Homeschool curriculum by grade: kindergarten through 12th

Every interest guide on this site is written in four grade bands — K–2, 3–5, 6–8 and 9–12 — because a dinosaur unit for a six-year-old and one for a sixteen-year-old share a topic and nothing else. These four pages start from the child's age instead of the child's obsession: what a week genuinely looks like at that stage, how many hours of formal work it takes, which subjects need a sequenced program and which an interest-led unit carries, and how the published standards for the band are met along the way.

Each band page lays out a suggested 36-week year built from six of the guides, a daily rhythm you can copy, notes on record-keeping and the portfolio, a plain word on how requirements vary by state, and a link to that band's section in every one of the guides. Pick the band, then pick the interests.

The bands follow the ones most standards frameworks use. Early Learners is kindergarten through second grade, when reading and counting are being built and content arrives by read-aloud. Elementary is third through fifth, when independent reading takes over and units produce real research. Middle School is sixth through eighth, when pre-algebra, argument writing and primary sources arrive and the student begins to run the day. High School is ninth through twelfth, when every unit is a slice of a credit-bearing course and the records become a transcript.

The four grade-band guides

Common questions

Which grade band should I start with?

The one your child's age puts them in for most subjects, then adjust by subject. A seven-year-old who reads fluently can use the 3–5 reading suggestions while doing K–2 math; a twelve-year-old who is new to homeschooling may need a term of the 3–5 writing pace before the 6–8 expectations fit. The band pages describe what the work looks like at each level, so you can see where the child actually is.

How many hours a day does homeschooling take at each grade?

Roughly one to two hours of formal work in K–2, two and a half to four in grades 3–5, four to five in middle school and five to six in high school, four or five days a week. Those are direct-instruction hours, which is why they are lower than a school day; the rest of a school day is transitions, waiting and supervision. Each band page breaks the hours into a daily rhythm.

Do the interest guides cover a full curriculum, or just science and social studies?

The guides carry science, social studies, geography, art and most of the writing topics, and they give math and reading something real to work on. Two subjects still need their own sequenced program at every band — math and, from middle school, a foreign language — and reading needs daily practice at the child's own level. The band pages say exactly how those daily skill blocks and the interest unit fit together.

Can I use one guide for children in different grade bands?

Yes; that is what the four band sections in each guide are for. Everyone reads or listens to the same book and does the same hands-on activity, and the output changes by age: a labeled drawing, a data table with a paragraph, an argument from evidence, a lab report. The band pages each suggest a 36-week year, and a family with children in two bands can run the same six topics with a different output for each child.

Are the standards mentioned here the ones my state uses?

The guides cite the Next Generation Science Standards, the Common Core for English and math, the C3 framework for social studies and the CSTA standards for computer science, because those are the published frameworks most state standards are drawn from or closely resemble. Your state may use its own codes and its own homeschool rules; the band pages say where to check and none of this is legal advice.

Then choose the interest

Every guide below has a section for each of the four bands, and every band page links to those sections directly.

All 32 curriculum ideas by interest · Generate a curriculum around anything