Homeschooling on a budget.
When deciding whether or not to homeschool, a whole gambit of emotions and questions came up for us. To be honest, one of the heavy hitters was, "Can we really afford this?" One look at a curriculum catalog (with my friend the calculator) and I was in tears. How were we going to buy everything needed for a "quality education?"
There's nothing wrong with using curriculum (we have a couple we quite enjoy) but, let me assure you, spending hundreds per child on software, kits, work/textbooks each year is only one way to do it. Let's take a look at some of the others.
Every day learning.
The daily practice of family work, individual chores, and skills such as cooking, proper home/self care are a natural part of learning and can easily be added into, or even focused on, to stretch funds. Baking bread or cookies together, special tasks such as grating cheese, folding laundry or even braiding a siblings hair are all beneficial skills.
Specialized learning.
Home and vehicle maintenance, sewing, gardening, canning and yard care are semi-regular occurrences in many homes and can be turned into learning time with some creativity (and patience). If you speak a foreign language, are handy with wood-working or a certain software, put those blessed talents to work and save the difference for a high priority school item.
Trade those talents!
Can you play an instrument, sing, dance, draw or build things well? Do you have a specialized area of knowledge or a passion you'd like to share? Put the feelers out and see if there are other homeschoolers in your area who would be interested in trading a day of instruction. If the interest is great enough (or word spreads) you may be able to provide quite an array of learning opportunities without breaking the budget.
Swap curriculum or buy used.
Check eBay, Craigslist and Amazon for used books and curriculum (see my online resource pages for more places to buy). Look for or arrange a group swap and don't forget to re-sell what is no longer needed in your home. It will put a little back in your pocket and can really benefit another family.
Resources!!!
Now let's get to my favorite part... Free and frugal resources, organized by subject- right at your fingertips! It's taken hundreds of hours to find and compile these little goodies. These are carefully selected materials we have (and still do) use in our home. (We hope they bless your home as much as they have ours). They're always growing, so please check back often, or sign up for updates!