Free Homeschool Life Skills Curriculum

This website teaches personal finance skills using interactive lessons, real-life scenarios, games, and pre & post-tests. Some of the topics covered include credit, borrowing, budgeting, taxes, income, insurance, and more. When you sign up, you will be asked to select your school from a list. Click “can’t find school” and type “homeschool” for your school’s name.

Build Your Future  (9th to 12th)

The Building Your Future series teaches students the essentials of personal finance. There are four downloadable books in the series: Banking, Financing, Investing, and Succeeding. Each student book has an accompanying teacher’s guide that includes handouts, answer keys, instruction, and assessment suggestions.

Charisma on Command  (10th to 12th)

This YouTube channel teaches how to be more charismatic and other social skills. Some videos may contain language or other content that might not be appropriate for every family, so be sure to prescreen the videos.

Civic Online Reasoning  (6th to 12th)

These lessons, made available by the Stanford History Education Group, teach students how to evaluate online information. The materials are presented using online text, videos, and printable materials.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau  (K to 12th)

This organization provides a collection of downloadable financial literacy activities. Each activity comes with a teacher’s guide and supporting student materials. The activities can be used to integrate financial literacy into other subject areas or supplement an existing financial education curriculum.

Current Events  (K to 12th)

This blog post contains links to numerous websites children and teens can use to read or watch current event news. It also recommends several resources parents can use to teach about media literacy.

ChopChop Cooking Club  (K to 6th)

ChopChop provides recipes, how-tos, shopping and storage tips, fun activities, and conversation starters. Children can upload pictures of the meals they’ve prepared to receive virtual badges. Badges celebrate the different cooking skills learned in each recipe, such as whisking, roasting, mixing, measuring, and grating.

Common Sense Education  (K to 12th)

This digital citizenship curriculum covers media balance, privacy & security, digital footprint, cyberbullying, and news & media literacy. The lessons include slide show presentations, videos, and printable handouts.

Crawfords Auto Repair  (9th to 12th)

Crawfords offers twelve lessons on automotive repair and maintenance in both video and eBook formats. There are also several additional videos on various auto care topics.

Dad, how do I?  (4th to 12th)

The videos on this YouTube channel cover many life skills, including auto maintenance, basic home repair and maintenance, using tools, how to tie a tie, shaving, ironing a dress shirt, and much more.

Driver’s Ed Guru  (9th to 12th)

This driver’s education course is designed to be taught by the parent and takes approximately six months to complete. A very detailed four-stage lesson plan is provided. Additionally, this website also offers DMV practice tests and many articles about driving safety.

Easy Peasy All-in-One Highschool Culinary Arts  (6th to 12th)

This Culinary Arts course teaches cooking skills using video recipes and culinary math worksheets. The course is intended to take one semester to complete.

Family Consumer Sciences  (6th to 12th)

Family Consumer Sciences’ lesson plans cover child development, sewing, cooking, nutrition, interior design, personal finance, and many other life skills. The lesson plans include instructions, activities or labs, and printables.

First Aid  (K to 12th)

This page lists free courses, lesson plans, videos, and other resources for teaching first aid.

Fool Proof Me  (6th to 12th)

Fool Proof Me teaches money skills, financial responsibility, and about the free enterprise system through the use of interactive, self-grading video-based modules.

FutureLearn  (9th to 12th)

FutureLearn offers several online classes related to life skills, including job search skills, money management, and study skills. Length and format vary from course to course. The availability of courses periodically changes.  Most of the courses are free to join, be there is an option to upgrade to access additional benefits, like the ability to qualify for a certificate.

Gardening as a Homeschool Elective  (K to 12th)

This page includes tips on teaching gardening as a homeschool elective, links to free courses and guides, and a 16-page printable gardening planner.

GCF Global  (9th to 12th)

GCF offers courses covering career planning, job search, workplace skills, money basics, and more. The courses are taught using online text, video tutorials, and hands-on activities.

Georgia Virtual Learning  (6th to 12th)

This Financial Literacy course is taught using online text, slide shows, and recorded lectures. Links to additional related resources are provided with each module. Assessments are not included.

Hands on Banking  (4th to 12th)

Hands on Banking teaches students money skills using video lessons. There are also downloadable instructor guides. Three levels are offered: Kids (for grades 4th and 5th), Teens (grades 6th through 8th), and Young Adults (ages 15 to 21).

HowTheMarketWorks.com  (6th to 12th)

In this stock market game, users receive $100,000 in virtual money to invest so they can learn how the markets work and practice trading. The website also offers lesson plans, assignments, and informative articles for students to read.

In Charge  (Pre-K to 12)

This organization provides downloadable financial literacy lessons that cover budgeting, decision-making, buying a home, debt, comparison shopping, and more. The lessons include teacher’s guides, student materials, and PowerPoint presentations.

Khan Academy  (9th to 12th)

Khan Academy offers the following life skills courses: College Admissions, Careers, Personal Finance, and Growth Mindset. The format differs from course to course, but most lessons are video based.

Learn How to Become  (9th to 12th)

Learn How to Become assists with career choice and preparation. Information including detailed job descriptions, outlook, average salaries, required education or training, and more are given about a wide range of professions.

Money Smart for Young People  (Pre-K to 12th)

This downloadable curriculum, created by the FDIC, teaches financial literacy at four age-appropriate levels. The curriculum includes an educator’s guide, slides, student worksheets, and a parent guide.

Money Talks  (8th to 12th)

Money Talks is a financial literacy program that consists of downloadable student materials, comprehensive instructor guides, and videos. Topics covered include consumer skills, banking, credit cards, and employment.

NWT Literacy Council  (9th to 12th)

The Career-Life-Work series consists of ten separate downloadable workbooks: Career Development, Communications Skills, Dealing with Conflict, Dealing with Stress, Getting the Job, Goal Setting, Job Success Strategies, Personal Management Skills, Planning Your Career, and Soft Skills for Work. These books were written in Canada, but the information should also apply to students in other countries.

Overcoming Obstacles  (K to 12th)

These downloadable lessons include teaching materials and student worksheets. The lessons cover positive character traits, problem solving, goal setting, conflict resolution, decision making, and many more life skills. At the high school level, there are also lessons on college, getting a job, work skills, and personal finances.

Parallel Alternative Strategies for Students: Consumer Math  (9th to 12th)

This course covers budgeting, banking, borrowing, housing, taxes, investing, retirement, and more using a downloadable workbook and teacher’s guide. While it’s designed for special needs students, other students may use it as well.

Parallel Alternative Strategies for Students: Life Management Skills  (9th to 12th)

This course is designed to help students with various special needs succeed. It includes a student workbook and a teacher’s guide. The course covers caring for yourself, relationships, stress, nutrition, drugs, first aid, using money wisely, puberty, the reproductive system, and sexually transmitted diseases.

The Parent’s Supervised Driving Program  (8th to 12th)

This website provides a series of skills-based lessons for parents to use when teaching their teens to drive. The website also provides tips for teaching teens to drive and a printable log or downloadable app to log driving practice time.

Plain and not so Plain  (6th to 12th)  C

The following life skills courses are offered: Home Economics Kitchen Skills, Home Economics Household & Personal Management, and Life Skills for Young Men. Each course is made up of 18 online or downloadable text-based lessons and should take one semester to complete.

Play Spent  (5th to 12th)

Play Spent is an online simulation that takes participants through the decisions and challenges that low-income individuals face. Participants will do things like choose a job, choose a health plan, purchase groceries, and decide if they can afford things like new shoes and activities for their child. This simulation could be used to supplement a financial literacy curriculum.

Practical Money Skills  (Pre-K to 12th)

Practical Money Skills offers money skills lessons organized by grade range. Topics range from basics for the very young, such as “What is Money?” to more comprehensive courses for teens and young adults. Downloadable lesson guides, worksheets, quizzes, and tests are provided.

PWC  (3rd to 12th)

PWC’s financial literacy curriculum covers finical decisions, home buying, debt, income, saving, insurance, and much more. Each lesson includes a lesson plan, video, and worksheet.

Skill Trek  (K to 12th)  C

Each week Skill Trek provides a different life skill lesson for free on their Skill of the Week page. Each week’s lesson consists of a video and printable. Skills covered may include topics in home maintenance, cleaning, gardening, personal finance, manners, technology, health, cooking, automotive, and more. Access to their complete library of lessons requires a paid membership.

Social Self  (9th to 12th)

Social Self offers over 500 guides covering conversation, body language, making friends, confidence, introversion & extroversion, social anxiety, and many other topics related to social skills. You do not need to join to read these guides.

A Standard Personal Finance Curriculum  (9th to 12th)

This curriculum, made available by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, covers earning income, consumer skills, saving, investing, credit, and insurance. Each unit in the PDF text includes talking points, links to recommended resources, and a selection of supplemental resources.

SucceedSocially.com  (9th to 12th)

This website contains an extensive collection of articles on social skills and getting past social awkwardness. The articles are aimed at adults and older teens, but many of the ideas apply to younger children as well.

TD Bank Wow! Zone  (K to 12th)

The downloadable financial literacy lesson plans on this website teach about the history of money, responsible money choices, saving & investing, credit, budgeting, insurance, taxes, and much more. The lesson plans include printable student worksheets.

Teach Your Kids to Cook With Free Resources  (Pre-K to 8th)

This post contains downloadable cookbooks, YouTube channels, and websites to use while cooking with your children.

TeenBusiness.com  (7th to 12th)

While not a curriculum, TeenBusiness.com is a news and information portal for young entrepreneurs, investors, inventors, and their parents/educators. There’s information on business plans, common business mistakes, record keeping, taxes, and much more.

Two Cents  (5th to 12th)

Two Cents is an educational show about personal finance. There are episodes about behavioral finance, retirement, smart shopping, careers & work, and more.

When Mother Lets Us Series  (1st to 8th)

This series of books, which was written in the early 1900s, teaches many life skills, including cooking, carpentry, sewing, gardening, caring for pets, and more.

Youth Skills for LIFE  (10th to 12th)

This downloadable curriculum helps young people learn the skills needed to transition into adulthood. Topics covered are career preparation, education, health & nutrition, housing & home management, risk prevention, and money management. While the curriculum is designed to be used in group homes or by foster parents, much of the material would likely be useful for all teens.

4-H Youth Babysitting  (7th to 12th)

This course includes a downloadable student book, instructor guide, and worksheets. The lessons cover safety, child development, nutrition, entertaining children, and the business of babysitting.

Affordable Life Skills Curriculum  (K to 12th)  Some C

If you haven’t been able to find free life skills curriculum that meets your family’s needs, this post lists numerous affordable options to choose from. There are resources for teaching financial literacy, consumer math, career exploration, home & auto maintenance, cooking, home economics, and other general life skills.

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