educated in the United States alone, and within five or so years it could double.

While Christian education products have been part of the mission of our company since 1975, in the last five years the homeschool market has emerged as a core focus of our publishing and marketing. Every season that we release new books, we make sure that a growing number of these products will meet the needs of Christian schools and homeschool families.

In 2013 we are adding more specific curriculum packages to our product line, which now includes both books and DVDs of the highest quality and at the best price in order to serve families better. We are also developing our current line of resources into focused curriculum choices.

Retailers selling Christian education products will want to make sure their community is well-informed of their product choices, and learn to know the “seasons” that families are looking for new curriculum. This is usually March and April (with tax refunds) and then often June through July or August (as they look to the upcoming season). Also, know that many who love books often search for the best children’s gift books in November and December. Make sure these are visible, and that gift cards or gift certificates are available for grandparents and others wanting to support their family’s educational choices.

New Leaf Publishing Group won the 2012 Retailers Choice Awards in the Christian Education category for Big Book of History.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This entry concludes our look back at the year 2012 and ahead to 2013. Please share your feedback at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

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