For many who have chosen to homeschool, money can be non-existent. Living on one income in a two income society can be difficult. We have found ourselves many times scanning ebay to save a few dollars on quality curriculum, because let’s face it, while not as expensive as private school, most of the time it is still more expensive than public school. Although, once you factor in the gifts for the teacher, special snacks and parties, decent clothes and specific shoes for gym, it may tend to equal out! One year we found ourselves in a very tight financial situation . That year I ended up homeschooling 4 kids for $300 dollars total. That is $85 dollars per child! You can cut the cost even further! Here are some ways you can cut costs in your homeschooling.
Decide what your purpose is for homeschooling. It is much easier if both you and your spouse agree on your purpose of homeschooling. For instance, do you desire for them to know the classics? Do you want to instill in them a love of learning? Do you desire for them to view everything from a Biblical world view? Pray, pray, pray about this decision! This is vital to shaping your child’s character in his or her life. It may be one or many or none of these, but it is important for you to know! This will shape your curriculum choices.
One of the first places I looked was the library. We live in an amazing state where many of the libraries are connected online, so all I had to do was look up books that I could see the outline of them then look up my library catalog on my computer and place holds on books throughout the year. We chose to do this with the Life of Fred books this year, which have been an invaluable resource in our homeschooling! We have also looked up Literature, Geography and Science books, and Languages!
The next place we looked was online. Easy Peasy All In One Homeschool has been a great FREE complete resource for us. I have found the math to be very complete and cohesive for my 1st, 2nd ,4th and 5th grader. They link to many online sites that are also great for education. I love the fact that I don’t have to sign up for anything, just the use of the internet was enough. Another resource that was great for teaching math facts as well as fast recall was xtramath.org. It really helped most of my children learn their math facts.
I have also seen that there are some scholarships around that may help you. Some people are also comfortable with the online public schools while others are not. The online public schools do seem to provide you with the necessities to home school, but you do not get a say in curriculum, so some people are not comfortable with it.
So don’t lose hope because money is tight! Good homeschooling can be done with very little expense. We have so many resources at our fingertips, that cost does not have to be an option. Pray, talk it over, decide what your purpose is, then go and use your resources to make it work for you!
(Check out some other free resources for homeschooling here~Jenny)
Janelle is a homeschooling mom to 4 of her 7 kids. She loves encouraging other moms in the overwhelming world of parenting and homeschooling! Her kids make her laugh and shake her head in horror on a daily basis! She uses her Norwex business to help them clean up the messes they leave behind!