Whether you’re new to homeschooling or a seasoned veteran wanting to know about more options, here’s a guide to the different homeschooling curriculum options out there.
If you’re new to the world of homeschooling, welcome! There are a million different options out there and they can seem overwhelming at first, but they don’t have to be! Here are the most popular options out there.
This is part of a new Introduction to Homeschooling Series. Check out the other posts in this series if you’re wondering where to start.
- I Want to Homeschool: Now What? An Introduction to Homeschooling
- How to Choose the Best Homeschooling Curriculum
I have used an * to mark Christian curriculums. Some curriculums (Math-U-See) are owned by Christians and may have certain references, but are otherwise neutral/secular. Others are more strongly Christian and frequently have Bible verses or religious-based questions in all subjects (especially Language Arts).
Many of the secular options are Christian-friendly, they just don’t have references to religious themes.
ELEMENTARY
ALL SUBJECTS
- A Beka (traditional and rigorous, Protestant Christian)*
- AOP’s Lifepac
- Bob Jones (traditional)*
- BookShark (literature-driven)
- Easy Peasy (Charlotte Mason)*
- Good and the Beautiful*
- Heart of Dakota (Charlotte Mason)*
- Monarch (online)*
- My Father’s World*
- Moving Beyond the Page
- Oak Meadow
- Sonlight* (literature-driven and EXCELLENT book lists)
- Time4Learning (online)
PRE-K
- ABC Mouse (online)
- Mother Goose Time
- Mrs. Karle’s Reading Patch (online)
- The Relaxed Homeschool (a full printable Pre and K curriculum)
BIBLE
- Not Consumed*
- What’s in the Bible?*
LANGUAGE ARTS
- 5 in a Row (literature-driven, unit studies)*
- Blossom and Root (creative, Charlotte Mason inspired, secular)
- Book Shark (literature-driven)
- Classical Conversations*
- Good and the Beautiful
- Grammar Galaxy
- Institute for Excellence in Writing
- Michael Clay Thompson
- Sonlight (literature-driven)*
- WriteShop
MATH
- Horizons Math (traditional)*
- Life of Fred*
- Math Mammoth
- Math-U-See (video-based)*
- Saxon (traditional and more rigorous)
- Singapore Math (mastery-based)
- Teaching Textbooks (video-based, not as rigorous as other options)
SCIENCE
- Apologia*
- Kristin Moon Science (live online classes)*
- Real Science Odyssey
- Science in History by Jay Wile*
- Singapore Science
SPELLING/HANDWRITING
- All About Spelling (top rated)
- Handwriting Heroes
- Memoria Press Copybooks
- Spelling You See
HISTORY
- Catholic Schoolhouse (Catholic, traditional)*
- A History of Us by Joy Hakim
- History Quest by Pandia Press
- Oh Freedom! (Has a Christian and secular version, a conscious US history)
- Mystery of History*
- Notgrass*
- Sonlight (literature-driven)*
- Story of the World*
TOOLS FOR BUILDING YOUR OWN CURRICULUM (unit study resources)
- Ben and Me
- Free Homeschool Deals
- Learn in Color
- Teachers Pay Teachers
- Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett
SECONDARY (MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL)
ALL SUBJECTS
- A Beka (traditional and rigorous, Protestant Christian)*
- AOP’s Lifepac
- Bob Jones (traditional)*
- BookShark (literature-driven)
- Easy Peasy (Charlotte Mason)*
- Good and the Beautiful*
- Monarch (online)*
- My Father’s World*
- Oak Meadow
- Sonlight* (literature-driven and EXCELLENT book lists)
- Time4Learning (online)
MATH
With high school math, a student’s future goals should be kept in mind. For good SAT/ACT scores, I recommend A Beka (Christian) and Saxon (secular). Keep in both don’t explain things as thoroughly as I would’ve liked and you may have to supplement. (I used these math resources in high school)
- Aleks Math
- CTC Math (online)
- Life of Fred*
- Math-U-See (video-based)*
- Mr. D Math (online live classes)
- Saxon (traditional and more rigorous)
- Teaching Textbooks (video-based and not as rigorous as other options)
SCIENCE
- The 101 Series (videos)*
- Apologia (textbook or online)*
- Dive Interactive Education (eLearning)
- Kristin Moon Science (online courses – faith neutral)
- Mr. Q Science
- Real Science Odyssey (hands-on)
HISTORY
- History Odyssey by Pandia Press
- History Series by James Stobaugh (Masterbooks)*
- Mystery of History*
- Notgrass (traditional)*
- Sonlight (literature-driven)*
LANGUAGE ARTS
- 7 Sisters Homeschool (online/downloadable)*
- Analytical Grammar (traditional)
- Brave Writer
- Classical Conversations*
- Good and the Beautiful*
- Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)
- One Year Adventure Novel (video-based, teaches you how to write a novel)
- Sonlight (literature-driven)*
- WriteShop
BIBLE
- Apologia (worldview currculum)*
- Grapevine Studies*
ELECTIVES/OTHER
- 7 Sisters Homeschool (electives for tons of subjects including career exploration, psychology, etc.)*
- iTalki (language learning)
- Marie’s Words (visual SAT vocab prep – HIGHLY recommend!)
- Outschool
UNIT STUDIES
My Personal Recommendations
That’s a lot of information! If you’re feeling overwhelmed, here is a list of top homeschool choices.
- A Beka Curriculum (strongly Protestant Christian and rigorous)
- Sonlight (Christian and literature-driven)
- Book Shark (secular and literature-driven)
- All About Spelling/All About Reading (secular and top reading and spelling curriculum)
- Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) (secular but with Christian add-ons)
- Apologia Science* (Christian and top science curriculum)
- Time4Learning (secular and all-in-one online curriculum)
Another 2 major HS curriculums are CLP (Christian Light Publishers) and Rod and Staff . . . incidentally R&S was the first Christian based curriculum in our modern times (back in the early 1960s).
Samantha: Thank you for putting together this information to help parents!
Thank you!
Hello, Samantha! My name is Hannah Logan, and I’m a fellow homeschooling blogger 🙂 First of all, what a wonderful post! You did an amazing job of highlighting so many different curriculum for homeschooling mommas ♥️ Researching curriculum can be such a daunting task, but you have presented so much valuable information to give homeschoolers a place to start. I wrote a similar post that highlights how to choose a curriculum (link here: http://myhappyhomeschooling.com/how-to-choose-the-best-homeschool-curriculum/), but I love that you took this idea from a different perspective by exploring specific curriculum. Once again, thank you for such an in-depth look at homeschooling curriculum ♥️
I am looking for a highschool curriculum that is NOT on-line. Any suggestions?
I took Saxon math at my private Christian school from 7th-12th. Hands down an amazing curriculum. It’s no nonsense and has 0 “fun” but it is rigorous and exceptional. I passed the AP Calculus BC exam for college credits. If you want a great math curriculum, Saxon has my vote.
I took Saxon math at my private Christian school from 7th-12th. Hands down an amazing curriculum. It’s no nonsense and has 0 “fun” but it is rigorous and exceptional. I passed the AP Calculus BC exam for college credits. If you want a great math curriculum, Saxon has my vote. For the rest, my school used Abeka. Great education. I now have my masters degree in a hard science and work at a university as a research scientist.