Despite worries from some educators, such online marketplaces are booming, driven by rising standards and the willingness of teachers to pay out of their own pockets for classroom-tested materials.
“I am so thankful and blessed that it came into my life and that my passion and career can kind of mesh into one,” says Miss Kindergarten, aka 32-year-old Hadar Hartstein, of Lake Forest, Calif., who says she has earned more than $1 million in sales over the past six years, enough to take this year and maybe the next few off from her teaching job to be with her newborn daughter.
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Her more than 300 offerings on the popular Teachers Pay Teachers site range from free alphabet flash cards and a $1.50 Popsicle party counting activity to a $120 full-year unit on math and literacy, all of them widely promoted on her blog and social media accounts.
“You definitely have to look at it as another full-time job,” she says. “You have to put a lot of effort into it.”