A Homeschooler’s Guide to Using OER Project for High School

GO TO UPDATED CURRICULUM HERE

High school social studies can feel intimidating to homeschool, especially if you’re trying to balance academic rigor, secular content, and affordability. As a long-time secular homeschooling parent, I’ve spent a lot of time looking for the right fit.

Enter: OER Project.

This free, high-quality online curriculum is one of the most valuable resources I’ve come across for homeschooling high school history. Whether you’re a relaxed homeschooler or someone who thrives with structure, OER Project offers the kind of flexibility and depth that makes it truly stand out.

What Is OER Project?

OER Project (short for Open Educational Resources) is a nonprofit initiative created by educators and historians. It provides completely free, standards-aligned social studies curricula for middle and high school students.

They currently offer the following high school courses:

• World History: Origins to Present
• World History Project: 1200 to Present
• World History Project: 1750 to Present
• AP World History

Then classes geared at 6-12:

• Big History Project
• Climate Project

These courses were designed for classrooms, but they’re surprisingly easy to adapt for homeschool use, and the content is rich, diverse, and secular.

A Different Way of Teaching History

One of the most refreshing things about OER Project is that it doesn’t treat history like a list of names and dates to memorize. Instead, it focuses on big-picture thinking, global connections, and historical reasoning skills. Your teen isn’t just learning what happened—they’re learning how to think like a historian.

That means they’ll be asking questions like:

• What caused this event, and what were its effects?
• How do different perspectives shape our understanding of the past?
• What patterns can we see across different regions or time periods?
• How do we know what happened—and what sources do we trust?

OER emphasizes skills over trivia. There are no multiple-choice tests or regurgitated textbook facts. Instead, students engage with primary and secondary sources, analyze evidence, draw conclusions, and learn how to build thoughtful arguments.

For homeschoolers, especially those teaching neurodivergent or gifted kids, this can be a game-changer. It invites deep conversations and flexible expression, whether that’s through discussion, essays, creative projects, or even storytelling. And it helps students connect the dots between the past and the present in meaningful ways.

This isn’t a “read it and forget it” history course, it’s about making sense of the world and developing the skills to question it.

Guiding Questions That Drive Real Thinking

Another standout feature of OER Project is how each unit and lesson is built around thought-provoking questions, not just content. Every unit opens with an investigation question, a big-picture inquiry that gives the entire unit purpose and direction. For example:

• What caused some humans to shift from foraging to farming and what were the effects of this change?
• What caused the global conflicts from 1914 to 1991, and how did people experience this period of global war?
• How can looking at the same information from different perspectives pave the way for progress?

These aren’t just trivia questions—they’re designed to spark curiosity, guide critical thinking, and invite deeper exploration.

Then, within each unit, every lesson includes its own driving question that connects back to the bigger idea. These lesson questions help students stay focused and engaged, like:

• How did Enlightenment ideas help spark revolution?
• How did the formation of cities, states, and empires change life for the people who lived in and around them?
• How were the Cold War and decolonization entangled?

As students move through the videos, readings, and writing tasks, they’re constantly returning to these questions. It gives everything a sense of purpose. Instead of just absorbing facts, students are developing arguments, evaluating evidence, and making connections.

This structure works beautifully in a homeschool setting. It gives you a clear framework for discussion, journaling, or creative responses—and it helps teens practice one of the most important academic skills: asking good questions and finding their own answers.

Why OER Project Works for Homeschoolers

Here’s why I believe OER Project is a fantastic fit for middle and high school homeschoolers:

• It’s completely free. No subscriptions. No paywall. You get access to everything—videos, readings, handouts, even teaching guides (you do need a teacher account for this).
• It’s rigorous, but flexible. The lessons are designed to build historical thinking and writing skills step-by-step, which is perfect for preparing teens for college or independent thinking.
• It’s secular. While it covers religious history where appropriate, it does so from a historical, academic lens.
• It’s multimedia-rich. The combination of short, engaging videos, articles, comic biographies, and primary source readings makes it neurodivergent friendly, especially when broken into manageable chunks.

How I Plan to Use OER Project at Home

I’m currently planning to use World History: Origins to Present, but only through unit 6. The next year we’re planning on doing World History 1750-Present. We’re building a custom 36-week plan that includes buffer weeks between units for review, projects, or catch-up time. Since the course is originally structured for classroom use, some parts need a little adapting for a solo learner or homeschool setting, but it’s absolutely doable.

Here’s how we handle the classroom-oriented pieces:

• Discussions → We turn these into journal prompts or oral discussions
• Peer review assignments → We plan to skip these, replace them with reflection questions, or work through them 1:1.
• Assessments → We plan to use the writing activities as open-ended essays, then go over them together casually. No grading pressure, just learning.

My teen is especially excited for the the idea of the short videos and articles, and I love how it introduces real historical debates and diverse perspectives without feeling overwhelming or biased.

Adapting It for Your Family

Here are some simple ways to make OER Project work in a homeschool environment:

• Create a pacing guide. The courses aren’t built by weeks, so you’ll want to divide them into chunks (I made a 36-week plan with a buffer week between each unit).
• Adjust the workload. You can skip or condense lessons as needed. Some weeks we focus on the videos and discussions only, and other weeks we dive into writing.
• Be flexible with writing. If your learner isn’t ready for essays, try oral narrations, comic strips, graphic organizers, or even podcast-style summaries.
• Supplement if desired. Want to add literature, documentaries, or hands-on projects? OER Project is a great backbone you can build around.

Pros and Cons of OER Project for Homeschooling

Pros:

• 100% free and secular
• High-quality videos and engaging materials
• Encourages critical thinking and writing
• Can be used independently or parent-led
• Inclusive historical perspectives
• Variety of materials (videos, articles, comic biographies, hands on activities, writing)

Cons:

• Pacing can be overwhelming without a schedule
• Classroom activities need tweaking for solo learners
• No built-in grading tools (which could be a plus or minus depending on your style)
• Teacher Guides require an account (but is still completely free)
• No traditional textbook (though you could add in readings from OpenStax textbooks)
• Requires internet access for most lessons. You CAN download most things in advance, but it does take time and storage.

How to Get Started with OER Project Courses for Homeschool

Using OER Project’s free, high-quality curriculum is easier than you might think! Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to help you dive in and set yourself up for success:

1. Create a Teacher Account

Head over to the OER Project website and sign up for a free teacher account. This unlocks access to all the teacher resources like:

• Lesson plans
• Teacher guides
• Answer keys
• Supplemental materials

You don’t need a school or classroom to sign up—just an email address!

2. Explore the Teacher Guide for Your Course

Before jumping into lessons, read through the teacher guide carefully. This guide gives you:

• An overview of the course scope and sequence
• Background info on each unit’s focus
• Suggestions for pacing and assessment
• Tips for adapting activities to different learners

It’s your roadmap for the entire course and helps you understand the goals and flow of content.

3. Review the Unit Plans and Materials

Look over each unit plan in the course, including:

• The unit’s driving question and learning objectives
• Lesson plans with videos, readings, and writing tasks
• Any downloadable resources or worksheets (optional)

Getting familiar with these upfront helps you plan your homeschool calendar and decide how to adapt lessons.

4. Set a Flexible Pacing Schedule

The OER Project is designed for classrooms, so it often expects a faster pace than many homeschoolers want. Create a pacing guide that fits your family’s rhythm—whether that’s:

• 3 or 4 days a week instead of 5
• Breaking lessons into smaller chunks
• Adding extra time for discussion, projects, or review

If you want, you can use my 36-week pacing guide for World History: Origins to Present Units 1–6 as a ready-made plan.

5. Adapt Lessons to Your Learner’s Needs

Because OER Project is designed for classrooms, some activities assume group work or timed assessments. Feel free to:

• Replace group discussions with one-on-one talks or journaling
• Use oral narrations instead of written essays
• Extend deadlines and modify writing prompts to suit your teen’s strengths and challenges

The goal is deep understanding, not strict adherence to a classroom format.

6. Engage with the Community & Resources

There are many online homeschool groups and forums where families share tips about using OER Project. Joining these can provide:

• Support and encouragement
• Lesson ideas and adaptations
• Answers to questions you might have

Also, check out OER Project’s official site and social media channels for updates and additional materials.

7. Track Progress & Reflect

Keep a simple record of what your teen completes each week. Reflect regularly on what’s working well and what might need tweaking—this helps you keep the course meaningful and manageable.

Using OER Project courses in homeschool doesn’t have to be intimidating. With a bit of prep and flexibility, you can give your teen a rich, critical-thinking–focused education, and all for free!

Final Thoughts

If you’re a secular homeschooler looking for a thoughtful, engaging way to approach high school social studies—without breaking the bank, OER Project is absolutely worth checking out. It respects students’ intelligence, promotes analytical thinking, and provides everything you need to run a solid history course at home.

It might take a little work upfront to adapt, but once you have a plan in place, it flows smoothly. And the best part? Your teen will walk away with a deeper understanding of the world and how to think historically, not just memorize dates.

Want Help Getting Started?

I’ve created a 36-week pacing guide for World History: Origins to Present through Unit Six that builds in review time and project flexibility. Feel free to access it here or reach out if you need help adapting it to your unique homeschool.

Note: This document is a Canva doc. It does NOT require a sign in to use. I use Canva docs because I can mark my checklists off, I can click all my handy links, I can use it collaboratively with my teen, I’m not confined to a traditional A4 document page size, and when I inevitably find errors I can fix them easily.

You can absolutely download the document s a PDF or DOCX. Simply hit the “share button” and then the “download” button.

Keep a look out for my full World History I guide! I should have it out in the next few weeks!

Have you tried OER Project? I’d love to hear how you’re using it in your homeschool!