Curated guide

Best High School Homeschool Curriculum (Grades 9-12)

9 curricula in this guide

High school homeschool curriculum decisions matter the most because they determine college readiness, transcript quality, and standardized test outcomes. At this level, families often combine multiple specialized providers rather than a single all-in-one program.

Our top picks have strong college-recognition track records. Apologia science is accepted at virtually every accredited college. Saxon Math covers Algebra 1 through Calculus with a consistent spiral approach. Compass Classroom offers streaming video for classical Christian content across multiple subjects. Plan the four-year scope before starting 9th grade — colleges expect specific subject sequences, and homeschool transcripts need to demonstrate them clearly.

Editor's selection

Our picks

Apologia Science

Apologia Educational Ministries

Rigorous college-prep science curriculum written from a young-earth Christian perspective. Conversational writing style with notebook-based learning and strong lab components.

PreK K–2 3–5 6–8 9–12

$42–$93/grade

Saxon Math

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Traditional spiral math curriculum with constant review. Each daily lesson introduces a small new concept, then includes a large problem set mixing new and previously taught material.

K–2 3–5 6–8 9–12

$95–$148/grade

Compass Classroom

Streaming video classical Christian curriculum with engaging master teachers. Features Visual Latin (the flagship), history, writing, literature, science, and more.

3–5 6–8 9–12

$490–$890/year

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Duolingo

Featured

Gamified language-learning app with streaks, XP, and AI-adaptive lessons across 40+ languages. Best as supplemental vocab and exposure; insufficient on its own for high school foreign-language credit.

K–2 3–5 6–8 9–12

$0–$120/year

Acellus Academy

International Academy of Science

Fully accredited online K-12 school with WASC accreditation, AP courses, NCAA-approved cores, and military Tier I status. Same video content as Power Homeschool but with diploma, transcripts, and teacher support.

K–2 3–5 6–8 9–12

$2000–$4500/year

Classical Conversations

Classical Christian education combining weekly in-person community meetings with at-home study. Memory work, Socratic discussion, and the trivium model structure a unique hybrid program.

PreK K–2 3–5 6–8 9–12

$700–$2000/year

Compass Classroom

Streaming video classical Christian curriculum with engaging master teachers. Features Visual Latin (the flagship), history, writing, literature, science, and more.

3–5 6–8 9–12

$490–$890/year

IXL Learning

Adaptive skill-by-skill practice platform with over 17,000 standards-aligned skills across math, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish. Strongest as practice and diagnostic, not initial instruction.

PreK K–2 3–5 6–8 9–12

$79–$159/year

Memoria Press

Classical Christian curriculum with a strong emphasis on Latin, memorization, and the liberal arts. Highly organized with complete grade-level packages and optional online academy classes.

PreK K–2 3–5 6–8 9–12

$235–$914/year

Outschool

Marketplace of independent teachers offering 140,000+ live small-group video classes, 1:1 tutoring, and self-paced courses for ages 3-18. Supplemental enrichment, not a full curriculum.

PreK K–2 3–5 6–8 9–12

$480–$2880/year

Power Homeschool

International Academy of Science

Self-paced video curriculum sharing identical content with Acellus Academy but without enrollment, accreditation, or teacher support. Significant 2025 price increase from ~$31/mo to $99/mo.

PreK K–2 3–5 6–8 9–12

$948–$1188/year

Rosetta Stone

IXL Learning

Immersive foreign-language program covering 25 languages using image-association lessons and TruAccent speech recognition. One of the few apps that can carry a high school foreign-language credit.

3–5 6–8 9–12

$149–$219

Common questions

Frequently asked

How many credits does a homeschooler need to graduate?

Most homeschool graduates finish with 22 to 28 credits. Selective colleges generally want four years of English and math regardless of the total. Your state may set a number for public school students that homeschoolers are not bound by. Decide your own target in ninth grade and track against it.

How many hours is one high school credit?

The Carnegie standard is 120 to 180 hours of instruction in a subject across a year, with lab sciences at the high end. If you track hours, you can defend every credit on the transcript, which matters if a college or a state program ever asks how the credit was earned.

Who issues a homeschool diploma and transcript?

You do, as the administrator of your home school, unless you are enrolled with an umbrella school or accredited program that issues them. Parent-issued diplomas and transcripts are legally valid for college admission, the military, and most employers in every state.

Do we need course descriptions?

Many state universities admit on transcript and test scores alone. Selective private colleges and some honors and scholarship programs ask for course descriptions, usually a paragraph per course naming the text, topics, and how the grade was determined. Write them as each course ends rather than reconstructing them in senior year.

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