Secular and Christian Homeschool Curriculum Options in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan parents have the freedom to choose curriculum that aligns with their family's worldview — because the province doesn't require them to use any particular program. The Home-Based Education Regulations ask for broad annual learning goals, not adherence to provincial curriculum documents. That means both secular and faith-based families are working from the same regulatory starting point.

What differs is the catalog of materials that actually fits what each family wants to teach. Here's a practical overview of what works for each.

What Saskatchewan's Rules Say About Curriculum Content

Under Saskatchewan's Home-Based Education Regulations, parents can exclude content that conflicts with their conscientious beliefs. This protection exists for both secular families who don't want religious content embedded in science or history materials, and for Christian families who want faith integrated throughout their program.

Your Written Educational Plan (WEP) describes the broad subjects you'll cover and your general approach. It doesn't need to list specific publishers or resources, and it doesn't need to justify your worldview choices to the school division. The standard is whether you have a coherent plan that covers core subject areas — language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies at minimum.

Secular Curriculum Options

Secular families in Saskatchewan typically face one challenge: a large portion of the most widely discussed homeschool curricula have religious content woven through, particularly in science and history. The following are genuinely secular or easy-to-use-secularly by Canadian families.

Oak Meadow is a secular curriculum rooted in Waldorf-inspired principles. It covers all core subjects from K through Grade 12, emphasises experiential learning and creativity, and has no religious content. It ships internationally and is used by Canadian families across multiple provinces. Expensive at full price, but individual grade levels can be purchased.

Twig Science and Oak Meadow Science (different programs) both offer secular, inquiry-based science. For Canadian families, Nelson Science and Pearson materials are used in Saskatchewan classrooms and are available to purchase — using provincial classroom materials is entirely legitimate for home-based education.

Sonlight is primarily a Christian literature-based curriculum, but their Core programs without Bible are used by secular families. The core history and reading programs are separable. Worth noting: Sonlight's science lines include some young-earth creationist content, so secular families typically swap in a different science program.

Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool is a free, online, secular curriculum covering K–12. It's web-based and relies heavily on open educational resources. Quality varies by subject and grade level, but it's widely used by families who want structured secular content without cost.

Life of Fred (mathematics) is secular and unusual — a story-based mathematics curriculum that works through concepts via narrative. It's genuinely secular and used by families of all backgrounds who find standard maths curricula too procedural.

For families who want to pull together materials independently, Khan Academy covers mathematics and sciences completely and at no cost, and works well as a primary program or supplement.

Christian Curriculum Options

Saskatchewan's Christian homeschool community is well-established, and most major Christian curriculum publishers serve the province without issue. Materials ship from the US or are available digitally.

Abeka (A Beka Book) is a traditional Christian curriculum published by Pensacola Christian College. It covers all subjects from K through Grade 12 with explicit evangelical Protestant content woven throughout, particularly in history and science. It's structured, academically rigorous, and used extensively by Christian homeschool families across Canada.

Bob Jones University Press (BJU Press) offers a comprehensive Christian curriculum with similar scope to Abeka. BJU Press materials are slightly more flexible than Abeka in how they can be used — they offer both homeschool versions and traditional textbooks. Their science programs take a young-earth creationist position.

Sonlight is literature-based and Christian, built around a "books instead of textbooks" philosophy. History is taught chronologically through living books, with Bible as a separate subject. Sonlight's science programs vary — some are creationist, some are more mainstream. The curriculum is well-regarded for producing strong readers and writers.

Classical Conversations has communities in Saskatoon and Regina. It's a Christian classical education co-op model — families meet weekly with a tutor, work through a shared memory curriculum, and study history, science, and Latin together. The community component addresses the socialization question many families have when starting out.

Apologia Science is the dominant Christian homeschool science curriculum. It takes a young-earth creationist position explicitly. It's used by Christian families who want science instruction that integrates faith. Each course is stand-alone (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, etc.) so it's commonly used alongside secular programs for other subjects.

Math-U-See and Teaching Textbooks are both widely used by Christian homeschool families and have no religious content — they're standard mathematics curricula popular across the homeschool community regardless of worldview.

Choosing Between Integrated and Supplemented Faith Content

One practical decision Christian families face is whether they want faith integrated throughout every subject (Abeka, BJU approach) or treated as a separate subject alongside mainstream academic content. Some families find fully integrated curricula easier to use; others prefer the flexibility of choosing strong secular academics and adding Bible and devotional study separately.

Secular families face the equivalent question: whether to use a structured secular curriculum as a whole program, or to pull individual subjects from the most effective sources and combine them.

Saskatchewan's WEP process doesn't favour either approach. Your plan describes what you'll cover and how — the source of your materials is your own decision.

Getting Started in Saskatchewan

If you're transitioning from the school system into home-based education, the registration process involves notifying your local school division and submitting your first WEP before a set deadline. The curriculum question is part of that planning, but the administrative process comes first.

The Saskatchewan Legal Withdrawal Blueprint covers the full registration sequence for Saskatchewan home-based education — including what goes into a compliant WEP, school division communication, and how to document your program regardless of which curriculum approach you choose.

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