Where to Go for Inexpensive Home School Curriculum

Many people shy away from home schooling their children fearing the prohibitive cost of text books and other curriculum. Over the years I have talked with many parents that home school and learned a great deal about available curriculum and creative ideas for home schooling on a shoe string budget.

For some they home school for religious reasons for others medical issues cause children to miss a lot of school thus they are home schooled. For some its just a style the family prefers. Whatever the reason banding together gives us more opportunity to expand our curriculum.

In my community we have many options available for home schooling curriculum. Some go through the school district and have one class per week that the child attends at a local school. The school works closely with the parent choosing curriculum for each students individual learning style. Assignments are done at home and turned in to the parents and then reviews are done with the parent and student and a teacher similarly to public school parent teacher conferences. The school district will provide any text books or leaning packets available.

Another option is your public Library. Library's are full of information and a great opportunity to do a unit study on many subjects is at your fingertips. Library's often sell older text books and other materials at annual sales and one can pick up a great variety of learning materials at a greatly reduced cost.

With the invention of the Internet many other options are available. There are "virtual academies" whereby students attend an online class as well as a myriad of websites providing math and other helps in various subjects (coolmath.com, homeschooling.com to name a few).

There are many home schooling magazines out there that parents can sign up for. Some include catalogs full of great curriculum and others incorporate the curriculum into an actual magazine. Ordering one or more may just be the option you are looking for.

Garage and yard sales are another way to add to your collection of curriculum. Check your local bulletin boards (library, coffee shop or even a college campus) for great sales.