NYS Home School and Educational Resources - Newburgh Free Library: Free Curricula
Resources to help adults support youth learning and help young scholars support themselves.
Free Curricula (Both Christian and secular options available)
On this page you will find many free curriculum options. Some are complete courses of study while others cover only particular subjects.
We hope you find the resources to fit your family's educational needs here.
For ages 0-3
- Brightly Beaming Resoruces: Early Childhood Resources for the Home
A free online curriculm for ages 0-6, with some lessons for older students. Excellent in building up from pre-reading to letter of the week & sound of the week. Very good list of elements to be included for creating a "A Balanced Home Education." (Math not included.)
For more resources, see the box "supplemental resources" under the PreK-K tab.
Charlotte Mason
- Ambleside Online: Charlotte Mason Curriculum
Website description: "AmblesideOnline is a free homeschool curriculum that uses Charlotte Mason's classically-based principles to prepare children for a life of rich relationships with everything around them: God, humanity, and the natural world." - Making Ambleside WorkA helpful article about how to plan the Ambleside curriculum into real life.
- Librivox and AmblesideLinks to free audiobooks available from Librivox that align with Ambleside Online assignments.
- Ultimate Resource Roundup for the Top 10 Habits for LearningA mini curriculum to introduce 10 habits stressed by Charlotte Mason as key to better learning. They are: Attention, Observation, Self-control, Imagining, Memorization, Meditation, Mental effort, Reading for instruction (vs. just loving to read), Remembering, and Thinking.
- Charlotte Mason Habit PostersFree printable mini-posters of Charlotte Mason's list of habits organized by theme (mental habits, moral habits, etc.)
- Free Bookfinder (by Simply Charlotte Mason)
A Bookfinder very helpful for using the free Ambleside curriculum above, as well as hundreds of free articles and videos for creating lessons. (Only the Simply Charlotte Mason workbooks/kits themselves are for-purchase products.) - Stories of Color
"Free, diverse, living book lists for Charlotte Mason homeschoolers" with 2,000+ titles sortable by culture, region, Charlotte Mason history cycle, grade level, and more. - Mater Amabilis
A free, Catholic, Charlotte Mason curriculm for grades K-12. It covers religion, language arts/literature, history, geography/earth studies, science, and civics in addition to music appreciation and art picture study. (Add math for a complete curriculum.) - Charlotte Mason Help
This site provides a free curriculum and guidance for creating a Charlotte Mason homeschool along with helpful resources for those who have heard of the CM method and want to learn more about applying it. - Learning through Literature
Not officially Charlotte Mason, but includes many strong book lists and a searchable "book finder."
For Charlotte Mason picture study lessons, see the "art" box below.
- Charlotte Mason and Classical EducationOne example of blending the two approaches.
- The BridgeConnecting Classical Conversations with Charlotte Mason
Art
- Free Homeschool Art Classes: The Ultimate Resource List
Resources for many art classes that work well in a homeschool setting. - A Humble Place Picture Study
Extenstive free images of art to use for Charlotte Mason picture studies. Many are keyed directly to the lesson plans on Ambleside Online. - Enrichment Studies: Artist of the Month
Each month an artist is featured on this site and, during that time, the images of that artist's works are free. Includes lesson ideas. Paid printing services available, but optional. - Web Gallery of Art
"The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European fine arts, decorative arts, and architecture (3rd-19th centuries), currently containing over 52,800 reproductions. Artist biographies, commentaries, guided tours, period music, catalogue, free postcard and mobile services are provided."
Choose Curriculm Options
- Freedom Homeschooling
This site gathers and organizes a broad selection of free curricula by subject (or all-in-one). Both secular and Christian options offered. - Free Life Skills CurriculaAlso from Freedom Homeschooling
- Mega List of Free Homeschool Curricula
A large collection of free homeschool curriculum options as well as indivdual learning resources. - Kingdom First Homeschool
An extensive list of both Christian and secular curricula for Pre-K to 12 by subject. - Article: 34 Best Free Homeschool Curriculum Options
A review of free curriculum resources. Some curricula are for K-12 and some for primary grades, but all contain at least one full year for free in at least one subject (most cover multiple subjects.) - "Huge List of Places to Find Free Homeschool Curriculum"
A very extensive list of free curricula by subject, with some free complete curricula. (Five of the resources are free trials only, but these five are clearly marked "30 days".) - Free Homeschooling Resources and Lesson Plans for All Ages
An extensive list of free resources, both general and for specific subjects. - Free and Frugal Homeschooling from Guest Hollow
Includes free all-subject and single subject curricula, plus ideas for finding free books, lessons, and more. - List of Free Homeschool Curricula from Wander Homeschool
Links to complete free curricula as well as other free resources. - How to Homeschool for Free
An extensive site with some full curricula and many full unit/subject lessons and pintables. - The Very Best Free Homeschooling Sites (From "Free Homeschool Deals")
This article has a collection of dozens of links to websites with free, downloadable resources for all ages. (Some sites have 100% free resources while others have selected resources available at no charge.) - Free Homeschooling Lessons by Subject
This site provides an extensive list of free homeschooling lessons in 14 subject areas sorted by subject and grade level. Complied by Only Passionate Curiosity. - Sheppard Software
This site provides hundreds of free, online, learning games for kids in the categories of: Animals, Brain Exercise, Health, Language Arts, Math, Preschool Learning, Science, USA, and World
Full Curricula
- Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool (PreK-12th grade)
A curriculum resource for preschool through grade 12. Website text: "A complete, free Christian homeschool curriculum" - Under the Home (K-5th)
This free curriculum contains all the resources necessary for covering 15 subjects for grades K-5 using original, classic texts as inspired by the teaching of Charlotte Mason (1842 – 1923). - A Old-Fashioned Education
A full K-12 education making use of well-curated public domain texts, all available for free online. - Rosegate Harbour (1st-12th)
Links to the resources needed for the Robinson Self-Teaching Curriculum. Because it is based on independent reading, the curriculum begins whenever a child can read well enough for the first titles. - Kahn Academy
From the website "A personalized learning resource for all ages. Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. We tackle math, science, computing, history, art history, economics, and more." - Core Knowledge Curriculm (PreK-8th grade)
Knoweldge-based learning guides for PreK-8th grade and units of study all free to download.
Read Free Online
- Read Free Children's Books Online
Explore our guide with links to many sources of free children's books online. Hundreds of titles available, most with no library card required. - Children's E-books for Newburgh Free Library cardholders
Try one of our e-book collections for kids with your Newburgh Free Library card, including BookFlix. - Selected free booksA curated list of "living books" in a number of subjects
- Folktexts from around the WorldA collection of folk and fairy tales and myths from around the world organized by "tale type" (story structure). For example, stories that fit the structure of Cinderella are "type 510A".
- Using Books To Make Homeschooling Easier For All Of You10 Tips for using books to enrich the homeschool experience.
- How to print and bind online booksA video tutorial on one way to make your own books from online material.
More Resources
- 100 Free Homeschool Resources
100 free resources for a wide variety of subjects. - 123Homeschool4Me
Not a curriculm, per se, but a site with 100,000 pages of resources with which to create custom lesson plans. - Homeschool.com
A site with many free articles, unit studies, and tools for homeschooling as well as reviews of "for-purchase" curricula. - Superstar Worksheets
A large number of free worksheets and lesson ideas with some paid resources. (There is an option to view free resources broken down by age or search by subject.)
Music
- Classics for Kids
A free music curriculum covering many composers and information about their most famous works along with an interactive index of instruments/musical terms, plus musical games. - Beth's NotesMany free articles, activities, musical games, and a large index of songs for teaching music concepts. (These are available with or without the paid "plus" membership.)
- The Learning Groove: Songs and ActivitiesFrom the website: Free resource to help schools, teachers, and families share our music in class and at home. Parents & teachers can stream our music for free on our website...Plus we have free coloring pages, online videos, sheet music, and educational activity ideas for every song!"
- Best YouTube channels for classical musicResources for various age levels collected by "Jus' Classical."
Let's Teach
- Let's Teach!Let's Teach is a free, quarterly, digital homeschooling magazine with fun activity ideas and recipies. Read online or subscribe for a (still free) pdf version.
Gameschooling ideas
For ideas on "gameschooling," please see the PreK-K tab.
- Storyboard That - card game generatorCreate up to two storyboards/games per week for free using the provided templates
- Card Game generator - Go Fish (and more)Create a "go fish" style word game by filling in the blanks under "custom sight words"...though the text can be any word or words 15 characters or less, not just a sight words! Note: the right hand column has options for other games such as "shoots and ladders" that can be used with similar text...Be creative and use, say, the names of composers or famous Americans or authors!
- Printable card templatesBlank playing card templates.
- Printable playing cardsPrint a deck of standard 4-suit playing cards.
- Dobble Generator (a.k.a "Spot It")Create cards for the game of Dobble by uploading images of your choice.
Learning to Read and Reading Fluently
For free curricula for learning to read or increasing reading fluency, see the box on the PreK-K tab.
English/Grammar
- The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts
Free downloads of full language arts curricula for grades K-8. Each level contains a course book and supplemental files. - ReadWorks
From the website: "Free content, curriculum, and tools to power teaching and learning from Kindergarten to 12th Grade." Home educators are welcome to register as teachers on this site. - Splendid Spelling: A Gentle Foundation for Good (Lifelong) Spelling
Free spelling lessons "meant to practice the Charlotte Mason method of spelling memorization" and containing a spelling "secret" with examples, plus an exercise. The author suggests "one lesson a week, with the first day spent going over the 'secret' and the word list, the second day be a quick review with doing the activity, and the last day being the spelling 'exercise.”' - McGuffey's Eclectic Readers - Primer to Book 5
Free, downloadable copies of the McGuffey Eclectic reader from the Primer through Book 5, plus the Eclectic Speller. Posted by Happy Homeschool Mom. - Daily GrammarFree grammar curriculum...Complete one brief lesson a day or use the index to do longer lessons. All content is free; buying a printed and bound copy of the lessons is optional.
- Grammar and Punctuation Course
An interactive guide to improving one's grammar and punctuation from the University of Bristol. Each unit includes a quiz with immediate feedback.
Science
- Free Science Curriculum for All Grades
A collection of free science curricula spanning PreK-12. The first four links are excellent for hands-on preschool science lessons.
For nature curricula, see the box on the PreK-K Resources tab.
- The Whole Year RoundA virtual collection of the 1915 edition of "The Whole Year Round" by Dallas Lore Sharp. A taste of nature study from the first quarter of last century told in short chapters.
Math
- Mathmatics Enhancement Programme (MEP)
MEP is a simple, structured mathematics program with 6 years worth of lessons included. Uses a "spiral approach" for review. (Orignally from Hungary, hence the European spelling of "programme.") - Ray's Arithmetic - with videos
Free access to the complete original texts of Ray's Arithmetic and Ray's Higher Math (together covering grades K-12.) Also includes video versions of the Arithmetic lessons. - The Good and the Beautiful Math
Free math curricula for grades K-6. Each level contains 120 lessons for the teacher-parent to present and a daily independent practice section. - Gattegno Math Level 1
A free arithmetic curriculum using Cuisenaire rods presented in one online textbook by Caleb Gattegno.
Other
- Engaging Themed Homeschool Activities for Every Month of the Year
Twelve free themes for your homeschool from "The Curriculum Choice." - InLiterature
This site provides an extensive collection of recipes and themed event planning pages to transport students/guests into the world of great works of literature.
Homeschool Tea Time
- "Travel" the World with TeaA lesson on geography and more using tea.