13 Great Online Homeschool Programs
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Homeschooling your kids does not mean you need to teach every subject yourself. There are plenty of great online homeschool programs available these days.
Just like you would evaluate a book-based curriculum, you also want to research online homeschool programs. They are all different so it is important to make sure your needs are being met with the curriculum.
When you are looking into the online homeschool curriculum check out the:
- Price
- Class schedule
- Religious or secular
- Time requirement
- Teaching style
- Parental involvement
- Grade levels offered (do you want room to grow?)
- Subject areas covered
- Instructional materials needed
- Can students work at their own pace?
The best online homeschool programs are the ones that fit your family’s needs. Not all online learning programs are going to work for all families. It is worth checking out a few online programs to see what works well for your family. I recommend checking out the current homeschool curriculum sales page.
Online Homeschool Programs
Literary Adventures
Secular
Literary Adventures for Kids offers language arts classes for elementary, middle school, and high school students. You can choose between online book clubs and online courses that last a year.
My daughter participated in the Poetry and Movie class this past year and it was a great experience. Each month she followed the online assignments to study a specific poet. At the end of the month, she watched a related movie.
Night Zookeeper
Secular
Night Zookeeper acts like a language arts curriculum but feels like a game. Kids work to improve their writing while they are creating and protecting a virtual zoo.
Language arts skills are taught by:
- Video lessons
- Writing prompts
- Challenges
- Educational games
- Projects
This online program covers enough writing, grammar, and spelling to be a full language arts curriculum, but it always works beautifully as an educational supplement. This game-based learning resource is intended for ages 5 – 12, but you know your child best.
Related: Night Zookeeper for Language Arts
Schoolhouse Teachers
Religious
Schoolhouse Teachers offers a wide variety of online homeschool programs for the entire family. Individual courses are available for preschool – 12th grade.
Class offerings include core subjects like language arts, math, science, and history as well as a ton of elective options.
Each class is a little formatted a little differently. Some courses are taught online through videos, and others require parental involvement. The courses that require parental support include lesson plans to make it as easy as possible.
IXL
Secular
IXL offers online homeschool programs for students in preschool through 12th grade. Possible subjects include math, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish.
Students can either work through all of the grade-level standards for a subject or complete an assessment to get a personalized education plan.
Parents can be fairly hands-off in terms of teaching, but the analytics tab provides information about a student’s progress and how the student is using this online homeschool program.
True North Homeschool Academy
Religious
True North Homeschool Academy offers high-quality live online homeschool programs on a variety of subjects. Teachers take care of the teaching so you can just support your child.
The teachers are truly amazing. I know one of the biology teachers . . . she has a Ph.D. in a science field, laboratory experience, and homeschool experience! That is the best possible teacher for high school-level science!
Classes are available for elementary, middle, and high school students.
Students log in each week to video chat with the teacher. The rest of the week is spent reading texts, completing the assignments, and preparing for quizzes.
Kristin Moon Science Lab Video Courses
Secular
Dr. Moon offers teacher-led live classes for True North, but she also offers self-paced chemistry and biology lab video courses. Each lesson includes a video review of the topic, hands-on lab activities, and a lab sheet (with an answer key when appropriate).
My kids have been enrolled in these courses the past two years, and I have been incredibly impressed. It is not just kitchen science!
This is a great way to earn high school lab credit.
Related: Ways to Earn High School Lab Credit
Time 4 Learning
Secular
Time 4 Learning offers math, language arts, science, and social studies online homeschool programs for students in grades k-12.
This program is self-paced so kids can work at their own speed.
Time 4 Learning will teach and grade the assignments, but parents can monitor their child’s progress online.
Khan Academy
Secular
Khan Academy is a fantastic homeschool resource. It can be used as a homeschool supplement or for complete online homeschool programs.
It is most famous for its quality math lessons, but there is actually quite a wide variety of classes available! Students can study science, history, economics, personal finance, fine arts, coding, and more.
Khan Academy can be a great free homeschool curriculum, or it can be used as a supplement.
Outschool
Religious or secular depends on which class you choose
UPDATE – An Outschool teacher has informed me that all Outschool classes are secular.
Outschool offers online homeschool classes that are sure to appeal to your child’s interests. There are classes on core subjects such as creative writing, world history, robotics, world languages, and astronomy. Electives are also available!
This is a great opportunity for some delight-based learning.
Each Outschool teacher designs the course they teach. Be sure to read the course descriptions carefully to make sure the format (live lessons, recorded lessons, homework, etc.) will work for your family.
Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool
Religious
Easy Peasy offers online homeschool classes for free to support your home education adventure. Classes are available for preschool – 8th grade. Free high school classes are provided on All In One High School.
Students access the lessons through a student portal (EP Assignments) and just follow the directions. The courses are organized and well laid out. The detailed syllabus is available online so you know exactly what to expect with each class.
Taylor Made Science
Secular
Taylor Made Science offers live honors and AP-level high school science courses via Zoom. The classes include teacher instruction, class discussion, and hands-on labs. Every class is taught by a certified teacher who is available to help outside of class times.
Sophia.org
Secular
Sophia.org allows high school students to take college-level courses online. Students take the courses that they are interested in at their own pace. After passing the course, students can apply to have the credits transferred to a college.
This will likely work best with high schoolers who are motivated enough to manage the independent study of rigorous course content.
Just be aware that not every college will accept these college credits.
Techie Homeschool Mom
Secular
Techie Homeschool Mom offers upper-elementary – middle school students interesting online unit studies. Younger kids can use the unit studies, but this online homeschool program is best when students can navigate around the internet independently. They will learn research skills as well as ways to digitally share what they have learned.
Online Public School at Home
Online public school at home programs are not technically homeschooling. They can be a good choice for families who want to do online school at home with the support of traditional schools, but I think it is important to understand that the legal requirements are not the same.
They fall under different areas of educational law.
Just like every school district has different rules, the same is true for virtual public schools. Some do allow you to enroll for a class or two while maintaining legal homeschool status. Make sure you understand what you are agreeing to before signing up.
Online public schools are free (unless you are keeping legal homeschool status) and are secular.
Homeschool diplomas are 100% legal and valid, but if a family really wants a high school diploma issued by their state, this might be the way to go.
Here are a few online public school choices. Different options are available in different states.
Note About Online Schools
Many online schools advertise themselves as a private school. This can lead parents to think that they are enrolled in a school and that they do not need to follow the homeschool laws for their state.
Be sure to research your state homeschool and private school laws. Some states, like North Carolina, only recognize private schools that have a physical address in the state.
Homeschool parents can certainly enroll in an online private school, but that is to be treated like a curriculum. Parents are ultimately responsible for their child’s education and need to follow the homeschool laws – including notification, testing, and/or anything else your state may require.
Frequently Asked Questions About Online Homeschool Programs?
How Do I Determine the Appropriate Grade Level for an Online Homeschool Program?
Many online homeschool programs will offer a free placement quiz to help you determine the appropriate grade level.
Do Online Programs Use Certified Teachers?
Most online homeschool programs do not require their teachers to be certified. Instead, they look for knowledge about the content area and teaching style. Teachers are usually only required to be certified to teach online if they are teaching for a school.
Do I Still Need To Register As a Homeschool?
Online homeschool programs are considered curriculum, not schools. You will still need to follow all of your state homeschool laws.
Keep reading . . .