Homeschooling Can Be Cheap

Today, we are so excited to welcome a guest post from Christa, who blogs at www.littlelogcottageschool.com !

One of the comments that scared me when I was considering homeschooling was, “It’s not always cheap…” That’s not really something that a stay at home mom who just had her third child wants to hear. 

After registering with an umbrella school, buying curriculum, supplies, and everything else that you think that you need to homeschool, I can see why people shy away from it.  Since I was a public school teacher for 8 years I set out to prove that I could homeschool my soon to be Kindergartener for next to nothing and have a great time doing it.  Using creative solutions can get you on the path to saving big bucks when it comes to homeschooling.   Here are some tips for those wanting to homeschool on the cheap:

1.     Register directly with your school board.  

It doesn’t cost a cent to register and you may have more freedom with your curriculum.  

2.     Get to know a teacher or someone who does.  

Teachers throw out books, curriculum, and resources every spring and most are more than happy to pass it on rather than throw it out.  I have a whole guest bedroom full of curriculum, resources, manipulatives, games, and even dramatic play toys that teachers have passed along to me.

3.     Pinterest and other great sites 

These can be a homeschooler’s best friends.  There are countless FREE material and resources that can provide anything that you need.

4.     Follow a teacher blog or website.  

If you haven’t purchased a curriculum you may be worried that your child isn’t getting all of the skills that they need.  I look for a few top-notch teachers who are keeping their parents and audience informed about the skills that they are teaching.  I have found many of these teachers through my hometown’s magnet school website.  Their newsletters keep me informed of what is being expected of children and has been a tremendous aid in my curriculum planning.

5.     Use your local library.  

I usually have a different theme that I study each week.  Just type the subject into your library’s card catalog and you will have a wealth of books to go along with your lessons.  I couldn’t live without the library!

6.     Plan, plan, and plan!  

Like any money saving strategy it does take some planning on your part.  I set up about 30 min. a day to plan.  I try to do one subject a day to get ready for the next week.  This way I am not spending all my time on the weekend planning.  You also may want to set up a school supply budget for each month because sometimes it is easy to go overboard!

If homeschooling is calling to you and your family, don’t allow the cost to scare you away.  Homeschooling may even add to your family coffer.  I started homeschooling last year and am actually making money this year by opening a cottage school.  I have created a place where local families bring their children 1-2 days a week for lessons.  So that means that I am actually getting paid to homeschool this year!  How cool is that?

Christa Brown is a homeschooling mom and founder of the Little Log Cottage School.  Her blog at www.littlelogcottageschool.com  is where she provides information about her lessons, techniques, and tips for homeschooling families and teachers. 

Breaking Out of the Box (Taking the First Step Away from Boxed Curriculum)

Today, we are very excited to have a guest post by Dusty from To the Moon and Back!

When I first started homeschooling four years ago, I barely knew anything about the journey that I was about to embark on.  I had never expected to educate my children on my own and I didn't know anyone else who did it either.  I was all alone in a great big new world.  Lost.

After many, many hours of researching on the internet and stalking homeschooling blogs, I finally found the perfect answer--a boxed curriculum that laid everything out for me.  It made me breathe a heavy sigh of relief and a weight lifted from my shoulders.  I had found a way for my hand to be held as I took those first steps into home education.

We loved it.  Every day was a joy.  My oldest daughter was thriving and with each new skill she gained, I started to gain a tiny bit of confidence that yes, I could do this. Just a tiny bit though.  I still needed more time to grow in my new "teacher" role.

We continued to use that boxed curriculum for the next three years.  We still love it!  But as time has passed, I've slowly started to realize that our family just doesn't fit in the box.  We began to want to explore and stretch outside of it.  So we took breaks from our regular curriculum here and there to learn about other topics.  We started to supplement what was planned out for us because we wanted more than what was offered.

Now with the end of the current school year nearing, I've been pondering if we were ready to move on to different pastures.  Not necessarily greener pastures, because I believe that prepackaged curriculum can be a great blessing to the right family at the right time. It's just time for our family to break free.

So just like in the beginning of my journey, I poured over catalogs and websites and more blogs but rather than look for a hand to guide me, I was looking for the resources that allowed me to lead. 

It's been a little overwhelming and intimidating at times, but I now know that I can do this.  I'm not scared of bumps or forks in the road anymore.  God gave me these children and He knows that I'm capable, even if I'm not so sure all the time.  What are my tips for taking this step?

*Pray.  Ask God to calm your nerves and show you the way.  Even if we can be the leader when it comes to curriculum choices, we should never forget who is leader of us all.

*Take your time.  Don't rush things.  Grab a highlighter and some post its and really delve into the catalogs, reading the descriptions and taking the time to weigh if what you are looking at is a good fit for you family.  Ask questions on forums or groups.  Search the internet for reviews.  Research thoroughly.

*Ask your kids what they want to learn about.  You might be surprised with what they say!  Learning happens best when children are interested in the content of what they are being taught!

*Take into account your children's learning styles AND your teaching style.  If your child is a kinesthetic learner, it's probably best not to load up on workbooks.  Likewise, you need to think about if you want the curriculum to be teacher intensive or more independent.  Do you want to have to do a little planning with some outlines or do you want to map it all out on your own?  These are all important things to consider when choosing what you will use. 

*Don't be afraid to take a risk.  It isn't the end of the world if you purchase something new and then find that it just isn't going to work.  Sell it, return it, or shelve it for another time.  It's okay to make mistakes.

*Remember that if it doesn't work out, that's okay too.  If you get into your first year and things just aren't going well, there is nothing wrong with you or your homeschool if you decide to back to the boxed curriculum.  Some things just work better for some people and not others.  One of the best things about homeschooling is that you aren't tied down to one method, one curriculum.  You have the freedom to choose what works best for you and your children.

I'm obviously not an expert on this subject matter, as I'm only about to do this for the first time myself, but I'm excited for the new direction our homeschool is taking and want to encourage other moms who might be unsure if they have the ability to do it too.

Do you use a boxed curriculum or do you pick and choose different sources?

Dusty is a stay at home mother of three who is expecting her fourth child this summer!  She has been married to the love of her life for nearly 8 years and is trying to figure out her own path while devouring chocolate and leaning on the Lord. She blogs about homeschooling, homemaking, motherhood, and faith at To the Moon and Back.  

Gearing Up to Start Year-Round Schooling

Today, we are very excited to welcome a guest post by Stephanie from Where He Leads, We Follow!

During our very first year of schooling we started in early July.  I thought it would be great to start early and have time off as needed and an extended Christmas holiday.  It was nice!  We got all of our days required in by the end of April and we were able to relax.  I decided that next year would be different.  We would start school later in the year and go along with the public school calendar.  So, we started in early August and followed the national holidays and breaks that the public school system does.  It left the kiddos and myself feeling more burnt out than ever and needing a major break.  We didn't do much in the way of schooling through March and are back at the grind here in April.  That made me stop and evaluate what we should change - because honestly something had to change.

I prayed.  Boy have I been praying!  Asking God to reveal to my heart what it is that we should change in order to keep us all from feeling the burn out at the middle of our next school year.

I talked to my hubby. I love that man!  He keeps me grounded when my feet want to leave the floor.  He tells me when my ideas are crazy or when I need to push forward.

I talked with the kiddos.  Honestly those two were no help!  HA!  They could care less that mom is burnt out.  They are just ready to be done with the school day so they can go outside to play.

So that leads me to taking with you today.  Today I am planning.  I am planning our very first year-round school year.  Wanna know what my thoughts are?  Good!  I thought you did.  ;)

First of all we are going to be taking a 4 week break from mid May through mid June.  That way we can rest and recharge and mom can get things in order.

While we are on our break I am going to be gathering all of our necessary materials for our next school year.  I already know the curriculum we are using and have the bulk of it purchased.  I just have to buy the odds and ends.

Then I will work on our schedule.  We are required 180 days of school (who are we kidding we all know kids learn 365 days a year!) so I am going to figure out when we can/should take breaks and chunk up our curriculum to fit within those days.  I will also have to take our co-op classes into account since we are planning to join a new co-op next year.

After that is done we get to start back fresh and new!!  We will have some workbooks, mainly handwriting  that we will have to carry over to the new school year but that is fine by me.  

We are all looking forward to our new school year and are excited to see what greatness it holds for our family.

What does your school calendar look like?

Stephanie is homeschooling mama of 2 and wife to the man of her dreams.  She has been creating graphics for her web-based business for three years.  While homeschooling was never a dream she dreamed for herself she is thankful that God placed it upon her heart.  Find her homeschool blog, Where He Leads, We Follow, here: http://www.whereheleads-wefollow.com and her design website, Tatorbug Creations, here: http://www.tatorbugcreations.com

Our Evolving Homeschool Style

Today, I am excited to introduce you to Laura, a blogging friend who also happens to homeschool.    I met Laura earlier this year through her blog, Freedom at Home and School.  She shares about striving for a simple life, but one rich in adventures and relationships.  Laura's words of wisdom and experiences will encourage both new and veteran homeschoolers.

We will soon begin our sixth year homeschooling our two children.  Lydia is 13.  Lyndon is 11.  I am not a veteran homeschooler, but I have learned what works best for our family at this season of our lives.  When you homeschool, you spend enough time with your children to truly learn what makes them tick.

Homeschooling has benefited our lives in more ways than I can count.  It brought our family closer.  Our children are ahead of their peers in many subjects (and we're not even trying).  I would love to share everything I have learned that makes homeschooling work for our family.  But I was asked to write a post, not a book.  So in keeping with a major theme in our lives, I will keep it simple and share what works for us.

ECLECTIC.  That's our current homeschool style.

Webster's Dictionary defines eclectic as "selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles."  Exactly!  That's what we do.  We try to incorporate into our schooling only that which works the best (curriculum, styles) and toss the rest.

We began homeschooling in 2006.  I was so structured, I could barely move.  Hourly schedules, daily schedules, weekly schedules, annual schedules, schedules, schedules.  Good grief, I was so rigid.
 
I used the Sonlight curriculum for a couple of years.  (Sonlight, by the way is a super homeschooling resource.)  Sonlight's scheduling notebook is huge and it is full of schedules; hourly, daily, and weekly.  I took great comfort in this structure when I first started out.  If I didn't have the Sonlight scheduling notebook to hang onto during those first years, I might not have had the courage to seek out different formats that work better for our family today.  Those highly structured years helped train me.  I learned so much about how I teach, how our children learn, and how we work best together when we "do school." 

Today, however, I find highly structured schedules too restricting.  Rigid structure took away from the spontaneity that I find to be such a delightful part of homeschooling. 

Structure is important.  I get that.  But the backbone of how we homeschool is much more flexible today.  We bend deep trying new things, but we don't break.  We are solid on the basic subjects every child should know; math, writing, reading, history....  I know what I want our children to learn each year.  And we get there.

That said, here are a few guidelines that have worked well for us on our homeschool journey. 

*Have fun!  Be flexible!  Enjoy your children.
One of the most difficult things I had to learn as my childrens' teacher was to laugh with them during school.  Somehow I thought if we were silly when we were learning something, the kids wouldn't take learning seriously.  Was I ever wrong!  When we laugh together we bond.   A good belly laugh releases those wonderful endorphins that make life less serious and more fun.  It actually becomes easier to refocus and learn when your heart is light.  "A cheerful heart is good medicine."  Proverbs 17:22

When you're not rigid with your schedule, you can marinate in a subject that catches your childrens' fancy.  Last year we spent an entire day making crystals.  It wasn't planned, but it was one of our best days.  Our study on the Early Roman Empire was put away until the next day because learning about and making crystals is so fun!  We spent the day covering the house with our experiments.  Borax crystal ornaments, alum crystal geodes, and sugar crystal sticks.  We took pictures and videos.  The pages of their science journals were being filled and we were laughing a lot.  I loved that day.

*Be sneaky!  Teach them subjects that you've always wanted to learn.
When you are having fun, your children will have fun.  They will feel your excitement and internalize it.  It will energize them.  Think about a subject that interests you and learn about it together. 

I don't remember learning much about the Civil War in school.  I decided that since my children need to learn about the Civil War at some point, why not now?  From the library we borrowed some lovely coffee table books on the Civil War and left them out for the children to peruse at their leisure.  We dug through letters written by my great-great grandfather while he was a commander in the Civil War.  We watched movies and documentaries.  We memorized the Gettysburg address.  We read novels and biographies.  I loved that time. 

*Be creative.
Any subject can get boring.   When the kids are struggling with a particular concept (often in math), we'll get out our huge eraser board and some colorful markers.  I'll ask the kids to switch roles with me.  They teach me what they know and I try to coach them through it.  Finding a good video online explaining a certain discipline also helps.  The web site http://khanacademy.org is a great resource for just about every subject.

We are not above enticing our children with money to learn something beyond what we are currently studying.  Money motivates them these days (we don't do allowance.)  Once in a while, my husband and I will put together a list of a dozen things the children can learn with a dollar amount attached to each.  The list magically appears on the refrigerator and stays up for just one week.  Once the list is taken down, so is their opportunity to make some extra money.  Five dollars to memorize the name and location of each European country and capital (spelling counts.)  $3.00 memorize the three branches of government and explain the function of each.  Our kids have spent entire evenings devoted to learning from that list in order to earn some money.  No TV.  Just learning.  It's heaven.

*Be fearless in the face of a newly purchased curriculum.
After hours spent researching a curriculum and investing in its purchase, I found it difficult to acknowledge that it was not working for our kids.  In spite of our best intentions, sometimes, you and your child will not "hit it off" with a particular curriculum.  If you see your child's eye's begin to glaze over and your child does NOT want to work on that particular subject, then toss it!  Your child does not have to endure a boring curriculum when there are scores of choices available online.  When we end up with a dud,  I have learned to move on quickly.  Resell it.  Give it to a family whose children find it enjoyable.  But move on! 

*Be organized.
It sounds like a contradiction.  Being organized does not equal being rigid or super-structured.  It simply means that we can quickly find what we're looking for.   It saves time.  It makes life less complicated.  I reorganized our homeschool closed this year.  Each shelf has it's own subject.  Each child has his/her own shelf.  There is a special box for their laptops.  We can locate a pencil sharpener and our writing curriculum in a heartbeat.  Less physical clutter means less clutter in our brains.

*When you want to give up.... DO!  (But only for a little while).
When things get hard (and they will), don't be afraid to take drastic measures.  Just quit... for a while.  I don't always take our family's "emotional temperature" before we begin our day.  I may start the day intending to finish a difficult chapter in math followed by a long chapter in history.  But if the kids wake up exhausted from a long week of swim practice and 4H activities, they may not share my energy.  Never be afraid to cancel school for the day, the week, two weeks...  Do something out of the box.  Go see a matinee (when all the other kids are in school!), ride your bike, play a game, hunker down and read books for pleasure.  Whatever caused the difficulty will soon seem insignificant as you wind down and school can begin again when you've got your equilibrium back.  A rested and relaxed child can do twice the work in half the time.

*Don't try to recreate a public school in your home.
We rarely sit at a desk for school.  More often than not, the kids are stretched out in the living room.  We break it up by writing an essay at the kitchen table, doing geography in the master bedroom (we have the world map tacked to our bedroom wall), watching our writing DVD snuggled on the couch together.  As long as the kids know where to find their stuff, they can work wherever they feel comfortable.  Both of my children are kinetic learners, so there is a lot of moving around in our house.  A physical change of location can alter the atmosphere and make learning easier.

*Talk about Him throughout the day.
"You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."  Deuteronomy 11:19

Bad moods?  Arguing?  Take a break, sit down together and talk about what King Solomon said: "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing" Proverbs 12:18.   "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control." Proverbs 29:11  There are endless moments to bring God's word into your day.  Often we'll just go off on rabbit trails and end up with a Bible study for the morning.  "Who wrote Proverbs?"  "Who was his father?"  "What great feat did his father do as a child?"

FINALLY....  Don't forget the excitement of new school supplies.  Especially in the middle of the year.  Fresh pencils, erasers, and journals?  An inexpensive boost of adrenaline; a renewed excitement for learning.  I don't know why.  It just works.

I love being a homeschool mom.  I no longer cringe when I hear someone ponder about the "waste" of my legal education.  Even on days that I feel like throwing in the towel, I know that I'm doing the right thing and tomorrow will be a better day.  I know that what my husband and I have chosen to do is making a positive difference in all of our lives. 

Time is passing so quickly.  Our children are with us for such a short while.  The world will have them soon enough.  In the meantime, pour yourself and your values into your kids.  Pray for them.  Pray with them.  Have fun with them.  


If you're still reading, you must have a heart to homeschool your children.  You are not alone.  There are millions of homeschooled kids around the world.  Our numbers grow every year.  Why?  Because it works! 

Never, ever give up.  There is always something new to try.   There is always encouragement to be found from a friend or an insightful blog.  There are as many different styles of homeschooling as there are children.  Find what works for you.  You will never regret homeschooling.  Even if you homeschool for a year or two, you will be giving your children a gift most kids never get; time with you. 

Homeschooling is one of the best decisions my husband and I have ever made.  We have no regrets.  None.

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About Laura:

My husband and I have been homeschooling our two children for six years. Lydia is 13 and Lyndon is 11. We moved to Montana from the big city 21 years ago looking for a more peaceful life. Earlier this year I began a blog, Freedom at Home and School, to journal about our attempts to simplify the very hectic lives we had somehow managed to create.  Many of my posts involve homeschooling because it is such an important part of our lives. I practiced law until our children were born. Now my days are spent taking care of my home and family. I enjoy gardening and couldn't survive without a pile of books on my bedside table. Being a stay at home mom is much more difficult and infinitely more important than my law practice. My husband is a business owner. His work creates a schedule that allows him to spend time with us each day. We love hanging out with our family. We see the speed at which our lives are passing. Our primary focus is God and family. We are blessed.

Crazy Quilts

Today, we are thrilled to welcome a guest post by Kim from Garden Tenders.  

There is nothing like a quilt to make you feel loved and comforted.  All the pieces of the colorful blanket loving fitted together; each stitch a labor of love.  Some quilts are arranged neatly with a set pattern but the ones I love the most are the crazy quilts.  They’re pieces of life, in all sorts of shapes, sizes , and colors that are only matched by a wildflower meadow patched and pieced by God.   Crazy quilts are fitted together with a hope and a prayer.  It reminds me of motherhood. 

No one ever said it would be easy, in fact I remember my own mother telling me it would be hard sometimes; but well worth the effort.  Nearly five years into my own career in Mommyville I can begin to see what she means.  Some days are lessons in patience and it’s only by God’s love that we seem to make it through and other days the pieces all have matching sides with no odd ball angles or slices taken out.  Those days make the other days a little easier to bear, so we piece on.

Part of the key for my family is to accept the crazy days as beautiful in themselves.  I know this can be easier said than done, but when I accomplish this we sure have better days.  I remind myself that God made valleys, craggy cliffs, winding rivers, and jagged peaks; when He was done He said it was all good.  Not just the fields of wildflowers and mountain lakes were called good, but everything was good.  Besides, even the wildflower fields have stones in them.

You need to stock your sewing kit with a few things as you piece this quilt of life together.  First, you need a strong support system.  You and your spouse need to be on the same page.  If you aren’t there, get there.  You need to agree on how you will educate and discipline your children.  If you both have similar goals in mind those crazy patterned, uneven days will fit together better.  Two working on the puzzle piece makes for light work.  There is nothing is worse than fighting over a piece of a puzzle and where it should fit in. When this happens, no one wins and the piece may never find a way to fit in. 

Secondly, you need faith.  You really need to have a reliance on God, not just sometimes, but all the time.  There is someone in charge and it doesn’t have to be you putting your finger in the cake.  Just like a cake that is constantly bumped and poked, your plans will fail when they are not based on something outside of your own visions.  As you piece this crazy quilt called life you need to remember that God is the pattern maker and He knew the piece you are fitting before it was crafted.  He never said it would be easy, for nothing worthwhile is come by easily.  He uses the difficult lessons to refine us.  While rejoicing may be difficult during those bad times, remembering that they serve some purpose helps us to keep going forward.  I find the purpose is generally revealed before too much time has passed.

In addition you must have a willingness to fail.  Well, you don’t really fail, you change.  You need to be adaptable.  One day all your quilt pieces will be straight and have identical sides and the next you may find that you need to change up and your methods of fitting the pieces together have to change.  Prayer helps more than you can imagine.  If nothing more than it’s God’s way of giving you quite time to listen for Him.  He hates competing for your attention between the TV, computer, the never ending to do list….  In my life I have learned that when I neglect listening to Him when he is trying to speak to me, that He MAKES me make the time.  It’s much better to listen early on than after we have fouled things up beyond easily mending the damage we caused, from not listening.

God enjoys the crazy quilts of life.  Take a deep breath and a few minutes to enjoy the one you have been given.  It really is beautiful. 

Happy tending gentle friends,

Kim

Kim is a wife, mom, friend, part of a homeschool family, garden tender, and a fur mommy.  She blogs at http://www.gardentenders.blogspot.com/