9th Grade Homeschool Curriculum for My Son
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This year my youngest child is a 9th grader so my homeschool is completely in the high school years. The days of cute art projects, hands-on crafts, weekly park days, and weekly field trips seem to be behind us now. Thankfully the high school years can actually be a lot of fun for homeschool students and their families.
My son is technically a high schooler this year, but he actually earned several high school credits last year while in middle school. He was ready for the work and this gives him the advantage of taking higher level courses as he progresses through high school.
I plan my kids’ high school classes around local college entrance requirements, their interests, and future career goals. Every year their high school courses include:
- Language Arts
- Math
- Science
- History
- Foreign Language
- Elective Courses
I combined a variety of core subjects and electives to create a personalized high school curriculum. Check out all of his 9th grade curriculum choices below.
9th Grade Homeschool Curriculum
Language Arts
My son isn’t someone who loves to read. Sure, there are a few books he really enjoys, but in general, he isn’t going to pick up a book for fun. I always try to create his reading list based on books I think he will like in order to make the assignments as pleasant as possible. This year my husband and daughter helped choose his language arts books.
He is studying world history in social studies, so I wanted to include world literature titles. I’m sure we will work a little subtle world geography in with his reading and social studies lessons too. His 9th grade reading list includes these great books:
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- Amazon Kindle Edition
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- Amazon Kindle Edition
Last update on 2026-09-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Last update on 2026-09-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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Last update on 2026-09-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
He will read the book over about a 5-6 week time period, and then we will discuss the books. I’m planning to put out a few special snacks while we discuss each book. He is always willing to stay around the table and talk if there are yummy snacks available.
I scheduled The Hound of the Baskervilles as the last book of the year because Literary Adventures for Kids has an online book club dedicated to this title. I suspect that by April and May I will be tired and busy planning my daughter’s homeschool graduation.
Outsourcing this book study to Literary Adventures for Kids will ensure he is finishing his 9th grade language arts course strong while giving me time to focus on other things. Online courses are a great way to outsource a bit of instruction.
He will continue working through WriteShop 2 this year. He has used WriteShop for years, and it has really helped him become a strong writer.
An English credit usually includes reading, writing, grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. The reading and writing happen through intentional lessons, but grammar, spelling, and vocabulary will happen naturally this year.
Math – Geometry
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Ninth graders typically take either Algebra 1 or geometry, but he already took Algebra 1 in middle school
Math was the hardest subject for me to plan this year. My son is exceptionally gifted in math. He did all of Algebra in his head last year and almost never got a problem wrong! He used Math Mammoth in elementary grades and Singapore in middle school grades. Both worked well and gave him a strong math foundation, but neither curriculum goes through high school.
My son was adamant that he wanted a textbook-based math curriculum. That really narrowed down the options, but I try to give him ownership over his courses as much as possible, so I respected his choice.
After lots of research and talking with friends, we decided to give Saxon Math a try this year. He will begin with the Geometry level because he has already completed Algebra 1. I don’t really have an opinion about it yet because we haven’t even started our school year, but it looks like a solid math curriculum. I like that each lesson includes plenty of review.
Science – Biology
I’m really excited about Biology this year.
My son will use the same Miller and Levine textbook and workbook that my daughter used a few years ago. The version we own is outdated, but high school-level biology doesn’t change that often.
Rather than attempt to modify the Miller and Levine labs or put together my own, we are going to use the Kristin Moon Biology Video Labs this year. My daughter used the Chemistry Video Labs last year, and I thought they were amazingly well done.
Every week he will read his assigned textbook chapter and a few pages in his study guide workbook. I don’t make my kids do every page in the workbook, but I use it as a way to quickly check that they understood what they read. Then he will do the related science lab. There are 30 biology labs, so there is a lab for most weeks.
Biology labs can be a little intimidating, but having an actual scientist walk us through everything makes it much more approachable. The video labs are designed to work with any curriculum.
History – World History
As I mentioned above, my son doesn’t love reading. I wanted to find a way to teach him world history without requiring a ton of reading. Between reading for language arts and reading for biology, I didn’t want to overwhelm him, especially since reading isn’t his preferred way to learn. He needed a different approach.
I couldn’t find a world history curriculum that looked like a good fit for him, so I created one.
This video-based world history curriculum includes videos and a few discussion topics. It does not include any reading or hands-on activities because those are not things my son enjoys at this point.
Don’t misunderstand me, he is looking forward to his biology labs. Those feel (and are) educational to him. He has told me that hands-on history activities feel like busy work to him.
I am making the video-based world history curriculum lesson plans available to anyone who would like it. It is intended to be used at the high school grade level, but it doesn’t matter whether it is used in 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade.
Foreign Language – Spanish
Foreign language is one of those subjects that I require every year in high school, but I do allow my kids to choose the foreign language they would like to learn.
My son chose to continue learning Spanish. He has been working on Spanish for a few years, and my daughter is also learning Spanish, so this makes things a little easier for me.
He understands enough about Spanish to work independently for the most part. I am always happy to answer any questions or clear anything up. I also check their work a couple of times a week to make sure they understand everything before moving on.
This year he will be working through
Last update on 2026-09-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Last update on 2026-09-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Last update on 2026-09-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Elective – Python 2
My son has an interest in computers, so he will continue learning Python. I’m so glad that my husband takes an active part in our homeschool. He has a computer science degree and experience working for one of the top 5 tech companies, so he is able to teach this subject in a way that would be impossible for me.
I asked my husband to tell me a little about the Python curriculum, and this is what he said: “The basis is going to be leetcode.com with lessons built around solving the challenges on there. We will also do some stuff with APIS.”
I think this is the sort of topic that is really hard to teach without a working knowledge, so I would definitely be outsourcing this if it wasn’t for my husband.
Elective – Cooking
I suggested to my son that he choose another elective this year to round out his 9th grade homeschool curriculum. He chose cooking.
I’m not surprised that my son wants to learn to cook. After all, cooking is a life skill that everyone needs. I left my planning for the cooking course pretty open-ended but put special emphasis on things he wanted to learn to cook. We planned a loose framework to help us make decisions throughout the homeschool year:
- August – French bread, homemade dough, and pizza
- September – eggs, waffles, muffins, and pancakes
- October – burgers and Halloween treats
- November – Pies and breads
- December – cookies
- January – pasta
- February – Soups
- March – Italian food (his choice)
- April – sushi and salmon
- May – Mexican food (also his choice)
I think this 9th grade homeschool curriculum is a great blend of things he needs to learn and things he wants to learn. I’m so thankful that we can adapt the curriculum to fit his learning style and his interests. This plan, combined with a few fun social activities, will hopefully create a great beginning high school experience.
Curious about how I homeschooled my older student in ninth grade? My kids are very different, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that her curriculum was different. Check out my 9th grade homeschool curriculum picks for my daughter.
Keep reading . . .
- How to Create a Homeschooling High School Plan
- My Favorite Homeschool Personal Finance Curriculum
- Online Homeschool Chemistry Lab Videos to Make Teaching Easy
- Secular High School Biology Curriculum
- Personalized Homeschool Cooking Curriculum
- Complete High School Language Arts Curriculum
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