Introducing the Focus Plan
Not every family needs a full curriculum. Some want help with one subject, or a steady tutor alongside the school year they already have.
Until now, Primer came in one size: every subject, for one price. That fits a family homeschooling full time. It is more than a family needs when the question is narrower, like "my daughter is behind in fractions" or "we love our reading program, we just want more math."
So Primer now comes in two plans. Focus is for one subject. Unlimited is for everything. You pick one for each student, and you can change your mind.
Two plans, side by side
Focus · $20 a month
Per student, or $216 a year. Built for tutoring and for families using Primer in a single subject.
- One core subject: Math, Reading & Writing, Science, or History
- 3 custom lessons a month, on any topic
- 500 credits a month
Unlimited · $40 a month
Per student, or $432 a year. The full Primer experience, and the plan every current subscriber is already on.
- Every subject, K through 12
- Supportive therapy-style lessons, foreign languages, and custom topics
- 1,000 credits a month
Both plans include the 14-day free trial, a worksheet made for every lesson, off-screen activities, read-aloud and the dyslexia-friendly mode, and the weekly parent progress summary. Both are month to month with no contract. The full comparison is in the pricing section on the home page.
One subject, done properly
Focus is not a lighter version of Primer. A Focus student gets the same lessons as anyone else, with the same five steps (Lesson, Unplugged, Puzzle, Practice, Exit Ticket), the same memory of everything they have done, the same Starting Point Check to find where they actually are, and the same progress up the ladder. The difference is the width. Every lesson is aimed at the one subject you chose.
That narrowness is the point. A student who is behind in one subject does not need five other subjects competing for the week. They need the one that is giving them trouble, every day, at their own pace, with lessons that adjust to what they keep missing.
Who Focus is for
Your student needs a tutor
Extra help in one subject, at their own pace, with lessons that adapt to what they miss. Our tutoring page shows how that works in practice.
You already have a curriculum
Keep the program you like for everything else, and use Primer for the one subject where you want more support.
You want to try Primer first
Start with one subject, see how your student takes to it, and move up to Unlimited when you are ready.
One interest won't wait
Three custom lessons a month give you room to follow whatever your student is excited about this week, outside their subject.
Three custom lessons a month, on anything
Kids do not keep their curiosity inside one subject. A Focus student studying math will still come to dinner with a question about volcanoes, or want to know why we carve pumpkins, or ask how airplanes stay up.
Focus includes three custom lessons a month for exactly that. Each one can be on any topic, not just the student's Focus subject, and each one is a full Primer lesson. They are one-offs: the lesson stands on its own and does not turn into an ongoing path. The allowance resets each month.
If one of those questions turns into a lasting interest, that is what custom topics on Unlimited are for. A custom topic takes the same one sentence and builds it into a sequenced course of skill units that runs alongside everything else.
Switching, and mixing plans in one family
Needs change through the year. A student who needed math help in September may be ready for the full curriculum by spring, or the other way around. Plans are set per student in Settings, and you can move between them:
- Moving up to Unlimited happens right away, at any time.
- Moving down to Focus takes effect at the end of the current billing period, so you keep what you paid for. During the free trial it happens immediately.
- Changing a Focus student's subject, say from Math to Reading & Writing, can happen once every 7 days.
Where to find it. A student's plan, billing, and Focus subject all live under Settings. The Account and Family Settings help article walks through it, and the Family Dashboard shows each student's monthly credits as they are used.
A tip for parents
Plans are per student. If one child needs help in Math and another is learning full time, put each on the plan that fits. You pay only for the students you have.
If you already subscribe
Nothing changes for you. The plan you have been on is the one we now call Unlimited, at the same price, with every subject included. If you have a student who only needs one subject, you can move that student to Focus from Settings whenever it suits you.
Find the plan that fits
Both plans start with a 14-day free trial, and your card is not charged until the trial ends. If you would rather see a lesson before choosing anything, the first one is free with no account and no card.
Pick the subject that is giving your student the most trouble, or the one they love most, and start there. You can always add the rest.