The new school year got me thinking as to all the ways our family saves money on homeschooling. Here are 10 of those ways.
10 Ways Thrifty People Homeschool
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1. Thrifty Homeschoolers Know Where To Find Free Educational Apps
Our family has gotten several useful math and geography apps from Apps Gone Free available for free at the Apple App Store
Our family also love Smart Apps For Kids which I found through Money Saving Mom who features a link to Free App Friday every week. In just one week I saved $36 by getting a full series of Spanish apps. for my son for free.
2. Thrifty Homeschoolers Use Time4Learning
Our family currently uses Time4Learning for English for both of my son and daughter. We could use it for all the 4 core subjects of, Math, Language Arts , Science, & History, but currently we just use it for English as we are hooked on Teaching Texts Books for Math and my children go to a small private school for Science & History 2 days a week.
At just $19.95 a month for all 4 cores subjects for the first student (preK to 8th grade) and then $14.95 for the second student Time4Learning is inexpensive compared to other online curriculum companies –best part, most of the program is self marking and you can set up a calendar at the beginning of the year so that your child can know exactly what they need to do each day to finish by the end of the year.
I have also found the customer service at Time4Learning to be prompt in answering my questions as well as very helpful.
3. Thrifty Homeschoolers Know Where To Find Free Books
The largest source of free books is of course the library, but there are plenty of other sources available online for both free paperback books and eBooks. Check out the articles listed above for my best tips for finding free books.
4.Thrifty Homeschoolers Belong To Educents
Our family belongs to Educents which offers daily deals that contain deep discounts on educational curriculum and supplies. Educents often offers free printable packs to its members. Educents also has a store full of great educational products at reasonable prices.
5. Thrifty Homeschoolers Use Retail Me Not And Other Discount Code Sites
Our family buys most of our curriculum through Christian Book Distributors and I always check for a free shipping code at Retail Me Not before pressing enter. More often than not there is one available saving me as much as $25 per order (I order a lot of books at once) for less than 2 minutes work.
6. Thrifty Homeschoolers Shop & Sell At Secondhand Curriculum Sales
I always bring my oldest child along to the secondhand curriculum sales. He mans the selling table while I shop. By both shopping the sale and selling at the sale we not only save money but we also go home having made money.
7. Thrifty Homeschoolers use free websites for schooling
When my children were little they I used Starfall to help teach them to read. As they grew older I started using Spelling City to help with their spelling list. I know there are other great free sites out there that are great for homeschooling and would love for you to share them in the comment section with my readers.
8. Thrifty Homeschoolers make the most of their Netflix account
- How To Find Quality Educational Shows On Netflix To Use In Your Homeschooling
- Incorporating Netflix Into Your Homeschooling Day
If you have younger kids they can watch Sid The Science Kid for science. Slightly older kids can watch Magic School Bus. My older kids benefited from How It Is Made and many other series found on Netflix that help bring science to life. (I am not saying this should be your only science curriculum just a way to enrich it)
9. Thrifty Homeschoolers Take Advantage Of Free & Low Cost Community Events
Our family goes to the children’s museum on free days. We know when the city zoo near us has reduced admission prices. I keep my eyes peeled for free or low cost music and theater events.
10. Thrifty Homeschoolers Shop Yard Sales
My children don’t care what their binders look like since they are never leaving the house with them so I purchase them for .25 cents to .50 cents each at yard sales. I also find packages of unused blank flash cards,fancy themed pencils, great nonfiction and fiction titles and sometimes even actual homeschooling curriculum.
Bonus Tip:
Make sure you follow the blog Free Homeschool Deals. The site lists current free homeschooling curriculum deals as well as low cost educational items too.
Available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon–get your copy here!
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I would say use the library – the book resource aloe is fabulous, but many libraries are so much more than just books. They often have movies/documentaries for check out, educational presentations, art exhibitions, and more.
I second the library!
so very true, I use many of these tips!!!!
Great list of ideas for being thrifty! Thanks 🙂
Great list! I do most of these but I will have to check out Paperbackswap. Thanks for the tips! I’d love to have you link this to Titus 2 Tuesday this week on Cornerstone Confessions.. I hope to see you there.
Kathy
Love Paperbackswap, especially for my oldest child whose curriculum comes with a suggested reading list of books that are not always found in our local library.
Try Homeschool Freebie of the Day! Awesome.
Ha, I’m laughing as I’m reading each one, going, “Yep, that’s me. Definitely done that. That too.” Proud to be a thrifty homeschooler!
We use Netflix all the time. It is fabulous for history/social studies. There are so many really cool shows which can peak an interest and really fuel the fire to do some research. We have also done quite a few things with watching various movie adaptations of books after reading the novel.
We definitely use the library. We do not buy any science or history curriculum. We use only library books. I B-) ought a reading curriculum at a yard sale for $5 that will last me 4 years. After that, we will use the library for reading. We also use unit studies and various worksheets we find for free online to go along with our theme for science and history.