Here we are again! We’ll be homeschooling 9th grade for the fourth time with just one more kid to go in a few more years. As always, some things have remained the same, but some curriculum choices have definitely changed as I’ve learned about new curriculum options. Take a peek at what we’ll be using!
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9th grade homeschool curriculum
Need help wading through 9th grade homeschool curriculum choices? Here’s what you need to know about transcripts, curriculum, and more.
Heading into 9th grade is pretty momentous. It’s the beginning of the high school years. I hope you’ve been able to make a plan for 9th-12th ahead of time so you know where you’re going and where you want to end up. We’ll cover all the 9th grade homeschool curriculum choices you can consider.
But if you haven’t made a plan yet, now’s the time to do it! Here are some resources that will help you.
Tracking progress in your homeschool
Can I Really Homeschool High School?
How to make a homeschool transcript
Homeschool high school curriculum recommendations
How to homeschool 9th grade
The key to homeschooling the high school years is to get clarity on your role as a homeschool mom. This is not the time to hover over your teens while they work. They should be mainly independent by now and your role is more of a coach, mentor, and tutor as needed.
If you haven’t been able to help your kids grow into independent learners, it’s not too late! This will be a life skill that will help them after graduation, even if they do not pursue a college degree. It’s just part of being a responsible adult.
So, with that goal in mind, choose curriculum and courses that will help your teen grow in their independence and responsibility. Don’t choose resources that require you as the homeschool mom to be with them monitoring every minute of the homeschool day.
9th grade homeschool schedule
One of the ways you can help your teen grow and mature is to give them a flexible homeschool schedule and put them in the driver’s seat. Get them ready for college and for life in this way.
Step 1: Lay out the expectations of each homeschool week. Which classes and courses do they need to complete? How long should they spend on each? Of course, your local homeschool laws and future college plans will have a lot of influence here on how many hours your teen is doing schoolwork each day.
Step 2: Find a format to share weekly assignments, keep your teens accountable, yet give them flexibility to arrange their own schedule. Our favorite way to do this is with Trello. Download our Trello Cheatsheet for High School Schedules to get started using this method.
Step 3: Don’t forget to periodically check in with your high schooler to make sure they’re getting everything done as expected. Adjust assignments, curriculum choices, or expectations as needed.
Our 9th grade homeschool curriculum choices
Here’s a peek into what we’ll be using this time around for our 9th grader. We have an eclectic style and choose resources from many different companies and publishers.
English:
- Cover Story by Clear Water Press
- Book lists from Classicalreader.com
- Fix It! Grammar
Exploring Creation with Physical Science by Apologia
Notgrass Exploring World Geography
Electives:
- Inductive Bible Studies
- Visual Latin 1 by Compass Classroom
- Building Thinking Skills from The Critical Thinking Co.
- Foundations in Personal Finance for High School by Dave Ramsey
- piano lessons
9th grade homeschool curriculum packages
Since every homeschool student is different, I know that our choices might not work for you. So in the rest of this post, I want to highlight some additional options you might want to consider.
Some families choose to purchase a complete grade level curriculum package. While this can be pricey, it can also give you confidence and enough structure to keep on task throughout the high school years.
Here are some homeschool curriculum packages to look at.
9th grade homeschool program
When you want a complete program, here are some of the top companies.
Sonlight offers complete literature-based homeschool curriculum for every grade level. Your 9th grader can choose the History / Bible / Literature package or the All-Subjects option.
BJU Press provides complete 9th grade homeschool programs, which your teen can do with textbooks only or with the addition of online or DVD course instruction.
Sparks Academy offers virtual classes in language arts, science, government & economics, and history for high schoolers.
Memoria Press’ classical, Christian curriculum provides grade-level options filled with classical education staples like the Great Books, logic, and Latin.
9th grade homeschool curriculum online
Accessing homeschool curriculum online can be the exact format that works best for your teen. Consider these online 9th grade options.
Compass Classroom specializes in online courses for your middle and high schoolers. They have amazing options and a membership gives you access to everything you need for 9th grade.
SchoolhouseTeachers.com – This Christian, self-paced, online curriculum gives you access to all their courses for all grade levels with one family membership. You’ll be able to customize a great 9th grade year with all the options here.
Monarch – This is a Christian online homeschool curriculum for grades 3-12 from AOP. They offer customization and automatic grading with their subscription.
Liberty University Online – LUO is a private, accredited Christian online homeschooling curriculum that is “flexible yet structured.”
Time4Learning offers a 14 day money back guarantee with their online homeschool programs.
True North Homeschool Academy offers tons of live, interactive, online classes for your high schooler.
Free 9th grade homeschool curriculum
Are you looking for free 9th grade homeschool curriculum? While it is possible homeschool on a tight budget, you do sometimes get what you pay for. With that said, here are some excellent free options.
You can use Khan Academy for high school math, science, history, arts and humanities, language arts, and life skills. So, yes, basically every course you might need for 9th grade can be found on Khan Academy! Over the years, when my kids have been stumped in their math course, we’ve turned to Khan Academy videos to help get us “unstuck,” so we will vouch for their quality.
Easy Peasy All-in-One High School also offers free homeschool curriculum. They earned one of Cathy Duffy’s Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum awards.
For more free resources and programs, check out the comprehensive list at Freedom Homeschooling.
9th grade homeschool curriculum choices
I know it’s hard to narrow down high school curriculum choices for homeschool. But hopefully these suggestions will help you figure out the best curriculum for YOU and your family. Because everyone is unique, and the “perfect” curriculum for one homeschool family might not be a great fit for another homeschool family.
What is the best 9th grade homeschool curriculum?
So, when you’re wanting to know what the best 9th grade homeschool curriculum is, you have to consider a few variables.
First, what are your state homeschool laws. Are there any requirements that might help you narrow down your choices? What are your state’s graduation requirements for homeschoolers?
Next, consider the future goals of your teen. Are they college bound? Headed into the workforce? If they plan on attending college, find out which college prep courses they will expect to see on the transcript. If they will get a job right after graduation, figure out their goals for employment and craft a high school experience that will give them the skills they need.
What is the best homeschool curriculum for high school?
The best homeschool curriculum for high school is whatever works with your family.
You need to also ask what types of homeschool styles fit the best with your family. What kind of program or curriculum will your 9th grader do the best with? Do they need outside accountability with an online program that has teachers that will give feedback? Or are they internally motivated and able to work in independently?
What is your financial situation? Some programs or curriculum options are clearly more expensive than others.
So, in short, the best 9th grade homeschool curriculum is what is best for YOU. There is no option that is best for everyone. Take a look at the links in this post and do some exploring. And you may be helped by a brainstorming sheet in my members-only resource library called Curriculum Questions. It will walk you through nine essential questions to ask in narrowing down which homeschool curriculum will work best for your family in this season.
9th grade homeschool courses
Instead of choosing a complete 9th grade curriculum package either using textbooks or online, you can mix and match from various publishers and create an eclectic and customized homeschool experience for 9th grade and through all of high school. Here are individual courses to consider for each content area.
9th grade English homeschool curriculum
9th grade English homeschool curriculum will include some or all of these sub-categories:
- grammar
- writing
- literature
- spelling and/or vocabulary
- speech
Again, check with your state laws for homeschool graduation requirements. Do they mention a certain number of credits for English and do they specify which of these need covered every year? Or are these able to be taught at your discretion sometime in high school?
If you have freedom to craft your 9th grade English credit, you could focus on one of these categories, such as American literature, to go along with your history studies, for example. Then, you could add in some grammar review and writing assignments as needed.
Or, you might want to focus on vocabulary and speech this year, turning your attention to a different category for 10th grade.
Consider some of these great English homeschool curriculum providers:
- Clear Water Press
- Institute for Excellence in Writing – includes both writing and grammar curriculum
- Notgrass History offers a credit each in English, Bible, and History when you complete all the assignments
- BJU Press
Best Homeschool Language Arts Curriculum
9th grade Math homeschool curriculum
Math homeschool curriculum can be tricky to find a good fit! Here are options for you – and they don’t require you to teach Algebra!
Thinkwell Homeschool High School
BJU Press Math via online instruction
The Best Homeschool Math Curriculum – here are recommendations from several of my homeschool blogging friends
9th grade Science homeschool curriculum
If you’re looking for 9th grade science homeschool curriculum, here are some publishers or online course providers to check out.
Apologia – We’ve used many of their high school courses over the years including Physical Science (this is technically a middle school science, but we’ve used it in 9th grade too), Biology, Chemistry, Astronomy, and Physics. Here’s our review of Apologia science classes.
The Friendly Sciences – For our dyslexic child who needed a different approach (and less intense approach) than the Apologia courses, we used Friendly Chemistry instead and it worked well.
The 101 Series – These DVDs are a great supplement to any science course, or you can use them as stand-alone classes by following the instructions included with the videos. It helps students really understand concepts by explaining connections rather than focusing on memorization of facts without comprehension.
9th grade History homeschool curriculum
High school history courses typically include classes like World Geography, World History, American History, Government & Economics. Check with your state requirements. If you have freedom to include any history, geography, government or economics classes in your homeschool, then consider some of these options.
Notgrass History – We’ve been very happy with Notgrass History courses. You can count them toward 1 credit each in History, English, and Bible. Or just complete the history assignments and count it as one credit in history.
Compass Classroom offers loads of online classes, including many history and economics courses.
Hillsdale College has amazing high-level online history courses that are absolutely FREE! They include periodic quizzes after the lessons, so you can still have an objective way to assess your student’s understanding of the material. Love these course titles: The Second World Wars, Athens and Sparta, American Heritage, Constitution 101, plus many more!
9th grade Electives
What are electives? These are the “extra” courses that don’t fall into the main four high school courses of math, English, history, and science.
What electives can your 9th grader take? The sky is the limit! Here are some ideas to consider.
And grab the high school electives planning pack to help you stay organized and keep track of hours.
Final thoughts on 9th grade homeschool curriculum choices
The high school years are a great time to customize a great education for your teenager. With their future goals in mind, find courses that will help them in their pursuits after graduation, along with keeping them motivated and loving to learn through the high school years.
If you want help with organizing all the lesson plans from various publishers, then Homeschool Planet offers the best online planning system imaginable. It will be totally customizable to your unique schedule, courses, and plans.
