How do you do it?

[Mynyel]

How do all you moms & dads do it?

 

I have three kids and can barely afford the school supplies needed to homeschool the two that are homeschooling right now (Thank you Lord for libraries). I also know that plenty of us homeschoolers struggle too :)

I see the signatures with 4, 5, 6 and even more kids and wonder how? I long to have more children but am astute enough to know we simply can't do it. My husband is only employed part-time, I am looking for a part-time job so we have at least a full time income (such as it will be) and we live off student loans and (cringe...some are not happy about people like me) the government by way of food stamps.

So how is it done? I would so love to have more but need the means...not to mention the space!

So...how do you do it?:) Whats the secret if any? :bigear:

Edited January 7, 2010 by Mynyel

[mlgbug]

i hear ya. a momma on hear BLESSED me with school supplies that will last all year! ive bought books wisely, traded things, not sure what ill do next year!

[Pink Fairy]

I use a charter school. I only spend my money on religious curriculum, and receive $1600 each from the charter school to spend on my four homeschool students. I can spend it on any secular curriculum and outside activities that fall within the parameters set up by the charter school. This year we've spent a lot of our charter school money on extracurriculars like horseback riding and ballet, plus we've added a ton of books to our living history library. Before we built up our supply, I used to spend a lot of charter school money on math manipulatives and educational games. Places I can order from include Amazon.com and Borders Books. I can also use the money for Cosmeo, ALEX, EdHelper, and Enchanted Learning.

 

In return for the funding, we agree to participate in state testing (it's only a couple of days a year, and my weirdo kids love it :D), and a monthly meeting with a credentialed teacher (which I have found very helpful--she helps me with grading or I can have her work with the kids on especially tricky subjects).

 

I could still homeschool without using a charter school, but it would limit me in some areas. For example, I use Teaching Textbooks for two of my kids--very expensive program. I also use IEW with three of them, and by the time I'd bought everything it was probably around $350. The charter school paid for everything.

 

I don't know if you have charter schools where you live, but if it's an option you may want to consider it.

[Renee in NC]

Not easily?

 

I guess I don't know the answer. There are *lots* of things that I want and can't get/have. I use Christmas and birthday money for school stuff. In the past we have gotten a large tax refund and I used that.

 

It is also a priority for me. Last year I paid $25 and drove an extra 10 miles (25 total) to go to a better library in another county. Now I am blessed to have an AWESOME library 4 miles away. I buy stuff used here and there as I come across good deals.

 

At the same time, my dc with special needs are stuck with my fumbling around - I can't pay for tutors for them. I am working on getting some therapies and evaluations through a state program, but it still isn't what it could be of we had more money.

 

You do what you can and hope for the best.

[LibraryLover]

Perhaps tmi

Edited January 7, 2010 by LibraryLover

[Tree House Academy]

We only have two children. However, my husband has been blessed with a wonderful job that more than supports us and our curriculum and extras. We also budget some each paycheck for school supplies. We plan a certain amount of money to have by June for the next year's books and I try to spend wisely through the rest of the year so that we do have that amount come time to buy new curriculum. I also shop for used stuff first and tend to trade a lot. I go to a used curriculum sale or two in my area each year, buy from the boards here, and buy from friends.

[Dayle in Guatemala]

I completely understand. It's tough. Dh and I have always struggled to make ends meet when it comes to school at times. But, we've always done it.

 

Here's some things that we've done to help ourselves out:

 

1. curriculum swap: I've swapped curriculum with friends who have something I would love to use with things I have they want

 

2. co-oping with another family: there was a group who wanted to use IEW at one point--too rich for our blood!--so we all pitched in and bought it and split the money when it was sold after we were done with it. We did it as a co op so that we could all use it.

 

3. the library! I loved using our library! I liberally checked out books and used whatever they had. I planned around it!

 

4. shopping online at used curriculum sites to buy things that I need

 

5. selling what I don't need anymore

 

These are things I've done. We've also been blessed by people offering us stuff and letting us use what they have. Every year our needs are met. I've never had to go without something I need when it comes to school. Never.

[cathmom]

Basically I buy homeschooling stuff once a year when we get our tax refund. I have bought curriculum with my own birthday money. My mother helps out with the cost of ballet. Dh works 7 days week. Every once in a while I take homeschooling stuff we are not going to use anymore to a homeschool store and consign it, and then I sometimes am able to buy things with that money.

 

It helps me to know that public school is not free - there are many costs associated with it. And since money is so tight, we usually do end up using what I buy. Otherwise I would spend a lot more money!

[ereks mom]

Basically I buy homeschooling stuff once a year when we get our tax refund. I have bought curriculum with my own birthday money. My mother helps out with the cost of ballet. Dh works 7 days week. Every once in a while I take homeschooling stuff we are not going to use anymore to a homeschool store and consign it, and then I sometimes am able to buy things with that money.

 

It helps me to know that public school is not free - there are many costs associated with it. And since money is so tight, we usually do end up using what I buy. Otherwise I would spend a lot more money!

 

:iagree:

 

...except that I sell stuff on the boards instead of consigning it because there's no homeschool store anywhere near here, and my mom's contributions go for other things.

[abreakfromlife]

buy used curriculum, plan a year ahead, so when you go to the library book sales, you know what you're going to need and you can get readers and teacher books for a quarter, garage sales, and wait until tax refund time to buy curriculum.

[2cents]

I buy a lot of my books on Ebay, then I sell them right back on Ebay. We are careful about not marking them so I generally make most of my money back on the non-consumables.

[forty-two]

I'm in the collecting-for-future-use and educating-myself stage, but what I do:

*Buy from online used bookstores

*Start looking early (very early, in my case :tongue_smilie:), so you can wait 'till you find a good deal

*Scour Google books, Project Gutenberg, and other online public domain book collections. There are so many great finds out there! I could do a complete LCC-style education just from what I've found free online.

*I use my birthday and Christmas money for books, and I give books and educational toys as gifts for my girls (our parents more than make up for the rest).

*Also, we just don't spend a lot on other stuff - which leaves us money for the important things, books and electronics :D. Or, when dh only had a part-time job, it meant we could (just) survive on his salary.

 

In the past two years, I've spent maybe $500 on books, which has netted me six complete Latin programs, three Greek programs, two phonics programs, 5 or 6 books on writing and rhetoric, 4 or 5 grammar books, enough math materials to cover K-12 several times over, plus some misc how-to-teach and how-to-homeschool books. Along with the library and internet, I'm set to homeschool all the way through without buying anything else. (But I will undoubtedly buy more anyway - I mean, I've got Christmas money to burn :D.)

[abreakfromlife]

and the internet - I print a bunch of worksheets off the internet for practice sheets; a lot of times I don't buy the student workbook to go with a text - like FLL 3 for example; I'll write down the examples in a notebook for dd to do, and then print off reinforcing wksts for free. When you don't have money, you have to spend a lot more in time :tongue_smilie:

[MamaT]

I am blessed to have a dh with a great income that provides us with resources for everything we need for school and all of their activities. He does work LONG hours (he owns his own business) and we do not spend money unwisely. I buy used whenever I can and have recently started selling a few things we no longer use in school. I have started to use the library more instead of buying.

 

We also have a large house, but it is in need of some updating. A car that is VERY used, etc. We eat at home and rarely go out. We have had to trade off a few things to be able to have this many kids and homeschool, as well as gymnastics, dance, guitar lessons, etc.