Homeschool Curriculum Programs Canada: Comparing Your Options

Choosing a curriculum program is one of the decisions new homeschooling families spend the most time on — and the one that matters somewhat less than they think. The method matters more than the publisher, and the consistent execution matters more than either. That said, you do need to start somewhere, and comparing programs is a necessary step.

Canadian families face an additional wrinkle: almost all major curriculum publishers are American. That means you're evaluating programs built around US history, US customary measurement, and American cultural context. The underlying pedagogy is sound, but you'll likely supplement with Canadian history, French instruction, and metric measurement regardless of which program you choose.

Here's a practical breakdown of the most commonly used programs in Canada, organized by method.

Literature-Based Programs

Sonlight is one of the most widely used literature-based curricula in Canada's Christian homeschooling community. It centres on living books — actual literature rather than dry textbooks — and combines core reading with history and Bible study. Full-grade packages (called "Cores") include instructor guides, history, Bible, and reading lists. Science and math are sold separately. Complete packages run $400–$1,500+ CAD depending on grade and scope, before shipping.

Sonlight ships to Canada and offers Canadian history add-ons. Their curriculum is explicitly Christian; families who want literature-based learning without the faith orientation need to look elsewhere.

Bookshark is Sonlight's secular counterpart — published by the same parent company, structured the same way (Instructor Guides, Cores, living books), but with the Bible and religious content removed. For Canadian families who want the richness of a literature-based approach without Christian content, Bookshark is the most direct equivalent to Sonlight. Shipping to Canada is available. Canadian families frequently supplement the American history emphasis with Canadian history resources from local libraries or TpT sellers.

Traditional Text-Based Programs

ACE (Accelerated Christian Education) uses a workbook model built around self-paced "PACEs" (Packets of Accelerated Christian Education) — small consumable workbooks that children work through independently. The approach is highly structured, self-directed, and explicitly faith-based. It is widely used across Canada's evangelical homeschooling community, including in New Brunswick. ACE material can be purchased through Canadian distributors, reducing import delays and US-dollar conversion costs.

LIFEPAC (published by Alpha Omega Publications) is another workbook-based Christian program. Like ACE, it operates on a unit-by-unit workbook structure, but it integrates more parental instruction than ACE's nearly fully independent model. LIFEPAC covers K-12 and is available through Canadian distributors. Alpha Omega also publishes Horizons (a more colourful, spiral-structured option) and Switched-On Schoolhouse / AOP Monarch (digital versions of their curricula).

Masterbooks produces faith-based programs from a young-earth creationist perspective. Their courses are notably conversational — written as if directly addressing the student — and are used across Canada, particularly for science at the middle and high school level. Masterbooks math programs, including "Math Lessons for a Living Education" (elementary) and "Principles of Mathematics" (middle school), are among their most widely used Canadian offerings.

Waldorf Homeschooling in Canada

Waldorf education emphasizes rhythm, developmentally appropriate pacing, artistic integration (watercolour painting, handwork, recorder), and the delay of formal academic instruction until Grade 1 or later. Waldorf homeschooling in Canada has a small but dedicated community.

The main curriculum resources used by Canadian Waldorf families include the Christopherus Homeschool Resources curriculum (written by Donna Simmons, widely respected in the Waldorf community), form drawing workbooks, and main lesson books — blank books where children create their own illustrated textbooks. Waldorf resources are generally purchased individually rather than as packaged programs.

Waldorf is the most demanding approach in terms of parental preparation — it requires the parent to understand the Waldorf method deeply before teaching. The payoff, for families who commit to it, is a cohesive pedagogical philosophy that integrates academics, arts, and child development in a way that is meaningfully different from conventional curriculum programs.

Charlotte Mason in Canada

Charlotte Mason is an educational philosophy, not a curriculum publisher. It emphasizes living books over textbooks, short focused lessons, narration (children retelling in their own words what they've read or learned), nature journals, picture study, composer study, and handicrafts.

In Canada, Charlotte Mason is popular for its alignment with a natural, gentle approach to early childhood education. The most commonly used spine for Canadian CM families is Ambleside Online — a completely free curriculum built around Charlotte Mason's principles, organized by year (not grade level). Ambleside uses public domain books extensively, many of which are available free through Project Gutenberg.

Simply Charlotte Mason is a paid resource publisher (books, schedules, resources) built around the CM philosophy with more structure than Ambleside. Canadian families order through their US website, which ships internationally.

Preschool Curriculum for Canadian Families

For preschool (ages 3-5), formal curriculum is generally neither necessary nor advisable from a developmental standpoint — but many parents find a loose structure helpful.

The most used preschool resources in Canadian homeschool communities:

Before Five in a Row (B4FIAR) is a literature-based unit study approach using picture books as the spine. It is gentle, flexible, and effective for preparing young children for more structured learning. No religious content.

The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington) is a highly regarded phonics-based reading instruction program used across Canada from about age 4-5 onward. Clear scripted lessons, no subscription required.

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is the most widely used reading instruction book in the Canadian homeschool community — available in most public libraries, inexpensive to purchase, and genuinely effective for many children.

Khan Academy Kids is a free app for ages 2-7 that covers literacy, numeracy, social-emotional skills, and early science. Not a full preschool curriculum but a strong supplement.

Choosing Without Overwhelm

The most common mistake new homeschooling families make is over-researching curriculum and under-investing in the legal and administrative foundation. In New Brunswick specifically, the legal process of withdrawing your child from school — filing the Annual Home Schooling Application, sending the withdrawal letter to the principal, and understanding what the district can and cannot legally demand — needs to happen before the curriculum question is relevant.

If you're navigating the New Brunswick withdrawal process and want the complete legal templates and step-by-step guidance, the New Brunswick Legal Withdrawal Blueprint covers the process for both Anglophone and Francophone families.

Once that's sorted, the curriculum decision gets much easier. Most families who start with their second-choice curriculum switch within a year anyway — and that's fine. There is no permanent commitment, and the flexibility is one of homeschooling's real advantages.

See more Canada homeschool guides →