My 10th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Picks
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Every year I wonder the same thing – how did my kids get so old so quickly? It is hard for me to believe that I am already putting together a 10th grade homeschool curriculum plan for my daughter!
Homeschooling high school is interesting. I want to encourage my daughter to pursue her passions while still meeting college admission requirements. Last year I put together a homeschooling high school plan that has really helped me find a mix between structure and freedom.
My daughter and I used that high school plan to create a 10th grade homeschool curriculum plan that checks off the requirements in a way that works for her while also including her interests.
10th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Plan
Language Arts
My daughter’s 10th grade homeschool curriculum includes two language arts topics:
- World Literature
- WriteShop II
We will be able to study reading, literature analysis, vocabulary, grammar, and writing through just these two study areas.
World Literature High School Reading List
My family originally planned to spend this school year traveling around the world. Unfortunately, COVID canceled those plans.
We are going to make the best of it, though. If we can’t travel the world by plane, we will travel the world through books. I put together a book list that features titles set around the world. Every continent except Antarctica is covered.
The plan is to spend about 6 weeks diving into each book and country. We will analyze the stories while also learning about the country and culture where the book takes place.
Check out the 10th grade World Literature book list for the specific titles.
WriteShop II
My daughter will finish working through WriteShop II this year. I like teaching writing with WriteShop because it gives students concrete, actionable steps to improve their writing ability. Each lesson contains a well-written example, clear guidelines, a writing checklist, and several skill-building exercises.
Editing one’s own writing can be challenging, but WriteShop offers several checklists to help students continually improve. There are also rubrics for each lesson to make for easy evaluation and grading.
Related Post: WriteShop Review
Geometry
Math U See Algebra worked really well for my daughter, so she is progressing on to the next level – Geometry as the math portion of her 10th grade homeschool curriculum.
I like the Math U See curriculum because the video does the teaching, and I just need to reinforce the concepts while helping my daughter work through the practice exercises.
Math U See Geometry includes:
- Teacher Guide (with worked solutions for all of the problems – this is a huge plus)!
- Student Workbook
- Test Booklet
- Instructional DVD
- Access to the digital toolbox – an online copy of the instructional videos
There are 30 chapters in this geometry curriculum, so we plan to do a little more than a chapter a week as part of my daughter’s 10th grade homeschool curriculum.
Biology
Following my daughter’s high school plan included Biology as the science portion of her 10th grade homeschool curriculum.
I had a really hard time finding a curriculum that fits all of our needs and wishes:
- Secular or faith-neutral
- Not online
- Somewhat affordable
I could not find a single high school-level homeschool biology curriculum that fit the criteria. Instead, I purchased a public school textbook, student workbook, and lab manual.
The lab manual contains many experiments that can be done at home, so this can count as a science with lab course.
I also found a few extra experiments, activities, and videos to build a solid Biology program.
Related: 5 Ways to Earn High School Lab Credit
Government
This is a presidential election year, so it seemed only natural to include a Government course in my daughter’s 10th grade homeschool curriculum.
Typically, high school Government is taught for one semester for 0.5 credit. However, I combined multiple resources to build a full-credit course.
This plan includes:
- We the People: The Citizen & The Constitution
- iCivics.com
- Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates
Last update on 2026-09-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Related: The Ultimate Homeschool Government Curriculum
Economics
Economics is often taught as the other 0.5 credit to accompany a Government course. I think a firm understanding of economics is important, so I decided to include it in addition to the full Government credit and include it in her 10th grade homeschool curriculum.
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy and A Bluestocking Guide to Economics are frequently recommended to teach economics. I will be supplementing those books with Crash Course Economics videos.
Rather than study Economics for just one semester, my daughter will work a bit slower and stretch the course out for the school year.
Last update on 2026-09-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Spanish II
Last year, we tried to use a Spanish I curriculum that was designed for use in public schools. It didn’t go well. It just didn’t transition well to a class of two.
Mid-year, we switched things up and started using Easy Spanish Step by Step by Barbara Bregstein. We finished the first half of the book, and my kids actually learned a little Spanish.
- Easy Spanish Step by Step proves that a solid grounding in grammar basics is the key to mastering a second language
- Grammatical rules and concepts are clearly explained in order of importance, and more than 300 verbs and key terms are introduced on the basis of frequency
- Numerous exercises and engaging readings help learners quickly build their Spanish speaking and comprehension prowess
Last update on 2026-09-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
This year, we will finish using the Easy Spanish book. I will also restart our Talkbox.Mom subscription. I paused it for the summer because my kids wanted a break.
UPDATE – I ended up canceling my subscription. It is a solid program, but my kids just couldn’t get into it.
I worried that not using a standard curriculum would mean that my daughter would miss out on some concepts or skills traditionally taught in Spanish II.
That concern was laid to rest when I did a little research.
I looked up multiple high school Spanish II syllabi and realized that the skills and concepts taught vary greatly by the school district. I compared the syllabi to the Easy Spanish book and decided that the second half of the book is pretty comparable to a Spanish II high school course.
Tip – If you wonder how a homeschool curriculum compares to the public counterpart, just Google ‘(insert course title/subject here) syllabus’.
I also plan to include more Spanish poetry teatimes this year. It was a nice way to:
- Practice listening to Spanish
- Practice reading Spanish aloud
- Learn about other countries
- Try some treats from other countries
Child Development
One of the things I like about homeschooling high school is that we can tailor the electives to our child’s interests and potential careers.
My daughter is currently interested in working with children in some way, so I knew including a Child Development course in her 10th grade homeschool curriculum plan would be a good idea.
I have a psychology degree (focused on child psychology) and was a licensed elementary school teacher, so I took a lot of child development courses. This makes me very picky when it comes to choosing a curriculum.
I couldn’t find a child development curriculum that covered everything I wanted to teach, so I’m putting together my own plan.
It will cover:
- Theories of child development
- Prenatal development
- Infancy
- Toddlerhood
- Preschool
- Elementary
I have not finished creating a curriculum map for this class yet, but it will include plenty of reading and watching documentaries.
One of the books my daughter will read is Welcome to Your Child’s Brain: How the Mind Grows from Conception to College by Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang.
Last update on 2026-09-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Each chapter covers a different topic by age group. My daughter will read the entire book, but not necessarily in order. We will be studying child development chronologically, so she will skip around the book to read the chapters pertaining to the stage she is learning about.
Ideally, my daughter would be able to volunteer with children, but I suspect COVID will make that more difficult. I would like her to take the Red Cross babysitting course before the end of the school year if that is available.
UPDATE – I found a college-level Child Development textbook that I really like. It is an older edition, but I think that is fine to learn the basics. My daughter is reading through the textbook, and I am also choosing articles and other books to read. She was not able to volunteer in person, but we found a virtual workaround for that. I wrote all about how we covered child development here.
Last update on 2026-09-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
I was unable to find a way for my daughter to volunteer directly with children, so we went for the next best thing. Once a week, she tutors a friend’s elementary-age daughter. My daughter creates lesson plans, reserves library books, and plans crafts. Then they meet for an hour on Zoom to read and craft together.
Painting
My daughter’s high school plan includes at least one fine arts credit. We are spending lots of time at home this year, so she decided to add a fine arts class to her 10th grade homeschool curriculum.
We talked about potential options, and she chose to study painting this year.
Typically, this is the sort of class I would outsource. I’m not really comfortable with in-person classes this year, so we looked for a painting curriculum we could do at home.
The How to Paint: A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Watercolors, Acrylics, and Oils by Angela Gair and Ian Sidaway looks perfect for our needs this year.
Last update on 2026-09-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
This book is incredibly detailed. It begins with information on choosing supplies and then moves to various techniques.
There are 38 projects in this book, so I do not expect that my daughter will finish the book in one year. Some of the projects are fairly simple, but others are more complex.
I’m planning to assign the beginning technique projects, but after those are completed, I will let my daughter choose what she wants to work on. This is just intended to be an introductory painting high school elective, so I want her to have a little fun with the projects.
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