So you want to home school but you don’t want to break the bank. That’s understandable, especially in today’s economy. Have you seen the price of some of that curriculum?  Of course, that’s why you’re reading this post.
 
There’s no getting around the fact that you’ll have to spend some money if you’re going to do a decent job home schooling your kids. But there are many ways to do it without going broke, so don’t get discouraged just yet.
 
First, there are several places where you can get used curriculum at a reduced price. You’ve probably already guessed eBay, Amazon and Half. There is also the Curriculum Exchange, The Swap, Educators Exchange, The Book Cover, Abe Books, Alibris, Home School Classifieds, Home_school Fleamail (yahoo groups) and a whole host of other on-line used home school curriculum sites.

This is assuming you even want to use curriculum…
 
Did you know some home schoolers don’t use curriculum? Yep, that’s right. So what do they do instead? They go to zoos, parks and museums, for example. These places often have classes and demonstrations for home learners.
 
These home schoolers also go to libraries. Chances are there is a public library near you. Do you know that public libraries have a large supply of children’s textbooks and readers you can use to teach your child to read?  Our local library has the well-known book, “Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons”. If only I had known sooner, I could have saved the money I forked over to buy it. (Sigh…)
 
Libraries also have math books with lots of problems to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals and percents. They have science and history books to engage the mind and enlarge student vocabularies. There are craft books and music books. Our library even has stuffed animals for imaginative play.
 
Have we made our point about libraries?? Don’t let this great resource go to waste.
 
Of course, there are other ways to save money while home schooling. Some home learners are taking advantage of the many web sites that provide worksheets for a minimal fee. Some are even free. Places like looklistenlearn.org, themathworksheetsite.com, tlsbooks.com, edhelper.com, kidsknowit.com, spellingtime.com, mathmammoth.com and coolmath4kids.com. These are just a few of the wonderful resources you can use. Some people use them for extra practice. Others use them as the main curriculum.
 
If you are really adventurous, you could design your own curriculum. Of course this takes a lot of time which many of us don’t have. Always a catch somewhere, isn’t there?
 
You could also use unit studies. Unit studies are usually less expensive than other forms of curriculum, and you can use them with children of varying ages at the same time. They reinforce reading, writing and thinking skills, while allowing the student an in-depth study of one subject. Unit studies allow the student to see how things are interrelated. You will, however, have to add a math curriculum. Unit studies don’t cover math. 

Don’t forget garage sales, rummage sales, auctions and used book stores where you might find something you can use. So get out there and take a look. You can use it as an excuse to get out of the house.
 
Last, but certainly not least, you can buy them from other home schoolers in your support group. What? You don’t belong to a support group? Well, now you have one more reason to join…