Figuring out how we were going to afford curriculum was the biggest concern of mine when we first made the decision to homeschool. Here's what we came up with to make it work:
Each month we have a set ammount from my husband's paycheck go into each of the older 3 children's savings. We use this money to make school purchases that come up throughout the year. For our bigger spending, though, we set aside a portion of our tax return to use.
Another thing that helped us afford homeschooling is attend the homeschool conference in our area. I had requested a catalog from Rainbow Resource ahead of time and had a list of what I wanted to buy from them. While at the conference, I stopped by their booth and found many of the items I wanted to buy from them already on sale! What they didn't have in their booth, I was able to order from them and receive free shipping! Many other vendors such as Critical Thinking Co. and Alpha Omega had 20% off. This meant everything I had wanted to buy was cheaper than I had planned on! It was pretty exciting.
More than anything, though, we've been able to homeschool by God's grace. We truly believe that this is God's plan for our children and because of that, we believe that He will provide the resources to carry out His plan. Last year, we were just barely scraping by. Living a life without creating debt, yet sometimes very stressed over not being able to buy groceries for another week. Even so, God provided enough for us to purchase books we needed for homeschooling.
If you feel the call to homeschool and are unsure how you will afford it, try not to worry. Pray a ton, get educated on what's out there for curriculum and what will work best for your kids, and then get thrifty on finding ways to save up. Setting aside $10 a paycheck might be less overwhelming than taking out $270 all at once. Save up little by little and you'll get there. If you don't have extra money to save, then maybe it means cleaning out your house once a year and having a big garage sale. Or, maybe like us, you can set aside part of your tax return each year to put towards school.
I know homeschooling can be expensive, but the fruit of it is SO rewarding. I am already seeing the benefits of it in my own children, and we only "officially" started a year and a half ago!
Are you a homeschooling parent with a thrifty idea on how to afford curriculum? I'd love to hear it!
Wow, Morgan, all I can say everytime I read your posts is that you got it together, lady!! I have no desire to homeschool my kids (am I bad mom?) but you have some really great ideas on how families can afford to do this! I have a friend who homeschools her kids and I'll be sure to pass on the link to this post to her!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I got my journals in the mail a few days ago and I've already started! I'm having a blast!! I keep them by the computer! Yesterday Landon was watching the birds in the backyard and we decided to feed them some crackers and he loved watching them swoop down and eat the food. I recorded it instantly in his journal b/c it was such a fun experience to watch him discover the birds and giggle each time they found a cracker and ate it in front of us.
Thank you for all the trouble you went to in order to follow my blog. Sorry bout that. Blessings as you train up your flock in the way they should go.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all of your great tips. I don't homeschool, but I try to enrich my boys' experiences when we are at home. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteI gave you an award on my bog!
An excellent post about home schooling. I am glad I found your blog. :)
ReplyDeleteOops, I forgot to tell you I am now following you. I had thought I was. I am at http://www.rundpinne.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteHomeschooling down here in Australia is not that common - its interesting to learn about it!
ReplyDeleteI feel very blessed to have had friends and used book sales for Abeka. So you buy your books/cirriculum for next to nothing used and just purchase their workbooks new. That has been a huge help w/ me. Also the homeschool groups have sales where they get together and sell their old stuff- you may look into that- whomever needs it.
ReplyDeleteGreat suggestions! We homeschool five kids on a tight budget. There are so many wonderful, creative ways to teach and to find a good deal on curriculum! (afriendlywelcome.com from CommentClub4)
ReplyDeleteYou're definitely an organized mum Morgan! Well done. So many little ones to take care of and you're still so young. And then still homeschooling too.
ReplyDeleteI have two sons who are 10 and 11, and don't homeschool them as I am thrilled with the school they've been attending since they were three. I taught them as much as possible before then though, and still offer considerable guidance in particular with orals and projects, and they are both doing extremely well at school, of which I'm very proud.
I admire those who homeschool, but don't feel it suits everyone even if they had the time and money for it. You're doing an incredible job - keep it up!