How to Homeschool for Free (or Almost Free)

Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool is a free online resource created by homeschooling parents for homeschooling parents. It contains a full homeschool curriculum from a Christian worldview for grades K-12.

It has a daily planner so children can go to their level, scroll down to the day they are on, and follow the directions. Parents can print the worksheets or order the inexpensive workbooks.

Ambleside Online is a free, Charlotte Mason-style, Christian-based homeschool curriculum for children in grades k-12. It has a long-standing reputation in the homeschooling community as a quality resource. It offers an emergency-plan curriculum for families homeschooling in the midst of crisis.

How it works: The program provides a list of books needed for each level. The books cover history, science, literature, geography, picture and composer studies. A list of possible resources for math and foreign language is provided for parents to choose from.

Newsela is a free educational website that promotes literacy using news stories. Articles are adjusted to different reading and maturity levels.

A suite of tools allows parents to evaluate reading comprehension and vocabulary, monitor progress, and personalize lessons.

You don't have to leave the house to see the world.

Explore the world with virtual field trips and virtual world tours. The lists include Livestream events and interactive tools. There is also a list of children's museums you can explore online.

Scholastic is one of the best-known names in the educational materials industry. Learn at Home is a site for students in grades Pre-K through 9th. It features two weeks' worth of daily activities and projects on subjects, including science, math, ELA (English language arts), and social studies.

The curriculum includes stories, articles, videos, and activities designed to stimulate curiosity.

The Smithsonian Learning Lab is free and puts the treasures of the world's largest museum, education, and research complex within reach.

It offers images, texts, video, audio recordings, and learning activities featuring more than 1 million artefacts. You can curate your own collection and share with your students to match your educational goals.

Funbrain provides free educational games, comics, books, and videos for children - Pre-K through 8th grade. Content is organized by grade level.

Their activities focus on developing skills in math, reading, problem-solving, and literacy.

As an award-winning children's literacy website, Storyline features famous people reading beloved children's books.

Children can listen to the story, follow the words, and enjoy colourful animations.

The Big History Project was created for students in middle and high school. It is a free, social studies curriculum aligned with Common Core ELA standards.

Although designed with teachers in mind, the website offers different versions for parents and history fans.

Chrome Music Lab is a highly visual tool and organized in experiments.

It enables students to explore music and its connections to math, science, and art.

GoNoodle is a free app and website with active games and videos designed to manage kids' energy levels.

It offers a wide variety of activities - from Zumba exercise videos to Wii-like sports games and mindfulness videos.

An astrophysicist mom created bedtime Math to help children use math naturally in their everyday lives.

Daily activities take around 5 minutes to complete and can be adjusted to four different skill levels. The app is also available in Spanish.

Code.org offers structured computer science curriculum for children at all levels. Children can learn at their own pace and stay challenged.

Lessons teach coding and touch on topics such as online privacy and digital citizenship. Children learn to design and build their own apps and games.

With parental oversight, YouTube can be a wealth of knowledge to supplement homeschooling.

• Crash Course is a top-rated channel for older kids and covers topics such as science, history, economics, and literature.
• Crash Course Kids is a version for younger students.
• Other valuable channels include TED Education, Minute Physics, and Big Think.

826 Digital is excellent to supplement your ELA (English language arts) curriculum and encourage creative writing. It is designed for students in grades 1 through 12.

The site offers mini-lessons (Sparks), larger lesson plans, and writing projects featuring creative, relatable, and age-appropriate topics. Writing prompts incorporates STEM concepts to help students understand and write about science and math.

Starfall is a free educational resource for Pre-K through 3rd grade.

It offers an extensive library of interactive online reading and math activities, printable lesson plans and worksheets. It is also available as an app for smartphone and tablet users.

Free educational apps can be very useful.

• For foreign languages, try Duolingo and Memrise.
• Young learners can benefit from Reading Eggs and ABC Mouse. (subscription required after a trial period)
• For math practise, try the free apps provided by the Math Learning Center.

• Free courses for students in grades K-12, The CK12 Foundation and Discovery K12 are useful resources.
• For current events, CNN Student News is an excellent resource.
• For geography, look at Google Earth.
• For nature study, the best free resource is the great outdoors itself.
• Nature study can be combined with sites such as National Geographic. NatGeo Kids, The Handbook of Nature Study, U.S. Forest Service
• Sites for high-quality free printables are Enchanted Learning, Teacher Pay Teachers (Offers free and paid printables), Free Homeschool Deals.

Don't take for granted a well-stocked library or a moderately stocked one with a reliable inter-library loan system. Homeschooling students can choose fiction and non-fiction books related to topics they're studying or those which interest them.

Series resources to consider:

• The Magic School Bus series for science
• The Magic Treehouse series for history or science
• Life of Fred for math
• Discover America State by State for geography
• The American Girl, Dear America, or My Name is America series for history

Most libraries offer free wi-fi and make computers available to patrons so that families who don't have internet access at home can take advantage of free online resources.

• Many homeschooling families like to suggest museum and zoo memberships as holiday gifts from grandparents.
• Many zoos, museums, and aquariums offer reciprocal memberships, allowing members to visit participating locations at a free or discounted rate.
• Consider scouting programs such as Boy or Girl Scouts, AWANAS, and American Heritage Girls. These programs are not free, but handbooks usually contain educational material that can be used as an added resource.

Pitfalls to watch out for:

• Ensure the freebie is really useful. Have a plan in place to make sure homeschooling is thorough, sequential, and appropriate.
• With a plan in mind and the right series of free resources, concepts in maths can be learned in order. But random free math printables will likely not ensure a strong foundation.
• Avoid printable or other free resources when they only create busywork. Ensure each resource has a specific purpose. Using a typical course of study guide can help make the best choices at each stage.
• Make sure the freebie is really free. Sometimes websites offer sample pages of their material.