The Ultimate List of Free Homeschooling Resources

Homeschooling can get pretty expensive when you get excited about all kinds of curriculum and when you add in all the extra-curriculars that homeschoolers love to participate in. But homeschooling doesn’t have to break the bank. In the age of information, resources are abundant, and you can learn almost anything online for free.

So, welcome to the Ultimate List of Free Homeschooling Resources. Here you’ll find information on 107 places to learn just about anything—and all these resources are completely free. Some of these sites you can access immediately, for others you may need to create a free account. Ready to learn (and guide your kiddos in their learning)? Keep reading 🙂

The #1 Website you should bookmark if you’re homeschooling in Ontario:

1. Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents

If you live in Ontario, this website is essential. The Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents (OFTP) offers several resources for homeschooling families in the province, though some of the information is relevant to all homeschoolers, whether they live in Ontario or not.

On the OFTP website you’ll find information about homeschooling laws in Ontario, including a letter of intent template (should you choose to send one), links to the Education Act, and more. The Resources Page is an excellent place to start if you’re looking for lesson plans, contests, and other useful homeschooling day-to-day tidbits.

You’ll also find a listing of homeschooling groups by Ontario region and city, and a list of links to free homeschooling resources. Finally, the website has information on homeschooling high school and tips on how students who have been homeschooled all the way to grade 12 can apply to university (a question I am constantly asked, despite my oldest child being only 9. Sigh.)

What I’ve written here only just scratches the surface of what the OFTP website has to offer, so if you live in Ontario, do bookmark this site. 

If you’re not living in Ontario, you should search for your own province, territory, or state’s homeschooling association or group. These types of groups can provide invaluable resources, connections, and legal information about homeschooling in your area.

Now that we have that one website out of the way, let’s dive right into the rest of the free learning opportunities. The resources below are listed by subject area and then in alphabetical order. Enjoy!

Free Resources to Get Your

Homeschooling Life Organized

 

Free Homeschooling Resources:

Generic and multi-subject

1. 123 Homeschool 4 Me (pre-K through grade 6)

123 Homeschool 4 Me has a tonne of resources to make teaching pre-K to grade 6 a breeze. You’ll find free worksheets for various subjects, activities, recipes, book lists, and general homeschooling information. You’ll also find a page dedicated to Disney World travel planning on this site.

2. Common Sense Media

Common Sense Media offers reviews of books, movies, TV shows, apps, games, websites, and other media, all from a parenting perspective. The website gives each reviewed piece a score for educational value, positive messages, violence, sex, language, consumerism, and drinks, drugs, and smoking. It also gives a suggested appropriate age for the media.

Finally, the website offers a summary of what the media is about in a “what parents need to know” section. Users of the site (whether parents or kids) can also review the media, but the rating and information are from approved reviewers working for the site. All the info is free.

Common Sense Media also offers complete, free lesson plans about digital citizenship for kindergarten to grade 12.

3. Coursera (high school/university)

Got a high school kid ready to take some university-level courses? Or do you want to brush up on your university knowledge?

Coursera was one of the first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) platforms, and has been providing excellent courses from top universities since 2012.

Coursera offers massive amounts of courses across various subjects, all completely free to audit. If you’d like to receive credit for the courses, you’ll need to pay a fee. You’ll need to create a free account to access the courses.

4. Crash Course and Crash Course Kids on YouTube

Crash Course is a YouTube channel by John Green, where he shares lessons about biology, psychology, ecology, world history, and several other subjects. Crash Course Kids, by the same producers, has your 5th grader covered for science. The presenter talks a little fast for my liking (though I’m the last person allowed to criticize that…), but the content is really good.

5. Discovery K12 (complete curriculum)

Discovery K12 is an awesome, complete, and free online curriculum. There are daily assignments for Kindergarten to grade 12 (as the name suggests). You can follow the website’s schedule, or check under “daily assignments” and follow along at your own pace.

It’s a little clunky, in that you have to sign up for individual accounts for each of your kids, but there’s plenty of good stuff in there to make it worth the time to sign in and out. I do think this curriculum might be a little overwhelming for kids who have just started using a computer, though, as there are a lot of links to click through to get to each day’s assignments.

 

6. Easy Fun School

Easy Fun School has over 1,500 pages of free educational resources. You’ll find lessons and activities and some unit studies for art, math, science, history, geography, and a lot more, all really thorough and completely free.

All this info is available on the website for you to use, without the need for a subscription and no email required. The ages for each lesson are not given, but most seem geared toward high school or late middle school.

7. edHelper.com

edHelper has several resources for preschool to high school, including worksheets, STEAM challenges, spelling workbooks, posters, and more. You’ll need to register for a free account to view and use the materials.

8. Education World 

Education World offers several complete lesson plans across various subjects, including the arts, health and safety, history, math, science, social science, and more. There are also options for themed units and “lesson of the day,” among other specialty lessons.

I find the website a little visually overwhelming, and there are a lot of distracting ads all over the site. I really dislike that several of these ads are video-based and automatically start playing when you load the site. If you’re using chrome, you can install an adblocker to avoid these.

9. Education.com (Kindergarten to Grade 5)

Education.com has a tonne of free resources for kindergarten to Grade 5. You’ll find printables, interactive games, lesson plans, and more. You’ll need a free account to use the resources.

10. Free Homeschool Deals

The Free Homeschool Deals website offers free printable worksheets, lapbooks, unit studies, and more. This website is really worth browsing as you plan your curriculum; there’s a tonne of really useful stuff here.

There’s a whole page of instant downloads,  but there are also links to resources on other pages. Some of these pages require you to sign up for the mailing list to get access to the resources.

 

11. FreePrintable.com 

Love printables? You’ll love FreePrintable.com. Here, you can find games, calendars, worksheets, colouring pages, lessons, sheet music materials, and more.

When you click “print” on the download pages, you’ll be shown a survey to take before you  continue; however, you can simply click “skip survey” and download the printable immediately if you wish.

12. Free School on YouTube 

While I don’t recommend allowing kids to watch YouTube on their own (especially if you haven’t installed parent controls on your computer), there are some wonderful, free resources for homeschoolers there.

Just be sure to use YouTube with your kids so you can guide them on good content on the site—and I’m not just talking about avoiding “inappropriate” content. There’s also a lot of misinformation online, so studying with kids and teaching them how to discern reliable information is a good practice.

Free School is an excellent channel with videos on art, history, science, and more. We’ve used it a number of times during our homeschool, and will likely continue to use it for several years to come.

There are other channels on YouTube that are education in general, including for adults. Here’s a list of 100 general educational channels. (Please note that this is an external link and I have not checked each of these channels, so please do your research before using them for yourself or in your homeschool.)

13. Funbrain

Funbrain, as the title suggests, is a website that offers kids fun learning opportunities through educational games. This website is geared for kindergarten through grade 8. In addition to games that helps kids to learn about math, science, and more, Funbrain also offers books and videos, as well as handbooks related to some of the games—all free. 

14. Gift of Curiosity

This was one of my favourite websites when my kiddos were preschoolers. There’s also plenty of stuff for kindergarten and up on this website, too. You’ll find lessons plans for students ages 2 through 10 on Gift of Curiosity.

Run by Katie, a mom of two with a Master’s in Education and  PhD in Child development, this website has tonnes to satisfy your little one’s curiosity. You’ll find thematic units, printables, activities, and more. Super worth a look.

15. Government of Canada Publications (generic)

The Government of Canada offers publications about various subjects, and you can download them all for free from the Government of Canada Publications page.

While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that these documents be used as reading materials for lessons, they would be valuable supplements for educators to read. Educators can then decide how to best apply what they’ve learned and integrate some of the information in these documents into their lesson plans.

 

 

16. HippoCampus (high school and university)

Super awesome website filled with free videos for the high school and university levels across various subjects. There are over 7,000 videos explaining topics in math, science, social science, and humanities on the HippoCampus website. You don’t need an account to watch the videos; just click the topic, find the video, and press play! Definitely worth bookmarking.

17. Homeschool Gameschool 

If you love board games as much as our family does, you’ll love the Homeschool Gameschool website. This website offers all kinds of information about adding game play into your homeschooling days as well as homeschooling in general. But the fun doesn’t stop there: you’ll also find a huge list of places to find free printable board games, as well as games you can download directly from the website.

18. Homeschooling Hearts and Minds 

Homeschooling Hearts and Minds offers an extensive library of free printables across various subjects and grade levels. There are also pages of links to other homeschooling resources. To get to the free printables, scroll down on the printables page.

19. Homeschooling-ideas 

Notwithstanding the very odd hyphenation in their title, Homeschooling-ideas has some really cool, free curriculum for you to use. Each presented subject is meant to be studied for one week, and they’re supposed to be adaptable for different age groups. You’ll find lessons on photography, the arctic region, typography, and more. Really worth checking out.

20. howstuffworks 

howstuffworks is a great website to well, find out how stuff works. There are several sections on the website, including health, science, home and garden, and more. It’s not really geared towards kids, but would make a good supplement to some lessons.

 

21. Khan Academy 

Khan Academy is an excellent resource and was created with a noble mission: to allow every kid around the world a good and free education. There are several lessons and videos across subject areas for preschool through to university level, plus information about careers.

The videos are engaging, and kids can watch the videos, learn the concepts, and then practice by playing games or answering questions on the interactive sections of each course. Definitely worth checking out. You’ll need to create a free account to access the lessons.

22. Kids and Caboodles

Want lots of activities for your younger kiddos? Head over to Kids and Caboodles for fun games, puzzles, colouring sheets and more.

23. Mensa for Kids

Full of awesome, useful in the real world lessons, Mensa for Kids is a website you’ll want to bookmark.

From teaching budgeting with lesosns on how to apply for a job and research labour laws in your state/province, to learning media literacy by looking at advertising with a critical eye, Mensa for Kids has everything you need to teach a complete lesson in subjects that will be useful to kids for a long time to come. The lessons come complete with a rubric, and you can either look at them on the website or download a PDF. No email sign-up required.

24. Open Culture

Open Culture is an educational web portal offering links to resources for K-12 education, links to language learning sites, courses, and more. Some links offer immediate access, while others require you to sign up for a free account, but all resources shown on Open Culture are free to use or at least have a free version.

25. Parks Canada

Canada’s National Parks have a lot to offer visitors. While getting into the parks does cost money, there are education programs that don’t cost any extra. Also, check at your library—sometimes, libraries offer passes to some parks.

The Park Xplorers program provides fun and educational activity booklets that you can complete with your kids as you explore the parks. We completed quite a few of these during our RV adventure. 

You can also find lesson plans and activities related to each of the national parks by visiting each park’s individual page on the Parks Canada website. It’s a little clunky, but there are lots of resources available.

If you’re in the US, the US National Parks Service also has a similar program to Park XPlorers. It’s called Junior Rangers (we also completed quite a few of these booklets during our travels).

 

26. Passport Academic (Christian)

Passport Academy offers free printables, unit studies, homeschooling planning sheets, and a whole lot more homeschool resources. Resources are for various subjects and cover from preschool to Grade 4. Christian website.

27. PBS Learning Media

PBS Learning Media offers videos across various subjects, and includes discussion questions and background reading for each video. You can search by subject or grade to find resources. There are several lesson plans available, some using video and some not.

28. Read Write Think 

Read Write Think offers several resources across various subjects for kindergarten to grade 12. There are lesson plans, interactive activities for students, videos, and more.

29. Scholastic Teachers Page 

In addition to publishing several excellent educational books, Scholastic maintains an excellent teacher resource webpage where they offer lesson plans, unit studies, teaching guides, and more. Worth a look.

30. School Express

This is a really neat website chock full of resources. On School Express, you’ll find over 19,000 worksheets, games, fun videos, and a really neat worksheet generator function that’s really worth checking out.

31. Sesame Street

Looking for more preschool content? Sesame Street is on YouTube and has several videos that make great additions to a homeschool preschool (and sometimes kindergarten) curriculum. One of our favourite Sesame Street videos for preschool art is OK Go’s Primary Colors. We also love the word of the day series. If you scroll halfway down the Sesame Street YouTube page, you’ll find a playlist of full episodes, which is pretty sweet.

32. Smithsonian channel

The Smithsonian Channel shares several educational videos on Youtube, about a variety of subjects. I feel that they’re not really geared towards kids, but they’d still be an excellent reference resource for educators for planning lessons.

33. Starfall

I used Starfall quite a bit when the kids were a little younger. It’s a great website for kindergarten to grade 3, and contains some really fun games for the little ones. It’s focused on learning letters and numbers, and it also has some music games.

34. Teachers.net 

A very thorough education website, Teachers.net offers classroom projects, lesson plans, and chatboards where you can connect with other educators. There are resources available from childcare age through college level, across various subject areas. All lesson plans are free and viewable on the website simply by clicking the link.

35. TeAchnology

TeAchnology is a great website full of resources for educators, including over 46,000 lesson plans, over 10,00 worksheets, and more, across various subjects and targeting kindergarten to grade 12.

36. Teach With Movies

Teach with Movies is a super cool website that recommends movies and what lessons may be learned through them. Includes a searchable database for movies, worksheets to go along with them, and more.

For each film, the website provides information on the benefits and potential problems of the movie, a lesson plan to go along with it, and more. The movies suggested on the website are meant for middle school through high school.

37. Teacher Created Resources 

The free section of Teacher Created Resources offers instant downloads for over 400 lesson plans, quote of the day, writing prompt of the week, monthly calendars showing silly holidays, and more. Lesson plans span various subjects and are meant for pre-kindergarten through grade 8.

38. Teachers Pay Teachers 

Despite the name, the Teachers Pay Teachers website is chock-full of free lesson plans, worksheets, apps, posters, activities, printables and more for various age groups and across subject areas. There are resources for Kindergarten through Grade 12. You’ll need a free account to download the freebies. 

39. Teaching Guide 

Teaching Guide aggregates all free Udemy courses into a searchable database. Udemy has courses both for adults as well as kids. For instance, there’s a drawing for kids course, programming for kids, and more. Use the Teaching Guide website search to find free courses of all kinds.

40. TED-Ed on YouTube 

If you love TED talks, you’ll love TED-Ed’s YouTube Channel. While TED’s mission is to share “ideas worth spreading,” TED-Ed’s mission is to create “lessons worth sharing.” There are videos on a wide variety of subjects, and navigating to their playlists page will help you find several related videos in one place.

There’s a playlist for “wonders of the Earth,” another for quantum mechanics, the works of William Shakespeare, the world of sports, and more. As always, watch videos prior to showing them to your kids to make sure they’re age-appropriate.

While TED-Ed’s YouTube channel is a great place to discover things, it’s even more powerful when you use in connection to the TED-Ed website.

 

41. TED-Ed website 

The TED-Ed website offers great resources for educators. You can search for educational videos, then create lesson plans surrounding those videos. You do need to sign up for a free account to be able to use these resources,but it’s totally worth giving up your email address for.

Let’s say you want to teach about the human body. You’d use TED-Ed’s search function to find a video about the human body. I found a neat musical video about human body systems. So I’d click on that video, then click continue. It takes me to  a lesson planning page where I can enter an intro to the lesson, a “think” section, a “dig deeper” section, a “discuss” section, and a conclusion to the lesson.

Once I’ve entered all the information, I can hit publish and share the link with my students/kids. It’s important to note that the videos on the search function come from YouTube and not just from TED-Ed, so as always, view first to make sure they’re age-appropriate.

You can also simply use the website’s pre-made lesson plans, which all use TED-ED videos, and are ready to go with multiple choice questions, suggested extended activities, and more.

42. The Brain Scoop

The Brain Scoop is the YouTube channel of the Chicago Field Museum, and it has several videos across various subjects. I wouldn’t recommend this channel for younger kiddos, as there are dissections and other upsetting scenes shared, but it may be OK for high schoolers with strong stomachs.

There are some cool videos about geology, fossils, insects, and more which might be more appropriate for a younger audience, but as always, watch the videos first to be sure they’re appropriate for your kiddos. To find these more kid-friendly videos, scroll all the way down the “videos” page or visit the playlists page.

43. The Canadian Homeschooler 

Sometimes it’s hard to find Canadian-based resources. That’s precisely why The Canadian Homeschooler was born. It’s a great website chock-full of resources in various subjects and geared toward multiple ages. This website offers several free resources, including “the big list of Canadian Curriculum,” which tells you about curriculum options that are Canadian made and/or Canadian focused.

My favourite thing this website offers, and the reason I found it, is the Ontario Elementary Level Curriculum CheckLists. While you can certainly look at the curriculum expectations on the government website, it’s clunky to have to visit each different subject and put it all together—the curriculum checklists offered on the Canadian Homeschooler website are a much more convenient way to check if you’re hitting the expectations with your planning (if you choose to go that route). 

To get access to the checklists, you’ll need to sign up for the free membership to the Canadian Homeschooler Learning Centre. There’s tonnes more resources in that library too, from a fun “virtual trip across Canada” package to history games, science and math lessons, language arts, and more. It’s really worth checking out, and it’s a resource I use frequently.

44.  CK12 Foundation 

CK-12 Foundation is a great website offering free video lessons in various subjects for grades 1 all the way up to university-level courses. This is an excellent resource for interactive lessons for all grade levels. Subjects include math, English, science and more.

45. The Happy Housewife

The Happy Housewife shares homeschool activity ideas, free printables, curriculum reviews, projects, tips for frugal living and home management, and even recipes. The Homeschool section is only part of her website, where you can find even more information about home keeping and more.

46. The Homeschool Mom (Canada resources and more) 

The Homeschool Mom is a great resource for any homeschooler. There’s a tonne of information here. You’ll find articles by subject, curriculum reviews, “homeschooling 101,” and so much more.

Something on this site I’m really excited about? Resources about Canada! There are special freebies and printables for subscribers as well, including an extensive homeschool planner, notebooking units, lesson plans, and more.

47. The Library

We are huge fans of the library, and our librarians back in Kingston know our family by name. Libraries are wonderful places for community and knowledge building, and the fun isn’t just related to books: there are programs for young and older kids, help with technology, and more. Check with your local library about programs for homeschoolers, language learning, and other services.

48. The Teacher’s Corner

I love silly holidays, and if you do as well, you’ll love this website as much as I do. The Teacher’s Corner provides monthly calendars with all the major holidays as well as the silly ones. You can then click on the dates on the calendar to find associated lesson plans and resources.

Not a fan of silly holiday-themed lessons? No problem. You can browse lesson plans by subject. There are also customizable and printable worksheets, thematic units, and more. There are so many resources on this page, you could likely get a full year’s worth of curriculum planning without leaving the site. Super worth a look. Worth noting that most of the resources target kindergarten through grade 6.

49. ThoughtCo 

ThoughtCo bills itself as the “World’s Largest Education Resource.” They have a page devoted to homeschooling. There are several articles on the website, but you’ll also find printables and more.

50. US National Parks Service

The US National Parks Service has an entire page dedicated to educator resources. There are lesson plans, field experiences, curricula and more, all using the national parks as a focal point for learning material.

Free Homeschooling

Art Resources

 

1. Art for Kids Hub on YouTube

If your kids love to draw, this is the channel for them. Run by a family of 6, Art for Kids Hub offers several tutorials for drawing, mostly focused on cartoon style. I love that the tutorials offer really specific advice on blending colours and other art elements that I wouldn’t think of teaching on my own, since I’m no visual artist.

2. Carla Soneihem Presents on YouTube

Carla Soneihem’s YouTube channel is chock-full of great art tutorials in various visual media, including scrapbooking, wax resist, mixed media, and more. Some of the videos are advertising for paid classes, but many vidoes are plain free art lessons.

3. MrPStudios on YouTube 

MrPStudios is a great YouTube channel full of art lessons for kids. Mr. P is an art teacher who is so obviously enthusiastic about art, it’s kind of contagious. His happy voice makes me want to try all the projects that he’s so excited about. Check it all out here.

4. Sakura of America on YouTube

This YouTube channel has tutorials on just about any visual art you can think of: cartooning, calligraphy, origami, and more. See it all here.

Free

Charlotte Mason Resources

 

1. Ambleside Online

If you’re planning on teaching based on Charlotte Mason, you’ll want to check out Ambleside Online, where you’ll find a free and complete curriculum in this style. You can use the menu on the left to navigate by year or subject. I love that it has links to some gorgeous paintings to go along with some of the units.

2. Simply Charlotte Mason 

If you’d like to learn more about the Charlotte Mason method, or if you’re already teaching through her methods, you’ll want to bookmark this website. Although Simply Charlotte Mason does sell curriculum, it also has free PDF forms if you’d like to build your own.

 

Free

Christian Homeschooling Resources

 

1. Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool

Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool offers a complete Christian online curriculum for Kindgergarten tthrough Grade 12. You do have to sign up to access everything, but the curriculum seems pretty thorough. So thorough, in fact, that I’m a little overwhelmed by the site. However, if you have some time to spend browsing through and familiarizing yourself with the material, it seems worth it; after all, it’s completely free an covers math, English, social studies, phys ed, and more.

2. The Good and The Beautiful

The Good and The Beautiful is a Christian-focused (non-denominational) curriculum, and they offer their complete 1-5 language arts curriculum free of charge. You’ll need to sign up for a free account to get access, but they won’t spam you, and it’s totally worth it.

I always have reservations about Christian-based science curricula (because it’s often times not science-based at all when it comes to astronomy), but this particular curricula leaves the question of the age of the earth deliberately vague so you can teach your kids according to your own belief system.

Free Resources for

Computer Science, Tech, and Programming

 

1. code.org 

Coding skills are a great asset to several lines of work today, but learning code isn’t always easy or accessible. That’s what code.org aims to change. This website teaches coding and has lessons appropriate for pre-readers all the way to grade 12.

You’ll find full-length courses as well as hour-long tutorials for the time-strapped. These shorter tutorials are appropriate for all ages. While code.org concentrates on lessons and courses for pre-reader to grade 12, it also has a link for you to learn more about coding after grade 12—and many of these university-level courses are free! 

2. Typing Club 

Typing club is a website that teaches kids how to type properly on a keyboard. Children can earn badges as they complete each lesson. It’s not necessary to create an account on the website unless you would like to save your progress.

3. Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

If you have a kid in grades 6-12, you may want to have a conversation about keeping their information safe online. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has lesson plans on privacy sweeps, how websites collect information, privacy rights, and more. Head over to the Lesson Plans page to learn more.

Free Homeschooling Resources for

History, Geography, and Social Sciences

 

1. Canadian Geographic

If you’re looking to learn history and geography from a Canadian perspective, Canadian Geographic’s Education section has got you covered. They have ready-to-use lesson plans, suggested classroom activities, tiled maps you can download, and more. It’s worth setting aside time to browse through this site.

2. Canadian Military History

The Canadian Military History page on the Government of Canada website doesn’t provide lesson plans or activities, but if you have an older kid who loves to read and is interested in military history, they’ll likely spend hours on this website.

There’s information about several battles in Canadian history and information about the current military. You can also download free copies of publications relating to Canadian Military History, including “The Canadian Forces in the Great War, 1914-1919,” and its second volume.

3. EdSitement!

EdSitement! is an absolutely awesome website from the U.S.-based National Endowement for the Humanities and National Trust for the Humanities. On EdSitement!, you’ll find super-thorough lesson plans and student activities for kindergarten through Grade 12 and beyond. You’ll find lesson plans in the areas of art and culture, history and social studies, and literature and language arts, complete with virtual trips, beautiful illustrations, and more.

4. Google Earth

Studying geography this year? Or just wanting to find out more about a place you plan on travelling to? Google Earth is a powerful resource for learning about the places on the blue planet, from finding the tallest mountains to learning in-depth about the smallest (or largest) towns on Earth.

Remember the globes some families used to have in their libraries or living rooms, so they could take a look at where things were on Earth? Well, this is the digital version, and while I’m all for gorgeous antique globes, this electronic version is absolutely incredible, and worth every second you’ll “waste” on it.

5. Government of Canada Teacher’s Corner for Immigration and Citizenship

The Teacher’s Corner on the Government of Canada’s website offers lesson plans and more to celebrate Canada’s rich immigration history. You can find lesson plans to create a historical theatre piece based on different time periods, you can play “pin the symbol of the province,” learn about Canadian Francophone immigration, and more.

 

6. Historica Canada Education Portal

Historica Canada’s Education Portal is an absolutely excellent resource for a multi-perspective history curriculum. Here, you’ll find an Indigenous Perspectives Education Guide, a Black History in Canada Education Guide, a Women in Canadian History Education Guide, and many other resources, including guides on citizenship, the World Wars, and more, all ready to be downloaded for no charge and without the need to create an account. Resources are available for the primary level to the secondary level, and there are also ESL and French immersion-specific resources.

7. National Geographic Kids (geography, science)

I could spend hours on this website, and if your kids love animals, they’ll love this website, too. In addition to a plethora of information on all things animals, you’ll also find games, space “missions,” and more. National Geographic Kids would be a great addition to any science and/or geography curriculum.

8. Natural Resources Canada (geography, science)

Looking for information about climate change, forestry, mining, and more? Find publications about these topics and more in the Natural Resources Canada Publications page. It’s meant for an adult audience, but would make good reference material as you plan your units and lessons.

9. Orrin’s Website (indigenous history)

If you’d like to add some indigenous history to your social studies curriculum, you’ll want to bookmark Orrin’s Website, which contains various “American Indian Facts for Kids pages,” with links to pages about over 59 tribes from the Americas.

Orrin is a tribal member of the Cherokee Nation and also has Muskogee ancestors, as well as white ancestors, and started the website to preserve indigenous culture and especially language, since Orrin is Cherokee yet does not speak the native tongue.

I like this website despite its very 90s look, as it concentrates on relaying important information about cultures rather than focusing on the extras. A related project that is worth bookmarking is the Native Languages of the Americas website (more on this website in the languages section).

10. Resources for Rethinking (character development, social studies)

Resources for Rethinking offers resources to encourage education for sustainable development, good citizenship, and more. There are lesson plans, videos, games, nature guides, and more. Scroll to about halfway down the home page to find these.

The resources on this website were created to help readers, teachers, and students “explore the environmental, social and economic dimensions of important issues and events unfolding in our world today.” Very thorough resources worth checking out.

 

 

11. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (social sciences)

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police offers lesson plans for those things most of us don’t like to talk about, but that are really important to discuss: dating violence, bullying and cyberbullying, family violence, and more. They also have lesson plans for distracted driving (so important in this age of texting obsession).

12. Teaching Tolerance (humanities, social justice)

A powerful resource in teaching social justice, the Teaching Tolerance website includes lessons, gorgeous printable posters, learning plans, film kits, and more. They also have a learning plan builder, where you can create your own lessons using the resources available on the site or elsewhere. Resources are available for kindergarten to Grade 12.

Teaching Tolerance also has a magazine for educators, and if you’re a freelance writer with an interest in the topic of social justice in education, it’s worth checking them out—they pay $1 per word.

13. The Atlas of Canada (geography, history)

A treasure trove of maps for learning about Canada’s history, geography, geology, indigenous history, forests, and more, it’s worth setting aside some time to look through The Atlas of Canada website. It’s meant for an adult audience, but would make a good reference as you plan your units and lessons.

14. The Canadian Encyclopedia (history and social studies)

The Canadian Encyclopedia is an excellent resource to find facts about Canadian history, culture, and more. Also included is information about Canada’s indigenous people. If you navigate to the Educators page and click on Curriculum Topics on the drop down menu, you’ll find study guides, timelines, and other resources to help with your curriculum planning.

15. The History Education Network

To find lots of links to information about Canadian history, head over to The History Education Network, where they have a whole page devoted to “Specific Resources for Teaching Canadian history.” Some of the links are mostly information-based, while others have interactive elements. 

 

Free Homeschooling Resources for

Language Arts (English)

 

1. Project Gutenberg (literature, general)

Project Gutenberg offers access to over 59,000 electronic books, including children’s and classic literature.  Most of the works on its digital shelves are in the public domain, so you can print them out if you prefer to use paper materials in your homeschool.

Navigate to “Bookshelves” to search by book categories such as children’s books, animals, classics, countries, and several others. These categories are listed in alphabetical order in the bookshelves page. You can use these books, especially some of the classics, as starting points to create your own units.

Free Resources for Learning

New Languages

1. Duolingo

Want to learn a language (or two, or three?) Duolingo is a free app, available on both Android and iOS. I’ve found it’s best for older kids and adults. My young kiddos lost interest pretty quickly in the lessons. It’s also hard to teach all three of them at the same time on it… but it could work for older kids, especially if they have their own devices.

2. Learn French With Vincent on YouTube

Learn French with Vincent offers several videos teaching French concepts and phrases, and one very comprehensive, “Learn French in 5 days” video, which includes 14 hours of lessons teaching the basics of the French language. Of course, you won’t be fluent in French in 5 days, but you’ll be confident enough to get by if you commit to practicing. Worth checking out. Please note this is French from France, not Canadian French.

3. Native Languages of the Americas (language learning/indigenous history)

If you’d like to expand your indigenous studies into learning more about native languages in the Americas, Orrin’s other website, Native Language of the Americas, will be essential to your studies. This is a portal to external websites that deal with various native languages. There are lists of languages and websites about specific ones. There is a great deal of information both on these websites as well as Orrin’s.

Free Homeschooling

Science & STEM Resources

 

 

16. Weather Wiz Kids 

I hope this giant list of free homeschooling resources is useful to you as you plan your homeschooling year, and I hope it’s something you bookmark and come back to again and again. Are there other free resources you love that I didn’t mention in this post? Please let me know in the comments!