Last year was a year full of uncertainty and change. Even as we’re starting to return to some kind of normalcy, some schools are remaining closed to in-person learning. If you are looking for alternative ways to educate your children OR you are exploring homeschooling, we have created a list just for you!
The following list is free or inexpensive curriculum options for homeschoolers.
Free:
Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool – Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool’s mission is to make homeschooling available to every family. Pre-K through high school online curriculum gives parents complete freedom to choose their children’s use of the program.
Easy Peasy allows parents to vary their students’ grade level from subject to subject. If your student is moving faster in one area than in another, you can choose two different levels. No planning needed and parent support is available. The program also provides daily lesson plans and direction, allowing independent work.
The Christian-based Easy Peasy program is split into two sites, one for Pre-K through 8th grade and one for high school. Other than a computer, a student needs no other supplies. Families can access all the materials online. It is possible to buy printables of the material, but not required.
Discovery K12 – Free – Discovery K12 offers 7 standard courses: Language Arts, Reading/Literature, Math, Science, History/Social Studies, Visual/Performing Arts, and Physical Education.
Everything you need to independently homeschool. They offer a Non-Common Core, secular curriculum for pre-k to twelfth grade. Their program provides an extra curriculum that includes Spanish 1, HTML Coding, Healthy Living, Personal Finance, Business Apps, and Business 101. Discovery K12 also offers 36 Weeks of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) projects providing hands-on learning activities using affordable household or basic school supplies. Their library contains over 100 classic literature e-books such as Tom Sawyer, The Count of Monte Cristo and Treasure Island; and historic document collection.
Mobymax – Free – Interactive and adaptive classes for students grades K-8. They engage students with games and activities. From award-winning early curriculum to algebra, from formative assessments in Quick Skill to benchmark tests in Quick Benchmarker, from adaptive practice to fluency games, MobyMax’s completely integrated system shows 360 degree progress monitoring as well as reporting for student, parent, teacher, principal, and district administrators.
Outschool – Free – Provides live online classes to the students enrolled with them. It is perfect for first time homeschoolers. They have an extensive list of classes to choose from and it is very customizable. Their passionate teachers teach a variety of classes for grades K-12.
Inexpensive:
Time4Learning – $19.95/month: Parents can create an individualized curriculum that complements their child’s learning style and imparts the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values you choose. This self-paced tool let’s parents select different grade levels for each subject to customize for your child’s specific needs. Changes can easily be made at any time. The cost of curriculum from Pre-K through 8th grade, the fee is $19.95 a month for the first student and $14.95 a month for all students after that. Registering in the high school courses costs $30 per month for a student and covers four courses.
Acellus Homeschool (a.k.a Power Homeschool) – $9.99/month OR $99.99/year: Power Homeschool is an online program to aid parents in homeschooling their students. Parents can choose up to 7 courses at a time for their students grades PreK-12. Students can learn at their own pace under the supervision and assistance of their parents.
IXL Learning – $9.95/month or $19.95/month: IXL Learning centers their curriculum around technology. With a curriculum created to accommodate kindergarten through 12th-grade students, it concentrates on facilitating learning by better utilizing technology to track your students performance and personalize a plan for each learner! IXL gives the spectrum of core subjects: math, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish. It is easily adaptable to your student’s learning level.
**After choosing one of the above options you will need to enroll your student in a homeschool umbrella or your local school district to be compliant in most states. Check out this post to learn more about umbrella programs in Tennessee.**
Virtual School
There is also the option of sending your student to a virtual school. Virtual schools give you the flexibility of doing school at home. However, online virtual schools have a high level of engagement, next level technology, and trained teachers to work online with your student! Enrolling in a virtual public school is similar to enrolling in your neighborhood public school, and you will not need to register as a homeschooler or in an umbrella program.
Sending your student to a virtual school is very different from the virtual schooling provided in an emergency situation by most public schools, such as the pandemic. You can learn more about the differences here! Below is a list of virtual schools available in Tennessee.
Tennessee Virtual Academy [TNVA] – Public (Free): TNVA is a statewide public school for Tennessee students grades K-8. They use an innovative education model to provide your child with a public education virtually. Students attend classes regularly on an online platform called Blackboard Collaborate where they are guided through instruction by accredited Tennessee-licensed teachers. As the parent/guardian your role is to act as a Learning Coach. Depending on the grade your role may look a little different. K-5th grade students can work a little bit more at their own pace, and spend a little less time online learning. This means, as the learning coach, you help to facilitate the student’s progress and work to modify the pace and schedule as needed for your student. When your students reach grades 6-8, they are expected to keep at a close pace to the rest of their class. This pace is managed by the teachers, as they spend more time learning online than offline. Therefore as the Learning Coach, your role becomes a little smaller and more supportive and make sure your student stays on track. TNVA will send you all the books, materials, science experiment materials, art materials you will need to supplement your students’ education and time at TNVA. In certain cases and based on need, TNVA will also loan families a computer! This is determined during enrollment. If you do not need assistance, you will need to provide your own computer. Click here to see the system requirements provided by TNVA! TNVA also provides social activities for your students so they can meet some of their classmates. You can view those here!
Tennessee Online Public School [TOPS] – Public (Free): TOPS is a statewide public school for Tennessee students grades 9-12. TOPS is accredited by AdvancED, and its courses are certified by the NCAA Eligibility Center for Division I athletes. In addition, TOPS uses Google Apps for Education to provide students with cloud-based services and email. TOPS also offers 7 unique programs of study for your student to choose from. The programs of study are divided into two sections: a CTE path or an Academic path. On the CTE path, students can earn industry certifications and start ahead in technical programs after high school. If your student chooses the academic path, they will gain knowledge in a variety of academic fields to prepare them for their interested college majors. The programs of study are as follows: Programming and Software Development, Networking Systems, Web Design, Fine Arts, Maths-Sciences, Humanities and Dual-Enrollment. TOPS also provides ACT/SAT test sites all across the state. Find your testing site here! TOPS is built on a 4×4 block schedule. In a brick and mortar school, this would mean four classes that last 90 minutes a day. They say to expect each class to take at least 7.5 hours of work per week on average. Students can learn at their own pace, as long as the work is done by Friday of that week. Find out more about how TOPS suggests students manage their time here! TOPS uses the online platform Canvas to conduct their classes. They have a prom, graduation, and school guidance counselor to help your high schooler choose which path is best for them post grad!
Connections Academy of Tennessee – Public (Free): Connections Academy is a public school so there is no cost of tuition for your student. They serve students grades K-12. At Connections Academy, students will learn from home, with parent involvement, and connect to curriculum, teachers, classmates, and resources using the internet. Connections Academy teachers are Tennessee Certified teachers. They work with your student at a pace tailored to your students individual needs. The role of the parent or guardian is to serve as a Learning Coach. The Learning Coach typically helps with organization and structuring the learning day to ensure the student stays on task. Families that choose Connections Academy of Tennessee are required to provide their own computer. However, they do offer internet subsidies to some families. You can find out more about their system requirements here. Students in grades K-5 will learn primarily off-line and will spend about 15-30% of their day online. Grades 6-8 start to become a little more dependent on online learning. They spend about 50-75% of their school day attending LiveLesson® sessions, using interactive educational tools, or completing assignments from the online curriculum. High School students predominantly learn online. Learn more about student responsibilities here. Connections Academy also offers social events, such as clubs, field trips, and graduation for your student, so they can get connected to some of their other classmates. You can check those out here!
Additional Resources:Once you choose your curriculum, and register as a homeschooler, then join this facebook group for support and check out this link for inexpensive supplemental resources: Homeschool Freebies – Homeschool Curriculum. They have everything from reading charts, math worksheets, a map of the United States you can fill in, etc.
Don’t live in Tennessee and are curious about your virtual school options? Find your state’s public virtual schools here: find your state – Powered by Education.
