More free homeschool programs are available now than ever before. Many times they are just as good, if not better than the paid programs. Just because something is free doesn't mean it doesn't have value.
Ambleside Online -This is a free homeschool curriculum based on the teaching methods of Charlotte Mason. It is literature based and recommends high quality books that you can usually get at a library. The information here is free. They include book lists by year and give 36 weekly assignments by grade. Although this is a nice list, I still found it easier to use The Well Trained Mind book and the classical home school model.
Core Knowledge - They provide content and skill guidelines for grades K-8. Although not a full curriculum, this can help guide you in what your child needs to know each year.
Lesson Pathways -This is a free K-5 curriculum as long as you register with an account where you receive unlimited access. Originally this was a paid service but they found that they could not support themselves because people could not afford to pay for a service in this economy. They now use affiliate advertising and count on people to click the ads on their site for their revenue. Hopefully they will be able to continue this service. Your account with Lesson Pathways includes 900 free topic unit pathways, access to their planner and user forums. I have not used this service myself but it looks good.
Mater Amabilis - This site provides a Charlotte Mason type curriculum for Catholics. It looks like you still need to purchase books or borrow them from the library, but the curriculum is free to view online.
An Old Fashioned Education -This site offers lists of textbooks and living books to use with the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling. This site is a bit more structured than Ambleside Online above. Even though there are many books available online for homeschooling, this site organizes and slims down that list to a more manageable system for parents. There are 40 week plans for each grade with links to each book used. It can be a bit cumbersome to get the books to load and then read online, but they are free to view.
When you need to look for free homeschool programs because of budget concerns, know that you will be trading some of your time for money. When you use free resources online to access books, you will either need to print them off or be willing to view them online. They take time to load sometimes and it may require a bit more of your time to organize your resources.
Here are some more free homeschooling resources that I have found. Near and dear to my heart are the resources I have collected for how tohomeschool for free. I have done this for many years and it works very well. When you want to homeschool for free or use free homeschool programs, you have to learn how to be very resourceful. It's really fun to be able to purchase a book used, use it for a year or two, and then resell it for what you purchased it for and sometimes even more.