Homeschool Curriculum Choices: Listed by Subject

Are you overwhelmed by all the homeschool curriculum choices? It doesn’t take much for the overwhelm to happen to me, and I’ve been homeschooling for many years!

Today, in a LONG post, I’m sharing curriculum choices by subject: reading, language arts, writing, math, science, and social studies/history. I also have a section towards the end of the post for online learning, so be sure to check that out, too!

Before we jump into any curricula, it is helpful to know the learning style of your child so you can choose the “right” homeschool curriculum based on the homeschool teaching method{s} you want to use.

 

Please Note:

We have not personally used every single curricula listed below. I have collected these homeschool curriculum choices from our experiences and those of other homeschooling families. While I share a blurb about each one, be sure to visit the site that’s linked if you have specific questions.

I’m sure there are way more choices out there for each subject area. I would also encourage you to visit a vendor hall at a nearby homeschooling convention if you’re looking for even more. Staff that works for {or even developed} the curriculum can better answer you questions. You can also pick up the books and thumb through them, which is very helpful for a visual person like me.

Many of the curricula and resources you’ll find in this post are coming from a Christian worldview because that is my worldview. Read more about that here. If you’re looking for more secular homeschooling resources, feel free to search online.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

 

Homeschool Curriculum Choices by Subject

Learning to Read Resources

• Learning the Alphabet – The activities found in Learning the Alphabet start at the very beginning with hands-on alphabet activities. The Learning the Alphabet bundle in my shop has tons of extra goodies you won’t find in the free version.
• Reading the Alphabet – This reading curriculum is designed for preschoolers who are ready to begin reading or Kindergartners who need to learn at a slower pace. Reading the Alphabet features letter sounds, sight words, rhyming, print awareness, basic number skills to 20, and more! The bundle has more activities than the free version.
• Learn to Read – Focus on CVC words and basic sight words with this fun and engaging curriculum. Free phonics books from our Learn to Read curriculum can be found here.
• All About Reading  – All About Reading lays a strong foundation for reading. It is designed with struggling readers in mind. It starts at the very beginning for pre-readers and has four more levels of learning. Read my All About Reading review.

 

• BOB Books – These phonics books teach phonics skills that build on each other with every level. Be sure to check out all my free BOB Books printables, too!
• How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons – I have to honestly say this book was the push I needed to start blogging, because I knew teaching your child to read could be WAY more fun than this book. However, some families have enjoyed using it.
• If you’re looking for reading curriculum for a specific homeschool teaching method, you’ll find more reading curricula listed under the specific styles.
• Once my kids had a strong phonics foundation, we would explore chapter books for reading in our homeschooling. You’ll find lists of chapter books here.

 

Language Arts Resources {Spelling, Vocabulary, Grammar}

• All About Spelling – This spelling curriculum lays a strong foundation for spelling. It is designed for struggling spellers and has seven levels, which can take you through middle school/high school.
• Explode the Code – These are workbooks that gradually progress in their spelling skills, starting with CVC words {Level 1} and ending with words that have prefixes and suffixes {Level 8}. If you have learners who need a little more work with particular spelling skills, they also have 1/2 levels in between most of the levels.
• Words their Way – If you’re going to use Words their Way, I highly recommend reading my word study series or reading most of the text book so you have a strong understanding of how/why it works. I have several word study resources on the blog and each level of learning also has a supplemental book.
• Spelling You See – I’ve never used Spelling You See because we used Words Their Way early on in homeschooling and then All About Spelling in our later years. From what I gather, they base their teaching off of five spelling levels, which teach spelling in a gradual way.

• Vocabulary – For middle school and even high school, we have used and absolutely LOVED Word Up! for vocabulary instruction. Oh my goodness. It’s hilarious and so engaging!!
  In the lower grades, I’ve used various resources from Teachers Pay Teachers and created some of my own, but my absolute favorite way to teach vocabulary is through read alouds and everyday conversation.
• Grammar – We’ve used several different grammar books and curricula for grammar including Abeka, Fix It! Grammar, Scholastic, and Evan-Moor.

 Writing Resources & Curriculum

• Teaching Every Writer – Teaching Every Writer, written by The Measured Mom and myself, is not a complete curriculum per se, but you’ll find 200+ lesson plans for K-2 learners and videos to help you make writing instruction effective at home using the writing workshop model. {Even though we market it for K-2, I’d argue that you could take this all the way through 3rd grade, especially if you struggling writers.}
• IEW – Like Saxon math, I said I would never, ever, ever use IEW. But we are using it this year. My high schooler is absolutely thriving with it. One of my very good friends, who was a high school writing teacher, encouraged me to try it because it was helping her struggling writer. It has truly been a God-send for him.
  If your child is an amazing writer who loves to write, this curriculum may make your writer feel boxed in and a little bored. This has very much been the case with my fifth grade daughter who would write all day if I let her. {She takes after her mama.}
• WriteShop – I love how WriteShop takes the writing workshop approach with teaching writing. Read my review here.
• Here to Help Learning – We used Here to Help Learning for a year when my kids were in 1st, 3rd, and 4th grade. The videos were very well done and engaging, but I did feel there needed to be more guided practice ideas to help them get to the finished product.
• Brave Writer – This curriculum mixes read alouds, copywork, and writing projects. A close friend who uses Brave Writer said, “Julie Bogart does an amazing job of keeping writing fun and light while at the same time challenging students to develop the technical aspects of writing and finding their ‘inner voice’ as a writer.”
• Writing with Ease – This is not even in my top 100 favorite resource for teaching writing, as I explain in my Writing with Ease Review; but some families using the classical model of homeschooling may enjoy it.

Got any kids who struggling with multiplication?
Times Tales is a multi-sensory tool that I’ve used with ALL my kiddos!

Math Resources & Curriculum

• Saxon Math – Saxon Math was a math curriculum I said I’d never use. But for grades K-3, I really enjoyed it! It was more hands-on than I realized it would be. I did not use every component of the curriculum because I didn’t want math to take forty-five minutes to an hour with every kid each day. I liked that it was spiral, going back to constantly review concepts already taught so my kids wouldn’t forget. As my kids got older, I felt Saxon got very wordy and less hands-on. I have only kept using it with one of my kids who excels in both language and math.
• Teaching Textbooks – Teaching Textbooks is mainly digital, although you can buy the actual hardback textbooks, too. I recommend using the grade above {i.e. if your child is in 2nd grade, use the 3rd grade level}. Like Saxon Math, Teaching Textbooks is spiral, meaning it includes problems from past lessons in each lesson. I do like that the computerized version corrects wrong answers right away and helps learners see how to get the answer if they struggle. My high schooler is using the Algebra 2 this year, and struggling a bit with the length of the lessons {not the content.}
• Math-U-See – Math-U-See is systematic and cumulative, building math skills in a step-by-step and hands-on way. While I didn’t use Math-U-See in the youngest grades, I am using planning to use it next year with three of my four kiddos who will be in 4th grade, 6th grade, and 10th grade.
• RightStart Math – This math curriculum came highly recommended to me by a homeschooling mom who used to be a math teacher. While we bought and used many of the hands-on math games, I never actually bought or used the full curriculum.
• Singapore Math – I did not use Singapore math, but I have two homeschooling friends who used it in the lower grades with all their kids. They both felt it provided a solid base especially for number concepts.
• Horizons Math – This is a part of Sonlight’s curriculum. It uses visuals, hands-on learning tools, workbooks, and spiral teaching {throwing in review concepts} to teach math concepts.

 

• Life of Fred – Some people LOVE Life of Fred. I honestly didn’t love it when we tried the first book. For me, it was too disjointed and random. I needed a math curriculum that built on concepts and reviewed concepts taught in a more explicit and sequential way. But if you’re leaning towards unschooling, you may really like it!
• Math Lessons for a Living Education – I am not familiar with this curriculum, but it looks pretty workbook heavy. You can read more about it here.
• Charlotte Mason’s Living Math – Fits the Charlotte Mason method way of teaching. You can read more about the curriculum here.
• Times Tales – If your child is struggling to learn their multiplication facts, I highly recommend Times Tales no matter what main curriculum you use. {See the image above.}

 

Science Resources

• This Reading Mama’s Science Units – I have several science units for mostly K-3 learners. My long term plan is to create even more!
• Apologia Science – I have really loved Apologia Science for elementary and middle school grades. We are using it in high school for my ninth grader, but have found it to be pretty deep and a little confusing for him. {He has a language-based learning difference.} A few other homeschooling parents told me that the older Apologia editions are more accurate than their newer editions for high school.
• Dr. Jay Wile – Dr. Jay Wile has lots of science books of all levels from young kids through high school. It is written from the Christian worldview.
• Purposeful Design – We’ve used the Level One workbook of this science curriculum for a homeschool co-op. It was your basic science book from a Christian worldview. There are a few science experiments sprinkled in, but the teacher’s manual might have even more, even though I didn’t have access to it.
• Abeka – Again, we used these workbooks for a co-op. It’s very similar to Purposeful Design‘s workbooks with experiments sprinkled throughout.
• Discovery Kids – DK’s Science workbooks are very basic. I’ve used them as a filler when I wanted extra work on certain science concepts.
• Answers in Genesis – I’ve been told Answers in Genesis can be a bit dry in spots, but I have another friend who loves them with her older kids. I plan on using this one soon with my own kids.
• Master Books – Master Books has many books of different topics. We have used some of their science books. There were no activities in them, but the pictures and info was good.

 

Social Studies Resources & Curriculum

• Children’s Atlas of God’s World by Craig Froman – This book shares information and maps about the seven continents around the world.  It also tells the story of Christian explorers and missionaries around the world.
• Discovery Kids – Like their science workbooks, DK’s Geography workbooks are very basic. I’ve used them as a filler when I wanted extra work on certain geography concepts. We also have and use their Children’s Illustrated World Atlas.
• North Star Geography – I’ve never used this curriculum, but have a homeschooling mama friend who does with her high schooler. It was written by a homeschool grad {now homeschool dad} and looks like a fun curriculum with hands-on projects, too.
• America’s Story from Master Books – This curriculum is a three-year study on American history. We are using the first book this year. I’ve enjoyed reading it with my 3rd, 5th, and 6th grader. For me, I felt like the Teacher Guide was kind of waste of money, as I only used it once or twice. It doesn’t fill in any missing information and the student activities are a little on the busywork side.
• A Child’s History of the World by V.M. Hillyer – From what I understand, A Child’s History of the World is an engaging world history overview, great for younger children.
• Story of the World – Story of the World is a world history curriculum, starting at creation. I recommend getting the read aloud books AND the activity books {because the activities are very creative and fun}. I like how this curriculum reads like a story and integrates people from the Bible into it. I will say it gets a little disjointed in parts as you progress through {by jumping around from continent to continent}, but overall, we’ve really enjoyed it.
• Mystery of History – I struggled to use this history curriculum with my little ones. I think it’s better as a world history curriculum for older elementary learners and above. I know some homeschooling families that have even used it in high school.
• Veritas Press – The classical co-op that we tried for half a school year used Veritas Press, so I would say it matches the classical method of homeschooling, which you can read about in this post.
• Notgrass History Books – My high schooler is using Notgrass’s curriculum. I do like that the American History one has an MP3 for my struggling reader. It is very detailed and full of facts. I also like the lists of projects suggested with each chapter.

 

Digital Learning Resources & Curriculum

• Reading Horizons at Home – Do you have a struggling reader? Reading Horizons at Home is a GREAT online tool for struggling readers or if you have a child with dyslexia. It is OG-based, and teaches in a sequential way that helps your reader understand phonics.
• ABC Mouse – For younger kids. We never used it, but I’ve heard great reviews about it.
• Starfall – Starfall. com started out as just phonics, but they’ve added tons more resources up to 3rd grade for language arts and math.
• Reading Eggs – We’ve used Reading Eggs for a few years now. I really like that it covers so many language skills! Last I checked, they had a special price for homeschooling families. You just have to call the 1-800 number to get that deal.
• PBS Kids – Play learning games with your favorite TV characters. My kids still enjoy watching some of the videos, even in upper elementary grades!
• Time4Learning – If you’ve looking for a fully online homeschooling program, Time4Learning is your ticket! We reviewed it years ago and enjoyed it. I know they’ve only made it better since then.

 

Places to Find More Homeschool Curriculum

• Christian Books
• Rainbow Resource
• Teachers Pay Teachers
• Amazon
• Most curriculum creators have their own website
• Vendor halls at homeschooling conferences

 

What are your favorite homeschool curriculum choices? Be sure to share them in the comments below!
~Becky