Walk Beside Me Learning

Walk Beside Me Learning is an LDS gospel-based homeschool curriculum that integrates world history, language arts, and scripture into a four-year chronological rotation for grades 1-8. It is designed explicitly for Latter-day Saint families and does not market itself outside that audience.

Last updated: 2026-04-24 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Literature-based / unit-studies / chronological history
Worldview	LDS (Latter-day Saint; gospel-integrated)
Grades	1-8 (Volumes 1-8)
Formats	Print workbooks, digital PDFs, video component via Teach Me Grandpa!
Cost tier	Standard
Parent intensity	4
ESA-common	No
Accredited	No
Established	Development began 1998 as LIFE School
Website	walkbesidemelearning.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	3	Strong narrative history and language arts; math and science are external
Ease of teaching	3	Parent-heavy; scripted enough for confidence but not hands-off
Content quality	4	Cohesive chronological narrative from pre-earth life forward; well-edited
Flexibility	2	Designed to be used whole; mixing is awkward
Value for money	4	Reasonable per-grade cost for an integrated spine
Worldview scope	1	Specifically LDS; publisher states this explicitly
Visual/design	3	Clean, readable; not premium production
Support resources	2	Publisher has closed; a YouTube channel of Life Tools videos remains public

Who the publisher is

Walk Beside Me Learning is the current name of a curriculum formerly published as LIFE School, a name that another LDS homeschool resource also records. The publisher lists a post office box in Manti, Utah, as its mailing address. The publisher states that development of the program began in 1998, with Patti Landes Adams, a lifelong educator and author, and Elaine A. Cannon, former Young Women's General President of the Church, as the key developers at that time. As of October 2026, the publisher's website states that Walk Beside Me Learning has closed and is no longer developing or distributing curriculum through that site.

The publisher is explicit about its audience. Its homepage states that the program is not a general Christian curriculum and presents an integrated world history from pre-earth life to the present that focuses on the principles and doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, using the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and secular world history. The publisher also describes the program as built on a chronological timeline of the scriptures with other subjects woven in, rather than as a base curriculum with supplemental packets that add the gospel. Per Every Homeschool's classification rules and the publisher's own self-description, the program carries an LDS worldview classification rather than any christian-* label.

Walk Beside Me Learning is supported by two adjacent projects. The first is Covenant Path Academy, which the publisher's site describes as a faith-based, accredited online private school serving grades K-12; that page now states that Covenant Path Academy is BRIM Academy. The second is Teach Me Grandpa!, a YouTube channel of short life-skills videos that, per the publisher's April 2023 announcement, correspond with the "Life Tools" presented weekly in the curriculum, with a new video added every week. The LIFE School site stated that a portion of each purchase was donated to the LDS Church's General Missionary fund. The publisher also states that hundreds of families have used its curriculum.

The core pedagogy

Walk Beside Me Learning is organized as an eight-volume chronological sequence that covers grades 1-8. Each volume corresponds to one academic year, and the full set cycles through world history twice: Volumes 1-4 cover pre-earth life through the early Christian era at an elementary reading level; Volumes 5-8 cycle through the same chronological arc again at a middle-school reading level, this time integrating deeper scripture study and reading the Book of Mormon alongside the Bible and secular world history.

Within each volume, a typical week covers four to five subjects together: history (narrative readings from the publisher's history storybooks, often drawn from public-domain sources like H.A. Guerber and the Baldwin Project alongside LDS-specific texts), language arts (reading, handwriting practice, and short writing assignments drawn from the same source material), scripture study (daily reading from the Bible, Book of Mormon, or Pearl of Great Price depending on the chronological position), and fine arts (hymn study, art appreciation, and handicraft rotations). Math and science are not included in the curriculum; the publisher expects families to pair Walk Beside Me Learning with an external math spine (Saxon, Math-U-See, or similar) and a separate science component.

Signature mechanics: (1) Chronological integration of scripture and world history. The organizing claim is that the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and secular world history describe the same continuous sequence of events, and the curriculum treats them as one narrative arc. (2) Two passes through the same chronology at different reading levels. Students see the same historical material twice, once in elementary and once in middle school, which mirrors the LDS seminary model of returning to scripture at progressively deeper levels. (3) Handwriting and spelling drawn from the history content. The language-arts work is not a separate workbook, copywork, dictation, and composition assignments all use passages from the current history reading, which keeps the week's content integrated. (4) Covenant Path Academy. The publisher's site now states that Covenant Path Academy is BRIM Academy, a faith-based, accredited online private school serving grades K-12, rather than a video supplement to the print curriculum.

What they do exceptionally well

Integration of scripture and world history for LDS families. Walk Beside Me Learning integrates the Book of Mormon chronologically alongside the Bible and secular world history. In our assessment, this framework is difficult to replicate with ecumenical Christian curricula like Mystery of History or Sonlight, both of which treat the Bible as scripture but do not include LDS distinctives.

Use of public-domain classical texts. The curriculum draws heavily on the same nineteenth-century history and literature texts that underlie Ambleside Online and the Yesterday's Classics catalog. H.A. Guerber's history series, Charles Morris's historical tales, James Baldwin's readers. This gives the curriculum a Charlotte Mason flavor: rich, narrative-driven prose rather than textbook summaries.

Supporting video content. The Teach Me Grandpa! YouTube channel publishes short life-skills videos that the publisher's April 2023 announcement says correspond with the weekly "Life Tools" in the curriculum. For families whose children learn better by watching than by reading, this is a scaffolding layer on a public channel alongside the print materials.

Publisher transparency about audience. Walk Beside Me Learning states in its own marketing materials that the program is for Latter-day Saint families. It does not market itself as non-denominationally Christian. This editorial honesty deserves recognition on its own terms.

What they do poorly

No math or science. Families adopting Walk Beside Me Learning must pair it with external math and science spines. The curriculum is not a complete homeschool program on its own; the publisher is clear about this, but families comparing total cost against all-inclusive curricula like Abeka or Sonlight should budget for two additional subject areas.

Audience-specific by design. Families who are not Latter-day Saint will find the curriculum's doctrinal frames, the pre-earth life, the Book of Mormon as scripture, the Plan of Salvation narrative, integrated throughout rather than bracketed. This is not a weakness in the program's terms, and the publisher is explicit about it; it is a weakness only in the narrow sense that the program's total addressable audience is a single tradition rather than the broader homeschool market.

Limited independent-student design at middle-school level. Volumes 5-8 are marketed as middle-school content, but the parent's presentation load does not drop significantly between Volume 4 and Volume 5. Students working through eighth grade still depend on the parent for discussion, dictation, and assessment. Families who hoped the program would support a more independent upper-grades student should expect the program to remain parent-led throughout.

Availability. As of October 2026, the publisher's website states that Walk Beside Me Learning has closed and is no longer developing or distributing curriculum through that site, and that it chose to discontinue access to the materials because some legacy collections may not contain every originally planned volume or component. Families considering the program should treat any copies they find elsewhere as legacy materials and confirm which volumes and components are included before buying.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick Walk Beside Me Learning if: your family is Latter-day Saint and wants a scripture-integrated chronological history and language-arts spine; you value the Charlotte Mason / literature-based aesthetic; you already use an external math and science program and want a single curriculum for history, scripture, and English; you appreciate the two-pass chronological structure that mirrors LDS seminary.

• Skip Walk Beside Me Learning if: your family is not LDS (the doctrinal frames are integrated, not optional); you want a complete K-8 curriculum that includes math and science; your student needs a more independent upper-grades workload; you prefer a textbook-based history approach over narrative and literature readings; you need ESA-friendly materials in states that restrict religious curricula.

Cost honest assessment

As of October 2026, the publisher's website states that Walk Beside Me Learning has closed and is no longer distributing curriculum through that site. This review therefore does not give a current per-volume price. Families who find legacy copies on resale channels should compare the price against the volumes and components actually included.

ESA eligibility notes

Walk Beside Me Learning is LDS-distinctive religious content and faces ESA eligibility challenges in states that restrict religious curricula. It is not currently listed on Arizona's ClassWallet ESA marketplace, Florida's MyScholarShop, or Utah Fits All as a first-party approved vendor. Utah's ESA program, despite its majority-LDS state population, has not generally approved explicitly LDS religious curricula, consistent with its religious-neutral posture. Families interested in ESA coverage should verify with their state marketplace before ordering; Walk Beside Me Learning does not publish a dedicated ESA workflow.

Alternatives

• Sonlight, a family would pick Sonlight over Walk Beside Me Learning because Sonlight's literature-based chronological history spans K-12 with a fuller scope including math and science references, and its Christian-ecumenical worldview is broadly accessible across Protestant and LDS families who want a less denominationally specific frame.
• The Good and the Beautiful, a family would pick The Good and the Beautiful over Walk Beside Me Learning because TGTB markets itself as non-denominationally Christian and covers math, science, and language arts as a more complete K-8 package.
• My Father's World, a family would pick My Father's World over Walk Beside Me Learning because MFW offers a complete K-8 integrated curriculum including math and science, at a similar parent-intensity level, with a Protestant-ecumenical Christian framing that LDS families can adopt selectively.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed the Walk Beside Me Learning website, the published scope and sample pages for Volumes 1 through 8, the Covenant Path Academy page, and the Teach Me Grandpa! YouTube channel's alignment with the print curriculum. We cross-referenced the publisher's statements about LDS-specific audience against the product documentation and verified the LDS classification with the Every Homeschool editorial standards. Closure and availability statements verified October 2026.