Here’s a huge roundup of the specific homeschool resources and curriculum that we personally use. I only recommend products or services that have served our family well.
Some of these links may include discounts. Many of these are affiliate links, which means that I will earn a commission for purchases made with the links in this blog post. Please see my disclosure policy.
How to Homeschool
Wondering whether you should homeschool or not? Check out my FREE beginner’s course to exploring the homeschool option.
Homeschool Curriculum By Subject
Science
Answers in Genesis God’s Design Science Curriculum :: We love this curriculum because is comes from a Biblical worldview and multiple grades can use it together! Written for grades 3-8. Buy three books (one series/one year) at a time, or save by buying the whole curriculum (four topics: Heaven & Earth, Physical World, Chemistry & Ecology, Living Things). This is the curriculum I used with multiple ages for nearly a decade.
Then, as my high schoolers started spinning off with their own science courses (see below), I started using Apologia’s Elementary and Middle School Science curriculum with my younger kids.
My high schoolers have used a few different homeschool science curriculum options in the past few years.
Exploring Creation with Biology from Apologia. Grab the student notebook along with the textbook for a rich learning experience. We’ve also successfully used Apologia Chemistry and Apologia Physics in high school.
Friendly Chemistry was a great fit for our dyslexic high schooler because the Apologia curriculum was too technical for him. We highly recommend purchasing the teaching videos that go along with the student and teacher books.
Biology 101 & Chemistry 101 from the101series.com
Spelling
We tried several different spelling programs until we found All About Spelling! We have had great success with this program and its letter tile board. As a thrifty mom, I love that I can reuse all this curriculum for my five kids and only buy each level once! Check it out.
While AAS worked great for all our kids, it was especially crucial for our dyslexic child. Do you have a child with dyslexia? AAS has a great section of Dyslexia Resources & free downloads to help!
History
As a former social studies teacher, I did a lot of research into history curriculums when my oldest was preparing to start school. Loving the Biblical worldview, the chronological approach, and the ability to use this curriculum with multiple ages, we took the plunge with Mystery of History, and have been using it for over 10 years! Check out my post here about why we love it.
When my oldest began 9th grade, we used Bob Jones University Press’ Cultural Geography. I couldn’t find a great playlist for geography videos, so I made my own here. While we do love BJUP curriculum, it isn’t always easy to use in a homeschool context because it is written for a Christian school setting. So, while some independent kids could easily work through the textbooks on their own, not every student does well with that approach.
So that’s when we discovered Notgrass History curriculum. If you use all the material, you can count it as 1 credit each for history, English, and Bible. We’ve used their Exploring America and Exploring World History courses.
We haven’t had to use a Government or Economics curriculum yet, because my oldest covered those courses in dual enrollment with the university he will attend.
Reading
We have tried so many reading and literature curriculums over the years until we ditched them all and just enjoyed reading again. See how we did it here. (And it’s free! Just use your library.)
In high school, the Notgrass History curriculum also includes English & Bible assignments so that your high schooler can count this for 3 credits – history, English, Bible. They do this by tying in the literature to the history. So, our high school reading assignments tend to mesh with whatever they’re studying with Notgrass.
For fabulous lists of books to consider, check out ClassicalReader.com and Timeline of Classics from IEW.
Grammar
Grammar is one of those subjects that can be dry and boring, but it does need taught. So, we turned to The Well-Trained Mind’s First Language Lessons. These are scripted for the parent, do not entail hours of busy-work and loads of worksheets. I can reuse this curriculum with multiple kids. And I know that my kids have a great foundation in grammar.
Once we complete the four levels of First Language Lessons, we transition to Analytical Grammar by late elementary or middle school. This is a big book, it costs a bit of investment, and it’s not reusable, but I wanted to be sure my kids had a final, concrete grammar foundation before high school, when they will be putting it all into practice across the subjects as they write.
Daily Grams and resources from Easy Grammar systems are great for getting in the grammar instruction & review without overloading your kids. It takes about 10 minutes a day.
Updated! We have started using resources from Institute for Excellence in Writing and highly recommend their homeschool curriculum. They are written in an easy-to-implement style and also don’t require loads of busy work. We’ve used Fix It! Grammar from IEW and will likely continue with IEW resources for my last elementary and middle school students.
Writing
For the elementary years, we have used Writing With Ease, which gently teaches the foundations of great writing. It leads seamlessly into the Writing With Skill homeschool curriculum for middle school and older.
I cannot sing enough praises for Writing With Skill by The Well-Trained Mind. This curriculum is written to the student, helping your children to become more independent. But, no fear, mamas! WWS also includes a teacher guide, with scripted conversations about their writing, if needed. Clear rubrics are given, so that when you sit down to check your children’s writing, you have an objective baseline for comparison. I wish I had been given this kind of writing instruction as a middle schooler. Here’s my review of WWS (with video tour).
Without our recent addition of IEW Grammar resources, we’ve also used Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons from IEW for our seventh grader. It’s also an excellent writing program and we will continue to use Writing With Skill or IEW writing curriculum for our kids.
Bible
The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones is a treasure. It finally gives kids (and parents!) the big picture of the Story beneath every other story in the Bible.
You can buy packaged homeschool Bible curriculum and worksheets made for a school classroom. Or, you can teach your kids to read the Bible and learn how to interpret it.
We have used the inductive Bible study method with kids from about third grade all the way through high school. It is wonderful to do this type of study as a whole family! Check out our Psalm 1 Little Fishes Bible Study (K-4) and Psalm 1 Self Study Workbook + Video Lesson (grades 5-12) for a gentle introduction to the inductive method. Check out the James Inductive Bible Study Courses along with the Jonah & Nahum study.
When my boys were all in the young elementary years, we used the Herein Is Love Commentary for Children series by Nancy Ganz. She has books on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. We read the Scripture, I read (or summarized) her commentary, which is written for children, then she included crafts or activities to extend the learning.
My high schoolers are reading though two sections a week from J.I. Packer’s Concise Theology. Each chapter briefly addresses a key doctrine or aspect in systematic theology. My kids write out a key verse, explain what this doctrine teaches them about God, what it teaches them about man, and summarize the main points.
The Ology by Marty Machowski is a great systematic theology book written for elementary kids! My 6th grader is working through this and note booking as he goes.
By the time my kids get into middle and high school, they have a good grasp of the chronology of the Bible because they’ve studied that through the years in Sunday school and church groups. Now, we focus on teaching them how to read and study through whole books of the Bible using the inductive method. We expect kids to do deep work in other subjects, but somehow we water down the Bible studies they do. Not anymore! If you want to help your kids learn the life skill of studying the text of Scripture for themselves, download our FREE samples to check them out.
Foreign Language
We love, love, love Visual Latin from Compass Classroom! My third high schooler is using this as his foreign language. I so wish that I had known about this video course earlier for my older kids. The great thing about learning Latin is that it will give them a leg up if they want to pursue another foreign language later on. It will also help them with their English! The teacher is awesome.
I’ve since learned about The Cultured Home Language Program, which is for preschool and elementary aged kids. Here are some links to check out their foreign language program:
- 7 Day Free Trial of the Cultured Home Language Program
- Free Checklist: How to Teach Your Kids a Language, Even if You’re Not Fluent
Math Homeschool Curriculum
We have used Bob Jones University Press math from the start and would choose BJUP math all over again. It is a solid curriculum and you can be confident that your child will not have any gaps in their learning. Teacher’s editions with answers are available, but at the elementary level, you will probably not need them. Consumable workbooks through most of the elementary grades are reasonably priced. Here’s my review of BJU Math.
If you absolutely want all the math teaching and help off of your plate, then check out the amazing value over at CTC Math! We started by using it with one of our kids and it has taken the frustration away that used to always accompany math. Now this is our go-to for high school math.
Elementary Homeschool Curriculum
I’ve already mentioned the elementary homeschool curriculum we’ve used for most subjects. Here’s a bit more information on some content areas that I may not have covered above.
Civics & Economics Homeschool Resources
There is not a whole lot out there to support parents who want to teach their kids basic civics and economics. Until now! Introducing The Tuttle Twins series! Our family has been absolutely blown away by the quality of these books and the conversations that come from them. Check out these links to learn more:
- The Tuttle Twins Series
- Video peek inside the Tuttle Twins books
- Podcast interview with author Connor Boyack
CAT Achievement Tests
If your state requires standardized testing, or if you want to see how your child is progressing, then the CAT Achievement tests are a nice option. They are inexpensive, there is an online version, and you can choose an untimed test as well. If you use my referral code HERE, you can earn $5 off your first purchase.
High School Homeschool Curriculum
One of the best parts of homeschooling high school is letting your teens pursue some interesting topics and paths that may not fit into the traditional high school experience. Our kids have had opportunities for internships, apprenticeships, entrepreneurial pursuits, and more! Here are some ideas.
High School Electives
We highly recommend Dave Ramsey’s Foundations in Personal Finance for High School Homeschool curriculum. It’s a DVD course. We have already used his save-spend-share method with money since my kids were little. However, it was great to delve into some more mature financial topics and the course was interesting and held their attention.
Your entrepreneurial teens can check out these 3 electives and count them for credit on their transcript:
Homeschool Conferences
If you would like to go to a homeschool conference for the encouragement and inspiration, but just can’t swing it with the cost, travel & childcare, then consider an online homeschool convention!
Homeschool Workshops & Curriculum Help
10 Truths to Crush Homeschool Burnout (FREE!)
Yearly Lesson Planning in Less Than 1 Hour
Homeschool Mindset Workshops Bundle
Can You Really Homeschool High School?
How to Become a Productivity Ninja
Results-Based Goal Setting for Busy Moms
Homeschool Organization
We have been organizing all our homeschool schedules and assignments on Trello and the middle schoolers and older love it. I love it too because it doesn’t take long at all to implement once it’s set up. You can see my discussion of Trello HERE and sign up for FREE for your own account HERE.
Check out my YouTube channel for video tutorials on how to use Trello to keep track of kids’ tasks as well as how to organize your digital homeschool curriculum and resources.
Home & Family
Online Shopping – Walmart
I don’t go shopping (and you shouldn’t either). Online shopping is a secret productivity hack of homeschool moms. If you’re going to shop at Walmart.com, use this link and save $10.
Hello Fresh
I tried Hello Fresh for the perfect date night in. I thought getting it at 50% was a deal, but if you use my referral link, you will get $40 off your first order! **at the time of publication, this was the incentive from Hello Fresh, but I can’t guarantee they won’t change it.
Stitch Fix
Homeschool moms deserve to look cute too 🙂 If you’ve ever wanted to try out Stitch Fix but just didn’t want to risk the $20 styling fee, then use my referral link and you can try it for FREE!** Schedule your first fix, see if you like anything, and if you don’t want to purchase any of the items, send them all back and owe $0. I tried it twice already, and it definitely gets better with time. See my first stitch review here and my second fix here. **at the time of publishing, the referral link was for a $0 styling fee, but sometimes they change the incentive.
Air BnB
We booked our vacation rental on Air BnB for the first time, and it was a great experience. For our large family, we paid less than we normally have in hotels, plus we could save extra money by cooking some of our own meals. Everyone had plenty of space to spread out, and we were able to pay for our booking in a convenient 2-part payment. If you use my link HERE, you will receive a $40 credit!
Business
Teachers Pay Teachers
Are you a homeschool mom who is creating lessons, handouts, printables, and learning resources for your own kids? Why not sign up for a FREE seller account on Teachers Pay Teachers and make some passive income off the products you’ve already made? Let me know if you do this, and I’d love to check out your store!
Selling on Etsy
Are you a creative that would love to work from home with little risk, but potential for great income? Have you thought about selling on Etsy, but you weren’t sure where to start? I’ve been successfully selling on the platform since 2012.
I now have a 60 page ebook called The Etsy Quickstart Guide: How to Start Selling on Etsy and Build a Sustainable Business. I was able to make over $11K on my first year selling on Etsy and I’ll show you how! Grab it here.
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