Secular Homeschooling Resources

If you’re homeschooling your kids or thinking about it, you may find a lot of the online resources are geared toward people who are homeschooling because of religious objections to what schools teach. If that’s not your reason – and even a lot of religious people are homeschooling for reasons other than religious objections – these sites might not meet your needs or your children’s needs. We’ve put together a list of websites tailored to secular homeschoolers.

Secular vs. religioius homeschooling

Most religious homeschoolers are Christian. They’ve put together a strong network of people supporting each other, they’ve published curricula and materials, and they even have good legal support in case their right to homeschool their kids gets challenged. Their homeschooling incorporates not only a lot of religious teachings, but may leave certain subjects alone (such as evolution) entirely. This doesn’t suit everyone – including many Christians who want to teach their kids about science while still maintaining their faith.

Because non-Christian and Christians who are looking for a more standard education are the minority among homeschoolers, there just aren’t as many materials out there for them to work from. But that’s beginning to change.

• The Secular Homeschool is a great resource. A forum, a blog, lists of secular homeschooling curriculum, and smaller groups with specific concerns or interests (or localities) that you can join.
• Homeschooling.com isn’t as snazzy looking as the others, but it’s been around a while.  It’s religiously neutral and offers a wide variety of resources for homeschoolers of all types, and even addresses such questions as tax deductions for homeschoolers and how to start a homeschooler support group in your area.  Religious homeschoolers should also find plenty of valuable resources on this site.
• Homeschool Curriculum Advisor helps you choose the ideal curriculum for your kids. It not only reviews the various options, but includes articles on what questions to answer to determine what will work best for you.
• Best Homeschooling has lots of articles full of advice from homeschoolers.
• Global Village is a secular curriculum that includes a focus on ethics and responsibility. If that’s where you felt school was falling short, this might be the one for you.
• Learn in Freedom has over 40 pages of advice on getting started in homeschooling.
• About.com has a Homeschooling section with various helpful resources, including a section on homeschooling laws in the US, state by state.