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Did you teach your child to walk and talk? Did you potty-train your child? Then yes, you are qualified to homeschool! CHC’s texts and workbooks are designed to be “self-teaching,” so you don’t have to be an expert in grammar, history, science, or any other subjects. All you need is knowledge of your children and the desire to nurture their love for learning and their relationship with God.

“Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to be perfect,” one veteran homeschooling parent urges. “Teachers are not perfect and neither are we. The choice to homeschool is a privilege and a gift to your child and family.”

Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, but there are slightly different requirements in each state. In most states, such as Texas and California, you are free to homeschool with very few legal requirements. In a few states, such as New York, homeschooling is more heavily regulated. The Homeschool Legal Defense Association is your best resource for knowing what rules to follow in your state. Their site clearly outlines the homeschool laws in each state and how to comply with them.

When CHC did a survey of the “greatest joys of homeschooling,” the number one response was the joy of “being with my children.”

Of course, if you are not used to spending most of the day with your children, you may find the transition challenging at first. Experienced homeschoolers can testify, however, that spending so much time together makes a huge difference in their relationship with their children. Besides allowing you to truly know your children, homeschooling also gives you a golden opportunity to address any behavioral issues that make your children less pleasant to be around.

If you think that a renewed focus on character-training would be beneficial as you begin homeschooling, you may find the ideas in this article helpful: Discipline: The Five C’s to a Happy Home.

Here is how one veteran homeschooler replies to this question:

“Well, we don’t live in a cave, so my kids interact with people every day. Why would you want your child to act like all the other ‘the world spins around me’ 5-year-olds or pubescent 12-year-olds in public schools? My 12-year-old daughter is mature enough to babysit but young enough not to be goo-goo eyed at boys and still plays with dolls.”

The truth is, homeschooled children have a much wider range of socialization opportunities than public school children. Homeschooled children also have more opportunities to develop friendships with children from families with similar values. You can learn more and get specific socialization ideas in the article Homeschool Socialization.

First of all, CHC makes it much easier to teach any subject–even ones you’ve never studied–by providing self-teaching texts and workbooks. But if you’re still concerned about jumping into teaching all subjects to your children, here are some ideas.

Yes, many homeschool parents have to work part or full time. Here are a few tips to make it easier.

Absolutely! Most special-needs children progress far better at home than outside the home. Individual, one-on-one tutoring, administered by a person with intimate knowledge of the needs of the student and a personal interest in the child, invariably trumps group instruction. You, as the parent, know your child’s strengths and abilities best. You can adapt lessons for your child so that he can learn more efficiently and joyfully. Thus, homeschooling can be the perfect setting for the special-needs child.

Some states have additional regulations for homeschooling a child with special needs, so you’ll want to check those out. We recommend going to the website of the Homeschool Legal Defence Association and typing “Special Education Provisions for [Your State]” into the search bar.

Homeschooling can cost a lot or a little depending on your approach. One of the most expensive options is to enroll your children in an accredited home study program, in which case the cost per child ranges from $400-$1000 per year depending on the child’s age. Besides being expensive, this option also comes with less freedom to adapt the curriculum to your child’s unique interests and skills.

The least expensive option is to pull together your own curriculum using library books and free online resources. With this option, you can probably get by with spending only $50-$100 per student, but you will have to invest a lot of time into planning your curriculum and vetting the resources for secular/Protestant biases.

CHC takes a middle ground by offering:

To see how much homeschooling costs with CHC, see our Shop by Grade page.

When considering the cost of homeschooling, note that some curriculum providers require families to return all books and materials to them at the end of the school year. This is not the case with CHC materials, which are the property of the family. Since textbooks and teacher’s manuals are non-consumable and can be re-used with subsequent children, fewer materials need to be repurchased for the next child in the same grade level. In other words, if one is homeschooling more than one child, costs for subsequent children are quite low.

Yes! In 2023, CHC staff researched the admission policies of the top 100 colleges and universities in the U.S., including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. We also researched the U.S. Catholic colleges recognized by The Newman Guide. Every single school, whether secular or Catholic, accepted homeschoolers.

Even better, every single school confirmed that high school transcripts signed by the parent count as “official transcripts” just as much as transcripts from accredited home study schools. This means that it is not necessary to pay expensive tuition fees to an accredited home study school simply in order to get into college.

Yes! All branches of the military accept homeschooled students. Like colleges, the military accepts parent-signed transcripts as “official transcripts” and does not require them to be sent from accredited home study programs. See this article from the Homeschool Legal Defense Association for more information.

It really depends on what works best for you. Some families like to school in a separate room, while others find the “kitchen table” model to be the most family-friendly. You can learn more about your options by reading Where in the Home to Homeschool?

Accreditation is a voluntary process by which a private organization gives its “stamp of approval” to a school’s teaching standards, safety protocols, financial status, and curriculum. Unfortunately, there are no agreed-upon standards for whether or not a school is granted accreditation. Because of this, the fact that a school is accredited does not mean that its program is academically excellent. Colleges and universities know this, which is why they pay more attention to SAT/ACT test scores and admissions essays than to whether an applicant’s transcript is accredited.

CHC materials are used in accredited schools, but CHC itself is not eligible for accreditation because it is a curriculum provider, not a school. If you are attracted by CHC’s curriculum but feel strongly that you want accreditation, you might consider enrolling in Clonlara School’s Off-Campus Program. Although expensive, enrolling with Clonlara will allow you to use CHC materials with accreditation.

You can also find out more about Accreditation in our What is Accreditation? article.

We’re glad you asked! Check out Homeschooling with Babies and Toddlers for detailed tips from experienced homeschoolers. We’ve also compiled a free list of ideas to help occupy toddlers and preschoolers while you’re working with older students: Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers.

Your parish priest will often know of other homeschooling families in your parish. In addition, public libraries are used extensively by homeschoolers; librarians often have contact names and numbers. Your local school district administration offices frequently will have contact information as well. For online support, check out these independent Facebook groups, run by CHC homeschoolers:

• Catholic Heritage Curricula Homeschoolers
• Homeschooling with CHC

Good question! We recommend checking with the Homeschool Legal Defense Association to see if there are particular requirements for your state. Most states either leave it up to the parent to choose what to teach or have very basic requirements. (For instance, Texas only requires math, reading, spelling, grammar, and good citizenship).

Once you have met any requirements in your state, there is no limit to how you can adapt the curriculum. CHC’s grade-level lesson plans make it easy to know what is most essential by distinguishing between core and non-core subjects. Core subjects are the “basic essentials” of education, such as math, grammar, and science. Non-core subjects, such as art, map skills, and music, are optional. You can either follow the lesson plans as they were written or adapt them to your child’s needs and interests. For example, you might decide to substitute a different math program, use a higher or lower level in a particular subject, and omit/add enrichment activities.

It’s normal for homeschooling to be challenging in the beginning. For most families, it takes a few months to become acclimated to homeschooling. You can learn more about the adjustments that take place during the first year of homeschooling by reading Rita Munn’s article “Detoxing” from Public School. (The article is just as relevant if your children are coming from parochial school).

Because the transition to homeschooling involves a lot of adjustments, we recommend focusing only on core subjects during your first year of homeschooling and not worrying about non-core subjects like art appreciation. You can learn more about the difference between core and non-core subjects at this link.

Families can switch to educate with CHC at any time of the year and at any point in a student’s education! Here are some tips to make the transition easier.

We recommend starting at the beginning of the CHC Lesson Plans for your children’s grades. The curriculum used at your previous school will differ from CHC’s materials in some areas, just as it would if you were transferring from one school to another.

For spelling, grammar, and math, you want to make sure that your children have a firm foundation instead of simply skipping to the middle of these workbooks. Starting at the beginning ensures that your students know the material before moving on. You don’t have to complete every assignment if your students seem to know the material already, though. You can use the math test pages, weekly spelling word lists, and grammar review pages to “zoom through” each book until you find the point at which your children are being introduced to new material.

For the other subjects—literature/reading comprehension, science, religion, and social studies—it doesn’t matter if you skip some of the material or complete only half of each book before moving on to the next grades.

Phonics/reading in kindergarten and first grade is a special case. It’s critical not to miss any phonics concepts when switching from one reading program to the next. Here are detailed directions for switching to use CHC’s Little Stories for Little Folks if your child has already started learning to read with a different program: “Are You Switching to CHC’s Reading Program?“

New homeschoolers are often pleasantly surprised to find that their children can get all the work done in half the time it takes in a classroom setting. This is because there are so many distractions and delays in typical classrooms. Learn more about this topic by reading the article How Many Hours Should Homeschooling Take?

Core subjects are the “basic essentials” of education for a particular grade, such as reading, math, and religion. Non-core or elective subjects, such as art and map skills, are not required and can be added as time, interest, and finances allow.

The core subjects for each grade are listed in the “Core Kit” and “Also Required” sections on the Grade Level pages. The optional Non-Core Subjects are listed underneath.

Some Catholic homeschoolers use mostly secular or Protestant materials, arguing that there is no such thing as “Catholic” grammar, spelling, or geography. While it is true that there are no “Catholic” grammar rules or geography facts, it is also true that our Faith should be central to our whole life, not just something we do on Sundays or in religion class.

This does not mean that catechism lessons must artificially be inserted into every lesson. When children search to identify nouns within an amusing story about brothers and sisters helping one another with family chores, the Faith is presented as naturally on the page as it is within the family dynamics.

There is also the very real danger that secular or Protestant materials will contain false ideas and/or anti-Catholic bias. Some maintain that after the student reads the non-Catholic text, the lesson can be supplemented with Catholic teaching. However, not only has a false idea already been planted, but the teacher must find time in the school day to teach the Catholic perspective. How much better to teach one lesson that contains the truth, all within the context of the solid academics found in the Catholic text!

You can learn more about this topic in the article “Why Homeschool with Catholic Materials?“

The best way to get a comprehensive feel for CHC’s program is to browse the interactive, grade-level flipbooks.

May we also suggest one easy step? Purchase a My Catholic Speller and/or a Language of God Grammar workbook to get a good feel for CHC’s approach. Try a few lessons with the children and see how they respond. Some families like to do a “mini-school” session in early summer (if they are public schooling) or they take a break from their current homeschool approach for a few weeks and try a bit of CHC. The cost is small, and you will already have a beginning for your homeschooling adventure with CHC!

We’d like to say that CHC is the perfect curriculum, but it wouldn’t be true! There simply isn’t one perfect curriculum. This is because every child and family is unique, so what works for one homeschooler might not work for another homeschooler. Homeschooling parents have to make their own decisions about what curriculum best matches their educational goals and their children’s learning styles.

All this being said, we’ve heard from a lot of families that CHC is one of the best curricula options for new homeschoolers. This is because it combines aspects from different learning styles (full-color textbooks, hands-on projects, engaging stories) and offers a happy medium between structure and freedom. Beginning your homeschooling journey with CHC gives you an opportunity to “learn the ropes” without needing to stress about curriculum choices. Later, you can decide whether to continue with CHC’s full program, use mostly CHC but switch out a few subjects, use a different homeschool provider, or create your own curriculum from scratch. This decision will be much easier once you have a year’s worth of experience of your children’s learning styles and what works for your family.

“When I meet other moms who are where I was before we started, I always recommend you to them. CHC is a soft spot to land.” —Jennifer, CA

Some families find that the “schoolhouse method” works well, but there are drawbacks to consider. Students may miss essential concepts by jumping to the book that best fits the level of the group as a whole.

Younger students often won’t be able to take in more advanced concepts and vocabulary at the level required for mastery. Older students may not be challenged enough and may not have covered all essentials when they get to high school and college. Also, teaching grades together can create a problem for the higher grades: if a student has already gone through the 8th-grade text in 6th grade, what will he do in 8th grade?

CHC’s curriculum is designed for independent study. This means that homeschooling with CHC materials can actually be easier than the “schoolhouse method” (teaching grades together). You can learn more by reading  The Schoolhouse Method: Homeschooling Multiple Children Together.

There are four main learning styles: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and reading/writing. Knowing about learning styles can help you adapt lessons to make challenging subjects easier and make all subjects more enjoyable.

It can also help you adapt your teaching style to your children’s needs. You can learn more in the article “Homeschooling Students with Different Learning Styles,” which explains each of the four main learning styles and gives practical tips for helping each style of learner.

Consumable materials are books that are designed to be written in, such as workbooks. Because the books will be written in, you need to purchase one copy per child.

Non-consumable materials—such as textbooks, teacher’s manuals, and answer keys—are books that aren’t written in, so they can be used with multiple of children.

Lesson plans are considered consumable because they are designed to be used for recordkeeping purposes (tracking attendance, spelling test scores, etc.).

You can find a list of consumable vs. non-consumable books for each grade level on page 3 or 4 of that grade’s Flipbook.

You will want to purchase one copy per child for consumable materials (i.e., books that are meant to be written in). Materials that are non-consumable can be shared by both children.

You can find a list of consumable vs. non-consumable books for each grade level on page 3 or 4 of that grade’s Flipbook.

To save families money, materials published by CHC include removable answer keys within the workbooks themselves.

Teacher’s manuals are not required, because CHC materials are designed to be self-teaching. There is no need for lengthy instructions to the teacher; instead, a brief introduction to the subject and helpful teaching tips are included within the texts and workbooks themselves.

For programs not published by CHC, such as Saxon Math and Faith and Life Religion, teacher’s manuals and/or answer keys are available separately.

CHC Lesson Plans may be reused so long as you don’t copy them. The copyright on lesson plans is a standard copyright, which allows unlimited use of the material as long as copies are not made of the work.

We both win when the copyright law is honored; CHC and its authors and artists receive payment they have earned, which in turn enables CHC to continue to publish more materials for your family!

The best way to determine your child’s grade level is for you to look through the Grade-Level Guide Flipbooks.

These guides will allow you to review each grade as a whole, seeing how the subjects fit together to give the student a complete Catholic education. You can also print off the sample pages in these grade-level guides and give them to your child to complete in order to check grade-level appropriateness.

Yes! Age is a somewhat arbitrary means of determining academic readiness. If you believe that two of your children would benefit from being placed in the same grade, you are free to do so.

One caveat is that combining children into the same grade can sometimes cause personality conflicts. You might want to consider whether the older child would prefer to have “his own work” instead of having his younger sibling at the same level with him. On the other hand, many children enjoy learning the same material with a sibling, especially doing activities and projects together.

This is a challenge that most homeschoolers face! Our number one recommendation is to encourage your children’s independent study skills. CHC’s texts and workbooks are designed to be “self-teaching,” which means that after a brief introduction to the lesson, children can sit down and learn the material independently. This not only frees up time for Mom; it also trains children in a valuable life skill. Here are two articles that address the topic of independent learning:

How to homeschool with regard to independent study
Do you have any thoughts about time management in our homeschool?

A popular solution to the time-management challenge is to use the “schoolhouse method” to teach multiple children of different levels using the same materials. Although this method can work, CHC does not usually recommend it if the children are more than a year apart in ability level. You can learn more about the schoolhouse method by reading The Schoolhouse Method: Homeschooling Multiple Children Together.

Most children begin preschool when they are three and a half or four years old. We don’t recommend beginning preschool any younger than this age, because children should have appropriate time for physical, emotional, and cognitive growth before beginning school. Beginning preschool students should be able to:

CHC’s core materials for preschool (the basic curriculum which ensures students are learning what needs to be learned) will require 30-45 minutes of dedicated time daily, four days per week. Because young children have short attention spans, we recommend breaking up lessons throughout the day, 10-15 minutes at a time.

Beginning kindergarten students should:

Before beginning kindergarten, the child should also be able to:

CHC’s core materials for kindergarten (the basic curriculum which ensures students are learning what needs to be learned) will require 60-90 minutes of dedicated time daily, four days per week. Because young children have short attention spans, we recommend breaking up lessons throughout the day, 15-20 minutes at a time.

CHC is not a school, so we do not provide grading or record keeping. We believe that in most cases, it is better for the parent to be in charge of correcting daily work so that the child gets immediate feedback. Letter grades in themselves are unnecessary before high school, and assigning them often creates an attitude of studying for a grade, instead of learning for its own sake. Read “Grading My Children’s Work” for more information about this topic.

Formal testing is usually unnecessary in a homeschool setting. After all, testing is a tool that allows the teacher to determine what the student knows. Testing is necessary in a classroom setting, where teachers have difficulty tracking individual progress because of the sheer volume of work produced by 30 students. But in a homeschool setting, the parent is intimately aware of her child’s understanding of the material, on a daily basis.

For this reason, most CHC materials do not include regular tests. Instead, the necessary repetition and review is provided by review pages, workbook activities, and weekly spelling quizzes. The exception is CHC’s science program, which includes several tests per year beginning in fifth grade. This gives students the opportunity to develop the test-taking skills that will be necessary if they go to college.

Learn more about this topic in the article “Tests in a Homeschool Setting.”

Standardized testing is not recommended unless it is required by your state. (You can look up your state’s rules on the website of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association). Testing takes up valuable time, can stifle a child’s natural love of learning, and often does not reflect the actual abilities of the student. Learn more about this topic in the article “Tests in a Homeschool Setting.”

CHC is not a school, so we do not keep student records or provide transcripts. Instead, we recommend that parents fill out their own high school transcripts, using the template in the High School of Your Dreams Guidebook.

In 2023, CHC staff researched the admissions policies of the top 100 colleges and universities in the U.S., including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Every single school confirmed that high school transcripts created and signed by the parent count as “official transcripts” just as much as transcripts from public schools, private schools, or accredited home study schools. Find out more in the article “What Is Accreditation and Is It Necessary?“