Family Style Homeschool Curriculum Comparison Guide

STEM Made Easy by Hess UnAcademy

We have recently released our own family-style STEM curriculum for homeschoolers that we are certain you are going to love. Called the STEM Made Easy books, each book contains several weeks worth of STEM projects that you can enjoy with your entire family!

Subjects Covered

These books revolve around STEAM which includes:

• Science
• Technology
• Engineering
• Art
• Math

Grade

These books are designed for kids PreK to grade 12, making them perfect for the whole group!

Price

Digital versions of the STEM Made Easy books run at $13. You can buy paperback versions of each book on Amazon for $25.

Digital or Physical

Whether you buy the digital version and print it out or buy a paperback copy, this STEM curriculum is physical.

Secular or Christian

While the author is Christian, these books take a neutral worldview.

Preparation Time

Each project involves a fair amount of preparation. Instructions are detailed and in-depth but you must be willing to gather the supplies, put together the experiments, and dive into the ‘taking it further’ activities.

Teacher Involvement

Teacher involvement time is dependent on the ages and abilities of your students. Younger students will require a high amount of teacher involvement whereas older students can do most, if not all, of these projects on their own.

Sonlight

Sonlight is a very popular whole family curriculum and one that we ourselves have enjoyed over the years. There’s no need to buy a course for each grade here. You just have to combine their “couch” subjects and “table” subjects to create a one-room homeschool environment.

Subjects Covered

• Bible
• History
• Science
• Language arts
• Math
• Handwriting
• Spelling
• Electives (i.e. optional subjects)

Grade

Sonlight caters to grades kindergarten to 12.

Price

this programs works out to be around $125 a year per child.

Digital or Physical

This is a physical course that comes with everything you need.

Secular or Christian

Sonlight takes a highly Christian perspective.

Preparation Time

There is little to no preparation time involved.

Teacher Involvement

Depending on your children’s abilities, your involvement could be anywhere from low to incredibly high.

If you’re interested in learning a bit more about Sonlight, I review the Sonlight history course for Kindergartners here.

The Family School Online

The Family School Online is our very favorite whole family homeschool curriculum. We have been using it for year and I love how we all get to learn together as a family no matter what subject we are studying.

Subjects Covered

• History
• Geography
• Science
• Language Arts
• Art
• Music

Grade

The Family School Online has courses for grades PreK – 12. You can do everything together as a family all the way up until you reach the accredited high school portion. Once your kids reach high school age, if you want to go accredited, they’ll need to branch out on their own.

Price

The Family School Online is subscription based. You can get access to everything (all subjects and courses) for as low as $40 per month. (Keep in mind this price includes history, science, language arts, music, and more.)

Digital or Physical

This is mostly a digital curriculum, however you can print out lessons and handouts if you so desire. You are not required to work exclusively online if you don’t want to.

Secular or Christian

The Family School Online caters to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Preparation Time

Preparation time is very minimal. You could use the “open and go” option and just open and read, or you can take as long as you want and prepare in advance. I just use the open and go option because I don’t have time to prepare a million things.

Teacher Involvement

There is a little bit of teacher involvement. You must guide the lesson and the discussions and you must supervise any handouts or enrichment activities.

The Good and The Beautiful

The Good and The Beautiful is probably one of the most popular curriculums for Christian homeschooling families. For those families looking for a beautifully combined subject curriculum with a Christian worldview, this is the package for you.

Subjects Covered

• Science
• Language Arts
• Math
• History
• Electives

Grade

This curriculum can take your kids from pre-kindergarten to 8th grade.

Price

The packages start at $63. Although they do offer the lower levels of their Language Arts courses for free.

Digital or Physical

The Good and The Beautiful is a gorgeously illustrated physical course.

Secular or Christian

This curriculum supports a Christian worldview and emphasizes God and high character.

Preparation Time

There’s no prep time involved for this program. Just open the book and away you go!

Teacher Involvement

Depending on your children’s abilities, you can do some independent study throughout the day.

BookShark

BookShark takes a literature-based approach to teach science to multiple ages.

Subjects Covered

• Science
• History
• Math
• Handwriting and spelling

Grade

BookShark is designed for children of all ages — from pre-kindergarten to high school.

Price

Depending on the package you buy, you’ll pay at least $309.

Digital or Physical

This is a physical course.

Secular or Christian

BookShark adopts a secular viewpoint and adheres to common core but is Christian friendly.

Preparation Time

Little to no preparation time is needed since everything is done for you. Just ensure you’ve got the right materials out for the day.

Teacher Involvement

It’s built on a kinesthetic learning style so you’ll need to be involved with the experiments.

Oak Meadow

For an all-around creative yet common core education taught in a very effective way, Oak Meadow is the one for your family.

Subjects Covered

• Language arts
• Math
• Music and health
• Science
• Social studies
• Fine arts

Grade

It can take your children from kindergarten to grade 12. You’ll find that as they gain confidence, you can start stepping away.

Price

Packages start at $365.

Digital or Physical

Oak Meadow is a physical curriculum.

Secular or Christian

This curriculum supports a secular worldview.

Preparation Time

There’s quite a lot of prep time involved with this one since you need to read through the full-year, integrated kit list and lesson plans.

Teacher Involvement

As your children grow up, this curriculum allows you to step back and let them be the captains of their own ships.

Layers of Learning

Layers of Learning is a curriculum that has been curated by two sisters that know exactly what makes an effective homeschool curriculum for large families.

Subjects Covered

• History
• Geography
• Science
• The arts (music, art, poetry, etc.)

Grade

Layers of Learning is made for children from kindergarten to grade 12. Each unit comes with leveled books so you can assign the right one to the right child.

Price

If you sign up for the monthly newsletter, you get your first unit for free. Other than that, the bundles are between $19 and $300 depending on the one you pick.

Digital or Physical

This is a physical course that comes with textbooks, worksheets, learning planners, and a family timeline too.

Secular or Christian

Layers of Learning is neither secular nor Christian. Instead, it appreciates every viewpoint.

Preparation Time

Unless you’re driving to the library or setting up an activity, your children can read independently.

Teacher Involvement

Teacher involvement is quite high here. You’ll need to be prepared to take library trips and do hands-on activities.

Lifepac

Lifepac includes beautiful full-color workbooks based on the principle of mastery teaching. Your children must perfect each part of the curriculum before they can move forward.

Subjects Covered

• Bible
• History
• Geography
• Language arts
• Math
• Science
• Electives (i.e. optional subjects)

Grade

You can use Lifepac for children in grades 1 to 12 — perfect for the whole family!

Price

The complete package costs $314.96.

Digital or Physical

While it is a physical course, the textbooks are compact so you can travel with them if necessary.

Secular or Christian

Lifepac adopts a strictly Christian worldview.

Preparation Time

Very little preparation time is involved here since it’s textbook-based.

Teacher Involvement

Depending on your children’s abilities, you can be both highly involved or almost not at all.

Homeschool Complete

Homeschool Complete is a curriculum that has been designed to give an all-inclusive education to your family. It allows for hands-on, engaging lessons.

Subjects Covered

• Science
• The arts
• Math
• Bible
• Social studies
• Exercise and well-being

Grade

This curriculum covers children in kindergarten to 4th grade.

Price

Depending on the package you purchase it will cost you anywhere from $179 to $358.

Digital or Physical

Homeschool Complete is a physical course.

Secular or Christian

Homeschool Complete provides families with a Christian education.

Preparation Time

Since it is so hands-on, there is quite a lot of prep time involved (especially when you start doing the experiments).

Teacher Involvement

Depending on your child’s abilities, you will need to be highly involved.

Five In a Row

Five in a Row is based on a conversational approach to learning allowing you to teach wherever you might be.

Subjects Covered

• Social studies
• Language
• Art
• Math
• Science

Grade

The units are made for children aged 5 to 9.

Price

Each volume is $49 but you can add extra resources to your bundle.

Digital or Physical

It’s a physical course.

Secular or Christian

The “Before Five in a Row” set has bible references but the other bundles are secular.

Preparation Time

Very little prep time is involved. Generally, it’ll take you around 5 minutes to set up the lesson.

Teacher Involvement

It’s designed for the whole family to get involved. Therefore, you’ll be very much involved with your children’s learning.