Saving Money and
Adding Variety with Used Curriculum
Home schooling in the elementary years doesn’t have to break
the bank! I’m not for being “cheap” and skimping
on quality when it comes to education, but you can build or enhance a terrific
home library by acquiring some of your collection in the form of used books. We have hundreds of children’s books and curriculum items in our
home, and only a fraction of them were purchased new.
As I started planning out what my youngest daughter will do
for home school next year, I realized I only need to buy a math workbook and a
grammar workbook for her. After over 20
years of home schooling 10 kids, we already have everything else right on our
own shelves, and a lot of it was used when we got it.
Our favorite sources?
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| Chairs in the Brightlight children's section painted by Amy Huber |
Used bookstores:
We have a wonderful one a mile from our house with an amazing children’s
literature section. You can also order
from their web site, Brightlight. That store is my first stop when I’m looking
for a great novel or biography for my kids – and these are the core of our
history and literature program since we use the Charlotte Mason approach. Our public library also has a used bookstore
in it, again with a lovely children’s collection. All of the kids’ books are a dollar or less
there.
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| CFHE used curriculum sale |
Annual used
curriculum sales: Here in the
Orlando area, there are several annual used curriculum sales hosted by home
school support groups. In some cases,
two or more groups will collaborate to pull off a huge, well-organized sale
with thousands of books arranged by subject and grade. Here is the web site for the Central Florida Home Educators Used
Curriculum Sale. This sale is where we look for text books and
work books, as well as more reading selections.
Family:
Many of our books were given to us by family and friends. I have a substantial vintage collection and
many more contemporary titles from my parents and my in-laws. Some of them were my childhood favorites that I wanted my own kids to enjoy. In that spirit, I also pass along books to my own adult daughters
for their children, too. My sister gave me a few huge boxes of books that her
children had outgrown.
Friends: We've gotten a lot of great stuff from friends who were cleaning off their shelves and wanted to share with others. At times, I have put out a request on Facebook asking if
someone has a particular title to loan and pass along for free. That has been a huge blessing. At our old home school co-op, moms would
bring in boxes of books they weren’t using any more and leave them in the entry
hallway for others to comb through. Of course, I give away a lot of books to friends, too!
On-line: Amazon
and eBay are the two places I most commonly
order used books on-line. I also visit
home school used curriculum sites such as Home School Classifieds and The Swap.
There are a ton of other sites that you can Google, but those are just the
ones I have used.
Yard sales: Looking for a really inexpensive way to
supplement your curriculum? I’ve found children’s fiction, biographies,
hands-on manipulatives, work books, and so much more at yard sales. Yesterday, I picked up a a write-on/wipe-off
math facts practice board for my youngest daughter, a lady bug paper model kit
for my youngest son, and phonics flip book, a quiz deck, a construction
vehicles puzzle, and some fun picture books for my oldest grandson. I also saw a lot of educational software,
good quality children’s dictionaries, and workbooks. Sure, yard sale finds aren’t
the core of my curriculum. I like to be
a little more intentional than that. But
yard sale finds sure can spice up the mix for just pennies! 
Public library: I’m not talking about buying, but borrowing.
I know you are raising your eyebrows. Of
course the books have been used – over and over again by hundreds of
patrons! And you don’t have to allocate
long term storage on your own shelves. All the variety, none of the hassle, and
available in your own community. Perfect.
Where do you get your used books? We want to know! Leave a comment!
Grace,
Virginia Knowles
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Oh I love to read about homeschooling. I still have lots of books on our shelves :-)
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