The Most Honest Homeschool Curriculum Reviews on the Internet
Most curriculum reviews are written by affiliates who need you to buy something. Here is a different kind of review: what we actually used, what we dropped, and what we wish we had known before purchasing.
A little note: Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you click through and buy something, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only ever link to things we would genuinely recommend to a friend.
I have purchased a lot of curriculum.
More than I care to add up financially. Some of it was transformative. More of it sits on a shelf, partly used, a monument to the gap between the review I read and the reality I experienced.
This is a different kind of review. I am going to tell you what we tried, why we stopped, what worked, and what I would do differently if I were starting over. There are no referral arrangements here beyond standard affiliate links. My incentive is to be useful to you, not to sell you something.
Language Arts
All About Reading — used for three years, still recommend
The Orton-Gillingham approach works. The multisensory component (magnetic tiles, careful sequencing) is not gimmicky — it genuinely serves how the brain processes phonemic information. The pacing is slow by design. Do not rush it.
What I would tell you before purchasing: it is expensive and the materials are heavy. The teacher's guide is scripted to a degree that some parents find liberating and others find constraining. Try one level before committing to the full program.
Writing With Ease — used for two years, recommend with caveats
The narration-and-copywork approach is sound. The actual activities in the teacher guide feel thin at higher levels. We used Levels 1-2 and switched to more self-directed narration practice at Level 3. Many families agree that the first two levels are the strongest.
Brave Writer — did not finish, would not repurchase
The philosophy is genuinely good. The products are inconsistent. We purchased the Arrow curriculum (a monthly guide to reading and writing through a specific book) and found it uneven — some months excellent, some months thin. The community is supportive if that matters to you. The products themselves are a mixed bag.
First Language Lessons — used for three years, recommend
The scripted lessons feel awkward in the first week and natural by the third. If you have never taught grammar and you want a thorough program that requires no teacher prep, this is the one. The memorization component is strong. It moves slowly, which is either a feature or a drawback depending on your child.
Math
Math-U-See — used for one child for four years
The manipulatives genuinely help children who need to see and touch what they are learning. The mastery approach is either the right call for your child or the wrong one — there is not much middle ground. Children who need spiral review will struggle. Children who click well into concepts before moving on love it.
Singapore Math — used for one child for five years
The hardest and the best math curriculum we have tried. The word problems require genuine mathematical thinking, not procedural skill. If your child handles challenge well and you are willing to learn bar modeling, this is exceptional. If math is a source of tears, start with something gentler and come back to Singapore later.
One note on Singapore: the US Edition and the Standards Edition are different books with different sequences. Buy one and stay with it. Switching between editions mid-stream creates real gaps.
Saxon Math — tried for one semester, dropped
The repetition is not wrong in principle. The sheer volume of daily practice problems is wrong for some children. We switched when my son started doing the first fifteen problems of the lesson perfectly and losing interest before finishing the remaining forty. For a child who genuinely needs that much repetition, Saxon is excellent.
Khan Academy as a math spine — three years and counting
This is free and I have written about it elsewhere but I want to include it here: Khan Academy as a primary math curriculum is legitimate for many families. The mastery-based system, the video explanations, and the parent dashboard are well-designed. It works best for children who are somewhat self-directed. It is weak for children who need a human to sit with them through new concepts.
History
The Story of the World (Susan Wise Bauer) — used for four years, still active
Still the spine of our history curriculum. Narrative history written for children that holds up to adult reading aloud. The activity guides are optional and variable in quality. The books themselves are essential.
Sonlight — tried for one year, dropped
Beautiful book selections and a genuinely rich program. The daily schedule is more rigid than suits our family. The catalog and the books themselves are excellent; use them as a book list even if you do not follow the schedule. The instructor's guides are expensive and the reading lists are where the real value is.
Science
Apologia — used for two years, would not repurchase for our family
Well organized, thorough, explicitly Christian in framework. The writing style is engaging. The labs are the weakest element — often more about following a procedure than about genuine scientific investigation. For families who want an integrated Christian worldview in science, this is the best structured option available. For families who want more emphasis on the scientific method and open inquiry, there are better choices.
Real Science Odyssey — used for one year, recommend
More emphasis on actual scientific investigation, excellent labs, good writing. Less explicit than Apologia but not hostile to faith. The chemistry course in particular is very strong.
Blossom and Root — new addition, recommend for K-3
More Charlotte Mason in flavor. Nature-based, unhurried, and genuinely lovely for young children. It is not going to produce AP-ready science students on its own, but for the early years it cultivates genuine curiosity about the natural world rather than checking science boxes. We used the early elementary volumes and found them worth the price.
What to Do Before You Buy Anything
Before spending money on any curriculum, do two things.
First, go to a homeschool convention or curriculum fair and look at the physical product. Many families buy curriculum from descriptions and photos and are surprised by the weight, the density, or the tone of the teacher guide when it arrives. Seeing it in person changes the decision more often than you expect.
Second, look for used copies. Facebook Marketplace, Homeschool Classifieds, and local co-op groups all have used curriculum at a fraction of the new price. Many curricula are written to be non-consumable specifically so they can be resold. You can often find complete sets in excellent condition for 40-60% less than retail.
The One Thing I Wish Someone Had Told Me
Curriculum is a tool, not a solution.
The families I know whose children are genuinely thriving academically are not using one specific curriculum. They are using whatever curriculum fits their child at that moment, they are reading aloud constantly, and they are paying attention to what works and changing it when it stops working.
No curriculum is going to do the teaching for you. The best curriculum is the one you will actually use, with your actual child, in your actual life, until it stops working.
That is the review that matters most.
Before you buy any of the above, it helps to understand which homeschool approach fits your family. Choosing a homeschool style maps the main philosophies and their practical implications. And the simplest system for organizing what you have prevents the curriculum shelf from becoming chaos.
For the curriculum that came up most often here, math games as curriculum is the games-based alternative to formal math programs. And the honest comparison of homeschool vs public school provides context for why curriculum choice matters differently at home than it does in school.
Written by
The High Vibe Homeschool Team
We are a homeschool family that has been doing this for seven years across three kids. We write about what we have actually tried, what failed, what surprised us, and what we would do again. No credentials. Just lived experience.
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