We’ve found services that offer free homeschooling for low income families! If you think you can’t afford to homeschool or don’t have the time, these tools can help. Whether you want to learn online or offline, there are many resources that can help.
Free Online Homeschool Resources
There are many excellent, free homeschool curriculums like Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool and Ambleside Online. These are two websites that will give you everything you need (except for basic supplies and books, which you can get from the library). These tools are extremely easy-to-use. They are designed to help parents teach their children.
If you prefer student-led learning, then you may prefer to use Khan Academy. Khan Academy is an interactive website that can be used by the student with minimal interference from the parent. It covers a wide variety of topics, including math (pre-K through college levels), science, computing, economics, reading, language arts, life skills, arts and humanities, and more. It is without a doubt one of the most robust free learning tools in existence.
Children who struggle with math may also enjoy using the free Prodigy Math game. This is a free math-based video game, which makes it a great resource for children who dislike math or are struggling to master math concepts.
Of course, if you’re teaching your children at home, you’re going to want to go on field trips. After homeschooling doesn’t mean you’re stuck at home! We’ve found great ways that you can get free museum passes with your EBT card and library card.
There are also a wealth of virtual field trips to help your children see the world from your own home. You can visit the Louvre, the National Baseball Hall of Fame (which even has homeschooling curriculum for grades 3-12), Buckingham Palace, or Vietnam to see the world’s largest cave, Sơn Đoòng, without ever leaving the comfort of your home. The internet is the world’s best homeschooling resource!
If you’d rather improvise your own curriculum, the Internet is full of free homeschooling resources, like these tremendously helpful lists from Only Passionate Curiosity and How to Homeschool for Free.
Free Offline Homeschooling Resources
Of course, you may prefer to do your learning offline. If that’s the case, there are some great free offline homeschooling resources available, especially for low income families!
For example, the library is an incredibly powerful resource. Many libraries offer far more than just books. Our local library has a 3D printer and makerspace, free museum passes and telescopes you can check out, take-home science kits, a huge selection of classes, and so much more. You can also use your library card to access limitless music, video, audiobook and other digital downloads! Your local library is a great tool!
If you have an EBT card, you may be able to get free or discounted admission to around 1,000 different museums and venues across America. These include zoos, aquariums, children’s museums, science centers, planetariums, botanical gardens and historical sites. There are some truly incredible educational opportunities here tor homeschooling low income families.
Of course, you can also use these free museum days if you don’t have EBT.
There are other free offline homeschooling resources available, as well. Join your local homeschool groups on Facebook and other social media platforms for more information about free local events, classes, meetups and curriculum exchanges!
Free Online Public School
If you’re okay working with a public school to teach your child at home and would like more help or oversight, there are even more options. These programs aren’t officially recognized as homeschooling because it’s actually online public schooling at-home. This means that the school system provides all the materials and helpful support services while you do the teaching at home.
One of the largest providers of online public schools is K12.com. As the name implies, they serve all students between Kindergarten and 12th grade.
With K12, all you need is an internet connection! You log in every day and complete the assignments that are listed in your day’s tasks. Some tasks instruct you to use offline materials. Many are completely online. Students are expected to work 5-6 hours per day completing online assignments, offline worksheets, projects and other activities.
Everything you need for the offline activities is shipped directly to your home. When I signed my son up for first grade, we received four big boxes of supplies… all the books and materials we would need for the entire year. There were handwriting workbooks, math shapes, counting cubes, a scale and so much more. It was awesome – and he was so excited to dig in and start learning!
Since they are a public school, they participate in all state standards, assessments and requirements. Students check in regularly with an assigned teacher. They also graduate the online school with a high school diploma.
Schools can use K12 in different ways. Some are complete virtual academies, and others are blended schools. It just depends on how your school decides to implement their program.
Of course, K12 isn’t the only public-school-at-home provider. I have a friend who absolutely loves using Columbia Virtual Academy’s Moving Beyond the Page curriculum for her two boys. I’ve never used it but it sounds great!
Depending on where you’re located, you may also have access to one of these public schools:
Calvert Schools
Connections Academy
iA Internet Academy
….and more!
Don’t Forget Your Homeschool Discounts!
As a homeschool family, you may qualify for educator discounts! You won’t want to miss this list of retailers that will help you save money just because you’re homeschooling.
Nicole Thelin
Nicole is the founder and lead researcher of Low Income Relief. After a personal experience with poverty and homelessness following her husband's sudden medical discharge from the U.S. Army, Nicole discovered the life-changing impact of community resources. This experience ignited her passion for empowering others to navigate similar crises. Nicole launched her writing career at age 16, working for various newspapers and publications. Her commitment to in-depth research and accessible content has been recognized by Google for Publishers and other industry leaders. For over 20 years, she has applied her investigative skills to uncover the most helpful, up-to-date information on benefits programs and community resources, ensuring Low Income Relief maintains the most extensive resource databases available.