Best Online Homeschool Programs

Posted bySophiaPosted inUncategorized

Help your kids get the best education possible from home.

By Laura Dorwart  Fact checked by Dale Brauner Updated on July 23, 2021Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here. We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links.

If you’ve never taught your child at home before, it might seem like a daunting task. But not to worry: There are plenty of high-quality, interactive homeschool programs that you can easily use on your tablet, smartphone, or laptop. 

Whether you’re looking for SAT prep for your high school student, ways to keep your toddlers engaged and educated, or hoping your elementary-aged kids won’t fall behind in their studies, we’ve come up with a list of the best online homeschool programs on the market. These picks are interactive, user-friendly, and cost-effective.

The 7 Best Online Homeschool Programs of 2021

Best Online Homeschool Programs

BEST OVERALL K12.com

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Notable for its comprehensive and ultra-customizable approach, K12.com is a one-stop-shop for online learners and their families.

K12’s online homeschool options include tuition-free, virtual public schools for students in grades K-12 taught by state-certified teachers. There are options for three different tuition-based private schools, and a variety of summer school, intensive, and standalone course offerings for kids with special interests or subjects they’d like to brush up on. 

If you’re not looking for a full-time homeschool program, you can draw from K12 Digital Literacy Solutions—a free library of literacy tools and over 21,000 eBooks—to boost your child’s reading ability, or sign your teenagers up for one of K12’s several free camps centered around high-interest areas like coding, marketing, or information technology.

Free, game-based learning is available for kids in grades K-8 through K12’s program STRIDE. And, if there are subject areas in which you don’t feel comfortable homeschooling your child, K12’s state-certified teachers offer live, online tutoring sessions in math, world languages, English, science, or social studies.

BEST BUDGET ABCmouse.com

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At around $10 per month, purchasing a subscription to ABCmouse.com is the most budget-friendly educational decision you can make for your early learner. ABCmouse.com’s Step-By-Step Learning Path is accessible on tablet, smartphone, or computer for kids ages 2 to 8. 

Spanning 850 lessons across 10 levels, this award-winning curriculum includes a comprehensive reading system (from letter recognition and phonics to reading full-length books), as well as math, science, social studies, and even art (including both drawing and painting).

Music, read-aloud stories, puzzles, and educational games round out the ABCmouse.com library, making it a solid choice as a supplement to an existing homeschool curriculum and for a comprehensive educational system. 

ABCmouse.com is also gamified, meaning your little ones can play it like a video game, complete with a ticket system that rewards them for completing levels successfully.

As they sharpen a particular skill set, they’ll receive tickets they can use to “buy” virtual treats, like fish for the online classroom aquarium. Built-in incentives allow your kids to move at their own pace and make the learning experience more enjoyable and engaging. 

BEST FOR STRUCTURE Time4Learning

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Time4Learning is a comprehensive, subscription-based online homeschool curriculum. It’s reasonably priced, at around $20 per month (and about $15 per month for each additional child) for PreK-8 students and approximately $30.00 per month for high school students. This is one of the best programs if you want to keep your kids in a more traditional educational setting, even when they’re learning remotely.

Your child’s curriculum will include hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of animated lessons, activities, quizzes, worksheets, and full-length tests, all suited to each student’s grade level and your particular state’s learning standards. In contrast to some of the other curriculum resources on this list, Time4Learning offers a combination of online and offline, printable worksheets and other hands-on activities. 

Additional resources that make Time4Learning stand out are the many lesson-planning tools and learning style guides that can help you track your kids’ progress.

BEST FOR COMMUNITY Connections Academy

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If you’d rather enroll your child in a full-fledged online school rather than teach them yourself, Connections Academy is a great option for elementary, middle school, and high school students. 

At this tuition-free, online public school, your children will be taught according to your state’s educational standards by certified teachers. Even textbooks and other instructional materials are provided free of charge. 

True to its name, Connections Academy might be one of the best online homeschool programs for your family if you’re interested in building a connected community with fellow parents, students, and educators.

The online school encourages you to be directly involved with your kids’ education as Learning Coaches. Online live sessions with teachers and classmates, in addition to extracurriculars like online clubs and activities, allow kids to foster meaningful connections with peers. 

What’s more is your kids don’t have to miss out on many of the perks of a brick-and-mortar school—like career counseling, one-on-one sessions with a guidance counselor, standardized test prep, and college prep advising—as these resources are all offered at Connections Academy. 

BEST FREE Khan Academy

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Khan Academy, an award-winning nonprofit that offers free educational resources for students, parents, teachers, and homeschoolers, first garnered international attention for its high-quality, completely free SAT prep materials—an attractive alternative to its much pricier peers. But Khan Academy has since expanded to include curriculum pieces for children and teens of all ages. 

Simply select your child’s grade level and subject—the Advanced Placement (AP) or standardized test they’re preparing for, or the specific skills they need to boost—and send them off to gain “mastery points” as they progress. Easy-to-follow video lessons accompany practice quizzes and unit tests that help you track your kids’ progress. 

This resource is notable not only because it’s free, but also because of the sheer variety of the content available. Khan Academy’s materials include many niche topics for adult learners and high school students that aren’t offered by many other online learning programs.

The virtual academy’s inclusion of unique subjects—like computer programming and animation, personal finance and entrepreneurship, art history, college admissions, and English as a second language—solidifies it as one of the best online homeschool programs. 

BEST FOR COLLEGE PREP edX

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If you’re going to get an at-home education, you might as well get it from Harvard, right?

If you’re looking to help with your teen’s college prep, consider enrolling them in one of the many classes at edX, a platform that partners with high-ranking institutions like NYU, Harvard, and MIT (as well as international universities, like Oxford and Australian National University) to offer over 2,500 college-level courses. Some are self-paced and available for college transfer credit, while others are taught by qualified instructors—most of whom have doctorates in their fields. 

You and your teen can choose from a variety of standalone courses across the arts and humanities, STEM fields, music, computer science, education, and more. Most courses, even credit-eligible ones, are free, with completion certificates that will cost about $50 in most cases. 

Particularly proactive high school students looking to get a head start on their college career while at home can enroll in an edX MicroBachelors program in popular majors like computer science, for just $166 per credit. Or, they can start earning college credits now by attending the Global Freshman Academy that offers common, foundational first-year courses like English composition, pre-calculus, or college algebra and problem-solving through edX’s partnership with Arizona State University. 

BEST FOR MATH AND SCIENCE CK-12 Foundation

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If you’d like your child to beef up their math and science skills, look no further than the wealth of interactive learning tools at the CK-12 Foundation. This free resource offers one of the best online homeschool programs for STEM subjects. It’s also one of the most advanced resources available in terms of its seamless use of technology and cutting-edge approaches to learning.

While writing, spelling, and social studies are available, math and science topics (from arithmetic and earth science to calculus and engineering) are where CK-12’s creative curriculum really shines. 

Simulations and the Play, Learn, Interact, Explore (PLIX) seriesintegrate graphics and games into lessons about STEM concepts. Meanwhile, CK-12’s FlexBooks—interactive online textbooks that allow students to learn as they play and play as they learn—distill complex concepts into digestible pieces.

Check out your kids’ central Dashboard to follow along with their Adaptive Practice progress, which tracks the skills they need to boost and those they’ve already mastered in order to tailor their upcoming lessons.

FAQs 

What is Homeschooling? 

Homeschooling is an educational option in which parents are responsible for their child’s education at home rather than sending them to a traditional public or private school. Some families choose to homeschool because of concerns about the school environment or for religious reasons, while others are not satisfied with the traditional educational options in their area or think their child will benefit from a more unstructured approach.

Homeschooling is not exactly the same for all families, but researching and following their state’s learning requirements is an important first step. Some states have few requirements, beyond asking families to file an intent to homeschool notice, but others want to review the curriculum or require regular standardized testing.

Most homeschooling families cover subjects that are taught in traditional school programs, but they also may cater to their children’s interests and readiness. Parents pick and choose materials and classes that meet their children’s needs. They may even include independent study programs, online homeschool programs, college or co-op classes, volunteering opportunities, and more.

What Are Some Pros and Cons of Homeschooling? 

Homeschooling families appreciate the flexibility they get in determining how and what kids learn. The children’s curriculum can be tailored to suit their individual learning style, personality, and interests.

Because they’re not in a classroom with 25 other students, there are fewer distractions and less busy work that could lead to wasted time or boredom. Often, schoolwork can be completed in a shorter time frame, and students can progress based on their own temperament and schedule.

Parents and kids who homeschool also have some flexibility in their schedules, because they don’t have to adhere to the strict routine that traditional schools set. Children can learn at the time of day that works best for them, and families can plan vacations in the off-season.

Some of the biggest disadvantages of homeschooling are the high level of parental involvement and commitment, as well as the potential loss of income. Someone must be home, at least part-time, to organize and facilitate their children’s learning. Even if both parents are able to keep working, it can be challenging to adjust work schedules and career goals to accommodate homeschooling.

Another difficulty can be criticism or lack of understanding from others about the decision to homeschool. Some parents also deal with some stress and lack of confidence about being responsible for their child’s education. The entire family may feel overwhelmed, especially when they’re first transitioning to homeschooling.

How Much Does Online Homeschooling Cost? 

The cost of online homeschooling programs varies greatly, depending on the curriculum, interactivity, and level of support. Some online homeschooling programs are completely free.

Others require a paid monthly or yearly subscription or tuition, or charge a flat rate per class. Prices can range anywhere from $10 a month for a subscription to $7000 for yearly tuition at a private online academy.

How Do Homeschoolers Socialize? 

Most homeschoolers are involved in activities outside the home such as sports, music, dance, and Scouts. Some homeschooling families plan educational outings and physical fitness activities with other homeschooling families. Homeschool support groups, co-ops, field-trip groups, public library programs, and park playdates all offer opportunities for kids to socialize and make friends. 

The local public school may also be another option for activities, as some states require public schools to allow homeschooled students to participate in extracurriculars at the school they would have attended.  Parents can contact the school to ask whether they allow homeschooled students to participate in clubs, sports, and other activities.

Published by Sophia

I am of Greek descent and a graduate/ post graduate student in education. a lifelong learner, it is my passion to continue educating people of all ages of all backgrounds end of all types of learning styles. I have taught at the college level as well as the key through 12. A Dept Chair for design as well as language arts specialist for students with learning disabilities. I continue to educate myself so that I can share the years brick by brick, over 30 years of teaching experience and writing. My dream is to have global awareness of the need to educate our children to prepare them for future goes far behind their generation. I want to bring a awareness that there is a huge deficit due to our society changes, pandemic outcomes, children that are left, socially and emotionally voided without proper understanding and tools to head head towards a future that will require knowledge and tenacity. With a masters degree in education specializing in ruction ul technology, I compounded that with a degree in post graduate studies as an education specialist. Completing a dissertation will give me a Doctorate in Education in teaching and learning, as well as curriculum design. Educated in the United States, I am continuing my learning here in Athens, Greece. I have lived all over the world in combining my deep, faith, and belief that each and everyone of us has the capacity to make a difference there is no child that should be left behind who desires a future with dreams to fulfill. My Vlogs combine education, emotional awareness and growth in the impact of art therapy in trauma. Children grow into adults, healthy children grow into healthy adults, so we must always start at the seed which Rose into becoming the root. we owe it to ourselves. If we are trauma survivors to share our experiences and stories, if we are educators, share our knowledge and experience, if we have the talent of art expression shirt with those who need to express themselves. We will continue to follow the root as it grows into a beautiful and strong tree. Thank you for visiting my pages of expression. Sophia Epitropoulos M.Ed EdS EDD (ABD)

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