Neurodivergent 5th Grade Homeschool Curriculum
I never wanted to homeschool my children, so I was thoroughly surprised when I ENJOYED spending the entire summer of 2026 creating a homeschool plan for my 11-year-old neurodivergent son. After four years of an unsuccessful experience with an IEP, we are trying out homeschooling.
The curriculum I ended up choosing after a thorough amount of research is geared toward hands-on learning, art-based learning, neurodiverse inclusion, and secular-informed education that makes room for all voices, experiences, and abilities.
I have enjoyed learning about all the different homeschooling philosophies and, so far, have landed on an eclectic, literature/story-based philosophy. It will be fun to see how this morphs throughout my time as a homeschool parent.
Here’s the 2026–2027 lineup:
Reading: UFLI Foundations
Language Arts: Hearth & Story Grade 3
Math: Math with Confidence Level 4
Social Emotional Learning: Compassionate Kids
History: Power of the People U.S. History – Mint & Bloom
Geography: U.S. Geography – Campfire Curriculums 50 States
Unit Studies from Campfire Curriculums for Science & History
Art: Harbor & Sprout Visual Arts Primary
UFLI stands for University of Florida Literary Institute and is a FREE curriculum available online, typically used in schools for classroom or small-group instruction.
We have tried several different types of tutors in the past, and I spent a lot of time researching dyslexia-friendly homeschool curricula. All About Reading is popular right now for its Orton-Gillingham components, but I ultimately decided against it because there is a lot of prep and cutting things out, and I worried my son might think it felt “babyish.”
What I LIKE:
The curriculum is mostly FREE. To utilize the full depth and scope of the curriculum, you just have to purchase the teacher manual for around $90. There are free lesson plans online for every lesson, along with PowerPoints/Google Slides, decodable readers, and review games.
Every lesson follows the same structure, so the student knows what to expect each time and I can build fluency in facilitating the lessons.
I love that the decodable readers do not have pictures. Instead, there is space for the student to draw their own picture if they want. I have also been doing some research, and there is a wide selection of alternative decodable readers that can be found for free or purchased to align with specific UFLI lessons.
UFLI is rooted in the Science of Reading and uses explicit, systematic reading instruction, which is especially important for students with dyslexia.
UFLI is an entire literacy curriculum originally designed for K–2, so I am not going to have to purchase different levels as my son progresses in reading. We are starting around Lesson 41 of 127 lessons, which is typically around where first-grade reading instruction begins.
Every lesson includes a review of phonemes, graphemes, and sight words.
In addition to the free lessons, there are several other wonderful printables, including a sound wall, heart word flashcards (their version of sight words), a pocket reference for facilitating lessons, a lesson-planning implementation support guide, printable alphabet tiles for a word-work mat you can create, and so much more.
What I’m Nervous About:
I am nervous about implementing this curriculum. The first several lessons will probably be a fumble, but every lesson follows the same structure. I have watched several YouTube videos of classroom teachers going through a lesson and feel confident it will get easier over time.
Language Arts: Hearth & Story Grade 3
Hearth & Story is a newer secular language arts curriculum written by Lindsay Surrono, who also wrote the popular secular history curriculum History Quest.
I bought the 3rd Grade Language Arts package, and we will be doing the novel studies, poetry, grammar, Brain Food, and Breakfast Cereal. It also includes spelling, which we will not be doing right away because we are going to utilize UFLI for spelling.
What I Like:
It’s very affordable. I think the entire curriculum was around $35. I printed it all at home and put it in a binder.
It’s secular.
I can pick and choose which pieces I want to use to create my own version for a struggling reader.
It’s easy to follow, with a clear structure for units and lessons.
The lessons are short and seem achievable for neurodivergent learners.
The novels look great and include The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, The Umbrella Maker’s Son, and The Lost Library.
What I’m Nervous About:
I do not know if Level 3 is the correct level for my son. I do not love that it is based on grade level, but I also understand that the author is incorporating standards as a foundation of the curriculum. I honestly do not really know how much my son knows about grammar, analyzing stories, spelling, and writing, so this is very much an unknown adventure. If we need to purchase other materials, I am happy to do so, but our primary focus will be reading.
The curriculum also does not mention neurodiversity in any capacity, so I don’t know what to expect when facilitating a more worksheet-based curriculum with a kiddo with dyslexia and ADHD. I anticipate that I will scribe for him at times as well as read lessons out loud and make accommodations as needed.
Math: Math with Confidence Grade 4
Based on my research, Math with Confidence seems to be one of the most popular math curricula for K–6 on the homeschool market right now. The author, Kate Snow, is a math educator, and I appreciate her middle-of-the-road approach to scope and sequence for each grade level.
What I Like:
It’s fairly affordable. I bought it on sale from Rainbow Resource along with the manipulatives.
It uses manipulatives for hands-on learning.
It is spiral-based, so it has built-in review of previously taught lessons.
New content is presented in an easy-to-understand format for both the student and parent.
It provides a separate teacher’s manual and student workbook. The teacher’s manual is very direct in telling you exactly what to say and how to facilitate the lesson.
What I’m Nervous About:
I’m nervous about teaching math. It’s my least favorite subject, and I have no idea what my son knows and does not know. He told me the other day that math is his favorite subject, so that’s encouraging.
Social Emotional Learning: Compassionate Kids by Diverse Books & Schooling
This incredible social-emotional learning curriculum was a last-minute addition to the stack, but I think it might be one of the most important things we do all year.
I found this curriculum through Sami on TikTok and feel tremendously grateful to her for creating such a kind, inclusive, and wonderful curriculum for FREE for neurodivergent families like ours to utilize.
What I Like:
It’s FREE and includes a parent guide and student journal.
This curriculum covers everything from emotional intelligence, ADHD, autism, boundaries, positive thinking, and so much more.
The recommended books look fantastic. I wanted to buy every single one of them but had to rein myself in.
This curriculum breaks up hard-to-discuss topics—even for me as a therapist—into bite-sized pieces in an easy-to-follow format with a reading, videos, discussion, an art affirmation, an activity, and a journal prompt.
What I’m Nervous About:
I’m nervous about my son possibly resisting these lessons, so I’ll have to keep you updated on how it goes.
I might be obsessed with Mint & Bloom. I have purchased five of their curricula during my homeschool research phase and look forward to using their Big World History, World Geography, U.S. History, and Melancholy Grammar resources in the future.
I went back and forth for WEEKS trying to decide between World History and U.S. History, as well as U.S. Geography and World Geography. My linear brain thinks history needs to be taught in order, but I don’t know that this is something my son needs right now on top of reading being a major priority. And he is only in 5th grade.
Power of the People includes 26 lessons based on the book Rad American History A-Z. Each lesson covers a topic corresponding to a letter of the alphabet, with a focus on social justice, reform, diversity, and recognition of people and events in U.S. history that are often forgotten.
What I Like:
It is an art-based curriculum, and my son will have the opportunity to draw and create as part of every lesson.
It is simple, with one spine, a few pages of reading for each lesson, a video, discussion, and an art activity.
Written quizzes, writing, and vocabulary sections can be skipped or discussed out loud.
The main book, Rad American History, is really cool, and I’m excited to learn alongside him!
What I’m Nervous About:
The only thing I am nervous about is explaining difficult historical issues or events involving racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. It is helpful that the curriculum offers reading, a video, and discussion questions, so there are multiple avenues for understanding the highlighted event, person, or historical occurrence.
U.S. Geography, Science & History: Campfire Curriculums
My curriculum-company obsession also includes Campfire Curriculums. I heard about this company through homeschool mom Facebook groups and love the format and concept of these units.
In homeschool land, I’ve learned that unit studies can be used to cover several subjects within one topic. They can also be used to study specific subjects such as science or history, or even to teach electives.
I love the idea of one topic, such as meteorology, covering science, history, language arts, and geography. This also just makes sense to me. Why separate every subject when you can use a topic in history to also learn about science and geography, read related fiction or nonfiction books, and then write about those topics for language arts?
I went a little crazy and purchased more units than we will likely have time to complete this year because I couldn’t make up my mind. So I am going to give my son the option to choose which unit study he wants to do and in what order.
Here are our Unit Study options:
Home Maintenance
U.S. Military
Paleontology
Real Pirates of the Caribbean & Island Life
Thanksgiving
The Titanic
Storm Chaser & Meteorology
Volcanologist
50 States Geography – We are going to study one state per week.
My son said he wants to start with U.S. Military. I tried to pick a variety of units where both of us would be interested in learning about the topic. Other units I think look fantastic include Through the Eyes of a Veterinarian, Myths & Anthropology, Forensic Science, History Mysteries, Passport to Adulthood, and The Holocaust.
What I Like:
It’s reusable for multiple ages. When you purchase a unit, it provides options for elementary, middle, and high school learners. So the curriculum could be repeated throughout the years with different learning activities based on the age or grade of the learner.
We get to dive deep into a specific topic using a story about that topic instead of a textbook. THIS IS BRILLIANT. The Home Maintenance unit is about a father and son who fix up an old abandoned house together.
It does NOT use worksheets. I just know that worksheet-based curricula won’t fly in our house, except maybe for math.
It uses reading, videos, notebooking, and activities for each lesson. Instead of worksheets, each lesson might prompt the student to write down definitions or draw a specific diagram in their notebook.
The activities and experiments use supplies that can generally be found at home or are easy to get.
Campfire provides a website where you can access all of the recommended video links, book recommendations, and materials for each unit.
What I Don’t Like:
It’s faith-based. Some of the holiday units are more faith-based, which we will be skipping. Most of the main units just include a “Faith Talk” section at the end of the lesson that can easily be skipped. I like that there is also a “Think Tank” section that can be used instead for critical thinking or discussion.
The Core Connection pieces of some lessons seem a little random and not as thoroughly developed. Some units, like The Titanic, are “Signature Units,” which means they include a separate document with language arts and science components since most of the main unit is history-based. This allows it to function as a more complete unit study so a family may not need separate science and language arts curricula.
Harbor & Sprout is another great curriculum company that provides lower elementary/preschool academics as well as unit studies for a variety of ages. I bought a few of their other units, including engineering, psychology, and forensic science.
What I Like:
The graphics and format of the curriculum are modern and beautiful. There are 20 lessons with information, notebook prompts, and several art activities to choose from.
The variety of notebooking prompts and activities is fantastic. There are several options, and they seem varied enough to appeal to different kinds of learners.
The curriculum is very affordable.
What I’m Nervous About:
I am a little nervous that it will either be too easy or too boring for my advanced artist.
I’m also a little nervous that it will feel like one more thing I have to facilitate, and maybe a video-based curriculum would be a better fit. I guess we’ll wait and see.
Morning Basket
For our “Morning Basket,” we are going to focus on my son’s interest in rap and hip-hop, along with positive thinking, Black history, and anti-racism.
He loves rap music, so I found some books about hip-hop artists, Black history, mindset, and more.
Our Morning Basket book selections include:
Life Lessons from Hip-Hop: 50 Reflections on Creativity, Motivation, Wellbeing & More by Grant Brydon
This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell
A Year of Positive Thinking for Teens: Daily Motivation to Beat Stress, Inspire Happiness, and Achieve Your Goals by Katie Hurley, LCSW
101 Things Every Kid Needs to Know by Jamie Thorne
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day: 366 Elevating Utterances to Stretch Your Cranium & Tickle Your Humerus
The research for each of these curricula took HOURS of my life, but it was so much fun.
I changed my mind several times. I went back and forth between World History and World Geography, then U.S. History and U.S. Geography. I ultimately landed on U.S. History because Power of the People is a much simpler curriculum, and I don’t want to bite off too much during our first year. I’m really excited to get started with our first year of homeschooling this Wednesday, August 12.
I’ll take you all along for the ride.
Happy learning!
Comments