🌍 The top 12 all-in-one secular homeschool curricula

Challenging, engaging, mastery-based curriculum for every kind of learner

There are many different approaches to modular learning and no one option best fits every family. Many families use a system called “mastery hours” where they choose a core Math curriculum, core Language Arts curriculum, and spend 1-2 hours a day focused on those. Then, children spend the rest of the day in self-directed learning, extracurriculars or families pick and choose other subjects like social studies, math and science to supplement.

Many families find it most convenient to choose a full curriculum they can use to cover all core subjects that are taught in school, to make sure they have their bases covered and their children are learning what they need to excel.

When it comes to finding a high-quality, secular homeschool curriculum, it can be difficult to know where to start. Anyone can publish their curriculum online - and that’s not a guarantee of quality. Many curricula are not fully secular (even if they’re advertised as being so). The best homeschool curricula are not always accredited as that requires a lengthy and expensive process, and often requires curriculum designers to closely imitate the way things are taught in school (including gearing curriculum to standardized tests). Plenty curriculums do imitate exactly what’s being taught in school, which is a bit of a disappointment for families that are choosing modular learning to make their child’s education more enriching and engaging than what they’d find in a typical classroom environment. Others lack scaffolding, are overpriced and challenging for families to follow. Like curricula taught in school, many are not truly comprehensive, excluding the history and voices of women, African Americans, Native Americans and other historically underrepresented groups. Even a highly recommended curriculum might not be the best fit for a child who is not neurotypical: profoundly gifted, on the spectrum, with ADHD, dyslexic or unique in any way.

At Modulo, we’ve spent three years doing a deep dive on all the fully secular homeschooling curriculum available. We’ve analyzed feedback from thousands of secular homeschooling families and tested them with our own students, representing a wide array of learning needs. We’ve vetted them for accuracy, ensured they were fully secular, mastery-based and followed a sound pedagogical approach. We diligently sought out programs that included and embraced diverse viewpoints and were based on scientific understanding, clearly conveying established scientific evidence around climate change and evolution, in particular.

Not sure how to decide from all the options, try our free curriculum planner for custom recommendations based on your family and child’s learning need.

A note about math and early literacy

Even if families choose to go with a full curriculum, we recommend families supplementing with an independent math curriculum, and literacy curriculum (if a child is just learning to read). Math is an especially nuanced subject to teach and we’ve found it is done best if that’s the sole focus on the company creating it. The best curricula focus on problem-solving, rather than rote memorization. Children vary widely in the way they learn math, so finding an approach that fits them is critical. Likewise, there’s decades of complex research on the science of reading, so for learning to read, a company that’s done that research and developed a curriculum aligned with that science is often the best option for kids.

Our core values

At Modulo, we believe a strong curriculum teaches students how to think, not what to think, while including a comprehensive view of world history and current events.

Growing up in a progressive environment, I was fortunate to be exposed to a wide variety of both conservative and liberal views, which helped me build understanding, learn to communicate, develop more nuanced views, be more curious and ultimately, make a bigger impact in the world.

It’s our aim to support families in cultivating sound research skills in students, encouraging them to test assumptions check sources, analyze information and arrive at their own conclusions.

We bring our own perspective to what needs to be included in curriculum and fully champion curricula that promote democratic values of open dialogue, diversity, human rights, community, safety, trust, innovation, respect, and inclusivity. We do not recommend curricula that discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or political affiliation.

We truly believe that curious, compassionate, courageous independent thinkers can change the world, and have aspired to choose curricula that challenge and delight the scholars, shakers and humanitarians in the making.

Many of the curricula's also have online discussion groups on Facebook, which can be a great way to make friends and enrich learning through conversations with other families passionate about education innovation.

What we looked for

• Challenging, yet fun: A good curriculum should gently nudge a child past their limits, but keep them excited and engaged in learning, fueling curiosity and nurturing a lifelong passion to grow.

• Accurate: Unfortunately, most curricula have some errors, but we did our best to choose curricula that kept them to a minimum and were highly responsive when families spotted mistakes.

• Aligned with school standards, but not designed for school standards.

• Based on scientific understanding, in accord with established scientific principles backed up by scholarly research including evolution and climate change, not “neutral science” which avoids confirming or denying scientific evidence.

• Diverse and inclusive, representing a wide range of voices and stories in history and literature including women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community.

• Easy for parents to use for most who want to teach their child at home, regardless of teaching experience

• Fun and engaging for kids to use and kid approved!

• Full curriculum (except math and early literacy) covering all subjects necessary for a well-rounded education except in most cases, math and early literacy which are most often better taught with a stand-alone curriculum.

• Innovative approach (not just standardized test prep) that takes education to the next level and is evolving as it goes.

• Not geared towards standardized tests, but geared towards cultivating critical, curious thinkers with a deep understanding of history, culture, current events, math science, and have the tools to learn whatever skills they need to understand the world around them, grow, contribute and accomplish what they set out to do.

• Open and go, not requiring large amounts of prep or extra materials.

• Project-based with hands-on learning components.

• Mastery-based: self-paced curriculum where kids can master each skill before moving on to the next in a rhythm that makes sense.

• Multi-sensory drawing on kinesthetic, auditory and visual skills.

• Secular, not including religious content or beliefs, but in some cases teaching about religion as a cultural and historical phenomenon, exploring the beliefs, practices, and customs of different religions and their impact on society, without promoting or endorsing any particular religious belief or practice, to provide a factual and objective understanding of the role of religion in human history and culture

• Scaffolding in curriculum design involves breaking down learning objectives into achievable goals, designing supportive learning activities and assessments, sequencing tasks, providing practice and feedback, and gradually increasing task complexity and independence

• STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics, and is an educational approach that integrates these disciplines into a cohesive learning paradigm. This approach encourages students to think creatively and apply critical thinking skills to solve complex problems by combining the analytical and problem-solving skills of STEM with the creativity and design skills of the arts. STEAM education is designed to prepare students for the challenges of the modern world by fostering innovation, collaboration, and interdisciplinary thinking, and providing them with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in a rapidly changing global economy.

A note about affiliate links: A few of the curriculum we recommend here have affiliate links. That means when you follow the link in the highlight box and purchase their curriculum, Modulo receives a small referral commission. (You do not pay any extra). Affiliate links do not impact our recommendations or choice of curriculum here. We chose all these programs before we requested to develop a partnership with them. All curricula we have active affiliate relationships with are marked with a star(*) in their title.

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