Homeschooling help and encouragement from experienced homeschoolers - find out how homeschooling works and how to start, get tips & ideas for when things need adjusting, read curriculum reviews before buying, learn how online schools work, gain confidence about homeschooling high school, and more.
A Reason For... materials are designed for Christian parents and students to "incorporate Scripture Values and provide options for Differentiated Instruction." The materials include leveled readers with biblical stories, spelling based on contemporary stories based on biblical themes, and a handwriting course built around Bible verses with challenging letter combinations. The courses include workbooks, teacher’s Continue reading »
ABCmouse is an online preschool-kindergarten curriculum that teaches letters, letter sounds, counting, math, art, science, music and phonics. The child starts out at the level that you choose and progresses through various areas by working virtual puzzles, singing songs, visiting the zoo and farm, reading books, virtual coloring, etc. A fun bonus is that the Continue reading »
Abeka provides a complete line of traditional Christian educational materials that have been developed and refined over a period of 50 years in the classrooms of Pensacola Christian Academy. The resources are available in physical and digital format and include textbooks, workbooks, readers, and videos. Products can be purchased individually or as grade level kits. Continue reading »
All About Reading is a multisensory, mastery-based program that starts with essential pre-reading skills and continues on to teach all five key components of reading. This complete program teaches phonics, decoding, fluency, and comprehension in a fun and engaging way. Suitable for all ages and learning styles!
The program is multi-sensory and is mastery-based rather than grade-level based, so when students master a specific concept, they move on. If a child needs more practice in a certain area, the program allows for that so the child can really master each concept. There’s no sense building on a shaky foundation, because that will Continue reading »
Alpha-Phonics is classic phonics instruction where the parent works with the child, but the instruction requires no preparation. It has been used in its current form for over 24 years. The curriculum is contained in a lay-flat book, CDs and for Kindle.
Analytical Grammar offers grammar, literature, and writing curriculum for 4th grade through graduation. Their primary program, Analytical Grammar, teaches English grammar, punctuation, and usage. It is designed to be taught in three grammar “seasons” over three years; however, it is flexible enough to be adapted to a one- or two-year schedule. It is recommended for Continue reading »
"Big Life Journal is an illustrated and guided journal for children ages 7-11. It is available as a hardcopy and PDF. You can print PDF at home, your local library or your favorite print shop." The journal is over 200 pages and additional lesson plans, activity kits, printables, and more are available to accompany the Continue reading »
BigIQkids offers both free and premium online programs for spelling, vocabulary, math, and geography. The programs are designed for students in grades K-8 and promote spelling efficiency, vocabulary building, math fact mastery and US geography knowledge via multimedia reinforcement and independent learning.
BJU Press offers both curriculum for purchase and a distance learning solution. The texts cover all core subjects with a Christian worldview, critical thinking, and hands-on learning.
Blossom and Root is a secular homeschooling curriculum that focuses on Nature, Literature, STEM, and art. Program levels are for Early Years (ages 2-5), Kindergarten (ages 6-7), Elementary (grades 1-4), and 2 science-based stand-alone mini-programs called "Book Seeds". The Book Seeds series is recommended for ages 2-12. Continue reading »
Bob Books are simple readers that start with 3 letter words. They allow the child to complete an entire lesson by him or herself, thereby developing confidence. The books are sized to allow children to hold them comfortably as they read. Parent’s guidance is included within the text of the books themselves. The books come Continue reading »
BookShark offers students from Pre-K to Age 16 the chance to learn all the required educational subjects through the engaging lens of books. BookShark’s curriculum is designed to develop creative and academically successful minds in children by teaching them to view the world and historical events not through rote memorization but through unforgettable stories that Continue reading »
The Brave Writer program is designed to help parents teach their children writing. Brave Writer offers both self-teaching guides and online classes with instructors with programs available for students ages 5-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18. Online classes are taught by coaches who are published authors and experienced homeschool teachers. Brave Writer offers a homeschooling Continue reading »
Build Your Library is a secular Charlotte Mason inspired homeschool curriculum created by Emily Cook that takes a literature approach to educating children in art, history, literature, science, and language arts. Full-year general homeschooling grade level products are available for Kindergarten through grade 12. Build Your Library also offers multi-age unit studies using well-chosen popular Continue reading »
This program offers spelling or grades 1-8. Weekly units with daily lessons concentrate on a particular phonetic sound within. List of words. Writing the words, using them in word activities, and pre-test work are used for practice. Each book represents a year of spelling training.
"The Core Knowledge Curriculum Series™ provides comprehensive, content-rich learning materials based on the Core Knowledge Sequence. Student readers, teacher guides, activity books, and other materials are available for Language Arts, History and Geography, and Science. Materials for Math are in development." The downloadable curriculum is available at no cost with free registration; teacher guides are Continue reading »
Draw Write Now is an eight-book series with step-by-step drawing instruction and short sentences for writing practice. Each Draw Write Now book is a unit study with 21 directed drawing lessons presented on two pages showing a colorful drawing, four sentences, and step-by-step drawing instructions. The units explore history, geography, natural science, and social studies. Continue reading »
"Easy Grammar texts use the prepositional approach combined with effective strategies. This helps students to understand grammar, a tool for speaking and writing properly." The courses are for grades 2 – 12, and involve student texts, workbooks, a teacher’s guide and a mastery review intended to be used at the beginning of each days’ instruction. Continue reading »
Easy Writing focuses solely on sentence structure, teaching students how to write higher level and varied sentence structures. It does not teach paragraph composition.
Editor in Chief is a popular program which, according to publisher’s materials, "improves your child’s grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and attention to detail using a standards-based thinking approach rather than drill and practice. This effective method teaches students to carefully analyze and edit stories that contain errors in writing mechanics and story details." The materials Continue reading »
This lay-flat book teaches 100 Latin and Greek roots. This curriculum includes a new Latin pronunciation guide, word definitions, and teaching notes. The instructions are appropriate for elementary through high school grades. There is no special preparation required for instructors.
This phonics based reading program for grades 1-4 has two components, one based on workbooks and the other, online. The book based instruction has workbooks, study guides, and other supporting materials. The online component is a multi-sensory phonic program, based on the latest literacy research. The online materials provide immediate feedback to students as they Continue reading »
First Language Lessons are advertised as providing academic rigor with ease of instruction. The course uses classical techniques of memorization, dictation, and narration to develop your child's language ability in the important, foundational years of language study. The course includes workbooks, instructor guides, and an audio CD.
This eight book series, spanning K-6 and including a teacher’s guide, has been designed with what the publisher calls the unique "Look-Plan-Practice" approach to self-assessment.” This program teaches italic handwriting with no loops which makes the program legible, logical, easy to write and easy to teach. Each book is $8.75, the entire series is $65, Continue reading »
Grammar Galaxy is a secular language arts program for elementary students in grades 1-5. Concepts are presented in an entertaining easy-to-understand story format, with literature, vocabulary, spelling strategies, grammar, composition, and public speaking covered in the stories. Students are then asked to save the galaxy from an evil gremlin by completing activities in a workbook Continue reading »
Greenleaf Press materials include resources for parents and children on Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, Reformation, & Modern History, Literature & Art. The curricula are designed for teaching history chronologically and focus on biographies of famous individuals. The publisher describes the course materials as “guaranteed 100% twaddle-free.” The course materials are exclusively books, and can be purchased Continue reading »
Includes levels 1-8, roughly corresponding to grade levels. Each level contains approximately 108 lessons and assumes the grammar course is being taught three times per week during a 36-week school year. Sentence diagramming is taught beginning with Level 3. Each lesson contains a teaching portion and student exercises, and each section concludes with a review Continue reading »
This program uses fun, entertaining, and educationally sound instructional methods to teach handwriting to all students: pre-k through cursive. The lessons require minimal preparation time. According to publisher’s materials, the program "follows a developmental teaching sequence by teaching easy letters first, beginning with capitals and then teaching letters in groups of similar stroke sequence. When Continue reading »
Horizons is a brightly illustrated, engaging workbook curriculum filled with consumable lessons and hands-on activities. Designed with fast-paced lessons, Horizons uses a spiral learning method to help your student master concepts through the process of introduction, review, and reinforcement. This learning method allows students to quickly grasp difficult concepts in a colorful, motivating format. Available Continue reading »
Institute for Excellence in Writing is DVD based instruction that provides videos of actual writing instruction. The course includes workbooks. Each level is good for one to two years of instruction. Courses are offered to train instructors to teach students, actual writing instruction for students or combination packs.
K5 Learning offers an online math and reading program for kids from kindergarten through grade 5. Kids complete an online assessment of 8 key reading and math skills, and then work independently and at their own pace through over 3,000 lessons and activities. The lessons are animated, interactive and simple enough that even a 4 Continue reading »
The Leap Frog DVDs teach basic phonics, reading, and math. The content and songs tie into other Leap Frog items, which is good for repetition.
According to the publisher, Learning Language Arts Through Literature "is a fully integrated language arts program that teaches grammar, reading, spelling, vocabulary, writing mechanics, creative writing, thinking skills and more. For example, a basal program may teach adjectives separately from other skills. The student may be asked to fill in blanks with adjectives and circle Continue reading »
Literary Adventures for Kids is a secular literacy program implemented through online book clubs. Literature clubs, available for individual books or inclusive membership for access to all courses, are available for elementary through high school students. Membership offers: Over 30 Online Book Clubs: With 20 Nature Books, 12 Family Books, 2 Christmas Books, and 2 Continue reading »
Little Acorn Learning publishes Waldorf-inspired themed resources for early grades. Curriculum, unit studies, themed boxes, and subscription boxes are available.
Catholic Christian Phonics/Spelling and Reading program. Gives beginning readers a very strong start in phonics and reading. Easy to use and affordable.
Logic of English is based on the Science of Reading and includes instructions for reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and handwriting. The program offers a range of options that include printed books, PDFs, video instruction, active learning games, interactive online practice, music, and more.
McGuffey Readers are reprints of early 19th century eclectic readers and feature literary selections that are suited to the age level (1st through 6th grade) and interests of students. They teach reading through moral stories geared toward their original audience of white Protestant Americans. Also available from the same publisher are reprints of 19th century Continue reading »
Modern Curriculum Press offers elementary math, phonics and spelling instruction. Features of the 2005 edition of Modern Curriculum Press Math include: Four-step problem solving strategy Guided and independent practice Real world application Word and story problems that "require students to draw upon and integrate multiple skills and strategies to find a solution." Clean uncluttered design Continue reading »
McRuffy Press creates and publishes curricula for Preschool to grade 5 for Language Arts (with phonics, reading, spelling, and writing skills), Math, Science, and Handwriting. McRuffy Press provides complete subject area packages with teacher's guides, workbooks, reading books, resource material, and manipulatives for an integrated and hands-on approach.
Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts includes Grammar, Vocabulary, Poetry, and Academic Writing with a heavy emphasis on root words and deep LA content. It is written especially for gifted learners (but usable by all). Lots of author and publisher online support with user forums.
As featured on
