Listen to “CHM109: Homeschooling for Free” on Spreaker.
Welcome to this week’s podcast. This week I’m encouraging you to figure out ways to begin homeschooling for free. With so many resources at our fingertips- both online and locally- the sky is the limit for free homeschool options!
Some of my links below may be affiliate links, meaning, they are at no cost to you. If you click through and make a purchase, I will earn an affiliate commission.
Reasons to consider homeschooling for free
- You don’t have to spend a fortune, but you can. I like to set my disclaimer that it’s perfectly okay to spend money on your kids however you see fit. After all, they’re your kids. But just know that you and I don’t have to spend a fortune to accomplish the goal of educating our kids.
- Be willing to spend on quality items and services. This is a must for our family since we love art and music. We invest our money into long term goals to equip our kids with certain music and art skills that we may not possess. I feel like it’s money well spent- but I have to make choices about where my money goes. Rather than spending a fortune on curriculum, many times I choose to place it on services that would be hard to come by in curriculum or book formats. This is where you have to decide what’s more important: products or services- and how much, if any, you want to spend on either. Homeschooling for free comes with a price: the price of making intentional choices!
- Be very selective about your time. What does homeschooling for free look like for your family? Is it always about money, or does it include how you spend your time? Cutting back on time outside of the home has helped us this semester to focus on what really matters in our home. It also reduces the amount of money we spend while out and about! In our case, time is just as important as money, and I’ve found great improvements in our lifestyle by not only looking at our bank accounts but also our time management.
Resources mentioned on this podcast
- Student News (Now CNN10) –student news in 10 minutes
- Library resources: look for Lynda.com, audiobook services and apps: Hoopla Digital, RBDigital, Enki, interlibrary loans
- Languages:Duolingo,Mango Languages
- National Geographic
Learning Resources:
- Khan Academy– Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Offers Free Online Courses, Lessons & Practice: math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more.
- Enchanted Learning– Enchanted Learning Software creates children’s educational web sites and games designed to stimulate creativity, learning, enjoyment, and imagination.
- Starfall– a publicly supported non profit organization, teaching kids phonics for over a decade
- Ambleside-a free homeschool curriculum that uses Charlotte Mason’s classically-based principles to prepare children for a life of rich relationships with everything around them: God, humanity, and the natural world
- Easy Peasy Homeschool– a complete and free K-12 Christian curriculum online
- Teachers Pay Teachers– online marketplace for original educational resources
- Currclick– online classes and curriculum right at your fingertips Khan Academy– Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Offers Free Online Courses, Lessons & Practice: math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more.
- Enchanted Learning– Enchanted Learning Software creates children’s educational web sites and games designed to stimulate creativity, learning, enjoyment, and imagination.
- Starfall– a publicly supported non profit organization, teaching kids phonics for over a decade
- Ambleside-a free homeschool curriculum that uses Charlotte Mason’s classically-based principles to prepare children for a life of rich relationships with everything around them: God, humanity, and the natural world
- Easy Peasy Homeschool– a complete and free K-12 Christian curriculum online
- Teachers Pay Teachers– online marketplace for original educational resources
- Currclick– online classes and curriculum right at your fingertips (*Update: Currclick has closed its doors in 2019)
Don’t forget to catch a bit of R&R and treat yourself, homeschool mom!
Our Sponsor: Phonics Museum
Again, this week’s awesome sponsor is Phonics Museum by Veritas Press.
If you have kids that are learning to read, be sure to check out the Phonics Museum app (in which you will receive a 2-week free trial) and pick up your freebies (an ebook, an activity book, and a printable activity for emerging readers).
Check out their video to find out more…
Grab your free gifts and get a free 2-week trial!
You’ll get:
- An eBook early primer reader called: The Bug In The Mug On the Rug
- The activity eBook/print out called – “My Alphabet Book”
- Phonics Museum Paper Tube Activity Print Out
That’s it for this week. Please reach out to me if you have any questions.
Happy Homeschooling!
~Demetria
Hello, I have a 11th grader that wants to do online school. How do I convince him to do homeschool instead?
Hi Heather- I’m sorry I’m just seeing your comment! Have you and your son decided to follow through with online school? We have had experience with virtual public schools and although it didn’t work for us, it may for your son. Homeschooling through an online school may seem more validated to your son (high school juniors can be quite opinionated!) 🙂 I understand. Perhaps you can come to a compromise somehow- maybe a few classes online and the rest homeschool. I hope it works out for you.
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