Sometimes I wish I could go back six years to my pre-homeschooling self. I’d tell her a lot of things…like how to break away from the “public school mindset” of schooling and just do what feels right (because I’m the one who knows my kids best), how to better balance homeschooling and home life, and why it’s okay to not get it all done when you have a newborn baby.
But I’d also tell myself that homeschooling doesn’t have to cost a lot to be effective.
When I first began my homeschooling journey, I had a misconception of what it really took to homeschool well. My wishlist was filled with fancy bins for organization, a collection of the best read-alouds, supplies for a well-stocked art closet, and lots of manipulatives for hands-on learning.
I’ve learned since then that those things may be handy and add to a well-thought-out and organized system, but they’re not essential to doing the real thing. In this post, I’ll share 6 ways that I’ve found to simplify my homeschool routine, stick to a minimal budget, and still have a thriving homeschool year.
6 Ways I’m Homeschooling on a Budget
Use the library. The simple practice of visiting the library every week has not only been an enjoyable weekly outing, but it’s literally saved me hundreds of dollars. When I first began homeschooling, I thought putting books on hold from the library would be an inconvenience to our schedule, so I opted to purchase many of them. Today, I limit myself to buying books if we’ll use them for more than one month or feel as if they’ll be a big asset to our personal collection over the next several years. I rarely cannot find what I need at the library, sometimes it just takes waiting a week or two, which also teaches me to be flexible and creative.
Keep things simple. There’s hundreds of options for homeschool curriculum and resources, thankfully, but it can also be really overwhelming and distracting after I’ve made a plan. At the end of the school year, I begin mapping out what we’ll learn and use for the following one. I spend hours researching until I feel confident that my choices will best meet all of my kids’ needs. Throughout the year, I aim to stick to this plan without deviating off course (unless something truly isn’t working, then making a pivot is necessary).
Use what you already have. Many times, we think a problem can be solved by spending money— and there are a lot of “things” you can purchase that might make your homeschooling succeed. But I’d encourage anyone to use what you already have before replacing it with something new. Art supplies and hands-on science materials are a big one for us— we can usually make do with the collection of items we own before purchasing others. Again, it just takes some flexibility and creativity.
Declutter often. You can’t see what you actually have if it’s cluttered with a collection of things you’re no longer using. I’m quick to declutter our homeschool materials, whether that’s educational games and manipulatives, art supplies, our collection of books, or anything we may have accumulated over the past year. If we currently use it, it remains in our school room. If we will use it eventually, it gets stored in the homeschool closet. Or if it’s something we no longer use or need, it gets donated or discarded. You’ll save time and money when you’re aware of what you own.
Focus on real-world experiences over “stuff”. I recently heard a stat that American children own 40% of the world’s toys, even though they make up only 3% of the world’s children. As a family who owns far fewer toys and “stuff” in general, we’ve found that these “things” don’t truly make you happy, and they definitely don’t save you money. Instead, throughout the year we take day trips to historic cities, visit interesting museums, go to local orchestra performances, explore the ecosystem of the nearby creek, and take field trips that teach our kids about real life. Most of these are budget-friendly, if not free and they’ll be much more memorable in our children’s education than a collections of toys or games.
Look for free resources + curriculum. When you’re schooling multiple kids, the cost of curriculum can add up. If you can’t reuse what you already have or borrow from a friend, it’s possible to find great, free curriculum online. Ambleside Online and Easy-Peasy All-In-One Homeschool are two complete curriculums that I’ve used parts of over the years. If you use The Good and the Beautiful, you can print out their K-8 Language Arts and Math levels for free! We’ve used library books, YouTube videos, and other free resources that homeschool bloggers offer for free to supplement our science and history studies.
Even though homeschooling isn’t the cheapest schooling option available in the grand scheme of things, it offers something that no other form of education can. If you’re looking to homeschool but are concerned about the cost of it, it’s completely doable on a budget— it just takes some creativity, flexibility, and willingness to live countercultural.
As always, thanks so much for being here and following along— if you have any questions or comments, please drop them below or send me an email!
I LOVE this! It's so true! When I was first thinking about homeschooling I researched so many different curriculums and got caught up in the "it's too expensive to homeschool" mindset. Then I realized no, it CAN be affordable! There are so many free and inexpensive resources available. It's great to realize that you can homeschool on a budget and align it to what works for your family!