MADE FOR FAMILIES TEACHING AT HOME
Secular homeschooling, planned your way
Tell Kuraplan your approach once. Every lesson, narration page and printable it makes follows the Secular way of doing things, for each child's level.
Secular homeschool curriculum: the complete programs, subject by subject, that keep religion out of the lesson
Finding secular homeschool curriculum used to mean reading every publisher's about page to guess where evolution, the age of the earth and Bible verses might appear. It is easier now: a growing set of publishers are explicitly secular, and the community has done the vetting. But 'secular' still covers a range, from 'no religious content at all' to 'neutral, with religion taught as history', and many excellent programs come from Christian companies with neutral content.
This guide lays out the difference between secular, neutral and faith-based, gives you the reliable secular option for every subject, points to the complete all-in-one secular programs, and explains how to check a program you are not sure about.
The principles
What makes a homeschool Secular
Secular means mainstream science
Evolution, deep time, plate tectonics and cosmology are taught as science, because they are. Religion, where it appears, is taught as history and culture with respect and without endorsement.
Neutral is a separate category
Many programs from Christian companies (Saxon, Math-U-See, Handwriting Without Tears, IEW) contain no religious content in the lessons. Secular families use them constantly. Knowing which is which saves a lot of anxiety.
Read the sample, not the label
Publishers are inconsistent with the word secular. The reliable check is a sample lesson from the science and history books, and the community lists (SEA Homeschoolers, the Secular Homeschool group on Facebook) that have already done it.
Inclusion matters to many secular families
Beyond science, secular families often look for diverse representation in literature and history and an honest treatment of difficult topics. The best secular publishers do this well.
You will still mix and match
There is no perfect secular boxed curriculum for every family. Most secular homeschools run a secular science and history spine with neutral math and language arts programs chosen for pedagogy.
Values are not absent
Secular homeschools teach ethics, character and community. They do it through literature, discussion and example rather than scripture.
A typical Secular day
What the method looks like at nine in the morning with real children. Adjust the times; keep the shape.
- 8:30Morning meeting: read-aloud, a poem, the day's plan
- 8:50Math (neutral program), individual lessons
- 9:30Language arts: reading, spelling or grammar, writing
- 10:15Break outside
- 10:35Science (secular program, experiment day twice a week) or history (secular spine), with siblings
- 11:30Elective: art, coding, music, foreign language
- 12:00Done. Afternoons: park days, museums, secular co-op, free reading
Honest fit
Is Secular right for your family?
It fits if
- You want science taught as mainstream science with no caveats
- You are not religious, or you keep religious instruction separate from academics
- You want inclusive literature and a candid treatment of history
- You are happy to assemble subjects from several publishers
Think twice if
- You want faith integrated into every subject (see the Christian and Catholic guides instead)
- You want a single boxed program and are not fussy about origins content, in which case the neutral all-in-ones are cheaper and easier
Curriculum picks
Programs Secular families use
Not a complete list; the ones that come up most among families who stay with the method.
Blossom and Root (K–5), Build Your Library (K–12), BookShark (K–12), Torchlight (K–5), Oak Meadow (K–12), Moving Beyond the Page (K–10)
All explicitly secular. Build Your Library and BookShark are literature-based; Oak Meadow is Waldorf-flavoured; Moving Beyond the Page is project-based.
Real Science Odyssey, Mystery Science, CK-12, Science Mom, Elemental Science (neutral in elementary)
Real Science Odyssey and CK-12 are the workhorses; Mystery Science is free and video-led for K–5.
History Quest, Curiosity Chronicles, Story of the World (neutral, used by many secular families), Joy Hakim's A History of US
History Quest and Curiosity Chronicles are secular by design.
Math Mammoth, Singapore Dimensions, Beast Academy, Right Start, Saxon
Math programs are almost all secular or neutral; choose by pedagogy.
All About Reading and Spelling, Brave Writer, Logic of English, Michael Clay Thompson, Writing With Ease
All secular in content.
Plan it with Kuraplan
How Secular families use Kuraplan
Kuraplan does not push a method. It writes in yours.
Secular by default, every subject
Kuraplan writes science as mainstream science and history as history. Tell it your family's approach once in your profile and every lesson follows it.
Fill the gaps between programs
When your secular spine has no worksheet for the topic, or the neutral program's example is off, ask for a replacement lesson that matches your approach.
Inclusive content on request
Ask for literature lists, history lessons and examples that reflect the diversity you want your children to see.
One lesson. All your kids.
$49/yr flat, no per-child fees
Write one family lesson, then adjust the reading level, the practice and the response format for each child without rebuilding the day.
Secular homeschool FAQ
What does secular homeschool curriculum mean?
Curriculum with no religious instruction, in which science is taught as mainstream science (evolution, deep time) and religion appears only as history or culture. It differs from 'neutral' programs, which come from religious publishers but contain no religious content in the lessons.
What is the best secular homeschool curriculum?
For a complete program, Build Your Library or BookShark for literature-based families, Blossom and Root for K–5, Oak Meadow for a gentle Waldorf flavour, and Moving Beyond the Page for project-based learners. Most families build their own from Real Science Odyssey, History Quest, a neutral math program and secular language arts.
Is Story of the World secular?
It is neutral rather than secular: written by a Christian author, it treats Bible stories alongside other ancient accounts but does not teach religion. Many secular families use it; those who want a fully secular history use History Quest or Curiosity Chronicles.
Is Saxon Math secular?
Saxon, Math-U-See, Handwriting Without Tears, IEW and many other programs from Christian-owned companies have no religious content in their lessons and are widely used by secular families. They are neutral, which for most purposes is the same as secular.
Where do I find secular homeschool reviews?
SEA Homeschoolers (Secular, Eclectic, Academic) publishes curated lists and reviews, and the large secular homeschool Facebook groups have vetted most publishers. Cathy Duffy's reviews note worldview for every program.
A Secular homeschool, without the Sunday-night prep
Kuraplan writes the lessons, pages and printables in your method, for every child in the house.
Plan with Kuraplan