Thrifty Homeschooling Ideas
The economy is tight, but for many juggling large families and working to rid themselves of debt, a tight school budget is nothing we haven’t already faced. A few tips from my experience may help you rein in expenses while providing your children with the books and supplies they need for a full and interesting education.
Reevaluate Your Needs
• What do your students really need? Define your main objectives for the year with each child and then prioritize your list of textbooks and materials. Use constraint so that you don’t purchase materials you will wind up culling later. Take your time, deciding exactly what you need. Pray for guidance.
• Rather than purchasing a prepackaged set, make up your own with books you already own or can borrow from the library or elsewhere,. Fill in any gaps with unit studies. Take need as an opportunity to teach your students how to research a subject using internet, encyclopedias, assorted non-fiction on the topic, and magazine archives in the library.
Evaluate Your Resources
• My local library offers used textbooks donated by homeschool families. These can be checked out by the semester or the year.
• Go through the books and supplies you have. You may discover you have what you need already.
• Plan a sale or trade day within your support group to see if you can trade a book you don’t need for another you do. Books that are left over can be used to create a depository of loaner books at your library.
Purchase Used Textbooks
• This year I was able to purchase Saxon Advanced Mathematics at a savings of more than fifty percent. Compare prices for the best bargains.Half.com has textbooks and you can save even after shipping.
• Buy art supplies and textbooks at a show or homeschool convention to avoid shipping costs. Use the library for research reading and literature.
• Shop local book stores watching for sales on books and supplies you need.
• Buy art and school supplies on sale. Stock up but don’t overdo. Stick to your plan.
• Sell used books to add to your school fund. Saving books for much younger siblings can be self-defeating since books are revised regularly. Saving them just because you love them is also a bad idea. Sell while they are still useable so you can afford new ones.
Share Textbooks and Classes
• Teaching subjects to several students at a time saves time and money. My family studied ancient world history last year and the weather this year sharing one main textbook for all three students.
• Generously give of your used books to other families who may need them. Don’t hang on to books that could benefit another family. Share freely of anything extra you may have. Trust God to provide for you in return. I know He will. He has done it for me.
• God stands ready to help us teach our children. When finances are short, His arm is not short.
© 2009 Homeschooling Today magazine, Nehemiah Four, LLC. All rights reserved.