Episode 78: Homeschooling On A Budget

“I want to homeschool, but I don’t have the budget!” Homeschooling does not need to break the bank. We share many resources and ideas for where to look for free or low cost supplies and curriculum, how to plan inexpensive experiences, and how your homeschool lifestyle can make a big difference on your bank account. In our Coop Q & A, we answer the question: What is your favorite thing to buy for homeschooling?

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Show Notes

*some of our recommendations may include affiliate links, which means when you order them from Amazon, we will receive a small commission.

Scoop on the Coop

We enjoyed our co-op field trip to Cabrillo Point National Monument! We had a big turnout of Coop Group families, and it was a new experience exploring the lighthouse, museum, and tide pools together. When you field trip with a group, you get group rates! Because Jessica organized the day with the rangers, she landed us free parking (a savings of $20-$35)!

Budget Homeschooling

1) First Places to Look

Treasure hunting at its finest! This can be a great way to teach your children the value of a dollar.

Garage Sales:

Neighborhood garage sales, church yard sales, and school or estate sales especially will have anything and everything you need, curriculum, squishy body models, flash cards, art supplies, games, books, furniture, CD’s, sewing machines & fabric, and more.

Thrift Stores:

Thrift stores are just another giant garage sale, with some proper organization.

  • Not all thrift stores are created equal - Spend a Saturday touring the thrift stores and keep track of what categories each thrift store sells. 

  • Visit regularly - Once you find a good one, make sure to frequent it regularly. You can find children’s books, picture & chapter books, reference books, parenting and homeschooling teacher development books, and even workbooks for $1-$4 each or as a collection. 

  • Repurpose Finds - Repurpose furniture into forts, desks, and outdoor learning space. Collect tea cups for poetry tea time, and buy that $5 large cheap painting that could be reused as a canvas for your budding artist.

  • Enrichment items - Globes, train sets, picnic blankets for sitting in the grass, lawn games, and even dress up clothes and costumes for writing a play and performing with your co-op

Libraries: Every library has their own set of experiences, resources, 3D printers, computer learning games (ABC Mouse), puzzles & other learning toys. They have Books, CD’s, DVD’s, Storytime, Chess club, and more. 

  • Get a list of their events, craft days, lessons, themed experiences, Children’s activities like reading 100 books to earn a prize. 

  • Free meals for kids during summer

  • Used book store

  • Library App for audio books - Overdrive and Libby by Overdrive seem to be popular ones

2) Second Places to Look

Facebook Groups - The homeschool network wants to help!

  • Buy Nothing Group (your city)

  • Search: Homeschool for Free, Free Homeschool, Free Homeschool Printables

Websites, Blogs, and Magazines

Discounts

  • Teacher discounts - at stores like Barnes and Noble (20%) and others - just always ask - need teacher ID

  • Groupon - Escape rooms, climbing wall, bay cruises & whale watching, ice skating, zip-lining

  • Homeschool Rates - many lessons and places offer homeschool rates for a certain time of day. Gymnastics is 25% cheaper if lesson is 2:30 PM or earlier

  • Sibling Rates - if you sign up the siblings, there is often a 15%-25% discount for each sibling. Find places that discount each class a family signs up for more and more.

  • Passes - A museum pass, annual pass to amusement park, aquarium, or zoo, and botanical garden passes allow you to go in and out and really dive in deep into a topic or subject with hands-on experiences. If you buy one annual pass per year and focus on capitalizing on all the learning experiences you can have there, then rotate to a new place the following year. You can pick a museum for a pass that may offer trades with other museums during a specific month or on specific days

Charter Schools for Homeschooling

Registering with an independent study charter school (or hybrid) can be a great way to gain free or low-budget curriculum, technology, and experiences. Some charter schools allow a robust budget for curriculum, lessons, and experiences. You just need to follow the regulations and meet the requirements for admission to and compliance with the charter school. Different states offer various options. Check out our Charter Schools Podcast Episode 74 for more information about this.

Request Gifted Lessons, Adventures, Experiences, & Books

Instead of random toys or clothes, ask family and friends to give the gift of lessons, adventures, experiences, and books!

  • Create your list now, keep it current, and be ready to share it when asked, “What does she want for her birthday/Christmas?”

  • Communicate with others a specific lesson or adventure your child wants and offer that as a gift idea for her friends to pool money together

  • Consider gifting learning experiences and adventures for Christmas to others, including your own kids, instead of buying toys

3) Co-op & Group Benefits

Your co-op or homeschool group together can obtain discounts by sharing the cost! If you do not have a homeschool group, look for “Homeschool Field Trip” groups online or on social media.

Group prices and discounts: 

  • Field trips

  • Group lessons

  • Group tickets (try asking for a “Homeschool Rate” or a “Homeschool Day”)

Co-op Parent Expertise

  • Moms can organize events & learning experiences using their own ideas & expertise

  • Extended family members of co-op members can share expertise

Reviews & Ideas

  • Curriculum reviews, peruse, share - it’s helpful to have a group of homeschoolers who have tried and true curriculum that you can learn their feedback, flip through it yourself, and even share it (if copyright permits)

  • Books to share & trade - We love sharing our curriculum enrichment books, fun picture books, topical books, and more.

  • Lesson plan ideas - Some moms will create a unit study themselves! Homeschool parents are typically delighted to share resources and lesson plans with other homeschoolers, thus saving time and money.

4) You: Make Changes & Commitments in Your Lifestyle

Commit to minimalism in content (curriculum) 

  • “The quality of study matters far more than the mere quantity of learning” Teaching From Rest

  • “Curriculum is not something you buy, it is far too robust to be purchased online or checked off on a set of lesson plans. It is a set of encounters that form the soul and shape the intellect.” Teaching From Rest

  • Essentials Only - Just buy or use what is essential

  • Check out curriculum before you buy

  • Save - Hold onto to favorite content/curriculum for future children or for circling back in a few years, 

  • Sell - If you know you won’t ever need it again, consider trading with homeschool friends or selling the curriculum right away so that it is current and still maintains high value.

  • Buy unit studies that can reach many ages

Be Creative with Free Activities

  • Cook together

  • Live life together - chores, errands, plant a garden, take care of pets, create family traditions using what you already have

  • Discuss topics and good ideas, read books, hike together and talk about nature, play games together, scavenger hunt

Create a Budget

  • Learn about budgeting - research principles from Dave Ramsey or other best practices

  • Maintain realistic expectations 

    • What can you actually work on during a day/week/month/year?

    • What are your kids actually interested in?

    • What value does this curriculum/activity/field trip actually bring to your child?

  • Time budget - look at the amount of time you have, rank necessity, and decide how much should be allocated to each category. You might find that you do not need to spend very much money at all.

    a) Things that are free - discussions, prayer, expertise, print-outs, chores, hiking, youtubes - Operation Ouch, etc., playgrounds, borrowing books, 

    b) Things that you already have and can use - books & reading aloud, playing on an instrument, bike riding, caring for a pet, curriculum you haven’t finished, unit studies, subscription boxes, recipes, organizing, game playing, documentaries on subscription channels you already have for other reasons

    c) Things that need a small budget - a unit study, a downloadable, a homeschooling magazine, a curriculum update for new year, a reference book, garage sale finds

    d) Things that need a bigger budget - box curriculum, music/art/dance/golf lessons, sports leagues, technology

Focus on What Really Matters

  • Integrate subjects

  • Focus on a few subjects, do less and dive deeper utilizing youtube, documentaries, and other offerings from subscriptions you already have

  • Save your money where you can

  • Want a homeschool overnight adventure or road trip? Try investing in camping gear. Expensive up front cost - so borrow first to see if you like camping. If so, use camping at $20-$40 per night to travel your state.

Coop Q & A

Question: What is your favorite thing to buy for homeschooling?

Answer: Mandi used to buy subscription boxes of all kinds - but now her favorite thing to purchase are Unit Studies (For more about unit studies, check out our podcast episode 29). Some subscription boxes can fall under unit studies (like Universal Yums or Radish Kids), but what she has really enjoyed recently is the Gatherround Homeschool Unit Study experiences so far. Jessica has always valued buying reference books, especially beautiful ones that can be used for all types of learning experiences. These kinds of books are utilized many times throughout a child’s education, no matter the age or grade and are worth pulling some of the budget.

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