Modulo

Fishtank Learning

Recommended Ages

K-12th Grades

Fishtank Learning is a free curriculum platform that offers complete, standards-aligned units in math, English language arts, science, and social studies for K–12. Each unit includes detailed lesson plans, texts, tasks, and assessments designed by practicing teachers, making it feel like a polished, school-quality curriculum. Developed by a nonprofit with a mission to spread high-quality instruction, Fishtank has been adopted by districts and individual educators alike. Parents and teachers value the rigorous content and the fact that it’s truly free to access. It’s best suited for families seeking a structured, academically demanding program, particularly in upper-elementary and middle school. The materials assume some teaching experience and can feel dense to new homeschoolers, but the depth is a major asset. To get maximum value, start with one subject, learn the structure, and adapt pacing to your child rather than trying to replicate a full school day exactly.

Good for upper‑elementary through high‑school students who handle challenging reading and discussion well and for families comfortable tweaking a school‑style curriculum to fit a shorter homeschool day; works especially well if a parent has teaching experience or enjoys digging into detailed lesson plans.

Pros

Free, standards‑aligned curriculum that offers complete units in ELA, math, science and social studies from K–12, including lesson plans, texts, tasks and assessments designed by practicing teachers; independent reviews from organizations like EdReports and The Reading League have praised aspects of its ELA materials for alignment and evidence‑based practices, and many teachers and some secular homeschoolers appreciate having a rigorous, cohesive curriculum without textbook costs. 

Cons

Written for 60‑minute classroom blocks, so homeschoolers often need to cut or adapt lessons to avoid overload; some teachers and parents report that the lesson pattern can feel repetitive and heavy on writing tasks, and a few critics have raised concerns about perceived political or ideological bias in certain texts or questions; the website assumes pedagogical background, so brand‑new homeschoolers may feel less supported than with a hand‑holding boxed curriculum. 

Because the base Fishtank curriculum is free, families and many small programs don’t need ESA or charter funds to access it; school systems that license Fishtank Plus or receive implementation support often pay with district budgets or grants rather than individual student funds.

Free to $95/year for premium options

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Fishtank Learning
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Skills

What kids will learn
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Math
Math
ELA
ELA
History
History
Social Studies
Social Studies
Geography
Geography

Fishtank Learning Mission

Fishtank Learning’s mission is to ensure that every student, regardless of zip code, has access to high-quality, standards-aligned curriculum that is rich in content and thoughtfully designed for teachers. Their free online units in math, English language arts, and other subjects emphasize complex texts, meaningful discussion, and problem solving, along with the planning tools teachers need to deliver rigorous instruction. By pairing open-access curriculum with professional learning, Fishtank Learning aims to make excellent teaching more sustainable and to help schools close opportunity gaps.

Fishtank Learning Story

Fishtank Learning began inside Match Charter Public School in Boston, where teachers and instructional leaders were building detailed, college-preparatory curricula for their own students and saw dramatic gains in achievement. Recognizing that many schools didn’t have the time or capacity to create similar materials from scratch, the team decided to share their work publicly as Match Fishtank, making full units freely available online. As adoption spread across districts, the project evolved into Fishtank Learning, an independent nonprofit dedicated to continually refining the curriculum and supporting educators who use it. Today, schools around the country adapt Fishtank units for their classrooms, benefiting from a curriculum created by practicing teachers and tested with real students.

About Modular Learning

FAQ: Additional Details about Fishtank Learning

A Fishtank math lesson might have your student work through a carefully chosen problem set, discuss different solution strategies with you, and then write a short explanation of their reasoning, all guided by the teacher notes on anticipated misconceptions and key questions. In ELA, you might read a complex text together, annotate in the margins, and respond to text-dependent questions before completing a writing prompt.

Fishtank Learning (formerly Match Fishtank) is a nonprofit provider of open-source K–12 curriculum in math, English language arts, and other subjects, offering fully sequenced units, daily lesson plans, and student materials online at no cost. Teachers and homeschoolers can browse by grade and subject, download or print PDFs, and follow the detailed teaching guides to deliver rigorous, standards-aligned instruction; an optional paid Fishtank Plus tier adds additional tools, assessments, and customization features, primarily for schools and districts. 

An adult serves as the primary instructor—posing questions, facilitating discussions, and providing feedback on written work. Fishtank assumes a teacher role, so independent learning is limited without that adult guidance.

Students should be working at or near grade level for the chosen units; adult instructors should be comfortable following a fairly detailed, text-heavy teacher guide and leading discussion-based lessons.

Fishtank Learning’s highly structured, standards‑aligned units can be a strong match for autistic and ADHD learners who thrive on clear routines, explicit modeling, and carefully sequenced tasks. Some units are text‑dense, so dyslexic or language‑impaired students may need read‑alouds, graphic organizers, and pacing adjustments.

Fishtank’s math curriculum is rigorous and concept-focused, with multiple representations and rich problem sets, which can be helpful for some dyscalculic learners. However, it is written for classroom use and typical pacing, not as step-by-step remediation, so many children with dyscalculia will need lessons broken into smaller chunks, extra manipulatives, and accommodations like reduced problem sets and extended time. I’d treat it as a solid spine that still requires customization for dyscalculia.

Can work for some 2e students who do well with clear routines and rigorous, step‑by‑step lessons. Materials are text‑heavy, so families often read aloud, annotate together, or slow the pace for kids with reading, processing‑speed, or anxiety challenges.

Fishtank’s math curriculum is rigorous and concept-focused, with multiple representations and rich problem sets, which can be helpful for some dyscalculic learners. However, it is written for classroom use and typical pacing, not as step-by-step remediation, so many children with dyscalculia will need lessons broken into smaller chunks, extra manipulatives, and accommodations like reduced problem sets and extended time. I’d treat it as a solid spine that still requires customization for dyscalculia.

There is no cost or refund policy associated with using the free online curriculum; any paid Fishtank Plus contracts are handled at the school or district level under separate agreements rather than on a per-family basis.

Probably not a match for kids who struggle with long reading passages or written responses, or for families who want a very gentle, play‑based early elementary program; those seeking explicitly neutral or values‑light content in humanities may prefer to pre‑read texts and substitute where needed.

Alternatives include Build Your Library, Logic of English or Brave Writer for ELA; Open Up Resources or Illustrative Mathematics for math; or simply cherry‑picking Fishtank units and pairing them with lighter‑weight curricula or living books.

Fishtank regularly refines units, adds new grade levels and subjects, and updates lessons to reflect shifts in academic standards and feedback from partner schools, while keeping the core materials free and publicly available. 

Treat Fishtank as a rich resource library: choose specific units that align with your year’s themes, print only the student‑facing pages, and aim for 30–40 minute sessions while skipping or shortening some written tasks in favor of oral discussion.

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Meet Fishtank Team

Fishtank Learning is led by a team of former and current classroom teachers, instructional coaches, and curriculum designers who first collaborated at Match Charter Public School. Rather than centering on a single founder, the organization reflects a collective belief that teachers deserve high-quality, content-rich materials that are ready to use and easy to adapt. Many members of the team have experience teaching in high-poverty urban schools and bring that perspective to designing units that are both ambitious and practical. Their work now supports thousands of educators who rely on Fishtank’s open-access curriculum as a foundation for strong instruction.