Homeschooling on a Budget

I am trying to decide whether or not I will continue to use Picassa. I am very afraid that my private web albums which do not yet exist, might become public. Anyway I decided to do a Google search on myself and this is what I came up with. I wrote this article many years ago, though I am not sure exactly when and it has literally circulated through the entire USA. I originally sent it to an online homeschooling magazine. I re-read it today and was surprised at how well written it sounded. I felt it was worth sharing again as I did actually write it and it is not really outdated. I now have one child at University of Virginia, one in community college and two girls at home doing their schooling and we are still “Homeschooling on a Budget” (forgive me for not working out the formatting)
Homeschooling on a Budget by Mimi Dempsey
When I decided to homeschool some six or so years ago I figured I would play it safe and buy a
packaged curriculum. As I read more about homeschooling I got the confidence to make up my
own curriculum and as I read more and before I had planned to do “formal schooling” my then
four year old taught herself to read. I realized I already had a curriculum and didn’t know it.
This I believe is one way to save money, by using materials most parents of young children have
around the house already, we save quite a bit. Much of our “curriculum” comes from crayons,
construction paper, glue, scissors, old magazines, playdoh, clay, and the computer to name of few.
The many dollar stores around town are another cheap source of materials. I have found all kinds
of interesting and fun things there. We purchased a large set of durable hard plastic farm and wild
animals that my children have played with for several years. I have also found things like a map of
the US with removable stickers for the state names, educational puzzles, clocks and many other
things.
Perhaps the greatest source by far for my curriculum though is yard sales. People are always
amazed at what I have found there. The trick to getting good stuff is to make time to go regularly.
Over the years I have tried to go out on as many Saturday mornings as I can. You will not go out
on one Saturday morning and find everything you need for a year but if you go regularly it is
possible to get much of your curriculum there.
There are many other ways to save money and get materials either cheap or free. Used book sales,
thrift shops and flea markets are other places to check. I go to my local newspaper and they give us
the ends of their rolls of newsprint which come in very handy for many types of projects. With
creativity there is no end to places or ideas for saving money.
I also believe that I don’t need to have a particular item NOW. I look around for things before I buy
them new and sometimes I decide that I don’t really need or want what it was anyway. Sometimes
someone from your homeschool group might like to get rid of an item that you are interested in.
Ask around before you go out and purchase something brand new. Bartering and trading is also an
option for lessons and classes you might not be able to afford. Co-oping can be a fun way to share
human resources and get together with friends and share expertise.
Lastly my greatest resource by far has been our public library. Use it! I am surprised often by how
little some homeschoolers use their libraries. They have enough materials to make up almost any
program of study. If they don’t have what you want you can request an interlibrary loan. I love
taking my kids weekly to the library on Monday mornings and having almost the whole children’s
section to ourselves.
I cannot put a figure on the exact amount I spend on materials for my four kids but we have great
materials and wonderful homeschool experiences on very little.