You can teach solid math at home without buying a boxed curriculum, but "free" lists online often mix truly free programs with paid ones that have a free trial. Below, each resource is labeled honestly, so you know what you are getting before your child gets attached to it.

Prices and plans change; check each site before you build your year around it.

Fully free

Khan Academy

Video lessons and practice from early arithmetic through calculus, with mastery tracking. Free for families, run by a nonprofit. Best used as a core program for independent learners or as a second explanation when your main program isn't clicking. khanacademy.org

CK-12

Free online textbooks ("FlexBooks"), practice and simulations, mostly middle and high school. Good as a free textbook for pre-algebra through precalculus. ck12.org

Desmos

A free graphing and scientific calculator plus interactive activities. Not a curriculum, but it makes algebra and functions visual and replaces the need to buy a graphing calculator for most families. desmos.com

Math-Drills

Thousands of free printable worksheets with answer keys, organized by topic. Useful for extra practice on a specific skill, not as a full program. math-drills.com

Free core, paid extras

Prodigy Math

A game-based practice platform for grades 1 to 8. The core game is free; a paid membership unlocks extras that children notice. Good for motivation, weak as a main program.

XtraMath

Short daily practice to make math facts (addition through division) automatic. Run by a nonprofit; check the current plan options on their site.

Art of Problem Solving (Alcumus)

Alcumus, AoPS's adaptive problem practice, is free. Their textbooks and online classes are paid. Excellent for strong or competition-minded students.

Paid (often listed as free elsewhere)

Beast Academy

A rigorous, comic-style elementary program from Art of Problem Solving. It is excellent, but both the books and Beast Academy Online are paid (there is a free trial). We list it here because many "free" lists don't.

Turning resources into a plan

A pile of links is not a math curriculum. A simple structure that works:

  1. Pick one core for each child (for example, Khan Academy's grade-level course or CK-12 for older students), placed at the right level, not the age-based grade.
  2. Add one practice tool for the skill your child is working on (Math-Drills or XtraMath for facts, Prodigy for motivation).
  3. Check progress every few weeks with a short quiz from the core program, and record the score so you can see the trend.

See your child's math progress over time

Log quiz and test scores by subject and watch the trend on a chart. Free, no account.

Open the Test Score Tracker Plan the Math Year