It’s August and it’s Back to School season which can put high school homeshcool parents in a tizzy! I know what it’s like to plan for teens since I have two with very different personalities and interests. So here’s some ideas that I am calling a Quick Start Guide sharing free and paid resources for high school homeschool curriculum.
I realize that many families have a limited budget when it comes to spending money on supplies and curriculum but there’s so many good free choices that you will only have to narrow done the courses that your child wants to take along with a few requirements. If you are brand new to homeschooling your children then I highly recommend you read my How to Start Homeschooling post FIRST then come on back over here!
High School homeschool offers a wide array of choices for students between courses, work studies, apprenticeships, college courses and jobs. I would suggest you take some time with your high school student to talk about career goals as well as current interests. Maybe even plan to get a tour of your local college or career center. (We just found out that our local career center allows for a very flexible academic plan since they allow open enrollment.)
Free High School Homeschool Curriculum Ready in under an Hour
Yes, you read that right! I’m going to list some high school homeschool curriculum choices that are pretty much planned out and are ready once you print the workbook or guide.
American Government and American History online textbooks from Independence Hall Association. Each text offers a link to a short reading section as well as discussion questions. You will need to divide up the sections per week with your student (i.e. American History has 60 sections with 4-10 subtopics) You can count the number of total topics and assign a certain number per week.
Animation from Khan Academy and Pixar offers behind-the-scenes look at how Pixar artists do their jobs. You will be able to animate bouncing balls, build a swarm of robots, and make virtual fireworks explode.
Art 1 Elements of Art is a full year course with finals included from an art teacher named Julianna Kunstler. I would print out the syllabus as well as make sure your student has the needed art supplies for this course. Assign due dates for your students projects and you are all ready for your student to embark on a year of art!
Art History, Computer Graphics and Visual Literacy are also offered free online by Julianna Kunstler!
Biblical Studies through Grace Notes. The curriculum is 100% free and you can look at many of the lessons online. Your student will complete a lesson, complete a quiz, all from the comfort of your PC!
Daily Grammar offers 400 lessons on parts of speech, sentence structure and mechanics. You might want your student to write down what they learned or what they worked on each day as proof that work was completed.
Foreign Languages through Rosetta Stone or Transparent Languages or Mango or Duolingo are FREE if you have a library in your state that offers one of these programs! We found that Cleveland Public Library offers Rosetta Stone and we could get a library card online without visiting the actual library. Many of our closer libraries offer the other programs but my daughter has enjoyed learning French via Rosetta Stone which even has an app and free worksheets.
High School Math resources were gathered into their own post a few years ago along with some college level textbooks. Peruse the post to find a course for your student.
High School Spelling a 36 week program from K12Reader which we used for Princess and Eldest last year. You will need to print out the worksheets and give a test each week. We did a pre-test and if the student scored 80% or above didn’t have to take the test at the end of the week. Some weeks my 3rd grader read off the words to his older siblings!
HTML & CSS and Python and Java and Ruby and SQL and Bash/Shell from Code Academy. I would have your student keep track of the time spent on each coding language until there’s enough hours to count for a half credit (60-90 hours) or a full credit (150-180 hours).
Kitchen Chemistry from MIT offers a 13 week course learning Chemistry as you cook! Most of the reading is done online and the recipes are printable pdf’s. Once you print the recipes your student can create a weekly grocery list and begin to do the additional readings by topic.
Music Appreciation 9th-12th grades in an internet linked pdf from Harmony Fine Arts.
Ocean Science through NOAA offers 300 lesson plans designed as an education unit to share the excitement of daily at-sea discoveries and the science behind NOAA’s major ocean exploration expedition
Personal Finance through Khan Academy which I would only count as 1/2 credit. I have tons more resources which I plan to share at a later date.
Peter’s free Online Typing Course takes you through learning “touch typing” (that’s what typing without looking at the keys is called) through a series of lessons and typing tests. Since we live in a digital age learning to type quickly and accurately would be very beneficial to your student.
Science courses offered online from Georgia Virtual Learning. When I looked they offered 10 regular science courses and 9 AP courses. We personally have not used any of these but they were mentioned quite a few times in the past in a few high school homeschool groups.
STEM program from NASA via the Kennedy Launch Academy Simulation System (KLASS) program is an exciting way to bring the space shuttle program into your classroom. If you are looking for creative ways to develop STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) skills with your learners.
Free High School Homeschool Curriculum Requiring Parent Planning
Ambleside Online Literature Heavy Curriculum offers Year 0- Year 12 which is created from Charlotte Mason’s method of education. Everything is related to reading a lot of different books in small chunks over the course of a year plus oral narration, nature study and end of term exams. Each year consists of three 12 week terms which equals 36 weeks of school. If your student isn’t a reader then you would need to source out audiobooks which many can be found on Librivox for free! There’s a facebook support group and many parents share helpful tips and printable schedules for AO.
Coursera offers college level courses for free online from colleges and universities around the world. Many courses have limited enrollment times while others offer flexible enrollment.
Guest Hollow offers free Biology and Geography & Cultures curriculum for High School students as well as History Shelf for those students who enjoy lots of reading. You will need to source the living books for either subject which could take some time depending on the number of libraries you have access to and if they offer audiobooks and ebook resources. I have created a book list for Biology which you can view then save a copy into YOUR own Google Drive in order to edit it as you source the books.
Hippo Campus offers videos in 13 subject areas for middle school to college aged students. The main subject categories include Math, Science, Natural Science, Social Studies and Humanities.
Modern States offers what they call “Freshman Year for Free” as far as college courses go BUT these classes can be used for high school credits. If your student feels proficient enough to take the AP test or CLEP test then college credit can be earned at a significantly reduced rate. I would encourage you to sit down with your student and go over what is available on the site and what interests them.
What high school homeschool curriculum do you plan to use this year?
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