Finding Curriculum

I am often asked for help in finding curriculum. Below you will find a list of some of my favorites for each subject as well as places to search for oodles more. Finding curriculum in this day and age is not hard. In fact, it can be downright overwhelming! This is not an exhaustive list. It contains some of my tried and true favorites. There is also a list of places that have free items to use - including completely free K-12 programs. Enjoy! Please contact me with any questions you may have.

Purchase Options

​Places to purchase everything: 

Specific Subject Options

Language Arts
  • Institute for Excellence in Writing - writing programs and Fix-It Grammar (both are excellent)
  • Rod & Staff Spelling - this is a Mennonite company that writes curriculum for Christian schools. They have all subjects. It is inexpensive and rigorous. I have used and loved their spelling program which is phonics based. 

Math
  • Teaching Textbooks - video based (online or DVD) and self-correcting (a must for me in the upper levels)
  • Math Mammoth - especially good for younger students
  • Math-U-See - all ages/grades. This is a mastery program so a student masters all of addition before moving on to subtraction, then multiplication, then division, and so on until they are ready for Algebra. Very good for hands-on, kinesthetic learners.

Science
  • Apologia Elementary Science - favorites when my boys were younger. The accompanying journals are nice but not necessary. You can create your own. 
  • Science Through History by Jay Wile - perfect to pair with your history studies. 
  • Apologia for middle school and high school - Note here: I prefer the older edition apologia books written by Jay Wile. The science is sound in those. I have not used the updated ones from Apologia by other authors but have heard the science isn't as good in particular at the high school level. Use at your own discretion. 
  • Master Books - all ages/grades. I have used the Historical Geology one. They are literature based. And the best part - detailed lesson plans are included.
​
History
  • Story of the World - hands down my favorite elementary history program. A must is the activity guide. Don't feel as if you need to do everything listed. Use what works. And the audio books were wonderful as well.
  • Notgrass History - has both middle school and high school options. They also include language art options and bible options. In fact, the high school level, if everything is completed, will give your student one credit in history, one credit in Bible, and one credit in language arts.
  • Mystery of History - based on biblical history. Short chapters. Mapping is a big part of this course as well.  
  • Guest Hollow History - this is a literature based course. It comes with a detailed lesson plan with a list of resources to use. There are additional purchases for the books needed (or use the library). We have used their American History Year 1 and are enjoying it. There are books and videos. We have used some audio books as well. They do have other programs but I have not used them. 

Free Online Curriculum

Complete Online Free Curriculum
These are sites that have lessons plans and programs available for K-12. Most are fully online. Some are just lesson plans that use off line books. Some are a mix of both. 
Language Arts
  • Homeschool Share Lapbooks - most are based on a book. Read the book and create the lapbook. We enjoyed these when my boys were younger. There are 350 to pick from. 
  • Glencoe Literature Library - list of books with study guides and activities - mostly middle school to high school

Math
  • XtraMath - great place to work on math facts
  • Khan Academy - started as math but has now branched out to many other subject areas

Online Virtual Co-Op
This is a unique site. Virtual Homeschool Group is an online homeschool co-op. It is free and it is run by volunteers. It has massively grown since I first started using it in 2010. In fact, there is a now a course all parents must take in order to participate so I'm not going to go into a lot of details here on the ins and outs of how it works. I would encourage you to check that out first. The link will take you to their news hub with lots of information on it. 

​However, they offer both live and AYOP (at-your-own-pace) courses. The courses vary year to year because it all depends on volunteers. Typically they offer Saxon Math (from about 3rd-4th grade all the way up to advanced math) and Apologia Science (General Science up to Advanced Biology) as both live and AYOP. They have also started offering IEW Fix-It Grammar courses, sign language courses, Spanish, literature studies, Mystery of History (middle school & high school), and geography (middle school & high school) just to name a few. The majority of classes are offered for middle school up through high school. There are a few for elementary courses but not many. If you are interested, the deadline for live classes is typically August 1st (it's a one day enrollment - not first come/first serve either). They actively recruit for volunteers and without them the courses will not run. They need volunteers to build courses, teach courses, and grade courses.