If you've been homeschooling for any length of time, you know that curriculum planning season brings a mix of excitement and decision fatigue. Every year I get questions asking what we use, and honestly, I love talking about it, because I've been in those shoes of staring at a curriculum website wondering where to even begin.

I'm sharing exactly what we're using for our three kids: kindergarten, 3rd grade, and 6th grade. I'll also walk you through the filters I run every curriculum choice through, because that's where the decision gets easier.

Before I share, I always like to preface that my choices are not the "perfect" choices that will make your school year perfect. They are simply things that work well for our family, complement my teaching style and needs, and hit the goals I have for our family. So please keep that in mind. Okay, let's get started!

 

A Quick Note on Our Framework

Before I get into the grade-by-grade breakdown, here's what I look for in any curriculum we bring into our home:

It has to be open-and-go. I don't have hours to prep lessons, and I'm not interested in spending my evenings building a lesson plan. I want to open the book, find where we left off, and keep moving. If it requires a lot of prep on my end, it's probably not a good fit for us.

For math, I want spiral learning without a lot of manipulatives. We've used Saxon since my oldest started first grade, and the repetition and built-in review works well for our family. I'm not looking to reinvent the wheel there.

I trust All About Reading and All About Spelling. I've seen both of these click for my two oldest, so I'm going to keep using them with each of my kids. When something works, I like to stick with it.

For Bible, I need something that is theologically rich, biblically sound, and still open-and-go. That's actually why I wrote Foundations of the Bible. I wanted something our whole family could work through together that didn't require a ton of legwork on my end to teach it well.

Now, here's what that looks like across three different grade levels.

 

 

6th Grade Homeschool Curriculum

Curriculum Spine: Classical Conversations Foundations

We've been part of Classical Conversations for several years now, and Foundations remains the backbone of how we approach learning. The weekly memory work, the structure, and the community all continues to serve us well. We will be doing our seventh year this fall.

Bible: Foundations of the Bible Vol. 3

We use Foundations of the Bible across all three of my kids, and my 6th grader is no exception. What I love about using it with an older child is that he's picking up on theological nuance that he simply wasn't ready for a few years ago. The same text, but he's reaching a deeper layer of understanding each time we go through it. Plus, I am seeing how the repetition of going through the same study more than once is building a solid foundation and how much more he is retaining because of it. 

Homeschool Math Curriculum for 6th Grade: Saxon 7/6

We've been using Saxon since first grade, and at this point, my oldest is largely working through it independently. He reads the lesson, works the problems, and I grade his work and step in when there's a concept that needs more time. We rotate odds and evens to keep the workload manageable, and if something doesn't stick, we revisit it. The repetition built into Saxon is one of my favorite things about it because it keeps older concepts fresh without me having to orchestrate extra review.

Language Arts for 6th Grade

Writing: IEW U.S.-History Based Writing Lessons. I genuinely love IEW. One of the things I appreciate most about it is that the writing is tied into what my son is already learning in history, so nothing feels disconnected or like a completely separate subject. It's been a great fit.

Grammar: CC Essentials Quarterly Guide by Kim Vieley. We use this to practice the grammar skills we're working on through Essentials. It keeps things consistent and connected to what he's already learning in community.

Spelling: All About Spelling Level 5. Still using it, and still loving it. My son has become a strong speller through this program, and I credit the systematic approach for a lot of that. We try to work through two new lessons a week. I've noticed my oldest is able to fly through the lessons faster now. We generally try to spell 10 words a day, 2 phrases, and 2 sentences. 

Reading: At this stage, he reads on his own every day. We don't use a structured reading curriculum at this point; he just reads what he enjoys.

Handwriting: Good and the Beautiful Cursive Level 6. His penmanship has come a long way, and this curriculum has been a consistent part of that growth.

History: Story of the World 

We've been using Story of the World for several years now, and it continues to be a staple in our homeschool. For this year, we will primarily be in Vol. 4 for Modern and U.S. History to pair with Classical Conversations Cycle 3 History. I will also incorporate read-alouds related to whatever topic we're covering to bring it to life.

Science

We continue to use Learning with Friends for experiment ideas that connect with our Classical Conversations weekly topics, and I pull in living books to go deeper on whatever we're studying.

 

3rd Grade Homeschool Curriculum

Curriculum Spine: Classical Conversations Foundations

All three of my kids go through Foundations together, which makes our mornings feel more cohesive and connected.

Bible: Foundations of the Bible Vol. 3

All three kids use Foundations of the Bible at the same time. My 3rd grader follows along and engages at her level. It genuinely grows with the family over time.

Homeschool Math Curriculum for 3rd Grade: Saxon Level 3

We've used Saxon from the beginning with each child, so I just move them up a level and reuse the teacher's guides I already have. It's one of the simplest and most cost-effective decisions we've made in our homeschool.

Language Arts for 3rd Grade

Grammar: Fix It! Grammar Level 1. I like to introduce Fix It! grammar in 3rd grade as a way to lay a foundation before my daughter starts Essentials the following year. You don't have to do this, but I like to. I found with my oldest that having some grammar exposure first made those initial weeks of Essentials feel a lot less overwhelming.

Handwriting: Good and the Beautiful Cursive Level 3. She was so excited to start cursive, and this has been a great fit. She does a page a day and it's become something she genuinely looks forward to.

Reading: All About Reading Level 3. Still my favorite reading curriculum. I reuse it with each child and it just works.

Spelling: All About Spelling Level 3. Same story. We love this program. We work through 1-2 lessons a week and practice each rule until she's got it before we move on.

Writing: Building Writers Level C from Learning Without Tears. I'm introducing this at 3rd grade to help her get comfortable writing complete sentences and building simple stories. She's at that stage where she needs that bridge between putting words on paper and actually constructing something with real structure. This book gives facts about a topic to allow the student to build complete sentences for writing practice. 

History: Story of the World

We read together as a family, so my 3rd grader is hearing the same history my 6th grader is. I supplement with read-alouds related to the topics we're covering.

Science

We use Learning with Friends for experiments, plus living books to go deeper on whatever topics align with our CC memory work.

Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum

 

Kindergarten is its own thing. I try to keep it simple and low-pressure, because the goal at this stage is mainly to build a love of learning and solid foundational skills, not to race through a checklist.

Curriculum Spine: Classical Conversations Foundations

Even my kindergartner joins us for Foundations memory work. He absorbs more than you'd expect just from being in the room with his siblings.

Bible: Foundations of the Bible Vol. 3

My youngest loves having his own activity book and follows along with his siblings. At this age, it's mostly exposure, and I love that the study is structured in a way where he can still participate and engage at his level. The Bible memory work songs are great for this age. He can memorize the key sentence that we will later build upon in the higher levels of the curriculum. 

Homeschool Math Curriculum for Kindergarten: Master Books

I really enjoy Master Books kindergarten math because it is so gentle and a great way to ease into school. While I love Saxon for my kids when they are older, I don’t use Saxon for kinder because it is very manipulative heavy. It doesn't have any worksheets, which is just my personal preference for teaching.

Language Arts for Kindergarten

We're focused on letter sounds and blending right now. We're using the All About Reading Pre-Reader program, which lays the same phonics foundation my older kids started with.

Handwriting: Good and the Beautiful Handwriting Level K

My youngest will practice handwriting practice with The Good and The Beautiful handwriting curriculum. 

History and Science

At this age, we use picture books for both. I want learning to feel warm and enjoyable, and picture books are one of the best ways I know to do that well.

Final Thoughts

Every family is different, and what works in our home might look completely different from what works in yours. I hope walking through our choices and the reasoning behind them gives you something helpful as you plan your own year.

If you're looking for a Bible Curriculum for your homeschool, I'd love for you to check out Foundations of the Bible. These studies work well for any homeschool family, whether you are in CC or not. It's designed to be open-and-go, theologically grounded, and something your whole family can work through together.

If you are in CC, it works especially well with the 24-week cycles and pairs with their optional Bible memory work. Plus, we are a partnered vendor with CC to offer a discount to CC families through their Advantage Plus program. You can learn more about that here.

Lastly, if budget is a factor for your family this year, I'd love to share something special with you...

I know curriculum costs can add up fast, especially when you're buying for multiple children. If you're in a season where your budget is tight, I want to share about a wonderful resource created by my friend, Meghann, over at Lamp & Light Living. Meghann felt called by the Lord to create a homeschool curriculum that was biblically-based and could work for all her children's ages from preschool to 8th grade. Even more than that, she felt the Lord called her to make this curriculum available to others for free! She has tirelessly worked on creating a completely free, Bible-based homeschool curriculum because she genuinely wants every family to be able to homeschool well without having to compromise their beliefs. Her curriculum covers Bible, grammar, language arts, history, geography, science, and more. You can check it out at lampandlightliving.com.

*Please note: Some links are affiliate links that provide a small commission to me at no additional expense to you. I appreciate you shopping through the links to support the efforts behind Driven By Grace — thank you!