mama2cntrykids Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 This is a cross post from the Logic/Middle school challenges board. I not only school my 11 y/o, 5th grader, but my 3rd grader and Kindergartner as well. They, of course, will be all moving up a grade next year. That's why I'm calling my 11 y/o a 6th grader, I'm planning for next year... My dh has recently been laid-off and I'm trying to plan for next year, but if he doesn't get a job (or gets a job, but not a decent one), I will be limited as to what I can buy. What would you do on a limited budget for a quality education for a 6th grade boy (also a 4th grade boy and 1st grade girl)? I really wanted to do MFW again, but it's spendy ($300+). OTOH, MFW would also involve my up-and-coming 4th grader AND 1st grader. I would also use it in subsequent years. I keep going back and forth...look for inexpensive or use tax return money for curriculum. WWYD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in KY Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Ambleside online, a kindle, and a good math program—that's all you need. Ambleside is free, and for $79 you can stick all the books on the Kindle and skip the printing costs. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwena Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Not sure what my advice would be, but you could always check out homeschoolshare. FREE unit studies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaners Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I think my very first step would be to look at my shelves and see what I already have. I'd pick out what I have that I could make work for each child. I'd reevaluate my needs again once I had taken a hard look at what was already sitting around the house. If you also have a good library system available, I'd consider working with what you can get from there. I wouldn't buy anything for my own children to do 1st grade if money was tight. I'd use free material for that. Do you have things left from your oldest last year for your middle child to use next year? Or do you have a good idea of what you covered and how to teach it? I'd see what I actually needed and purchase as little as possible if it was my own family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I pulled these links together several years ago: http://www.hwtk.net/links.html Some may no longer work, and of course there are lots of new free sites that I don't even know about yet. But if you want to do it on the cheap, you can. It will just take you some time to find what you want. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in AUS Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 As mentioned above I'd be doing AO and head for MEP for math, which is free, has great teacher notes, you just have to print unless you happen to have an iPad and could work directly on there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Check into The Book Samaritan as well. http://www.thebooksamaritan.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amie Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 (edited) Here is a huuuge free curriculum thread. It is quite overwhelming at first, but it is a great resource. The OP tried to edit the first few posts to show much of the list there (as people added suggestions in the thread). Some resources that are becoming my favorites are actually available for free (meaning, free DOES NOT have to mean inferior). :grouphug: ETA: This is a great thread as well. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157186 And if you click on the "vintage" tag you will find lots of great threads on using free vintage resources. Edited February 8, 2012 by Amie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 (edited) Okay, homeschooling on the cheap is a subject near and dear to my heart. One of these days, I'll actually get around to writing that book about it I keep threatening. If you can give me an idea of what subjects you want to teach and your general approach and "worldview," I'll be happy to throw out some ideas and share some of the things that worked for us when my kids were that age. Personally, I think it's entirely possible to homeschool really, really well in the pre-high school years for very little money. For example, one of the things I do every year is look at the book lists in TWTM and on assorted curriculum sites and then set about finding those titles cheap or free. I belong to both PaperbackSwap and BookMooch and have gotten most of my son's books from those for the last several years. Our local library frequently has those things, too. And I've had good luck at thrift stores in the past. The key with this approach is not to get your heart set on any one specific book. Make a list of several that will cover the same historical period or subject and then use what you can find at a price you can afford. There are lots of websites that have free stuff. I used to make math practice sheets, spelling pages, the whole shebang, printed from the internet. Edited February 8, 2012 by Jenny in Florida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Wanted to add this site to your list. http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/ Amazing site with thousands of audio books--all free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 In addition to all the GREAT ideas already suggested -- are there any homeschoolers nearby you can borrow/trade with? (For example, let another family borrow your year of MFW in exchange for the next year.) Is there a lending library as part of your local homeschool group that might have MFW and allow you to check it out for next year? How about the Sale/Swap Board here -- swap MFW years with another homeschooler for the cost of shipping to each other? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I would make a list for Book Samaritan. How is your library? If it is good I would Use the library to choose books for the time period we are studying in History and the subjects for science. I would have a book basket for each two week or four week period. I would follow TWTM suggestions but use these books. Such as read a book, do a narration and file it in the notebook. The only thing I would need to buy is some lined paper and math curriculum. But, you should have old curriculum for the youngers or get it from Book Samaritan. If you have workbooks, just use them to choose problems from and help the younger child write them on lined or unlined paper. I might purchase a few mp3 downloads from Peace Hill Press that were appropriate for the levels my children were at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 And get food stamps if you do not have them already. As we have struggled these past few years, it was nice to know I could buy nutritious food for my children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertmum Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 There is also: http://oldfashionededucation.com/index.html It uses vintage material which you can either put on a kindle (I use kindle for pc which is free), and MEP math which is also free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I did one year pretty much as inexpensively as I could. I used Guesthollow history and only used the books I could find from the library, KISS grammar, and a science text book I bought at a used curriculum sale for ($5). I bought CLE math but they are inexpensive. It was a great deal of planning to make sure I had all my resources. If you want MFW I'd start a used search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 So many ways to homeschool with little to no money, especially the little ones. A library is all you really need. If you will be able to keep your internet (this is one thing we always put on the chopping block when money got very tight) then the online free sites are great. Get from the library the What a X grader Needs to Know and then use books, narration, and notebooking. This can be done with math also, you just need to know the skills for each grade level and then teach it. After years of spending over $1000 for each child I am now able to spend a small fraction of that by looking everywhere but curriculum catalogs. Start shopping ebay and used curriculum sites (only pay with paypal to cover any problems)...the deals are out there (I just bought a SL core C for $35). Think outside the box. After all the years I have homeschooled I am finding the less curriculum I use for a subject, those subjects are the ones my children are gettiing the most from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama2cntrykids Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 So many wonderful ideas and links. I really appreciate it. The (several) suggestions for using a Kindle are great. Could I find one easily used? Dh told me last night that the kids' education is important and that we should use some of our tax money (which is a nice amount) towards it. I'm more of a frugal mindset, especially at this point of the game (ummmm, honey, you have no job). It's possible that dh *could* get called back in the spring, but his former employer really wasn't making any promises and I'm not holding my breath on it. As it sits right now, I'm staring at a pile of paperwork to try and get food stamps/medical help until dh finds a job. He has also applied for unemployment. I really should get down to the WIC office too, since we have a baby, we'll qualify. Anyother thoughts/ideas are welcome:grouphug::grouphug:. [quote name=Jenny in Florida;3589561 If you can give me an idea of what subjects you want to teach and your general approach and "worldview' date='" I'll be happy to throw out some ideas and share some of the things that worked for us when my kids were that age.[/quote] Well, I plan on teaching math, science, bible, history, art, music composers, logic, I really wanted to also do Peongy (sp?) Press's reading guides too. I'm drawn toward a CM/Classical style and we're Christians. I'd appreciate any ideas that you have:bigear:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenninMN Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 (edited) Which year of MFW were you planning for next year? Do you use the Serle books for LA already? What are you currently using for math? Math would be the one subject I would try very hard to keep the same, however, it's also one of the easier ones to replace for free... Edited February 8, 2012 by JenninMN added more questions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyagain Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Also, there is a MFW sale/swap yahoo group. You may be able to find what you need there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama2cntrykids Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Which year of MFW were you planning for next year? Do you use the Serle books for LA already? What are you currently using for math? Math would be the one subject I would try very hard to keep the same, however, it's also one of the easier ones to replace for free... Rome to Reformation was what was up next for us. For LA, we are using CLE, but I'm open to switching. Math is Teaching Textbooks for the boys and McRuffy (LOVE it!) for my dd5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama2cntrykids Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Also, there is a MFW sale/swap yahoo group. You may be able to find what you need there. I haven't had luck yet. I check on here too. Its funny b/c the "research" lover in me loves trying to piece together something on my own. BUT I get stuck with actually making a decision on what to use:glare::tongue_smilie:. Sometimes I can't make a decision on my own to save my life:001_huh:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I haven't had luck yet. I check on here too. Its funny b/c the "research" lover in me loves trying to piece together something on my own. BUT I get stuck with actually making a decision on what to use:glare::tongue_smilie:. Sometimes I can't make a decision on my own to save my life:001_huh:. Since you like piecing things together , you could order Kathryn Stout guides (History, Science, Math, Spelling, and I am sure there are more). She lists skills and subjects needed for each grade level. The math even has teaching helps. These can be found on for sale board for cheap. I am using the spelling and Math, easy to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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