Free Homeschool Curriculum — A Fully Free Program for K–12
A genuinely free homeschool is possible. A workable stack: Khan Academy for math and science instruction K–12; Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool for a fully-planned Christian-friendly daily curriculum; CK-12 for free FlexBooks aligned to Common Core; your local public library for literature, history read-alouds, and reference books; Khan Academy Kids for preschool and Kindergarten; and Kuraplan's free worksheet builder to generate printable practice on any topic for any grade. For secular families, Ambleside Online provides a free Charlotte Mason curriculum; for Christian families, Easy Peasy and Ambleside both work. Add free state and national park education programs, museum free days, and YouTube channels like Crash Course for upper-grade content. The honest catch with free stacks is the planning time — boxed curricula cost money largely because they have already done the sequencing. Block out a weekend at the start of each term to align your free resources into a weekly schedule and you will save several thousand dollars a year without sacrificing quality.
Below: the stack broken down by grade band, and a five-step routine for turning it into an actual term plan.
The free stack, by grade band
Same resources as above, placed where each one actually carries its weight. The daily load column is the honest part — free curriculum does not mean less time, and a K–2 day really is under an hour of formal work.
| Band | Maths | English | Science | History and the world | Daily load |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K–2 | Khan Academy Kids for K–1, moving into Khan Academy's grade courses. Most of the maths at this age is hands-on anyway. | A systematic phonics routine every day, library picture books, and decodable readers as blending starts to click. | Nature walks and library non-fiction. No textbook needed at this age. | Read-alouds about family, community and holidays. History proper can wait. | 45–60 minutes of formal work a day |
| 3–5 | Khan Academy grade courses as the spine, with printable practice for anything that needs extra reps. | Library novels read aloud and independently, a spelling routine, and a short piece of writing several times a week. | CK-12 FlexBooks for structure, plus kitchen-table experiments. | A library history spine read in order, with a map on the wall. | 1.5–2.5 hours a day |
| 6–8 | Khan Academy through pre-algebra and into Algebra 1. This is the band where gaps start to cost, so check mastery before moving on. | Ambleside Online's booklists or your library's, plus paragraph and essay structure taught explicitly. | CK-12 FlexBooks for life, earth and physical science. | Crash Course for overview, library books for depth, and start asking where a source came from. | 3–4 hours a day |
| 9–12 | Khan Academy from Algebra 1 through calculus and statistics. Free, and sequenced well enough to carry a whole high-school maths track. | Public-domain literature, essays with real feedback, and a research paper each year. | CK-12 for the text; labs need planning and a small budget for equipment. | Crash Course plus primary sources. Keep a reading list — it matters at application time. | 4–5 hours a day, increasingly self-directed |
Kuraplan is not affiliated with any of the programs named on this page. They are listed because they are genuinely free and cover the ground — check each one's current terms yourself before you build a year around it.
Turning the stack into a term plan — five steps
This is the work the boxed curricula are charging for. Doing it once at the start of each term is what makes a free stack hold together for a whole year instead of drifting by October.
- 1
Pick one spine per subject
A free stack is easy to over-assemble — four resources per subject, none of them finished. Choose a single resource that sets the order for each subject: that is your spine. Everything else is a supplement you can drop without consequence.
- 2
Count your weeks before you plan them
Decide how many weeks you are actually schooling — 36 is typical, but pick yours — and write the number down. Then divide the spine's lessons across those weeks. If it does not fit, cut scope now rather than discovering it in March.
- 3
Build one repeatable weekly grid
Same subjects on the same days, at roughly the same times. Maths and reading daily; science and history two or three times a week each. A grid you repeat 36 times is the whole plan — you are not writing 36 different weeks.
- 4
Fill the gaps with printables
Free spines are usually thin on practice, because practice is expensive to produce. That is the gap worth filling deliberately: print extra reps for whatever your child is currently shaky on, rather than working through a whole book.
- 5
Keep a one-line record as you go
A date, the subject, and what was covered. Five minutes a week. Depending on your state you may need it for reporting, and either way it is what stops you re-teaching or skipping a chunk by accident.
Free workbooks and printables to fill the gaps
Step 4 of the planner, in links. Practice is the thinnest part of most free spines — these are free to print, no sign-up.
Free worksheets by topic
Printable practice across maths and English, sorted by skill.
OpenFree printables
Charts, trackers and reference sheets to print once and reuse.
OpenLesson plan template
A blank structure for planning your own lessons around a free spine.
OpenReading comprehension
Passages and questions — the usual thin spot in a free English stack.
OpenMaths practice
Times tables and drill practice to sit alongside Khan Academy.
OpenHomeschool maths programs
If you decide one paid subject is worth it, make it this one.
OpenFrequently asked questions
Can you really homeschool completely free?
For the academic content, largely yes — the stack above covers K–12 without a curriculum bill. What is not free is your planning time, and there are usually small costs that creep in anyway: printing, lab equipment for high-school science, and eventually testing or transcript fees. Budget for those rather than being surprised by them.
What is the catch with free homeschool curriculum?
Sequencing. Boxed curricula cost money largely because somebody already decided what comes in what order and how long it takes. With a free stack you are doing that work — which is exactly what the five-step planner above is for. Expect to spend a weekend on it at the start of each term.
Where do I find free homeschool workbooks?
Printable practice is the easiest part of a free stack to source. Our worksheet pages are free to print by topic and grade, CK-12 includes practice with its FlexBooks, and Khan Academy's exercises are built in. Print for the specific skill your child is stuck on rather than working front-to-back through a workbook.
Do I need to write my own lesson plans?
Not if your spine already sequences the lessons — Easy Peasy and Khan Academy both do. You write plans when you are assembling a subject yourself from library books, and even then a repeatable weekly grid plus a one-line record covers most of what a plan is for.
Is a free curriculum accepted for homeschool reporting?
Reporting rules are set by each state and vary a lot — some ask for nothing, others want attendance, a portfolio, or standardised testing. What almost none of them require is that you bought a particular curriculum. Check your own state's requirements before you rely on this; our state pages are a starting point, not legal advice.
Last verified 21 August 2026 — Kuraplan editorial. Starting younger? See preschool and Kindergarten.