No one comes to homeschooling lightly, everyone who chooses this path does so because they have agonized over the decision and are sure it is the right choice for their family at that time. And once you get past the “holy smokes, I’m actually doing this and responsible for all the things,” the next most daunting task comes in choosing a homeschool curriculum.
Because in most cases, once you make the homeschool decision, you no longer get any help from local schools. There is no curriculum sharing, no suggestions, no guidance…you’re on your own! And with the vast amount of homeschool curriculum options available, picking can be completely overwhelming and make you rethink the whole thing.
See also: our favorite Middle School and High School Secular Curriculum and Programs
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When helping others with picking a curriculum, I always start with two basic questions:
Do you prefer computer or book based?
Do you need secular or is christian ok?
Once these two decisions are made, it’s much easier to weed through all the homeschool curriculum options.
For us, the answer to those questions has always been easy: book based secular.
I believe in teaching research-backed science and unbiased history which makes secular a must (and if you agree, be very wary of programs that label themselves as “neutral” or as a secularized version of a religious program as these homeschool curriculums are often still very christian leaning and influenced).
And we’ve tried some online programs over the years, but my kids and I really prefer book based programs. We do mostly workbooks for the early grades and then usually toss in some textbook based programs in the later elementary years.
But we’ve tried plenty of bad-fit book based programs over the years, too.
Over our nearly 7 years homeschooling, I’ve covered Preschool through 7th grade with a total of 15 grade levels completed, not including PreK years! That time has given me plenty of experience weeding through programs and picking out the ones that I feel are the highest quality and easiest to use.
My favorite Elementary Secular Homeschool Curriculum
Math
Oh the math programs we have tried, and the tears we have cried over math (the kids and me!) For kindergarten and 1st grade, I usually stick with cheap workbooks that cover the basics of addition, subtraction, counting, shapes, and place value. But for the older grades or if you really just want an all-in-one, grab and go solution, I can not recommend MCP Mathematics enough.
MCP Mathematics
MCP Mathematics is available for K-6 grades and comes in a homescool kit with a student workbook and teacher’s guide/answer key. The program features easily laid out lessons, with periodic chapter tests and cumulative review (you’d be shocked by how many math programs never revisit concepts previously taught!) MCP Mathematics is by far the easiest, highest-quality homeschool math curriculum we’ve used.
Language Arts
For language arts I’ve always used whatever was cheap and it’s been fine for us, but there are some programs that I really love and return to again and again.
Explode the Code
Explode the Code is an awesome phonics and beginning reading program that we’ve used over the years. I never had to worry about teaching my girls to read as my eldest learned in public kindergarten and my younger daughter taught herself when she was 5. But for my boys, I started with Explode the Code’s primer books to introduce letters and beginning phonics and then move onto the regular Explode the Code program.
Sequential Spelling
We’ve used Sequential Spelling since day 1 of our homeschooling journey (see my old review) and we will continue to use until my youngest has completed all 7 levels (my eldest is nearly done with the 7th level now). It is super easy to implement and makes spelling logical plus helps with reading, too. We usually start book 1 in 1st grade, or when my kids are proficient readers.
If you’re starting your homeschooling journey with an older child, I still recommend beginning with book 1 of Sequential Spelling and moving at an accelerated pace. The program recommends 1 list a day, but we usually do it by timer, about 10 minutes a day, and my girls can usually get through at least 2 lists in that time. I also do not recommend getting the student books, we’ve always done spelling on white boards to save paper and both my girls are great spellers and fantastic readers!
Voyages in English
If you’re looking for an all-in-one, ready to go program, Voyages in English is it. The program covers grammar and writing and is extremely thorough and well thought out. And don’t be scared by the publisher, it is a 100% secular homeschool curriculum and I love that it uses grade appropriate science and social studies concepts for its lessons instead of fictional stories and characters like many other homeschool curriculums do.
It’s not the cheapest program as the older levels comprise of a textbook, practice book, answer key, assessment book, and teacher’s book. But you don’t necessarily need all those pieces. For my upper elementary aged kids, we just use the textbook and I do without the teacher’s book. But we’ve also done years with just the practice book and answer key. There are also multiple versions available, we’ve used many of them and they’re all the same high-quality. This program can also be ordered through Rainbow Resource.
Comprehension Plus
Comprehension Plus is a great program for reading comprehension practice. It’s from the same publisher as MCP Mathematics and also comes in a homeschool kit with a student workbook and teacher’s guide. The lessons are short and straightforward with a variety of age appropriate and well-written fiction and non-fiction passages.
Language Arts Handbook
If you’re looking for a simple workbook to cover grammar and basic writing, Language Arts Handbook would be my suggestion. The lessons are easy to understand and it’s a great grab and go option for basic language arts concepts.
Winning with Writing
My kids have always hated writing (ironic, right?) and we struggled over the years with covering formal writing. Until I found Winning with Writing. It is an extremely well thought out, easy to use program that covers the basics of writing in a step-by-step format and introduces level appropriate writing projects starting with writing sentences at the lower levels to writing research papers and other types of essays in the upper levels. This program can also be ordered directly from the publisher.
History
When you start researching elementary secular history curriculum, it’s pretty easy to come up empty-handed. Most programs are biased, expensive, or just plain boring. Which is why I started developing my own history program for my kids a few years ago, which is now available to purchase.
Big Ideas through History
My program, Big Ideas though History, is an affordable, thorough, secular, un-biased approach to history education that meets the varying needs of any homeschooling family by allowing parents to select the resources that best fit their individual needs. Big Ideas through History is more of a program outline, not a complete homeschool curriculum, and is arranged into units covering the big ideas that shaped our world rather than taught chronologically (though every Section can also be used alone of in conjunction with another program) and every section includes an overview of the main points of the topic, a related activity, a list of online and print resources, plus a quiz. So while it requires a little work in picking the narrative that you like for each topic, Big Ideas through History provides opportunities to explore history.
Science
Much like history, finding a high-quality, and affordable, elementary secular homeschool curriculum for science is not as easy as one might think. I’ll be honest that science isn’t my most favorite subject and it has been neglected in our homeschool over the years. But we’ve used a few secular science homeschool curriculums over the years and I, honestly, like all of them for different reasons.
Core Skills: Science
Core Skills: Science is based on the Next Generation Science Standards and available for grades K-8. This is a great option if you’re looking for a basic program that covers all the topics of each grade for science. The information is written in age-appropriate ways for each level and each section features a short section of review questions. It’s not fancy by any means and you have to come up with your own hands-on experiences to go with it, but it covers the basics of science topics in a simple to use format.
Science by the Grade
Science by the Grade, by the same publisher as Language Arts Handbook, is another K-8 workbook based science program that includes a little more hands-on work that Core Skills: Science. Each chapter includes readings, review questions and activities, and a corresponding experiment.
Assessment
I have always chosen to follow the Common Core Standards throughout our homeschooling journey (read why) and for that reason, I have always used Spectrum Common Core workbooks as an end of year assessment for my kids. Because each book covers every math and language arts standard, it’s been a simple way for me to both verify that my children are competent in a grade before moving on, and have a record that they are, in fact, learning.
