Every Homeschool Curriculum We’ve Ever Used (Since 2013)

We’ve done this from the beginning, yes, since 2013. Putting this list of homeschool curriculum together was a whole rollercoaster of happy memories. It’s been a journey, and it still is one. Learning, together, as we go. I have zero regrets for any of the choices we’ve made along the way, even as things have shifted with the seasons. It’s okay to chase what’s best for your family, even if it looks a little different than what you see on social media or in your own homeschool groups.

I’m just here to say that you can have a wildly wonderful homeschool journey that’s filled with adventure, time spent outside, beautiful books, and quality time, while also balancing sports and extracurricular activities. You can opt in (or out) according to what’s best for your family. I’m just here to cheer you on. This post covers every homeschool curriculum we’ve used over the last 10 plus years of our journey.

Table of contents.

Why We Chose to Homeschool.

We chose to homeschool for flexibility to travel and chase adventure on our own terms, and it is one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. Confession: my son did six months of 4-year-old preschool at a private school, and when the only option for kindergarten (public or private) was full day, five days per week, I said no thanks. We hopped in the car to go explore instead and never looked back. For our family, this life is about so much more than just the homeschool curriculum, it’s how we make learning part of our lives and cultivate our own adventure schooling way.

Here are all of the homeschool books that I recommend parents read.

Our Curriculum List, Grade by Grade.

This list includes every piece of homeschool curriculum we’ve used over the years, even if we didn’t finish it. I do note if it didn’t work for us. It’s a big list and covers a wide range of ages, topics, and grades, so be patient and keep scrolling. There is a section towards the end about high school.

I hope this list is helpful to you! The homeschool landscape has changed greatly in the last ten years, and there are far more resources available than just what’s listed here. But, what you see here is what has worked for us. Let’s go.

We started formal schooling at age 6 for both of our children.

Pre-School.

  • Alpha Omega Horizons Pre-K 4 (used for one week and got rid of it, it wasn’t for us)
  • Lots of picture books, time outside, and free play

Kindergarten.

  • Ambleside Year 1
  • Math-U-See
  • Beautiful Feet Books
  • Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
  • Started a Wild + Free homeschool group
  • Joined our local homeschool group, TEACH

We’ve remained loyal members of our local homeschool group from the very beginning. I’d like to encourage you to find a group where you live as well. Having friends, for yourself and for your children, who are choosing a similar journey can make a huge difference!

First Grade.

  • Ambleside Year 2
  • Math-U-See
  • Beautiful Feet Books (Geography)
  • The Good & Beautiful (Handwriting)
  • Started theatre (her)
  • Started tennis (him)

Second Grade.

I often chose a Gather Round unit study that paired with the nature study cycle for Ambleside.

Third Grade.

Fourth Grade.

  • MasterBooks
  • Teaching Textbooks
  • Gather ‘Round Unit Studies
  • Beautiful Feet Books

Fifth Grade.

  • Master Books
  • Teaching Textbooks
  • Beautiful Feet Books
  • Gather ‘Round
  • Club/Travel Soccer & Theatre (her)
  • Tennis (him)

Sixth Grade.

This is the year where we really started to have more independent or separate work. We still had a “one room school house” approach for some of our unit studies, but the separation between third grade and sixth grade was big enough that I needed to change things up so both of my children’s needs were being met.

Seventh Grade.

  • For him:
    • Master Books
    • Teaching Textbooks
    • Beautiful Feet Books
    • Gather ‘Round
    • Tennis at public middle school
  • For her (currently, 2026 to 2027)
    • Mr. D Math – Algebra
    • Excelsior – US History and Language Arts
    • Local Co-op – Earth Science (Berean Builders), and Art Class
    • IEW Grammar and Spelling U See
    • Theatre, club soccer, and volleyball at the public middle school

Eighth Grade – Homeschool Curriculum.

  • Master Books
  • Teaching Textbooks
  • Beautiful Feet Books
  • Gather ‘Round
  • Tennis at public middle school

Ninth Grade.

  • Excelsior (Online Courses) – Spanish, World Geography, Biology
  • Mr. D Math – Algebra
  • English – our own curriculum, plus IEW Grammar
  • Accuplacer Test Prep
  • Leadership Studies Book Club
  • City Leadership Youth Program
  • Varsity tennis for the public high school

Tenth Grade (For him, 2026 to 2027).

Our Daily & Weekly Rhythms.

In our early years, we didn’t always follow a set homeschool curriculum with a rigid schedule. I worked to cultivate rhythms in our days and our weeks. Those rhythms were our anchors that helped keep us moving steadily along in our journey.

Daily Rhythms.

  • Morning table: breakfast and read aloud (poetry, chapter book, history, etc)
  • Math
  • Independent reading or reading lessons
  • Handwriting
  • Household chores
  • Sports/theatre/singing practice
  • Free play outside, do something outside

Weekly Rhythms.

When I landed on Ambleside as our curriculum of choice, I very quickly realized that laying out theme days would give us the most success. We stuck with this rhythms for many years, even as our curriculum choices changed. These themes held true for our group study topics, as my children got older and moved into more independent learning.

  • Monday: Geography
  • Tuesday: History and Language Arts
  • Wednesday: Adventure Day / Science / Nature Study
  • Thursday: Arts & Music
  • Friday: Off or make-up day

More Resources for Homeschoolers.

Beyond curriculum, there are tons of resources available ot homeschoolers to enrich their experience. One of our longtime favorites is a family membership to an ASTC passport program science museum. It’s a gift that keeps on giving with access to your home museum, plus other member museums across the country. It’s great for repeat visits and for traveling!

Here are more resources and ideas to check out:

  • ASTC museum memberships
  • AZA zoos & aquariums membership
  • Art museum membership
  • State and national parks, especially the Junior Rangers programs!
  • State park interpretive programs
  • Historical sites & museums
  • Garden & botanical centers
  • Homeschool co-ops & groups
  • Master Gardener groups
  • County agriculture extension office
  • City youth leadership programs
  • Homeschool honor societies
  • Clubs and special interest groups
  • YMCA or local community center
  • Recreational & club sports

A Tip: Be Brave, Do the Work, Lead the Way.

If you don’t see the opportunity you’re looking for for your child: be willing to do the work to start something or forge the path forward, so that others may also have those opportunities. Over the years, I have started a homeschool chess club, homeschool open gym time for basketball, and urged our city’s youth leadership program to include homeschoolers. This year, I saw a gap for homeschool high school students to be a part of an honor society for leadership, college and career prep, and volunteering opportunities. So, I created what I saw a need for and the founding cohort of my honor society launches soon.

Be brave. Do the work. Lead the way.

Tips for High School: Protect Their Transcript & More.

I cannot stress this enough: start a transcript outline for your students as soon as they start 9th grade, or taking high school level courses. Whether they are on a path for college, career, trade school, or any other path beyond high school, you won’t want to wait until senior year to start this. It will save you tons of work (and headaches) if you start a transcript early, and update it quarterly. Don’t forget the course description as well, on a separate document.

A tip: this is especially important if you have a student who hopes to play a collegiate sport. In addition to the transcript, you will need to fill out a NCAA Core Course Worksheet for each class they take in high school. Create a folder on your computer for each year of high school and save those worksheets as you go.

A final tip.

Lastly, I also recommend keeping a three ring binder with important papers, documents, records, and examples of achievements, in plastic sleeves. You may or may not need this, but at the very least, it will be a nice keepsake of your child’s high school career. For example, my son’s portfolio has the scores from his high school tennis season, letters of recommendation, certificates of achievement, a copy of his transcript, and the core course worksheets (yes, a printed copy to go along with the digital files). I also have newspaper articles, clipped from stories about his tennis team and their achievements. I have a section for each grade.

Two books I recommend for homeschooling high school: Homeschooling High School by Carrie DeFrancisco and Their Future is Shining Bright by Rachel Kovac.

If you’re looking for more about homeschool, you might want to check out these posts:

Plus, if you’re looking for inspiration to jump start your own adventure homschooling journey, check out my Adventure Schooling course.

About the author.

Nichole is a writer, content creator, and family travel and adventure influencer residing in southwest Arkansas. Though her and her husband (Ryan) are originally from the midwest, they’ve lived in Arkansas for ten years now and are thrilled to call it home. They have homeschooled their children from the beginning of their educational journey. They have a now 12 year old son and 9 year old daughter, along with a 9 month old, 100 pound Direwolf Dog puppy named Levi. Nichole is an avid outdoor adventurer and roadtripper and has been taking her kids on adventures by herself since they were infants, it’s all part of what she calls being responsibly brave. She has contributed to Run Wild My Child and Wild and Free. Be sure to follow her on Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date with all of their shenanigans.

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