Free Homeschool Resources, You Need to Know About

You want to homeschool but you feel you won’t be able to because of the expenses that come with it. Such as curriculum, supplies, and much more. If this is you then you are in the right place. Today, we will explore some free homeschool resources you can use to start teaching at home. Let’s jump right in!

Why homeschool?

You may be wondering why homeschooling has taken off these past few years and if it is something you should consider. There are very many reasons why one would choose to homeschool, some good and some not so good. According to a survey done in 2016, from the National Household Education Surveys Program, parent’s main reason for homeschooling was a concern about the environment of other schools. You can find this survey here.

Many parents feel concerned because they can’t always know who is around their child, what lessons other children learn at home, or even whether certain teachers are trustworthy. With so much going on in American schools currently I can see why there is such a rise in wanting to know more about homeschool.

In 2025, the NCES surveyed parents, who said their main reason for homeschooling remains the same as in 2016. Concern about the school environment. I mean let’s be honest, things are not the same and are changing daily. More kids lack manners today because tired parents often let tablets and phones do the teaching, and that means children see inappropriate things much earlier. So, why wouldn’t more parents want to homeschool?

You can check this survey out here.

Challenges

Even though there are many positive reasons someone should consider homeschooling you should also know it has its challenges. With homeschooling some challenges could be the cost of curriculum, planning the school year, or even finding quality resources.

Certain curriculums do cost more than others and can get a little pricey, but don’t let that scare you away. There are tons of free resources that you can take advantage of and have a great homeschool curriculum. That is why I made this post. We will get into this more a little later.

Planning the school year can also feel daunting but don’t sweat there are lots of different ways to plan your school year out. The best thing is having the freedom not to plan everything like the school system does. You create a system that works for you and your family.

Free resources and how it can help

Free resources can be a life saver when it comes to curriculum and wanting to teach at home. Homeschoolers can learn from lessons and curriculum created by skilled teachers and instructors. It’s all about finding the right free resources. Having free resources will not only save you money but can also help provide a high-quality education.

What makes a homeschool resource beneficial?

There are many things you should look for when evaluating free resources. I’ve listed a few down below.

1. Alignment with learning goals or standards. The resource you choose should support your child’s grade level expectations. Even if you don’t strictly follow state standards, they can help guide what skills your child should build each year.
2. Age and grade appropriateness. Always choose materials that match your child’s age, maturity, and ability. There are some free resources that are college-level or advanced for your child. A tip: look for clear grade labels.
3. Subject depth. A good resource should offer flexibility and structure. So, enough content to teach a full unit but adaptable for how you’d like to teach. If searching for a curriculum you don’t want random worksheets, you’ll want a complete scope that covers the topic.
4. Credibility and quality. Make sure to check if the creators are educators, reputable organizations, or established homeschool communities. You want to look for clear explanations, accurate information, and correct grammar.
5. Engagement and learning style. Every child will learn differently. Seeking material that fit your child’s learning style will be helpful. There are different types of learning styles we can talk about it another post.
6. Ease of use. The resources you use should be simple to navigate and have free registration. Make sure it’s mobile friendly if you will be using tablets for learning.
7. Safety and privacy. This is a big one because you don’t want websites that require personal information from the child or lots of ads.
8. Time commitment. Before teaching, find out how much prep time you’ll need. Some resources take extra setup, but others let students work independently at their own pace.
9. Licensing and usage rights. You’ll want open licenses that allow you to print, modify, and share materials. This is importantly if you want to build your own curriculum mix. Also check how long the homeschool site has been active. Some sites go offline after a year.

Now that we know some of the criteria for evaluating homeschool resources let’s talk about free vs paid resources and what you can expect.

Free vs. Paid

Again, this is another topic we will discuss briefly that I will try to go into depth in another post. But for now, let’s go over the basics. When talking about free or paid resources cost and accessibility come to mind. With free resources they are available to anyone who has internet. This could include public domain books, printable worksheets, and full curriculums. This is great for families on a budget or for parents who want to create their own curriculum. However, this could mean more “do it yourself”. Which means you’ll be spending more time finding, organizing, and sometimes printing.

With a paid resource it usually includes structured lesson plans, printed materials, grading tools, or teacher support. You’re often times paying for convenience, structure, and support with a paid resource. Paid resources, most of the time, handle all of the planning. This usually includes teacher guides, assessments, and daily schedules. Which can save you hours a week.

Curriculum structure and lesson planning are next on the list when it comes to comparing free vs paid resources. Free resources often provide complete courses, but you might have to adapt them to your child’s pace or state requirements. Some free resources only cover one subject. This means that you might have to mix and match multiple sites to curate your curriculum.

The last comparison

The last comparison I want to talk about here is quality and depth of content. When it comes to free resources the quality can vary widely. Because some sources can be outdated or inaccurate, always check who created them, when they were last updated, and if they align with your state standards or goals. A few free resources that provide exceptional, standard aligned lessons are Core Knowledge, OER Commons, or Open Up Resources.

Paid resources normally have companies that have teams of educators developing their materials. This could mean more consistent quality, clear progression, and professional presentation.

Top free homeschool resources; curriculum options

We are now arriving at the part of the post where we will talk about the top free homeschool resources along with their pros and cons. There’s no specific order to this list. During my research these resources are the ones that I saw the most. Also please take note that there are more free homeschool resources available. I will not cover them in this post today.

• Easy Peasy All-In-One.
  • Pros: Free, covers all subjects, self paced, pre organized lessons, active Fb group, flexible, Christian view, 180 day school year
  • Cons: It does not keep records. You must have access to a computer and the internet. You may need to do a lot of preparation. Some links may be outdated. This site may not suit all learners, as it focuses more on reading and videos.
• Khan Academy
  • Pros: Free, high quality, self-paced, covers a wide range of subjects, and offers progress and tracking.
  • Cons: does not match all standards, some subjects are less deep, visuals could be more engaging for younger students, limited customization, and math lessons start in middle school.

Curriculum options continued..

• Ambleside:
  • Pros: Literature rich, free or very low cost, reusable materials, flexible.
  • Cons include heavy reading, the need for parent effort, website and navigation issues, outdated texts, and the possibility that it may not suit all learners.

This free resource threw me for a loop. To my understanding it offers book suggestions to help you with the school year and building curriculum but as far as giving you a full curriculum with planned lessons, I did not find this here.

• Open Up Resource:
  • Pros: Free, Lesson plans for each subject, high quality, peer reviewed and research based, available in print and digital, centered on active learning and critical thinking, lots of tools and resources.
  • Cons: Less direct instruction, not many examples given, not much practice, some guides don’t match clearly with student assignments, inquiry based.

The last free resource I will discuss today is Core Knowledge .

• Core Knowledge:
  • Pros: well- organized, free downloadable materials, strong in social studies/ history/ and ELA readers, academic rigor and depth, flexibility, cultural knowledge.
  • Cons: not always homeschool friendly, heavy on reading and teacher prep, some navigational challenges, limited materials in some subjects or grades, less hands on.

These are currently some of the top free homeschool curriculums that families use today. My favorite out of all of these while researching had to be Easy- Peasy All-In-One, Khan Academy, and Open Up Resources. They had material for every subject and to me it was easy to follow along and understand.

Free resources for specific subjects

Now that we’ve gone over free curriculums I am going to list a couple of free resources for each subject. I have not personally used all of these sources as I am finding out about them myself through the research I’ve done.

• Math: Khan Academy, Prodigy, Open Up Resources.
• Science: Mystery Science, Mystery Doug, Earth Learning Ideas.
• History & Social Studies: OER Project, Curriki, Open Up Resources.
• Language: Easy Peasy, Open Up Resources

These are just a few and I won’t go in depth here.

Free Worksheets, Printable’s, and Activity Resources

Now what kind of person would I be if I left out free worksheets. Sometimes all we need is a worksheet and not a full curriculum. Here are a few sites I have found helpful. I have linked directly to their free resource page, that way you aren’t searching for it.

• Teachers Pay Teachers (free section)
• K-5 Learning Sheets
• Education.com
• homeschoolhelperonline.com
• homeschoolmath.net
• homeschool.com

Open Educational Resources (OER) and Online Libraries

According to Google’s AI Overview, OER are teaching, learning,and research materials. These materials can include textbooks, lesson plans, videos, and so much more that are in the public domain. One of OER main goals is to make knowledge and educational materials more accessible to everyone while breaking down the cost.

Many creators license these resources under Creative Commons. This allows a user to legally copy, modify, and distribute the resources for educational purposes. Popular OER platforms include OER Commons, CK-12 Foundation, OpenStax, MERLOT, and Curriki.

Online libraries are digital collections of books, journals, and educational resources. Unlike OER they may not always be free or open license. Schools, public libraries, and educational institutions manage many of these libraires and provide access to materials for research, reading, and study.

Examples of Online Libraries are Project Gutenberg, Libby/ OverDrive, Internet Archive, National Emergency Library, and Open Library. Online Libraries include books, audiobooks, articles, and archives. You can’t alter this material as it usually has a copyright.

The benefits of this resource offers is noteworthy. OER is customizable, budget friendly, up-to-date, and comprehensive. Online libraries give you access to thousands of books, encourages independent reading, supports research, and is portable. You can use these together to build a structured curriculum.

Support

I know that was a lot of information to take in. Stick with me just a little longer, we are close to finishing. Now that you know there are lots of free resources available to you, it’s time to know that you will want to find some sort of support.

Not saying that you’ll need it, but it is always good to have support. Whether it be through a homeschool co-op, a FB homeschool group, or even your family, support it always helpful. There will be times when you feel like you have no clue what you’re doing and times when you may want to give up. That is where support comes in. To remind you that you are doing a great job. To encourage you to keep going when it gets tough. And to provide even more resources to you when you need them.

Joining a homeschool co-op or academy gives you the ability to have a support system that has experience in the homeschool field. This guide provides some of the necessary information to get started. Just having other people around who are experiencing the same thing as you, can you give you a sense of comfort and relief.

So, after you’ve decided to homeschool don’t forget to find your support system or group to help you through the bad and good times.

In conclusion..

I have absolutely enjoyed putting this information together to help others during their homeschool journey. Knowing that there are free resources available and the benefits of them can really help determine a person’s decision to homeschool. I hope that at least one of these resources come in handy for you. I know that I will be adding a lot of these to my list of resources as well.

If you enjoy posts like this and would like to stick around don’t forget to subscribe so you won’t miss a post. Check out these other posts about homeschool here: Top Reasons to start homeschooling, Homeschool Curriculum, and Top 6 Homeschooling Tips.

Please leave a comment down below if there is something you would like me to cover or if you will try any of these free resources. Also leave a comment if you have tried these before and if there are any other great resources so we can help as many homeschoolers as we can. Have a great day we will talk soon.

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