Free Homeschool Resources for High School

 

**This is a little bit of a different post for me! But, in the fall I will have a FRESHMAN in high school. Yes, take a moment and freak out with me. So, after a little bit of freaking out, I’ve been doing lots of research and talking to friends who are a little bit ahead of me in this journey of homeschooling high school. I’m collecting resources and thought I should share those with you!**

I have this friend that I dearly love. She encourages me in my faith as well as in my parenting and homeschooling. I tell her that her methods are “out of the box” and she asks me, “WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?” LOL!

So, what do I mean by out-of-the-box homeschooling?

No textbooks. Or mostly no textbooks. 🙂 Or basing a class off of non-textbook related resources. Textbooks may be used, but as one of many tools used to help formulate the class.

For the most part, this friend of mine uses {mostly} FREE resources she finds on line or in her co-op. I have to tell you, she does a LOT of research for her homeschool family. She has 5 children, 2 of which are high schoolers. And you know what? I am pretty sure her kids are getting a better education than my own children. So, in a nutshell, she rocks.

I have collected so many of her resources saved and collected that I thought I should just do a blog post CRAMMED full of GOOD STUFF! I will divide up the resources by subjects.

Recommended: My friend recommends that you find textbooks (even college!) and make your syllabus based on the TABLE OF CONTENTS. Find free things (videos, PDFs, library books, activities) based on these topics and you can explore these things without even using the textbook as a main source for your class. Many of the links below came as a result of a topic found in the table of contents and looking for videos or sources online to use to teach that topic.

**If you have any resources you would like to be added to this list, please leave a comment with the link! Thank you!**

FREE Webinar to Help Parents with High School Transcripts 

Full Curriculum

Ambleside Online –  full, free, 12-year, Charlotte Mason-style curriculum.

Chemistry

**I’m sharing lots of links to resources that accompany the text she is using for her high school Chemistry weekly lab co-op class — here are the texts she is using to teach: Conceptual Chemistry & The Joy of Chemistry & The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry

• Kahn Academy – Chemistry course 
• Quick Reference Cheat Sheet 
• All the Crash Course Chemistry Videos – GREAT resource
• Mr. Causey YouTube channel – Video Chemistry Lessons
• Lego Atoms & Molecules: Chemical Reactions PDF
• Lego Chemical Reactions Activity 
• The World is Made of Legos lecture notes
• Balancing Chemical Equations with Legos 
• Exploring the Nanoworld with Legos 
• Periodic Table in Pictures
• Atomic Orbitals – what does an atom look like?
• The Science Behind Baking the Most Delicious Cookie Ever
• Screaming Gummy Worms – cool science demo
• The Science of an Egg
• Protein Science
• Beginners Guide to Measurements  & Measurement Quiz
• The 7th Row of the Periodic Table is complete 
• Stoichemistry – Chemistry for Massive Creatures
• Crash Course – great, engaging YouTube video lessons
• Good Eats – volume, density, etc.
• Sherlock – from Masterpiece Theater, forensics, etc.
• What’s the Chemistry of Sugar?
• Chemical Formula for Sugar 
• How Sugar Affects The Brain – TedEd video
• Unit Conversion & Significant Figures – Crash Course Video
• The Creation of Chemistry: Fundamental Laws – video
• The Chemical Mind – video
• The Science Behind Hot Sauce
• Coffee Aroma Chemistry 
• How Coffee Works in the Brain
• Molecular Expression – the chemistry of flavor
• The Chemistry of Honey
• Harnessing the Hidden Power of Cow Manure
• The Chemistry of Health 
• Cosmetic Chemistry
• Chem Matters: The Science Behind Calories – video
• FREE Printable Periodic Table 
• Periodic Table Battleship Game
• Mystery of Matter – PBS series

Economics

• EconStories – YouTube economics lessons
• Economics Co-Op Class Blog – a full semester of ideas, resources, links and assignments for a high school Econ class

Health & Wellness & Body Systems (Biology)

• Sermon Jam – Wellness includes stress, we watched some of these devotional videos together and discussed
• Goal Setting Doodle Video – Wellness also includes setting goals
• 17 Principles of Personal Achievement
• Ted-Ed videos on the brain – we tied wellness and biology and body systems together
• How Menstruation Works 
• Johns Hopkins – The Teen Years Explained (somewhat liberal bias, FYI)
• Amoeba Sisters – Protein Synthesis video
• High School Health videos – a Pinterest board FULL of health related videos for high schoolers

Biology

• Kahn Academy – Biology course
• Eukarypolis – The City of Animal Cells – Crash Course video
• Chemistry of Life from Kahn Academy
• Making Cheese video
• The Chemistry of Cheese 
• How It’s Made – Blue Stilton Cheese 
• Top 10 Edible Mushrooms 
• Fungi: Death Becomes Them – Crash Course video
• Secrets of Sour Dough
• The Science and Art of Cheese 
• Humongous Fungus 
• Field Guide for Common Fungi in Eastern Forests 
• The Glue that Holds the World Together
• Symphony of Science – Quantum World – very cool video! musical investigation of what we are made of
• Your Periodic Table is Probably Wrong
• Classifying Elements from Kahn Academy 
• Slide Making Ideas for Your Microscope 
• Wilderness Awareness School
• Key to Non-Gilled Mushrooms for Beginners 
• Key to Major Groups of Mushrooms
• A Combined Approach to Mushroom Identification
• A Tour of the Cell – video
• Introduction to Cells – video
• What is a Cell? video
• America’s Coolest Mushrooms
• The Amazing Kingdom of Fungi 
• 3-D Cell Models
• What is Mitochondrial Disease 
• Understanding Genetics 
• Edible Model of DNA class project 
• What is Genetic Variation? 
• World’s Biggest Clone Factory 
• How to Extract DNA from a Strawberry Lab
• Water, Carbon, Nitrogen Cycle Worksheet  
• How Did 6 Feet Become the Standard Grave Dept
• Why the Octopus Brain is So Extraodinary 
• Why RNA is just as cool as DNA  – video from Amoeba Sisters
• The Nitrogen Cycle for Everyone
• Carbon Cycle
• The Dirt on Decomposers
• Vermin vs. Venom – The Grasshopper Mouse 
• Centipede vs. Grasshopper Mouse
• Deduce the Trophic Level of Organisms in a Food Chain and a Food Web 
• Bioaccumulation 
• Learn Biology Video: Keystone Species Vs. Indicator Species  – video
• The History of River Otter Conversation – Tennessee Aquarium video
• River Otters – Inside Yellowstone Park
• Embryo Design – Creation Ministries
• Something Fishy About Gill Slits – AIG
• Helping a Student to Investigate the Origins Debate
• Ecology by Inquiry  
• Spinal Pathways – Spinal Cord Anatomy – video
• Chordates – Crash Course video
• Central Nervous System – Crash Course video
• Spinal Cord Injury Prevention – Joni & Friends
• Spinal Cord Injury Survivor – Joni Eareckson Tada
• Spinal Cord 101 – from Christopher Reeve
• Frogs, Frogs, Frogs 
• Goliath Frogs
• Crab Eating Frog
• Your Hair Mites are So Loyal Their DNA Reflects Your Ancestry 
• 3-D Printed Teeth Kill Oral Bacteria 
• There are Genetic Differences Between Early Risers and Night Owls
• Structure of the Eye
• Cow’s Eye Dissection
• Structure of the Eye – video from Kahn Academy 
• How Your Eyes Trick Your Mind
• The Science of Optical Illusions 
• Understanding Genetics – Eye Color
• 10 Eye-Health Tips to Help Protect Your Eyes
• The Chemical Mind – Crash Course video
• Great Intro to Neuroplasticity and Cognitive Therapy 
• Giant Squid Surfaces in Japan Harbor 
• Mammal Brain
• Visible Body – 3-D Human Brain
• Inside the Teenage Brain
• Effects of Drug Abuse on Brains
• 11 Best Bets for Brain Health 
• Circulatory and Respiratory Systems – Crash Course video
• The Heart Part 1 – Crash Course video
• The Heart Part 2 – Crash Course video
• Immunology Suggests The Appendix Does Have a Use After all 
• Getting to Know Your Brain – Crash Course video

Other Sciences

• Kahn Academy – Physics course 
• Favorite Place to Buy specimens for dissections
• SciShow – tons of Science lesson videos, we watched these together and discussed as well
• Geology Kitchen – Engaging Videos to teach geology
• Crash Course Kids 
• Physical Science – entire workbook & text (grades 6-8)
• Snap Circuit & Electricity – unit study
• Botany lapbook

Math

• Illuminations Resources for Teaching Math – online GAMES from National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• Maths for Scientists list of resources
• Kahn Academy – Algebra  (I have friends that STRICTLY use Kahn Academy for math! I will say, I tried really hard to get my kids accounts going so they could do this independently and I have a lot of trouble. The site doesn’t seem very user friendly. I kept going in circles.)
• Kahn Academy – Geometry 
• Kahn Academy – Algebra 2 
• Kahn Academy – Trigonometry 
• Kahn Academy – Pre-Calculus 
• Kahn Academy – Probability and Statistics 
• 10 FREE Math Resources 

 

Literature, Writing & Poetry

• 170+ Free (or cheap) Kindle Books for High Schoolers 
• The Music of Poetry – from the Smithsonian
• Best Sites for Writing Prompts 
• Free Study on Thales (when you join their email list)
• 10 Free C.S. Lewis Creative Writing Prompts 
• High School Reading List (many free for Kindle books)
• FREE guide to writing your 1st research paper 
• Anne of Green Gables FREE study guide
• FREE High School Writing Prompts & Tips 
• The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

History

• Ancient Rome And How It Affects You Today – unit study
• Explorers – unit study
• Reformation – unit study
• Mary, Queen of Scots – unit study
• 80 FREE Kindle Living History Books

Spanish (Foreign Languages)

• Veinte Mundos – Online Spanish Magazine (read this post to see more of how you can use it)
• Listen to Online Spanish Radio Stations
• Printable Spanish Worksheets
• Free Printable Verb Charts in Spanish 
• Listening Skills in Spanish – a free site to help your students listen & learn
• How to Use Word-Clouds to Teach Foreign Language
• Food People Spanish Vocabulary Lesson
• Learning Body Parts with Monster Drawings 

Bible & Other (Misc.)

• 115+ FREE iPad Apps for Learning (many subjects covered)
• 23 Apologetic Course Videos FREE 
• FUN way to earn a Fine Arts Credit 
• Career Exploration with the Bible
• FREE full Bible curriculum to subscribers – Bible Road Trip
• Homeschooling High School with Autism