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Today I am sharing some great tips on Homeschooling for FREE in the Elementary ages over at Free Homeschool Deals. But, sometimes you just need to use bought curriculum. We use it for several reasons, but one BIG reason is that I find it keeps us on track much better. We’ve only been homeschooling for three years and I still find myself getting overwhelmed with everything.
Another reason I like using bought curriculum is because when I started out homeschooling I didn’t know my child’s learning style very well so I was more comfortable with an outlined curriculum – one that told me and him what to do. But, have no fear!! No matter the reason you need or want to use bought curriculum you can still homeschool frugally!! Here are a few ideas that I use to keep our curriculum costs to a minimum.
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Non-Consumables ~ Several companies make products that have reproducible pages so they can be used over and over. These are GREAT for families with multiple children, like us. You only pay once for the product and you get to enjoy it for years! We use several Evan-Moor products (we love the Dailies – Daily Word Problems and Daily Geography) and this Vocabulary Activities that Support Research-Based Instruction from Carson-Dellosa.
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Garage Sales ~ Garage Sales are also a great place to find non-consumable items, such as flash cards, wipeable products, readers and books to stock your library!! Last summer I scored some hardback Hardy Boys books for only $1 each!!!! WOO to the HOO!!!! Mister Bull has devoured them during his reading time.
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Discount Stores ~ We have a homeschool re-sale shop here in our town that I have used to find lots of items, especially the readers we use for Mister Bull. I fell in love with the A Beka readers, but they were so darn expensive. I can get them for ½ price or less at the discount store! I also find some of the non-consumable resources I like, such as Evan-Moor. The discount store is also my favorite place to find Teacher’s Editions!! You can also find books at Goodwill and Salvation Army type stores.
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Sales ~ Watch for those annual or semi-annual teacher sales!!! If you need school supplies, Staples has their annual teacher sale where you can buy supplies for $.05 each! The Christian bookstore in our area has a semi-annual sale for teachers and another specifically for homeschoolers. During the sale (usually 2 days) they offer all school related items (curriculum, paper, books…anything school related) for at least 30% off and some of it is more!!!
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Shop around ~ Mister Bull has a few Asperger tendencies and is very used to his curriculum and the way it works. So we have chosen to stick with it for him. So, every year I figure out what I need for the next year and have it laid out on a spreadsheet. Then I make columns for the places I shop (online and in-store) to write down the prices for comparison. Pay close attention to those SALE dates as you may want to take advantage of those!!!
>>>>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CURRICULUM COMPARISON SPREADSHEET<<<<
Over the past few years I have found several different websites that I continually find good deals at and that offer great shipping – sometimes even FREE!!! Here are my favorites:
Educents ~ this is a new homeschool curriculum SALE site. If you have not signed up for their daily newsletters, you must!! They have great deals, but they only last a short time!
Timberdoodle ~ I found this site when we first started homeschooling. What I like about it are the Timber-bucks that you earn when you purchase. Those add up and can be redeemed on future purchases, giving you items for free down the road!!
Amazon ~ I always check Amazon for prices. If you have a PRIME account, your shipping is always free. If not, you can still get free shipping on Super Saver items as long as they total over $25. This is a great place to find those Teacher’s Editions at a great price!
Ebay ~ Another great site for finding books and Teacher’s Editions.
Half.com ~ This is the little known (or at least it was new to me last year) discount site run by Ebay. They often have better deals than Ebay, so I like to check their prices too.
Christian Book ~ This is a great resource for all those Bible curriculum and biblical books and videos at a discount. Join their email subscription list and keep up to date on their sales too! They have great sales throughout the year!!
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Gifts or Donations ~ While getting school-related items for birthday and Christmas may not be “fun” for the kids, we often ask family to get learning games for our kids! That way they get a game (which satisfies them), but it can be used for schooling too!! Also, think outside the box and ask for family gifts – such as Season Passes to the Zoo or Aquarium near you. We love our season passes!! Amy at Raising Arrows has a GREAT post on Family Christmas Gifts to give you even more ideas!
As for books and such, ask grandparents (who tend to clean out their houses and go through things as they age) if they have any historical books that could be used for school!! Old maps and atlas’ are great too!
So you see…the days of spending thousands of dollars for a quality homeschool education are OVER!! There are so many options out there that allow you to easily homeschool your children on a budget and nearly FREE!! I wish you luck in your homeschooling endeavors!!
What are your favorite FREE or FRUGAL sites for homeschool curriculum?
Happy Friday!!!
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Sharing with these parties: What Joy is Mine, The Modest Mom Blog, Far Above Rubies, Teaching What Is Good, Educating Laytons, Raising Mighty Arrows, Hearts for Home Blog Hop, Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling, Learning All The Time, Home Grown Learners, Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers, Homeschool Review on Hammock Tracks, 123Homeschool4Me
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