Best Homeschool Curriculum for Working Parents – High School

Please note: this article discusses homeschool curriculums for high school students with working parents. If you are a working parent looking for a homeschool curriculum for younger children, please check out our other articles: Best Homeschool Curriculum for Working Parents – Middle School and Best Homeschool Curriculum for Working Parents – Elementary. 

This post contains affiliate links and we may earn a commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Recently, we have been hearing the same question more and more: can I homeschool my child while working part-time or full-time? The answer is yes! Increasingly, working parents are choosing to homeschool their children, and it isn’t actually as challenging as you might think! For some tips on how to do it successfully, check out our article Homeschooling While Working Part-Time.   

One of the most important factors in being able to successfully homeschool a high school student while also working is this: find a good curriculum! There are some excellent curriculums that allow students to work independently with minimal parental involvement. In this article, we’ll discuss the best homeschool high school curriculums for working parents. Our top picks our listed at the beginning of this article. To learn more about each one, keep reading.

Best All-Around

Calvert Homeschool Complete Curriculum Packages

If you are looking for a secular homeschool curriculum that your high school student can independently complete online, we highly recommend the curriculum options offered by Calvert Homeschool. Calvert has been publishing excellent, top-rated homeschool curriculums for many years. Its grade 3-12 courses have now gone completely online, and the media-rich platform works well for students with a variety of learning styles. 

As a working parent, you will be glad you chose Calvert homeschool because most of the traditional work of a homeschooling parent is done for you. The online program keeps track of your student’s schedule, assignments, and progress, and most of the grading is done automatically. When you go off to work in the morning you can relax, knowing that your high schooler is receiving a top-notch, comprehensive education at home and is able to work through the material independently. When you get home in the evening, you can check the “Teacher’s Dashboard” section of the website to track your student’s progress.

Although you can purchase Calvert’s online classes individually, the best option if your student will be taking multiple classes is to purchase one of the company’s subscription plans. There are several different subscription options available that vary by subscription length and the number of students using the program in the same family. 

Here’s a list of the courses Calvert offers at the high school level, organized by grade level, with electives listed at the end. Courses are flexible, so if your student wants to switch things around, move ahead in math, or skip a course altogether, this is no problem (just make sure you are meeting the requirements of your state). The many elective options also offer a fantastic way to tailor your student’s education to his or her own interests.

Grade 9

  • English I: focuses on short stories, novels, non-fiction, poetry, and drama. Students will read Homer’s The Odyssey, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and a modern version of Romeo and Juliet.
  • Algebra 1
  • Integrated Physics & Chemistry
  • World Geography or Government or World History

Grade 10

  • English II: students continue to build their reading and writing skills, focusing on the cultural, religious, social, and political upheavals of world history. Literature read includes George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
  • Geometry
  • Biology
  • World History or Government

Grade 11

  • English III: provides a survey of American literature, from the period of European contact to the post-World War II era. 
  • Algebra II
  • Chemistry or Physics
  • U.S. History – Reconstruction to Present or World History or Government

Grade 12

  • English IV: students focus on the evolution of different writing forms while developing a critical perspective on the connections between content and form. 
  • Pre-Calculus
  • Physics
  • Economics or Government

Other core subject and elective courses offered

  • Consumer Math
  • Coordinate Algebra
  • Analytic Geometry
  • Advanced Algebra
  • U.S. History – Foundations to Present
  • ACT Test Prep
  • Art History
  • Digital Arts
  • Earth Science
  • Environmental Science
  • Essentials of Communication
  • French I
  • French II
  • Fundamentals of Computer Systems
  • Fundamentals of Programming & Software Development
  • Personal & Family Living
  • Personal Financial Literacy
  • Physical Education
  • Physical Fitness
  • Psychology
  • Small Business Entrepreneurship
  • Spanish I 
  • Spanish II
  • Spanish III

Runner-Up

Paradigm Accelerated High School Curriculum

We chose Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum (PAC) as another fantastic all-around homeschool curriculum for kids with working parents for several reasons. The courses themselves are rigorous and academic, yet still very approachable for students. The material is taught incrementally with plenty of variety in terms of instruction, assignments, and exercises, and the program format allows for solid independent learning.

The courses are available in various forms – print, as digital downloads, and with audio enhancement – in order to meet students’ different learning styles. Each course description also includes the precise type and number of corresponding transcript credits, making it easy to build a high school transcript as your student finishes each class. Although PAC is a secular curriculum publisher, its courses do promote good character and positive values, making it an excellent pick for both religious and secular students.

The only subject that PAC does not publish is math. For this, it recommends the use of the Math-U-See program, which forms an excellent compliment to the PAC courses and is also fantastic for independent, hands-on learning with its use of manipulatives and DVD instruction.

All of PAC’s core subject courses for high school are listed here by grade, along with the appropriate Math-U-See program and PAC’s optional elective courses. 

PAC Curriculum Grade 9

PAC Curriculum Grade 10

PAC Curriculum Grade 11

PAC Curriculum Grade 12

Best Christian

Lifepac 5-Subject Kits

For working parents looking for a homeschool curriculum that is Christian-based, we recommend the 5-subject curriculum kits by Lifepac. Published by Alpha Omega Press, a leader in Christian homeschool curriculum, the Lifepac series offers a convenient and structured approach to homeschooling that high school students can complete independently. 

The structure of Lifepac’s curriculums is simple and streamlined. Each course consists of 10 consumable unit-based worktexts and a teacher’s guide. High school students can complete the worktexts on their own, gaining mastery of the subject matter in an incremental, step-by-step way. The format of Lifepac’s kits makes for minimal to no parent preparation, and high school students can easily self-assess their progress with the included quizzes and tests. Independent and self-led learners will especially do well with Lifepac.

Lifepac makes a separate 5-subject kit for Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, and Grade 12. Each includes the curriculum for history and geography, language arts, math, science, and a Bible course. There is also a separate manipulative kit for each science source, which is definitely worth purchasing so you don’t have to scramble for these supplies last minute.

Lifepac also offers many excellent elective courses at the high school level, including the following:

Conclusion

If you are a working parent who homeschools, rest assured that your high school student can receive an excellent education at home while you are at work. Calvert Homeschool, Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum, and Lifepac all produce excellent curriculums that high school students can complete independently. If you have questions about this topic or would like more information, please email us!