7 Best Australian Homeschool Curriculum Picks
Are you on the hunt for the best Australian homeschool curriculum for your family? Well, you're in the right place! Today, I'm diving into the top 7 curriculums that Aussie parents are talking about.
But what makes these curriculums stand out from the rest?
I surveyed hundreds of comments from online Australian Facebook groups to find out what people love the most and why.
We'll talk about homeschool methods, teaching styles, and the costs associated with these curriculums—because we all want to make smart choices for our budgets!
During this post, I'll also share where you can find these Aussie homeschool picks and how to purchase them affordably here in Australia (a lot of them are from the Reformers Bookshop).
But before we start, I need to let you know this isn't an article about distance education (or using online schools) but rather unaccredited Australian homeschool curriculum.
This means that legally, to use these, you need to register for homeschooling, which, in my experience, isn't as daunting as you might think.
BTW if you’re interested in my registration experience, I did a quick video about my experience registering in NSW below.
But, suppose you're using an online school (which is distance education).
In that case, you don't need to register for homeschooling because you're not technically homeschooling—your child is enrolled in the school that you've chosen, which is online.
Homeschool programs, like the ones I'm talking about in this post, are generally a lot more flexible and affordable.
You can cut out the busywork with unaccredited Australian homeschool programs.
And you won't feel obliged to teach your child a...hmm... let's say...an 'interesting' agenda you don't want to teach.
Also, toward the end of the article, I'll talk about American programs that are generally better than Australian offerings.
I'm going to talk about where you can buy these without huge international shipping costs attached to them.
Then I'll tell you what I'm using and why I love it (I think you’ll be surprised by my choice).
So, if you're ready to discover the best homeschooling picks to make your home education journey easier and more effective, let's get started!
Affiliate links used in this post. These help support my family. Thanks for your support.
Specific Christian Australian Homeschool Curriculum
Let's start by looking at specific Christian curricula in Australia; then, we'll look at some secular options.
My Homeschool
The top Christian Australian homeschool curriculum mentioned in the Facebook forums was My Homeschool.
My Homeschool sells a blended learning program with digital curricula and some video lessons.
You will need a printer to print off their lessons and workbooks, which are available from PreK to Grade 10, so not all high school curricula are available.
My Homeschool (pictured above) is a Charlotte Mason-inspired Christian curriculum.
It's easy to get started using their program.
All you need to do is purchase your child's grade year of curriculum.
You can sign up for free samples and a complete guide to My Homeschool on their homepage.
Getting curriculum samples will give you a feel for whether or not it suits your family.
One of the best things about My Homeschool is that it helps parents with registration at no extra cost if you buy their curriculum.
Often, Australian parents are more intimidated at registering than the thought of homeschooling their child.
My Homeschool boasts a 100% success rate when homeschoolers follow their procedure.
(This sounds good, but keep in mind that homeschool inspectors rarely deny people registration - hopefully, that reduces your stress somewhat and doesn't make you feel you need to go with My Homeschool if it's not for you.)
However, for some people, the offer of help can be a massive pro that comes with an Australian homeschool curriculum.
Now, My Homeschool does make registration easy, but unfortunately, that's because their curriculum aligns so closely with the syllabus that it's sometimes rigid and rather traditional instead of having a more Charlotte Mason feel about it.
Some people feel it sacrifices a lot of fun so it can align with state standards.
So this will be a good fit for some families and not for others.
My Homeschool has a good help forum, which can be excellent for homeschool help and online community.
Cost of My homeschool
The cost for My Homeschool Pre-K to Grade 6 is $330-560AUD each year, depending on whether you purchase their Lite course or Full course option.
From Grades 7 to 10, you can get a grade year curriculum for 440AUD a year.
ACE, Australian Christian Homeschooling (ACHS), and CEM
But let's say you want something more traditional.
Then another popular Australian Christian homeschool curriculum is Australian Christian Home Schooling or ACHS.
ACHS uses the ACE (called Accelerated Christian Education) curriculum.
ACE curriculum is quite traditional in terms of homeschool method and has been around for decades.
I used it as a homeschooled child in the 90s!
Children can do this no-prep program independently through mastery learning (meaning they don't move on till they know the material) in a whole bunch of paces (pictured above).
This program has a lot of character-building through its curriculum, which follows a gospel-centered Christian worldview.
As a Christian, I love that this program will teach children the good news that Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins, which is a huge priority for every Christian parent.
Now, ACHS is part of the Christian Education Ministries (CEM - another acronym for you to remember).
CEM is distance education. Let’s learn more about that below.
CEM and all that…
So, if you want to transfer from registered homeschooling to their distance education (an online school), you can do that easily with them.
See my speel at the beginning of the post for the difference between registered homeschooling and distance education (or online schooling) if you didn't catch it the first time because it's an important distinction to understand.
To get the Australian content, you need to purchase it through ACHS.com.au.
If you purchase the ACE curriculum from America, you'll get American history and math - so only do that if you're American.
So make sure if you want this one, you go through ACHS.com.au.
Costs of ACHS and CEM
To place your child in a suitable class, each child should take a diagnostic test to see where they're up to.
These cost $50 each.
ACHS gives you plenty of support, and you can take advantage of their teachers who are available to help (for an added fee) if you need extra assistance.
If you use this program, there is also a $250 once-off family startup fee.
The more children who use the curriculum, the cheaper per child.
ACHS recommends allowing $750 per child, though. So it's roughly twice the price of My Homeschool.
You can see their fee schedule for 2024 here.
Kingdom Thinkers Academy - Online Australian Homeschool Curriculum
But let's say you want something a little more involved and exciting.
My Homeschool and ACHS can feel a little isolating at times.
Then there is Kingdom Thinkers Academy, which offers both homeschool and online school (distance education) options.
Personally, as a gardener, I was on board as soon as I heard the founder's name was Kale.
Kingdom Thinkers Academy (as seen above) is a little different from your average homeschool curriculum.
They're all about raising independent thinkers and innovative designers with a gospel-centered, biblical worldview perspective.
I also like that they emphasize fortifying bonds with the family unit.
This program gets students to learn in an online learning platform with video lessons, participate in collaborative group sessions, and have time to think critically about the ideas they're being taught.
Kingdom Thinkers focuses on the big picture of learning and the small picture or microconcepts.
They do a lot of hands-on and project-based learning, which is a beautiful way to learn.
I used project-based learning when I was in medical school.
The lecturer presented us with a sick patient, and we had to investigate their illness, order tests and set out a treatment plan. It was a fun way to learn!
Kingdom Thinkers seems to use a unit-based homeschool method that weaves various subjects together to help kids view the world in an interconnected way.
There's also a lot of independent AND collaborative learning (see the weekly structure).
I like that it includes Music lessons and Health and physical education, which many other Australian homeschool curriculum programs don't include.
Parents get lots of updates on their child's progress so they can give students targeted, individualized help.
Cost of Kingdom Thinkers Academy
Kingdom Thinkers costs $1,400AUD ($35 per week) for a year's basic curriculum package and $2,000AUD ($50 per week) for a personalized package per year.
They also have a special family pricing option, but you need to contact them to find out the price.
An hour's tutoring costs $89.00 for a 1:1 session with the child's teacher.
Kingdom Thinkers Academy is a deluxe course, roughly three times My Homeschool's price and two times the price of ACHS.
But I love that it's really interactive and pretty hands-off for parents!
Specific Secular Australian Homeschool Curriculum
Now, from the research I've done, America has around 75% Christians or more in its homeschool population.
In Australia, the percentage of Christian homeschoolers is more like 50%.
That’s because there are a whole lot of secular homeschoolers and secular parents who need to homeschool their children with special needs.
Or they homeschool because they’re non-mainstream - a little alternative.
So, what’s out there for you if you fit into that category?
Simply Homeschool
If you want something that's lots of fun and not too structured, there is Simply Homeschool.
Simply Homeschool (pictured above) is quite hands-on; you can teach multiple children simultaneously, saving money on curriculum.
They boast quite a family-orientated curriculum with online classes and even camps if you want to get outdoorsy!
With this curriculum, you get to choose unit studies your child is interested in, heightening their motivation and interest in learning.
Because children's interests change often, by purchasing a monthly membership, you're not restricted to just a few units but can choose from over 80 unit studies - whatever takes your homeschoolers' fancy.
You can also skip or change lessons that aren't right for your kids, completely removing the busywork from the program!
Simply Homeschool is quite an eclectic and non-traditional way of learning, yet it still aligns with the Australian curriculum and covers all the key learning areas.
While Simply Homeschool is secular, it has a few Christian-based cores, but you can choose not to do these if you don't want to.
Costs of Simply Homeschool
I like that Simply Homeschool helps you with registration.
You can purchase their registration document for only $100-120 per child if you've joined them as a member.
How much does membership cost?
Their basic plan costs around $364 a year (or 39/month).
You can also get their premium plan for $600 a year or $60 if you pay monthly for one student. If you have more than one student, you can buy a family annual plan for $753 for the whole family or $75 if billed monthly. This gives you access to those 80 unit studies I mentioned earlier.
The premium plan offers extra features like an individualized student learning plan, record-keeping, and more.
If you want to go for online classes, they offer a few of these for around $50 for four lessons or $96 for eight lessons. You can take them even if you're not a member of Simply Homeschool...only it costs a little extra.
Now, don't get me wrong.
This program looks like LOTS of fun, but from the samples, a bit of prep work is involved.
What if you wanted a secular Australian homeschooling curriculum that's no fuss - something where you don't have to wash glue and paint smudges off your table every day?
Euka
Then there is Euka, a secular online Australian homeschool curriculum provider.
This program offers teacher support and a self-paced program.
This means students' children don't have to feel rushed or, conversely, hampered by the slow progress of other students in their class, as often happens in school situations.
Because all the learning a homeschooler does is online, parents can feel like they're always organized!
Euka offers a Pre-K to Grade 12 curriculum.
There are offline and online activities your child can complete.
Something cool for high schoolers is that they help students get into university via alternate entry pathways.
So you, as a parent, don't have to worry about how your homeschooler will get into university.
This isn't a big worry for some parents, but for others, it's enormous!
If homeschoolers want to go to TAFE or do other post-high school education, they'll also try to facilitate this.
All of Euka's curriculum is aligned with Australian state standards.
They'll modify the program and create individualized plans for each student.
A lot of parents will love that they help you with registration when you purchase their program.
In fact, when you do the pre-enrollment questionnaire, they send it straight to the Department of Education for you.
And they have a 100% registration success rate like My Homeschool, which is neat!
Cost of Euka
But how much does this online Australian homeschool program cost?
You can get Grade 1 for $565AUD annually or $176AUD quarterly. Grade 10 costs $674AUD per year or $212AUD quarterly.
American Curriculum Available in Australia
Interestingly, when I asked what curriculum people used in online Australian Christian forums, they often used American curricula (like I do…more on that later) that they could buy without the hefty shipping costs.
And I'm going to tell you what options they chose and where you can get them with free shipping options right now.
Masters Books
The first program they mentioned was Masterbooks (pictured above).
Masterbooks is extremely popular among Christian homeschoolers everywhere!
Why is that?
It's because their books are:
affordable,
open-and-go,
colorful,
gospel-centered and
very easy to use.
Like My Homeschool, they teach using a Charlotte Mason-inspired homeschooling method.
But all their curriculum is just...sharp.
Children learn through reading engaging narratives or stories.
There is a lot of gospel-centered content that teaches children a solid biblical worldview.
Homeschoolers do a lot of character-building, and there's plenty of hands-on learning if kids want to go down that route.
As an Australian, you can buy Masterbooks from the Reformers Bookshop here, and as long as you spend over $99, they'll give you free shipping in Australia!
(You'll spend this quickly if you're buying a homeschool curriculum.)
Amazing curriculum.
You seriously can't go wrong with this one.
People rave about this one on just about every homeschool forum you go to.
How much does it cost?
Only around $350 for a full grade year curriculum. Pretty good!
Memoria Press
Masterbooks is an excellent choice for almost any family.
But let's say you want a more robust curriculum.
Something that teaches using the classical method?
(Not sure what this is? look at the video below - don’t let the toga put you off…).
Then there is Memoria Press, which is also available from Reformers bookshop here with free shipping on orders above $99.
These guys cost more to the tune of $675 for a full year's homeschool curriculum.
This includes lots of reading books you'll have for life, and if you use this curriculum for your next child, you won't have to pay for those books again.
Again, there are lots of amazing reviews on this curriculum.
Logos Press
Another popular classical curriculum sold in Australia is Logos Press.
Logos Press is available in Reformers Bookshop here, too.
What I love about this curriculum is that it is very reformed.
For example, your child will learn some things through a Chatechism - a question-and-answer system.
Another thing I like about it is that they teach Aesop fables and the Greek Myths, and they even have a classical math program…a sought-after program!
The cost of Logos press is 684AUD, which is comparable to Memoria Press. I'll link this one below.
the Mystery of History
And then I have to tell you about Mystery of History, a World History curriculum.
I recently did a video on the best homeschool history options I’ll put below.
Mystery of History, available on Reformers Bookshop here, is tied with Notgrass as the BEST homeschool history program.
This program is written from a classical perspective and features gorgeous artwork throughout the open-and-go program.
There are audio recordings and many online curriculum resources included in this curriculum's digital resources available on a CD in the back of the book.
And the program is affordable because it teaches history across multiple ages, meaning you'll pay less for the curriculum overall.
This program costs $189 per Volume, with four volumes total.
This includes the main textbook and all the digital resources.
My pastor's wife, a homeschool mom, loved this program and used it with her high school homeschoolers.
It's not suitable for younger years, though.
Generations
Another program you can get, which is all about Christian discipleship and a biblical worldview, is the Generations homeschool curriculum.
This program ships its program for free from America, so long as you buy over $250 worth of curriculum.
That's pretty rare!
Generations (pictured above) is a VERY bible-based curriculum.
There is Bible content and a Christian worldview in almost every paragraph of their curriculum.
Children come out with an extremely deep grounding in Christian theology and biblical living.
Christian families who want their children to have a firm grounding in the gospel and a biblical worldview will love this.
Their curriculum ranges a fair bit in price, and they don't always offer all subjects for all grades, but they are a very affordable paper-based curriculum, and the books are full of colorful, gorgeous pictures.
These ones cost between 195AUD and 600AUD for a full grade year, depending on the grade chosen.
You can also get 10% off if you buy over $199 worth of curriculum.
Check out Generations here.
The Good and The Beautiful (not recommended)
But there is one curriculum that I don't like to recommend.
And that's because I don't think they market themselves accurately.
You're probably going to be surprised to hear this, but the curriculum I'm talking about that a lot of Australians like and recommend is The Good and The Beautiful.
I don't like this curriculum because it says it is a Christian curriculum.
But it isn't a gospel-centered one.
By that, I mean you'll hear a lot about god.
You'll hear a lot about being a good person and having a good character.
But you don't get to repeatedly learn about Jesus and how salvation is through him alone.
In my books, that makes this more of a secular curriculum.
The other thing to know about The Good and The Beautiful is that it is written by Jenny Phillips, a member of the Mormon church.
And so when the program sells itself as a "Christian" curriculum, they're very much including Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and a whole lot of Christian denominations in that.
As a gospel-centered gal, I'm not comfortable about that at all.
I actually made a video about the issue I see with this program which I'll put below if you want to know more about it.
Gather Round
There was actually a lady called Rebecca Spooner who used to use TGATB in her Homeschool.
But as a Christian, she became more and more convicted that it wasn't right.
She loved the TGATB curriculum so much, though, that she made her own one called Gather Round, which is an attractively laid-out set of unit studies that is very gospel-centered.
For Australian homeschoolers, the Gather Round curriculum is fantastic because all of its curriculum is online, so you don't need to pay for postage from America.
But again, you'll need a solid printer to print them out.
To give you an idea of the price, Gather Round (pictured above) costs around $319 for the digital Grade 1 curriculum package.
There is stuff for older years, but you buy for each unit, and often, these can span over multiple years, so you can teach several children of different ages at the same time, reducing your costs.
Sometimes you need to supplement this program, but it’s wonderful for interest-based learning.
Christian Light Education with Design Your Homeschool
Another program that you can order from Australian suppliers through the Design Your Homeschool website is Christian Light Education.
This program is an American curriculum and doesn't have any Australian-specific curriculum as far as I could see.
But the special thing about this one is that you can skip the exorbitant international postage fees, which I liked.
CLE is paper-based and uses a spiral approach.
With this program, kids can do a lot of the work independently.
And this was quite a favorite Christian curriculum among Australian homeschoolers.
This one operates as you do your subjects through a series of paces (like ACE paces from ACHS).
Online Curriculum for Australian Homeschools
As an Australian homeschooler, one of the most restrictive things about homeschooling in Australia is shipping costs.
But another way to get around shipping is to go for an all-online homeschool program.
Schoolhouse Teachers
One curriculum I love, and I noticed was recommended by quite a few Australian homeschoolers, was Schoolhouse Teachers.
Schoolhouse Teachers (pictured above) is actually an American curriculum, but because it's all online, you don't need to pay for shipping.
I like Schoolhouse Teachers because, if you have a large family, this is seriously affordable.
That's because they'll give you ALL their curriculum for all grades, all subjects, and all electives for one price.
And they have a lot of electives.
Courses are partly video-based and partly text-based.
You'll need a printer to print out a lot of lessons from Schoolhouse Teachers.
I've used their program, and I love it!
They cost around $400AUD per year, but you can often find them on a great special like their recent BOGO sale, where you get two years for one year!
(They often do this sale around July/August, so look out for it.)
Go check out Schoolhouse Teachers here.
I promise you’ll be very impressed.
Before we continue…
Now, before I tell you what homeschool curriculum I'm using as an Australian, I'd like to tell you about two recommendations for free programs and then Australian History, Science, and Math options.
But I want to be very brief.
In fact, I'm just going to list them, and you can look into them further in your own time because I don't want to make this post too long.
The script is currently running at 4,000 words at the moment!
Free Homeschool Curriculum Options
Australian parents recommended Easy Peasy All-In-One as the best free curriculum.
Then there was Khan Academy, which isn't a complete homeschool curriculum but is used widely as a supplement.
Both are American, but all online so that you can access everything pretty quickly.
Australian Homeschool History Curriculum
Australian homeschool history is almost non-existent.
I say that because I could only find a decent Australian homeschool history program from Christian Light Education Ministries here.
It has the textbook, the teacher's manual, and a test booklet, but it's only for Grades 3-5.
As I said before, Mystery of History, available from Reformers bookshop for free postage, offers World history.
(Actually, you can see all of Reformers Bookshop’s Homeschool History products here.
Then there's One People, One Destiny from Southern Cross Educational Enterprises. These guys are related to ACE education.
A more secular one is Our Sunburnt Country by Arthur Baillie, which I believe My Homeschool uses.
You can get this one on Amazon for only $13 - pretty affordable for an Australian curriculum. I heard it is written by a Christian even though i’s not overtly Christian. It gets an average of 4 stars out of 8 reviews.
Another popular world history choice is Story of the World, which is a classical world homeschool history program.
Australians quite liked that one.
Then you can do world history with Masterbooks, too, with Angela O’Dell.
On the Reformers you'll also find lots of books about missionaries and reformers that you can use for solid homeschool history.
Science
Now for science, Australian homeschoolers quite liked:
Answers in Genesis - very popular
Apologia (pictured above)
Berean Builders - Dr. Jay Wile and
Science Shepherd
Math
For math, a lot of Australians liked:
Math-U-See has an Australasian curriculum option
Life of Fred is American, but you learn math through stories, which is pretty fun
Math Mammoth
Maths Online
Principles of Mathematics, Masterbooks, and Memoria Press all offer Math from Reformers bookshop - these teaches math with a biblical worldview)
and Saxon math which is a popular secular option but used by a lot of Christians.
What I use as an Australian…
But you know what?
As an Australian, I'm not using any of the curricula I've mentioned in the post so far.
I'm using a program that I'm nutty about called BJU Press Homeschool (pictured above).
This program is like having your child study in a gorgeous private Christian school.
If you use this program, it's completely open-and-go.
You can get involved as much as you like, or if you're a busy working homeschool mom or dad, you can work while your child homeschools themselves.
How is that?
It's because if you get their online pre-recorded video lessons, your child can set up and do the curriculum all by themselves.
BJU Press is an American curriculum, though, so you will have to supplement it with Australian history (see above).
Shipping will cost around $200-300, and each curriculum grade costs roughly $1,500AUD per year per child.
But I think it's worth it because it's such a robust and lovely curriculum with a biblical worldview.
As soon as my homeschool inspector found out I was using this program, he didn't want to know any more.
He could see we were covering everything we needed to cover and a lot more.
BJU Press is very similar to the Abeka curriculum, which are both used in top private Christian schools all over America.
If you want to take a closer look at BJU Press, you can watch my video below or check it out directly here.
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel here to learn more about homeschooling and various curriculum choices. God bless!
