Today’s question is from Lorie:
I have just recently quit my job to stay at home and homeschool our three children, grades 5, 2, and Pre-K. While looking for curriculum and other teaching aids, I have realized how expensive everything is! What are some ways that I can save money when buying homeschooling curriculum?
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I buy a ton used from the Well-Trained Mind forum.
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15
For a literature-based program, I often buy the Guide and activity packs from the company and get books for free by using my http://www.paperback swap.com account. I don’t have time to read so it works well for buying history books! Whatever I can’t find there, I buy used on Amazon.
My favorite site for printables and ideas is http://www.homeschoolshare.com.
I buy and sell on both homeschoolclassifieds.com and at HSLDA (market.hslda.org/auction/xcAuction.asp). I have found them easier to navigate than vegsource.com.
I’ve also begun scouring the Goodwill. I found a Mystery of History ancients curriculum there for $1.49!!
Blessings in your journey!
Laura M
We’re in our 4th year of homeschooling, this year with a 1st, 3rd and 5th grader. I spend close to nothing each year on school materials. As others have mentioned, the library and internet are GREAT resources. Our library has Mailbox Magazine which is great for ideas and printables, which I can copy at the library for a dime. We use Starfall online. Hooked on Phonics and Bob books are awesome if your library has those. Get on yahoo groups and find homeschool groups in your area to plan field trips and playdates. You will be swapping info with local mom’s in no time! When you do find things you want to buy, I’ve always found materials the cheapest online. Amazon has a 4 for 3 books program and if you get the free shipping through Amazon Mom this is a great deal. I’ll often use that for workbooks. Handwriting Without Tears has been my favorite handwriting program and isn’t too expensive either. We also do spend money on memberships to local science centers and the zoo. If you have a letter proving you are a homeschooler you can usually get discounts on these. Barnes and Noble, Half Price Books, Michaels crafts, JoAnn’s and others will also give homeschoolers teacher discounts for when you do need to pick up a few supplies. Good luck!!
If and when you do decide to buy a curriculum, I highly recommend buying something non-consumable versus a workbook type program. This way you can use it for all of your children as you go, versus a workbook that you have to keep buying each year. You also might check out something like heart of dakota. It’s mostly reusable and for Kinder I’m pretty sure it’s under $100. My Father’s World K is also fairly economical and you can usually find it used.
I just bought some curriculum for my 6 year old this year, especially for the younger ages you don’t need to buy books, etc when so much can be printed for free off of the internet or checked out from the library. I found the early math and reading teacher’s manuals to be infuriatingly common sense. Use beans for counting, make you own shapes to sort from junk mail, etc. starfall.com has great free lessons on how to read for kindergarten-1st grade, and I ordered some of their books, they were pretty reasonable.
This time of year teachers have cleaned out and set up their classrooms, so the second hand stores usually have some good extras – I have found lots of good things there with teachers names and class numbers on them
I was checking the Louisiana state website to make sure I was following the laws for homeschooling, and they have a completed curriculum and lesson plans online for free (from kindergarten through 8th grade): http://www.doe.state.la.us/topics/comprehensive_curriculum.html
It also tells you what your child is expected to know at the end of the year – I imagine other states have similar things. For me it is easy to take those plans and adapt them for what I want to do.
I like the year round approach – we do school Tues – Fri year round, and take random breaks as needed (monday is a shopping / library day.) Really, anything over two-three weeks and you forget what you just learned, which is why the first half of each new textbook is review. Its like getting an extra 5 months of school that other kids miss out on, and you can spend 2 weeks at Grandma’s in October without worrying about missing out.
Also, designate a box to save “junk”. I have a milk crate I throw in items like string, extra envelopes from junk mail, plastic bottles, bottle caps, magazines, egg cartons, paint samples you get free with coupons, toilet paper rolls, you name it. You never know when you’ll use things like this. If you notice one isn’t being used, swap it out.
Join a local homeschool online group (yahoo, etc). I often find cheap/free stuff that way. http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com is great, too!
Don’t think that you have to use the same curriculum straight across the board, and more expensive doesn’t always mean better.
Also, I love unit studies from http://www.currclick.com. Sign up for their email newsletter and you’ll get freebies often!
Good Luck!!
Wow. I thought I was good. Some of these ladies have me beat by a mile. Not to be redundant but I have to say that Craigslist has come to my defense more than a few times this year. Occasionally I come across a person or two that I rather wish I hadn’t so lately I only meet in public places and only for cash exchanges. I have also had luck with http://www.freecycle.org. I recently picked up a lot of hundreds of National Geographic and a full set of World Book Encyclopedia. I haven’t run into any creepy people there…yet. Very often I have my husband drop off a bottle of his company’s Signature Olive Oil as a good gesture. Things go quick on Freecycle so I recommend checking the group a few times a day. There is also a used curriculum group on yahoo that I have been monitoring but as of yet, I haven’t made any deals there. Next, I would check thrift stores in your area. We use secular material in our school but I have come across more than a few christian based programs at the one by me. Every year, one of the groups we belong to does a swap before the new school year. It has been to my detriment to buy everything I thought I would need, prior to the meetup every single time. Joining a support/play group has so many benefits. Besides buying old curriculum, we sometimes bring ours along to the park so each of the parents can review it before they choose whether it will be right for them. My son has made long lasting friendships and the grapevine always proves valuable insight in how to find sites or local programs that are free or inexpensive. Lastly, in my State, homeschoolers can borrow cross county in the library system. I am not limited to one branch or county, but have use of every volume in every branch that participates in the program. This has been so helpful for teaching local history. Most States have a “Things to do with kids” section listed on the State’s site. It takes some digging but we have made many day trips from that list alone. Good Luck )O(
Try homeschoolclassifieds.com – we have bought and sold many books on this site and saved lots of money!
I haven’t read all the comments, so this might have been mentioned. Look at (or commission a grandma or aunt to look at) local thrift stores. One thrift store near me almost always has homeschool curriculum on the shelves. For $1 or 50 cents each (and today I discovered they have all books free on Wednesdays). At Goodwill a few weeks ago I found a Saxon Math hardcover for $1. It’s a small way this aunt can encourage her nieces’ home education. (Even books that aren’t part of the curriculum they are using can be supplemental materials, or “free time” reading.)
That’s a very familiar sounding story…two years ago I left a job in the public school system to homeschool my then second and fifth graders. The best money saving advice I can give is to buy very little at first, just very basic math and language materials maybe. Take full advantage of your library, and don’t forget to check out used book stores and of course ebay. I would also combine as many as many subjects as possible for all the kids, for example you could easily do science with all three childrens by either using unit studies (you can find lots of these free online) or by raiding the science section at your library. Of course, you would expect more work for the older children, but you can figure that out as you go. We always do Bible study and History/Geography together: we use the Sonlight reading list for History but either buy the books secondhand or check them out from the library. One good source of free printable worksheets in a variety of subjects is http://www.superteacherworksheets.com, definately check out their spelling word lists with printable activites for each week. Good luck and happy homeschooling!
Amazon.com is where I go a lot. I have bought so many items for a penny, you then have to pay $3.99 shipping but it’s still a lot cheaper than buying new.
Online you’ll find soooo many sites, you couldn’t possibly use them all.
Look into unschooling too. I never did it but many are successful at it and enjoy it.
Homeschooling is an adventure. Every year I think I’ve got it now and every year I’m wrong. I’m always learning. What worked for one of my children isn’t working for another.
Never think someone else has it all together. Always be willing to learn. Be a support and be supported.
I wish you well.
http://budgethomeschool.com/
check this site it starts out like this:
Think you can’t afford to homeschool? I’ve got news for you…
You couldn’t be more wrong!
Catholic material that is used can be bought at -cathswap- its a group on Yahoo. Also do a google search for homeschoolers in your area to find a local group. You’ll be surprised how many of us their are. Everyone else seems to have covered the bases but if anyone missed it also look for a homeschool convention they usually have used book sales.
I’m not sure if anyone mentioned it yet, but some areas have homeschool programs run by charter schools. Where I live, registering for the charter gives parents a credentialed teacher as a resource, and an allowance of ~$800 to buy curriculum (chosen by mom and dad with advice from the teacher).
They had this in my old town! It was great. They even had a Friday enrichment program where kids could go one day a week and have pe, art, and do science projects!
One that I haven’t seen mentioned is CurrClick.com. They have Free stuff and really cheap stuff and are having a big sale right now. It is just stuff you can download. Just another suggestion.
They just discussed this very question on Pioneer Woman’s website. Here’s the link:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2011/07/community-question-learning-without-curriculum/
It was very helpful!!
ABCTwiggles.com was very thorough for Pre-K and it’s only $15 for the year. You just print off anything you need, and I used it for two boys at the same time…for just the $15. Good luck!
Used curriculum sales, free websites, currclick, rainbow resource, and most of all the LIBRARY!!! This year we will spend about $500 for 2 kids. It can be done for less, last year we did it for $400.
Get a copy of Cathy Duffy’s 100 Top Homeschool Picks. The tools she has for finding the right curriculum for you and your family are priceless.
If your library doesn’t have a copy of this already, request they buy one. Libraries like patrons to request books for them to purchase because it makes their collection more diverse. I most often request books for purchase through my county library’s website. If they cannot buy books, they will always do interlibrary loan for you.
If you do not currently frequent your library, you may be surprised to find how helpful they are once they know you. My librarians either reduce or waive my overdue fees, and they always renew my items much longer than recommended if I happen to need them for a long time.
You can get on their website and request them to gather books for you from the shelves and hold them for you so that you don’t have to spend so much time looking for books at the library.
Look into Kahn Academy (on YouTube, TED, or their website).NPR just did a piece about how great their FREE math curriculum is, and how some schools are using it exclusively.
Some excellent free sites:
http://www.khanacademy.com – the most amazing math curriculum from addition through trig! My kids like it better than Math U See, Math Made Easy, Saxon Math, Timez Attack, etc.
http://www.letteroftheweek.com – great preschool curriculum spelled out for you, and free.
I’ll add another vote for Starfall.com – a great phonics/reading site.
At the library the Five in a Row series – inexpensive if you want to buy it.
Remember that most homeschool families have some expensive curriculum items sitting unused on a shelf that they thought they were going to use. So find local homeschool curriculum sales, or my favorite, as mentioned before, is http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com – WAY better than ebay – fair prices from parent to parent.
Congrats on making the leap to homeschooling!
Misty
When I worked in the public schools, Starfall is something they used–a LOT–with the students! And it’s loaded on library computers everywhere we go, it seems.
We use amblesideonline.org. It is Charlotte Mason based, totally free. There are some books that you will have to buy, but if you go to used book stores or amazon you can find them literally for next to nothing. I have never payed over $20 for any curriculum that we have. All of our curriculum that ambleside doesn’t cover (grammar, science,spelling) I have been able to find used or get it off of amazon.
For my preschooler, I use phonics pathways(learning to read) and Beginner’s activity series from Christian Light Education.
We are on a very fixed income, so it IS possible to provide a great education on limited money.
I don’t have time to read all the replies, so forgive me if these tips have already been stated several times. Entire books have been written about this subject, and I highly recommend that you check some of them out from the library, but I’d stick to these two main ideas for now:
1) Curriculum should consist largely of living books that you get from the library, cheaply from book sales, or free on a Kindle (a one-time $114 investment). At their ages, math is the only subject that you need a text book for. For your littles, consider using Making Math Meaningful. It’s a great curriculum, and it’s cheap. It’s too different to really jump in for your oldest, though.
2) You need to deschool for a while. Most people recommend 1 month for each year of school, and double it if your kids went to preschool. That means that you do no formal school (except maybe math) for a long time. Read lots of books, spend time observing nature outdoors, go on lots of field trip, have your kids cook, do lots of handiwork, etc. But you aren’t going to need actual curriculum materials for a while because you’re going to be deschooling for a while.
We use Ambleside Online. The curriculum is free, but you have to buy the books. Many are available for free online or for free for Kindles. Some will have to be purchased, though. My husband generously sets aside an amount of money for homeschooling which would allow us to use almost any curriculum, brand new out of the box. I feel that Ambleside gives my kids the best education.
I wrote a page on this, here: http://pammshouse.com/hslittlenothing.html
Hope that helps. Blessings,
Pamm
I know most people want to pick their own curriculum, etc, but just in case there is someone who wants to “school-at-home” but wants all the lesson plans done for them, etc, check out online public schools such as Connections Academy.
It’s free, you have all the benefits of being home, and the lesson plans are already done for you. Yes, it’s public school education, but since you are home, you have more control over how information is presented to your child.
It’s a great compromise for some people.
Forgot to mention, they send you all of the books and, depending on the state, provide a computer.
I have seen home school curriculum listed on http://www.craigslist.org you may have to look a while to get just what you wanted but it will be like buying curriculum at garage sales but you can contact the buyer before hand. This is also one way you can look for your preferred curriculum.
I recently did a post on this with many ideas on how I save on homeschool curriculum:
http://momforhim.blogspot.com/2011/04/homeschooling-buy-ahead-and-save.html
We have a store in our area (Raleigh) that sells and trades homeschool curriculum and educational resources. You might try something like that. Also, attending a homeschool conference might help you have a better idea of what curriculum you want to use so that you don’t buy too many or the wrong one. Finally, I have found some high quality homeschool and educational resources at garage sales and second hand book stores.
I use amblesideonline as my main source. It is RICH in literature and many of the books are found at the library and others are at librivox.com, where they can listen to older books online for FREE!
LOVE IT
Lorie,
I have 4 boys that I am homeschooling, so we are always on the lookout for great curriculum. One of the greatest resources I have found out there is Ambleside Online. http://amblesideonline.org/ It gives you a whole curriculum to follow that is free, and a lot of the books are found online. It’s a great resource. If you are looking for a great math curriculum I recommend MEP. It’s all online as well. http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm There are also yahoo groups set up to discuss these as well.
Hope this gives you some ideas you can use!
I’ve found tons of homeschooling book through flea markets, yard sales and even used book stores. You could also consider hosting a book swap at your church or homeschooling community to see if you can get a few books that way! A lot of families I knew used to e-mail home school co-op to request any extra curriculum that they were not using.
Try before you buy– there are tons of products and you can’t really know until you try it if it’s going to work for your family. Borrow from a friend, library, or a homeschool group’s resource library.
Use the library. It’s really nice to own books, but many library systems are fantastic and can do interlibrary loans for books that they don’t actually carry. Our town library has almost every book from the Five in a Row series, for example.
For consumables, check online. There are SO MANY free online resources for things like tracing, handwriting, cutting paper, dot-to-dot, etc. I love donnayoung.org and hwtears.com for handwriting. Math-U-See has a math worksheet generator. To make it feel more like a “real” book, I print out several week’s worth at a time and keep it in a binder. That way, when we’re ready to do a worksheet or activity, I have it handy and we don’t have to wait for me to find it and print it out.
Paperbackswap! I’ve acquired lots of material through pbs, including the teacher’s manual for my daughter’s math & handwriting, and the aforementioned Five in a Row curriculum book
half.com or other used book sites. Once you’re pretty sure about what you want, buy as many non-consumable materials as you need from used book stores. I like half.com, I buy & sell there. My husband has purchased used books for grad school through amazon as well. This usually saves us around 50% from the new list price.
We also downsized the books we already had to make shelf space and to free up some cash for curricula. We sold books to our local used book store for store credit, then turned around and bought what we could there (used if they had it, or new from them with our store credit).
Finally, I love bookstore gift cards and books as gifts. If you or your kids also love books, requesting them as gifts can also be a good idea. Also, for Christmas, we received family passes to the local science museum as a gift. This has been a TREMENDOUS resource for our family, both for a winter activity and for learning opportunities.
I keep a spreadsheet of what we plan to buy for the coming year, and a total of what it would cost to buy new. I’ve had a lot of fun watching my savings add up over the last four months as I’ve kept my eyes open for the books I want.
Finally, don’t underestimate the value of your time with your children. In the end, especially when they’re young, it isn’t the curriculum that’s teaching them, it’s YOU. Read books, answer questions, spend time, time, time together, instructing, guiding, shaping little hearts and little minds.
Have fun!
We use Five in a Row as our core curriculum. The teacher manuals are the only books you have to buy. Because the curriculum uses Caldecott- and other award-winning picture books, the library is a great (free) resource.
I also buy used whenever possible. Check used bookstores and thrift shops for go-along books. Homeschoolclassified.com is a reputable site for used curriculum, and you really cannot get lower prices than you find at http://www.rainbowresource.com . Ebay, alibris.com, and Amazon.com are also good sources.
If you like unit studies, check out http://www.homeschoolshare.com for FREE lesson plans and printables (for lapbooks, etc) to go along with quality picture books and topics.
I haven’t read all the comments but I am in the same boat..here’s what I’ve done so far. Use a literature based approach (I’m not planning on this because it’s cheap but because I think it’s best for us) and gets book cheap – get on the waiting list at Paperback swaps for some of the books you will need later! I’ve received a couple that I know I want to use for homeschooling this way…I figure every little bit helps. Also I just signed up at this site http://www.booksalefinder.com/ that will email you when there are used book sales in your local area. That way I can browse the local library discards, etc. Also consider looking into homeschool groups, coops that may have lending programs. There are tons of rescources on Ambleside online as well, and don’t forget your library!
A lot of states have homeschool conventions supplied by the homeschool associations. At those events, they often have used curriculum sales. You take your used curriculum and they sell it and keep a small commission and you buy used curriculum. It’s often at 20 – 50% of the cost of new. The great things is, you can often sell it the next year for the same price you bought it for. Especially for teacher editions, reading texts and answer keys. Then you just have to find the workbooks. You can often buy and sell other items such and books and DVDs and learning aids. Look for the following year’s curriculum as well if you find a great deal.
There is an article on the HSLDA Early Years website — “Homeschooling on a Shoestring Budget.” http://www.hslda.org/earlyyears/Shoestring.asp It includes tips for saving money on your materials as well as ideas for using everyday objects and activities as learning tools. There are several other articles on the site, such as “Holidays as Homeschool Curriculum.” An upcoming newsletter should cover the topic, as well. And I second (or third!) the suggestion to network with friends in your area–moms in our group lend out materials all the time.
I only homeschooled for 2 years… the 1st was quite interesting as I was trying to figure out what to use , each of my children in different grades and different learning modalities. the 1st thing I did was join HSLDA, they provide legal services if your school district tries to give u a hard time about homeschooling. they also have a curriculum chat room where members can sell their used books to other members… 2nd I went to the library and checked out a resource on curriculum’s the one I used had a A+ on it and the lady brakes down what ea. resource is like and who it works best for. Since I was new to it and didnt think I could pull it off the way other homeschool moms I know did, I really wanted a curriculum that I could use to teach all core subjects and if possible both of my children out of…. that’s when we found “A whole New world of adventure ” I liked the description and it’s about 80 a curriculum book (they have 3 at last look). So armed w/ that info I looked at HSLDA’s members forum to see if anyone was selling it I was able to purchase it for about $35+ shipping. their lessons combine the history and English , science Bible Verses etc…. All I had to do was our 5 minute spelling drills (spelling Power) some daily grams and I worked on some math with my youngest while my eldest did her reading assignments etc… Additionally I was able to join a learning club that met 1x monthly and the 2nd year I placed my eldest in a Co-op which was a life saver, I was able to buy used books at the end of the year when we tested from those moms, additionally I was able to borrow resources from some of them for the whole year. I used flashcards that i picked up at the Dollar tree to teach them Spanish, and a few other languages ( I got the other cards at Yard sales or using FREECYCLE)…they wrote each other’s Spanish tests out and graded them, they are 2 yrs apart but they loved this….and it simplified my life.
Oh Yeah, don’t forget to go to the sales your local library has…. and most libraries will also carry some of the Classical conversations books as well
I did not read everyone’s replies, but often even when the companies revise their books, the last years ones are still very good books. You can the older editions often for just like $5 or less.
I still have books that I used when I was homeschooled and some subjects do not change that much!
K12 is what we use. We love it and it is free!
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