Where to Go for Inexpensive Home School Curriculum

Over the years I have talked with many parents that home school and learned a great deal about available curriculum and creative ideas for home schooling on a shoe string budget.

For some they home school for religious reasons for others medical issues cause children to miss a lot of school thus they are home schooled. For some its just a style the family prefers. Whatever the reason banding together gives us more opportunity to expand our curriculum.

In my community we have many options available for home schooling curriculum. Some go through the school district and have one class per week that the child attends at a local school. The school works closely with the parent choosing curriculum for each students individual learning style. Assignments are done at home and turned in to the parents and then reviews are done with the parent and student and a teacher similarly to public school parent teacher conferences. The school district will provide any text books or leaning packets available.

Another option is your public Library. Library’s are full of information and a great opportunity to do a unit study on many subjects is at your fingertips. Library’s often sell older text books and other materials at annual sales and one can pick up a great variety of learning materials at a greatly reduced cost.

With the invention of the Internet many other options are available. There are “virtual academies” whereby students attend an online class as well as a myriad of websites providing math and other helps in various subjects (coolmath.com, homeschooling.com to name a few).

There are many home schooling magazines out there that parents can sign up for. Some include catalogs full of great curriculum and others incorporate the curriculum into an actual magazine. Ordering one or more may just be the option you are looking for.

Garage and yard sales are another way to add to your collection of curriculum. Check your local bulletin boards (library, coffee shop or even a college campus) for great sales.

Trade curriculum with another family. Each family orders something and then trades half way through the year.

Hobbies can be worked into classes. Perhaps you have a budding chef or photographer. You can create a very easy curriculum between the Internet, kitchen and television with some great assignments and a few other items (cook ware, camera, printers). Perhaps you have a hobby that several of your fellow home schoolers want to know more about. Give a seminar and that can easily count as a class.

Perhaps you have a friend or neighbor that has a great hobby that could be turned into a class. I have a neighbor that does pottery. She once did a class for my son, husband and I for 6 weeks. We attended weekly and had assignments. It was a great way to expand our friendship and our knowledge of pottery.

For Physical education take advantage of the seasons. In the fall, rake leaves and jump in them. In the winter shovel snow and build a snow fort or snow men. In the spring clean out the garden or just take a walk and enjoy the sunshine. If you include taking the dogs along on the walk it will improve your exercise also.

Be creative. Remember, whatever route you have chosen for your home schooling curriculum, rest assured that if it is what works best for your family, you are doing it the right way.