If you had to homeschool for free...

[forevergrace]

Mandy~Great link, I think we might use bits of it!! I love this one for math, especially fractions. http://www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/fraction.php

[Heather in WI]

If we became absolutely desperate, I would use the free virtual public school option here in WI. One of them lets you pick between K-12 or Calvert; they give you all of the needed supplies, and issue a laptop and internet connection rebate.

[MyFourSons]

I could have written this post!!!!! What we are doing is MEP for math, and a combination of Higher Up Further In and Tanglewood for literature and history. Science is the only one that is up in the air for me. I think I'm going to put my own together based on state standards, but I just discovered Elemental Science. So I'm looking into that.

 

If I have the funds, I'd like to add in Growing with Grammar, Soaring in Spelling and Draw Write Now. But those are extras and not necessary at all.

 

Wow, we are alike! I love HUFI, and we are using the Tanglewood Book of Centuries for History! Draw Write Now has been on my wish list for 2 years, but I can't bring myself to get it new, and I never manage to find it used (and also becuase I just scored a used copy of Artistic Pursuits for $20.00).

 

I am also using Elemental Science!!I just got the books for Earth Science and Astronomy from the library! We are going to start that next week. We did Biology last year. I had to beef it up a bit for my 10 yo, he is a pretty advanced and loves science, but it was perfect for my 8 yo and very easy to adapt for my 6 yo, so we could do it all together which was a big plus. I also bought Intro to Science for my 6 yo for this year, and he loves it. I like it because it doubles as Nature Study, so one less thing for me to plan! I bought the downloads of course, and just print as I go, and have been lucky enough to get all the books I need at the library. They also have a great yahoo group. I think it is very "CM friendly," if that is what you are looking for. As I said, some kids might need it to be beefed up, but if you are creating your own curriculum yourself as it is, you might as well use this program as a starting off point! I wouldv'e liked to create my own science program using literature, but I simply didn't have the time or the energy this year. Anywho, I would recommend it if you are buying the $15.00 download, I don't know if I'd spend more than that (since we don't use all the student pages anyway).

 

It's always fun to see someone else using the same seemingly random, I mean "ecclectic," collection of curriculum as I am. It makes me feel so validated! :001_smile:

 

Beth

[Sherry in OH]

As someone who lives below the poverty line anyway, I think that your suggestions for how to homeschool "free" are pretty expensive.

 

For one almost all of them assume a vehicle and gas money. Most of them assume a computer and internet (and printer and ink and paper).

 

We do scrimp and save for our internet conection and books, but trying to put it altogether on my own would cost more in many cases then some books.

 

Cheap textbooks at used book stores or from friends kids and a supply of someones recyle paper would probably be the cheapest way for us. But our local library is not good (and the librarian is really mean) and it is still 10 miles away (so we couldn't walk or ride bikes). Even now we go to the big library that is about 35 miles away only once every 2 or 3 weeks, because I just can't afford the gas to go more often.

 

I also think that if we were to make even less money and really couldn't scrape together any money for "homeschooling" it would be because something else is really wrong in our life- a death, a sever sickness, dh laid off, something wrong. And in that case the "free" homeschooling methods would be least likely to work.

 

Sure I could plan a course for next year that was "free" and with our vehicle and insurance and gas and computer and internet and printer we could homeschool for free. But I believe that if circumstances forced me to have no money to spend on homeschooling then probably free homeschooling wouldn't work.

 

I don't think you could start absolutely from scratch and homeschool for free. Especially if you do not have ready access to a library. But, I also think that most households have some resources. Story books from your own childhood, neighbors or friends willing to loan or give books outgrown by their children, books given to your children. Old magazines and newspapers are useful as well. Envelopes, junk mail, and blank sides of used paper can be used for written lessons. Ask friends and neighbors for used craft supplies. Knitters might give you bits of yarn, a quilter may have some fabric scraps, you never know what people have squirreled away.

 

Elementary math - collect counters of some sort. Pebbles will do. Use them as aides to teach counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. No books needed. If you have a clock, you can teach your children to tell time. Use coins and dollar bills to teach about money. You don't need books to teach fractions or weights and measures. Use examples from everyday life - coins as fractions of dollars, recipes, tithes, etc.

I don't think I could teach more advanced math without some sort of guide, but some people could.

 

Religion - if you are a practicing member of an organized religious body, chances are that your minister (priest, rabbi, etc.) can provide free copies of your holy book and other religious materials. Even if you are not a member of a local religious institution, the leaders probably would give you some materials. For the Bible, you could also contact the Gideons http://www.gideons.org.

 

Language Arts -

Get a dictionary. If you don't have one and cannot borrow one, buy one. An old one is fine.

You can now teach spelling, vocabulary, and grammar. Many dictionaries include additional information in appendices - proofreading marks, atlases, important historical dates, U.S. Constitution, and more.

 

If you learned nursery rhymes, poems, or fairytales as a child, teach them to your children. You can teach reading without expensive programs. Many children learned their letters from a chalkboard.

 

Read whatever books you have or can borrow. Read newspaper and magazine articles as well.

 

History - you might have to skimp here or do Social Studies instead. If you have access to history books or historical fiction read it. Old National Geographic Magazines contain a wealth of information. Sometimes older relatives have copies in their attics.

 

Geography - an atlas or globe is helpful. In the absence of one - can you get a local map? Ask friends or relative who travel to pick up free maps at Welcome Centers. (They may also be able to give you old AAA maps.) At a minimum, you could teach your children to read maps and gauge distances.

 

Science - Contact your State's Department of Natural Resources to see what freebies it offers. Ag. Extension offices also may have some materials you could use. Nature studies in younger grades. Plant and care for a garden. Study the night sky. Learn about the weather. If you know hunters or fishermen, you could watch them process their game (biology). Read whatever science books/magazines you can access. High School level science would be difficult to do for free.

 

Other subjects - do what you have the resources to cover. Home economics should be easy. For art use what you have. Music - if nothing else, listen to various types of music on the radio.

 

It would be hard and not the same quality of education you could offer if you had a few more resources.

[MyFourSons]

I just thought I'd mention in case anyone might have need of this, Ambleside Online has a modified version of their curriculum for families in need that relies totally on free online resources. It is called:

 

"AO-Help Emergency Lesson Plan for Families in Crisis - a minimalist approach to applying Charlotte Mason's methods in the midst of emergencies or crises."

 

Here is a description:

 

"This is a free, complete, user-friendly curriculum plan for homeschooling families who need support, encouragement and alternatives to the curriculum they've lost in a disaster, and also for churches and other groups needing to set up temporary schools for children who may not have been homeschooled. All texts and teaching materials needed to implement this plan are free online. The only things you need are access to a computer and printer, paper and pencil. Please print out and share this information freely with anyone who might need it."

 

This plan has links to some great free online resources,whether you are in a crisis or not, and is organized by subject. Here is the page:

 

http://www.amblesideonline.org/HELP.shtml

Edited February 8, 2011 by MyFourSons
for spelling :)

[AngelBee]

I don't think you could start absolutely from scratch and homeschool for free. Especially if you do not have ready access to a library. But, I also think that most households have some resources. Story books from your own childhood, neighbors or friends willing to loan or give books outgrown by their children, books given to your children. Old magazines and newspapers are useful as well. Envelopes, junk mail, and blank sides of used paper can be used for written lessons. Ask friends and neighbors for used craft supplies. Knitters might give you bits of yarn, a quilter may have some fabric scraps, you never know what people have squirreled away.

 

Elementary math - collect counters of some sort. Pebbles will do. Use them as aides to teach counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. No books needed. If you have a clock, you can teach your children to tell time. Use coins and dollar bills to teach about money. You don't need books to teach fractions or weights and measures. Use examples from everyday life - coins as fractions of dollars, recipes, tithes, etc.

I don't think I could teach more advanced math without some sort of guide, but some people could.

 

Religion - if you are a practicing member of an organized religious body, chances are that your minister (priest, rabbi, etc.) can provide free copies of your holy book and other religious materials. Even if you are not a member of a local religious institution, the leaders probably would give you some materials. For the Bible, you could also contact the Gideons http://www.gideons.org.

 

Language Arts -

Get a dictionary. If you don't have one and cannot borrow one, buy one. An old one is fine.

You can now teach spelling, vocabulary, and grammar. Many dictionaries include additional information in appendices - proofreading marks, atlases, important historical dates, U.S. Constitution, and more.

 

If you learned nursery rhymes, poems, or fairytales as a child, teach them to your children. You can teach reading without expensive programs. Many children learned their letters from a chalkboard.

 

Read whatever books you have or can borrow. Read newspaper and magazine articles as well.

 

History - you might have to skimp here or do Social Studies instead. If you have access to history books or historical fiction read it. Old National Geographic Magazines contain a wealth of information. Sometimes older relatives have copies in their attics.

 

Geography - an atlas or globe is helpful. In the absence of one - can you get a local map? Ask friends or relative who travel to pick up free maps at Welcome Centers. (They may also be able to give you old AAA maps.) At a minimum, you could teach your children to read maps and gauge distances.

 

Science - Contact your State's Department of Natural Resources to see what freebies it offers. Ag. Extension offices also may have some materials you could use. Nature studies in younger grades. Plant and care for a garden. Study the night sky. Learn about the weather. If you know hunters or fishermen, you could watch them process their game (biology). Read whatever science books/magazines you can access. High School level science would be difficult to do for free.

 

Other subjects - do what you have the resources to cover. Home economics should be easy. For art use what you have. Music - if nothing else, listen to various types of music on the radio.

 

It would be hard and not the same quality of education you could offer if you had a few more resources.

GREAT ideas!

 

One thing that has helped me in the past was to play it like a game. Much like couponing. Our local thrift stores have TONS of books. You have to dig, but you could pretty much find any subject there.

 

I would also ask around and let people know what we were looking for.

 

Also made lists of craft and art supplies for people who wondered what my children wanted for Christmas.

 

I collect pens and pencils from random places. Crayons too. My mom is a server at a restaurant......so that helps. :D

[AngelBee]

I just thought I'd mention in case anyone might have need of this, Ambleside Online has a modified version of their curriculum for families in need that relies totally on free online resources. It is called:

 

"AO-Help Emergency Lesson Plan for Families in Crisis - a minimalist approach to applying Charlotte Mason's methods in the midst of emergencies or crises."

 

Here is a description:

 

"This is a free, complete, user-friendly curriculum plan for homeschooling families who need support, encouragement and alternatives to the curriculum they've lost in a disaster, and also for churches and other groups needing to set up temporary schools for children who may not have been homeschooled. All texts and teaching materials needed to implement this plan are free online. The only things you need are access to a computer and printer, paper and pencil. Please print out and share this information freely with anyone who might need it."

 

This plan has links to some great free online resources, and is organized by subject. Here is the page:

 

http://www.amblesideonline.org/HELP.shtml

I was actually going to link this.

 

This has been am inspiration to me many times in the past when I felt down about what we were doing. It made me see it is more about HOW you do it than what you use. :)

[rowan25]

Wow, we are alike! I love HUFI, and we are using the Tanglewood Book of Centuries for History! Draw Write Now has been on my wish list for 2 years, but I can't bring myself to get it new, and I never manage to find it used (and also becuase I just scored a used copy of Artistic Pursuits for $20.00).

 

I am also using Elemental Science!!I just got the books for Earth Science and Astronomy from the library! We are going to start that next week. We did Biology last year. I had to beef it up a bit for my 10 yo, he is a pretty advanced and loves science, but it was perfect for my 8 yo and very easy to adapt for my 6 yo, so we could do it all together which was a big plus. I also bought Intro to Science for my 6 yo for this year, and he loves it. I like it because it doubles as Nature Study, so one less thing for me to plan! I bought the downloads of course, and just print as I go, and have been lucky enough to get all the books I need at the library. They also have a great yahoo group. I think it is very "CM friendly," if that is what you are looking for. As I said, some kids might need it to be beefed up, but if you are creating your own curriculum yourself as it is, you might as well use this program as a starting off point! I wouldv'e liked to create my own science program using literature, but I simply didn't have the time or the energy this year. Anywho, I would recommend it if you are buying the $15.00 download, I don't know if I'd spend more than that (since we don't use all the student pages anyway).

 

It's always fun to see someone else using the same seemingly random, I mean "ecclectic," collection of curriculum as I am. It makes me feel so validated! :001_smile:

 

Beth

Oh, that is hilarious!! :lol: I'm glad to hear what you said about Elemental Science. I was looking for something a little more CM-y and this seemed like it would work. It's going to be mainly for my 2nd grader (she'll be 7 by then), but my soon to be 4 year old will be tagging along. We'll go ahead and probably start with Biology and just be on the upper end of the cycle. I might be able to get the books at the library too, but I've put a call out on Paperback Swap just in case. I am a book hog! :tongue_smilie:

 

Great score on Artistic Pursuits! I've been looking at that for two years! I might be able to get some of the DWR books with Amazon cards from Christmas.

 

And like you said, it does help to see that someone else far from me has come to such similar curriculum decisions!!! :D

[LittleIzumi]

I don't think you could start absolutely from scratch and homeschool for free. Especially if you do not have ready access to a library. But, I also think that most households have some resources. Story books from your own childhood, neighbors or friends willing to loan or give books outgrown by their children, books given to your children. Old magazines and newspapers are useful as well. Envelopes, junk mail, and blank sides of used paper can be used for written lessons. Ask friends and neighbors for used craft supplies. Knitters might give you bits of yarn, a quilter may have some fabric scraps, you never know what people have squirreled away.

 

Elementary math - collect counters of some sort. Pebbles will do. Use them as aides to teach counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. No books needed. If you have a clock, you can teach your children to tell time. Use coins and dollar bills to teach about money. You don't need books to teach fractions or weights and measures. Use examples from everyday life - coins as fractions of dollars, recipes, tithes, etc.

I don't think I could teach more advanced math without some sort of guide, but some people could.

 

Religion - if you are a practicing member of an organized religious body, chances are that your minister (priest, rabbi, etc.) can provide free copies of your holy book and other religious materials. Even if you are not a member of a local religious institution, the leaders probably would give you some materials. For the Bible, you could also contact the Gideons http://www.gideons.org.

 

Language Arts -

Get a dictionary. If you don't have one and cannot borrow one, buy one. An old one is fine.

You can now teach spelling, vocabulary, and grammar. Many dictionaries include additional information in appendices - proofreading marks, atlases, important historical dates, U.S. Constitution, and more.

 

If you learned nursery rhymes, poems, or fairytales as a child, teach them to your children. You can teach reading without expensive programs. Many children learned their letters from a chalkboard.

 

Read whatever books you have or can borrow. Read newspaper and magazine articles as well.

 

History - you might have to skimp here or do Social Studies instead. If you have access to history books or historical fiction read it. Old National Geographic Magazines contain a wealth of information. Sometimes older relatives have copies in their attics.

 

Geography - an atlas or globe is helpful. In the absence of one - can you get a local map? Ask friends or relative who travel to pick up free maps at Welcome Centers. (They may also be able to give you old AAA maps.) At a minimum, you could teach your children to read maps and gauge distances.

 

Science - Contact your State's Department of Natural Resources to see what freebies it offers. Ag. Extension offices also may have some materials you could use. Nature studies in younger grades. Plant and care for a garden. Study the night sky. Learn about the weather. If you know hunters or fishermen, you could watch them process their game (biology). Read whatever science books/magazines you can access. High School level science would be difficult to do for free.

 

Other subjects - do what you have the resources to cover. Home economics should be easy. For art use what you have. Music - if nothing else, listen to various types of music on the radio.

 

It would be hard and not the same quality of education you could offer if you had a few more resources.

 

AWESOME :D. The HELP link was great, too. We're more on that side of things right now.

 

We absolutely depend on our library. I have at least 30 books out right now. I also have a lot of thrift store finds (69 cents at one of ours for children's books, which includes curricula).

[Mommee & Baba]

How inspiring you families are!!

 

For us..I don't want to imagine homeschooling for free again. The first couple of years we HAD to do it with little to no investment and it was the biggest nightmare and I had to play catch up when we were able to get the curriculum that was more of what we should've been doing. Now this isn't because of the freebie things out there..it's simply because of my LACK of knowledge.

 

I could do it for free again. IF I had the time to spend to prepare the details of each lessons and honestly...I don't want to have to do that until my totboy is of school age too and can ENJOY the fruits of my labor. Right now it'd be fruits of labor for his sisters that we couldn't enjoy because he'll place a totboy signature on everything making it into fits and frustration...:glare: Can you tell I love this stage...LOL!

 

I wish that I had more knowledge when I was doing the free homeschooling because it's left a pretty nasty mark on me that makes me not want to EVER have to go back there!

[Lovedtodeath]

Phonics, spelling, etymology, roots, suffixes, prefixes...

Check these out":) They are recommended by Don Potter and they are free and they are great:)

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=6QISAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=spelling%20book&lr=#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

 

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=7DEXAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=hyde's%2Bderivation%2Bof%2Bwords&lr=&as_brr=1#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

 

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=BCcBAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=english+words&hl=en&ei=__BITKzkBsL-8AbAx9i-Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFYQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false

There is probably something similar for grammar I would imagine.

 

For history it is relatively easy to use the lists in TWTM and search your library. Then you have the kids make notebook pages, narrate, outline... draw pictures or build a model. :D I tell Emily that since I am not reading it she has to do something that will tell me what it was all about.

 

For science, Real Science 4 Kids has their textbooks online.

[Jenny in Florida]

Maybe it's because DH and I are such autodidacts, but I think it would actually be pretty easy to do high school inexpensively (not free). I'd approach it like DH and I do when we want to learn something and have little money to spend. They're old enough to read fluently so they can devote most of their time to reading great books for history and literature. I see used algebra & calculus textbooks dirt cheap all the time (online and at thrift/library book sales). Our library has foreign language textbooks and CDs. Science would be really tough, though. The library would be a good source for books and videos, but labs would be a lot harder to accomplish.

 

I was thinking the same thing.

 

Most of our adult lives, my husband and I have gone through phases when one or both of us are extremely interested in a subject. (I reminded my daughter just the other day that she and her brother have the names they do because Dad and I were deeply into our shared Victorian phase when they were born.)

 

So, when that kind of thing hits, we hit the library, internet and/or bookstore and start reading. When we find things that spark interest, we seek out resources about that. Then, we start looking for videos and DVDs, museum exhibits, whatever.

 

I started reading up on archaelogy in general and Ancient Egypt specifically because mu daughter was fascinated when she was between five and 10. She went through a phase when she had trouble sleeping, and we'd sit up for hours at night reading aloud books on the subject. (All the materials written for kids were not enough.) She joined the local anthropology club when she was eight, and I took her to meetings every month for a couple of years. These days, I rarely see or hear any presentation on these subjects in which I don't already know the material. And I can ask intelligent questions of experts.

 

This same daughter is now in college and constantly frustrated at how little she is learning. She graduates this spring and is happily planning her own, customized post-graduate study. She's collecting resources from all kinds of sources (including a long list of books I'm getting for her from PaperbackSwap and Bookmooch) and writing her own schedules and lesson plans.

 

I guess she got the autodidact gene, too.

 

So, I didn't spend much on her high school education. We scrounged a lot of diverse, inexpensive materials and put them together in a way that worked really well for her. As I said, she feels she was learning a lot more here than at the expensive private college she now attends.

 

It may depend on the student, though, how do-able this kind of approach is. I'm not at all sure I have as much freedom to "play" with my son.