Homeschooling without spending a fortune

The first step may seem obvious, but if you haven't figured out what's important you will end up scattering your limited budget on non-essentials instead of sinking some money on the bigger-ticket items. Spending less doesn't mean that everything has to be under $5, necessarily, but that your spending must be focused in order to achieve your homeschooling goals. Your choices will be different. Your family situation is unique. You know your child better than anyone. Use this knowledge.

For example, when we pulled my son out of school in grade 7, he was several grades behind in math and froze whenever it was presented to him. He also lacked any sort of confidence in himself. I made these two things my money focus initially.

We spent $50 of the $100 on a (secondhand) math program that did not have too many problems on a page, had no colours or pictures to distract him, and offered simple, straighforward explanations.

Another $100, as I mentioned before, went to rock-climbing lessons. Why rock climbing? Because he climbed before he could walk, and I knew it was something that he would excel at, building confidence.

The remaining $50 went to everything else.

I'm going to list some great inexpensive and free programs below. I am also going to tell you my favourites where we put the majority of our budget. For Pre-K and K I'll write a separate lens because the options are so vast.

First and foremost, the ultimate free resource on the web, and going all the way up to university level, you have to see Khan Academy!

These, obviously, are a few ideas to start you off. I will do more detailed lenses on each subject as time permits.

A great free math program is MEP (Mathematics Enhancement Programme) http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm This is a comprehensive UK-based program, and all you need is paper and printer ink. It is also available in Spanish.

If you have a child who needs practice with basic math facts, www.BigBrainz.com offers arguably the best free video games around! If you have a video game enthusiast these games are sure to be a hit. If you find them helpful, they also offer a more thorough version for about $30 a year.

Algebra.Help (http://www.algebrahelp.com) offers lessons, claculators, and worksheets for free.

Number Nut (http://www.numbernut.com) has free lessons on just about any math topic you can think of, for free.

A very low-cost program is www.mathmammoth.com. Available as either a download or in pre-printed form, it's a full math program for grades 1 through 6. Each grade level consists of two workbooks plus all the supplementary materials "such as answer keys, tests, cumulative reviews, and an additional worksheet maker". Their money programs are available for U.S., Canadian, British, European, and Australian money.
This program also offers a free assessment so you can place your child correctly, and free samples so you can try before you buy. A full set for the grade, at the time of this writing, is $34.

ITwo excellent math programs that cost more, but are well worth the money, are:

Math U See (www.mathusee.com): If you have a child with ADHD, or who becomes overwhelmed when presented with a typical math worksheet, this program is excellent. It is done as levels, rather than by grade, something we found very important to my son's self esteem when we first began homeschooling. You'll spend about $100 the first year (because of the manipulatives you need to purchase), and about $75 for subsequent years. It uses manipulatives, dvd instruction, and workbooks so that the learning is reinforced constantly. You can see more about the program here: http://www.mathusee.com/about-us/homeschool/, or use their free assessment tool to place your child correctly. This program can often be found secondhand for half the price, but you'd have to buy a new workbook at $25.

Teaching Textbooks (www.teachingtextbooks.com): This program only begins at level 3 and goes up to Pre-Calculus. It's done as lessons on your computer, where a pleasant man's voice explains a problem and then your child tries the problems. It tracks their progress and offers a report card that you can print. There is also a workbook with the same problems, so the materials really sink in. This has been a fantastic resource for my 11 year old daughter, who is dyslexic and an auditory learner, and I think it would be great for all but the most distractible kids. Expect to pay about $120 new or $50ish used for the full set for your child's grade, and be sure to do the placement test before ordering. This program, in my opinion, is worth every penny we spend and if I only had one hundred dollars for the year I'd buy this program and do every other subject for free. It's that great.

Scott Foresman Reading (http://www.sfreading.com/resources/ghb.html) offers free grammar and handwriting workbooks for grades 1 to 6.

The Reading Lesson (http://www.readinglesson.com/index.html) claims to be able to teach your child to read in 20 lessons. I haven't tried this one, personally, but at a glance it looks like it might be useful for a beginning reader.

AAA Spelling (http://www.aaaspell.com) lets you use their spelling and vocabulary lists, or make your own.

A little dry, but comprehensive, Grammar Revolution (http://www.english-grammar-revolution.com) is another excellent freebie.

Learn to Read Free (http://learntoreadfree.com) is a free Montessori-style set of lessons designed to introduce your child to 55 English words.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the many excellent free science lenses that Jimmie has on Squidoo! Search under her name and be prepared to spend hours drooling over all the hard work she has put in.

Ms Nucleus (http://www.msnucleus.org/) is a free, complete science curriculum for grades K through 12 and has daily lesson plans, stories, and online activities. A great freebie and you could base your entire homeschooling science on this all the way through.

Kids Astronomy (http://kidsastronomy.com/academy/index.htm) has free online astronomy lessons for kids from age 7 to 19.

Mr. Q (www.eequalsmcq.com) offers a full free life science course (http://www.eequalsmcq.com/ClassicScienceLife.htm), and other science courses (chemistry, advanced chemistry, physical science, earth science) at $50 in an entertaining high-graphics, comic-style format. The first lesson of any course is free so you can try it out before you buy. I have had the pleasure of using three of these programs with my kids and they are entertaining, comprehensive, and beautifully planned right down to the experiments. A possible con is the amount of printer ink; I
chose to load the teacher manual onto my desktop and my Kindle and just print the student text.

Noeo (www.noeoscience.com) are a full year of science, with sets for lower elementary, upper elementary, and high school. They will cost you about $200 with the shipping and include science kits, notebooking pages, a fully-planned year of science, and a great knowledge of the subject when your child is finished. They can be purchased secondhand but because often the science kits have been used, this is one area where I buy new and combine my children. I have had the pleasure of using these kits since our second year of homeschooling and after 8 years they are still hands-down our favourite.

Art and Music:

Classics For Kids (http://classicsforkids.com) has lessons, music clips, worksheets, and music history as well as a monthly featured composer. Do nothing but visit this site every week and choose a composer and you'll have learned a lot about classical music and the time periods the composers lived in.

Deep Space Sparkle (http://www.deepspacesparkle.com) has great art lessons for kids and you can search by age, subject or technique. They also sell plans at $ for a pdf download if you're so inclined.

The Anti-Coloring Books (www.susanstriker.com) are not color-in-the-lines books; they are more like drawing prompts. You can see my review of them on my blog: http://theusualmayhem.blogspot.com/2012/01/anti-coloring-book.html They sell for about $10 or less.

Harmony Art Mom (www.harmonyartmom.blogspot.com) sells a full year of art & music appreciation for $20 that can be used many ways. It goes by grade and period of history and is worth every penny.

Shining Dawn unit studies are wonderful, and designed for ages preschool to teen....truly something for everyone here! You can see a unit in action on my blog here: http://theusualmayhem.blogspot.ca/2012/04/fungus-among-us-unit-study-and-eye.html

Handbook of Nature Study blog (www.handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com) sells seasonal nature study challenges (based around the book of the same name which can be downloaded for free). 4 seasons' worth of challenges (with notebooking pages included) will cost you about $30 including printer ink. We have used these for years and plan to use them all the way through.