ASL Homeschool Curriculum: Teaching American Sign Language at Home

American Sign Language is one of the most practically useful foreign languages a homeschooled student can learn — it opens communication with roughly a million deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans, counts as a foreign language credit in most states, and is increasingly valued in healthcare, education, and social services careers. If you have a Deaf family member or a child who is hard of hearing, the case for integrating ASL into your homeschool program goes without saying.

The challenge: most packaged homeschool curriculum publishers do not cover ASL, and the programs that exist vary enormously in quality. Some are genuine multi-year courses. Others are glorified vocabulary lists. Here is how to distinguish them.

Does ASL Count as a Foreign Language Credit?

Yes, in most US states. The Modern Language Association recognizes ASL as a bona fide language, not a communication supplement. Most state homeschool regulations that require a foreign language credit accept ASL. A few states have specific statutes; verify with your state's Department of Education or HSLDA resources if you are preparing a high school transcript.

For a transcript, document ASL the same way you would Spanish or French: course title (American Sign Language I, II, etc.), credit hours (approximately 120–180 hours per credit), and an overall grade.

Best ASL Curriculum Options for Homeschoolers

Signing Savvy (Digital, Free + Premium)

Signing Savvy is primarily a dictionary and reference tool — searchable by word, with video demonstrations of each sign. It is the most accurate free ASL resource available and essential for checking signs you learn elsewhere. The premium membership ($40/year) adds sentence examples and phrase video. Use it as a companion tool alongside any structured program, not as a standalone curriculum.

ASLU (American Sign Language University) — Bill Vicars

Dr. Bill Vicars, a Deaf ASL instructor and professor, runs a free online ASL course at Lifeprint.com. The full curriculum covers ASL 1 through ASL 5 with lessons, quizzes, vocabulary lists, and instructor commentary. For a serious multi-year program, this is the strongest free option. The companion YouTube channel provides video instruction for each unit. High school students can work through all five levels over two to four years, accumulating material for two foreign language credits.

Limitation: it requires self-direction. There is no grading system, no assigned teacher, and no built-in structure for younger students.

Sign It! ASL (Curriculum by Shannon Baran)

Designed specifically for homeschool use, Sign It! ASL is a multi-level program available as a physical or digital course. Lessons are structured around daily vocabulary, grammar explanations, and practice activities. It is one of the few programs built for parent-led instruction where the parent does not already know ASL — the video instruction teaches the parent and student together.

Cost ranges from $40–$80 per level. Most families complete one level per year. It works well for elementary through middle school ages.

Gallaudet University Online Courses

Gallaudet University (the world's only liberal arts university for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students) offers online continuing education courses that are open to the public. For a high school student needing official course documentation, Gallaudet's ASL courses carry real academic credibility and come with transcripts. Cost is higher — around $200–$400 per course — but this is a legitimate option for families who want verifiable external credentials.

Signed Stories and Immersive Media

For young children (K–3), the most effective entry point is not structured lessons but immersive exposure. The Signed Stories app features children's books signed in ASL with the original text visible, providing paired language input the same way bilingual books work. The ASL Kids YouTube channel pairs songs and stories with signing. Use these for 15–20 minutes daily alongside a vocabulary-building program rather than expecting children to acquire grammar structure from them alone.

What Genuine ASL Fluency Requires

Many families start ASL with enthusiasm and plateau at basic vocabulary. The reason is that ASL has its own distinct grammar — it is not English signed in English word order. Lessons that teach "sign this English word = this ASL sign" produce signers who are often unintelligible to native Deaf signers because the grammatical structure is completely different.

For functional fluency, a curriculum needs to cover: - Spatial grammar (using space in front of you to establish subjects and objects) - Non-manual markers (facial expression and mouth movement are grammatically meaningful, not decorative) - Topic-comment sentence structure (ASL does not use English subject-verb-object order) - Classifier predicates (handshapes that represent categories of objects in motion)

Bill Vicars' ASLU program covers all of this. Sign It! ASL introduces it progressively. Programs that only list vocabulary do not.

Incorporating ASL Into Your Homeschool Schedule

ASL works well as a foreign language block (30–45 minutes, three to four days per week) at any grade level. For younger children, shorter and more frequent sessions (15–20 minutes daily) work better than longer weekly lessons. Pair formal study with incidental use: sign vocabulary for objects during daily activities, practice greetings and functional phrases throughout the day.

Connecting with a local Deaf community or finding a Deaf adult tutor is the single most effective accelerator for ASL acquisition. Many Deaf adults offer tutoring, and some areas have Deaf clubs and social events that welcome hearing students. No curriculum replaces real communication practice.

If you are building a complete homeschool language arts and electives plan — including how to document foreign language credits on a high school transcript — the United States Curriculum Matching Matrix covers foreign language options and credit documentation strategies for all grade levels. See the complete guide.