Curated guide

Best High School Homeschool Curriculum (Grades 9-12)

10 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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Khan Academy

Featured

Free, nonprofit, mastery-based online learning platform spanning PreK through college. Short video lessons paired with adaptive practice and unit tests, especially strong in math and SAT prep.

PreK K–2 3–5 6–8 9–12

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

Build Your Library

Secular, literature-based curriculum following a historical timeline with Charlotte Mason methods. Teacher's guide PDFs are affordable; books purchased separately.

PreK K–2 3–5 6–8 9–12

$30–$60/grade

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

Khanmigo

Khan Academy

Khan Academy's GPT-4-powered Socratic AI tutor. Guides students to answers rather than giving them. Integrates with Khan content across math, science, humanities, AP, and SAT prep. $44/yr covers up to 10 children.

3–5 6–8 9–12

$44/year

Oak Meadow

Waldorf-inspired secular curriculum emphasizing creativity, nature, and hands-on learning. Offers both independent homeschool materials and an accredited distance-learning school option.

K–2 3–5 6–8 9–12

$120–$2500/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

Physics for Makers

Creator's Craft Crates

Algebra-based high school physics built around 16 reusable build kits and a self-paced online textbook. Your kid builds the thing first, then does the math that explains why it worked. Video solutions mean you don't have to be the physics expert.

9–12

$500–$700

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

Time4Learning

Secular self-paced PreK-12 full curriculum with animated lessons, automated grading, and recordkeeping. Most popular secular all-subjects digital subscription.

PreK K–2 3–5 6–8 9–12

$335–$479/year

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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