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My solutions to "Saving Money on Homeschooling Supplies" is to buy supplies in bulk and/or when supplies are on sale. Share the expenses and supplies with your children's friends and parents.
Sometimes you can find coupons in your local department and grocery stores for different school supplies. This is what some of my friends do with their home schooling purchasing school supplies. Hope this will work for you too!
By BJ from Smyrna, DE
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Tips for saving money on homeschooling books and supplies. Post your ideas.
Don't purchase an expensive program. Visit local new and used book stores (cheap books can be found), search the web (print work lessons and work sheets for free) and hook up with a homeschool group in your area (many will let you make copies of old workbooks for your own use).
By Rebecca G
Consider the Unschooling Method. The worst thing I did was to try to recreate a classroom in our house.
My son had chores and I used everyday activities as a lesson.
I bought grade level 'Mega Books' at Sam's that cover all the school topics and used it to keep track of his progress.
PBS had quite a few educational line ups back then like Wishbone and Bill Nye the Science and we went to the library to get books on that day's topic.
Most PBS have educational classes during the night hours and will send you a schedule if you ask so you can tape them. Also Cable in the Classroom is a great resource.
My son went to public school for his high school years and graduated with honors. Enough said!
The internet is the best source for me. I homeschool my preschooler. You can find worksheets and everything for all grade levels.
Use a plastic sleeve (page protector) and dry-erase marker or crayon over workbook pages. The workbook can then be used over and over. Cut the left part of the plastic sleeve off (the side with the holes), then slip it upside-down over the page you want to write on. It can be cut down to the size of the book to make it fit better. Rubbing alcohol and a piece of old towel work great for getting crayon off! The terry cloth is rough, and doesn't tear like tissue or a paper towel.
Find a homeschool support group through your local home educators association.They may have used book sales, sometimes with a "free" table. You can sell or give away things you don't use there.
Make friends with others in local support groups. Find out if they have a Mom's Night Out, and attend it.
Your State Department of Education may have free downloadable lesson plans or worksheets.
Try freecycle.org!
You can find good deals on used books and text books at thrift shops, yard sales, used book stores. I sometimes prefer older textbooks, because they seem more demanding - but this is true more for English/literary/cultural subjects - not so much for science - remember to update information in older textbooks as needed - but it might give good perspectives on how looking at the world changes.
I just started homeschooling and was wondering if there are any tax deductions I should look for. Can I deduct for books and other school supplies?
What about larger items like software, desk, globe, field trips, etc.Contact your state as well as the federal tax sites. Yes, there are so many things that can be used for public, private and home schooled children.
Find the homeschool groups in your state, and ask them that question. The homeschool community can supply you with so much information and support! We live in Wisconsin; I am not aware of any tax deductions or financial aid available to us here. If there were, I would hesitate to accept it, to ensure that we would not have any "strings attached" regarding our choices in educating our children.
Teahers are allowed a $250.00 credit on the federal tax return.
I don't believe there are tax deductions anywhere- or atleast I hope there isn't. I home school because I don't want the government involved in my child's education.
No, we don't get any tax breaks. The above mentioned teacher tax is for full time teachers who work 7 out of 9 months in a PAID school, public or private environment.
We pay the school tax but get no breaks as a school. However, if you do pay school taxes (as a property owner) you are entitled for your child to use the school libraries and to take a class or classes (such as band, music, art, math) at your public school. If the district gives you trouble, contact your state board of education.
Does anyone know of an sources for inexpensive homeschooling books and supplies?
Thanks,
Larry
I would try half priced books if they have one in your area.
www.halfpricebooks.com/
Also, Amazon.com and Half.com have good deals on books in their used marketplace.
http://www.amazon.com and http://www.half.com
And ofcourse if you know what you are looking for you can find some good deals at Ebay.com
This takes a bit of leg work but I frequently see homeschool books at garage sales. In fact, one sale I went to last summer must have had 200 books for quite cheap, a dollar or so a book.
Try www.vegsource.com/
I would try your local friends of the library and see when they are going to have thier next sale. Also our school district sells thier used textbooks so I would see when thier next sale is. Our school district also sells desks and tables and even used stand alone chalk boards.
As a public school teacher, I know that new textbook editions come out all the time and I have found that there are surpluses in the bookroom. Maybe if you befriend a v.p. or do a bartering (volunteer) for a current/used textbook, that might work!
There are several great sources for homeschool books on yahoo groups. Just do a search and you'll be pleasantly surprised.
This is a page about saving money on worksheets. Photocopying worksheets is expensive and wasteful. Slipping a worksheet into a page protector is a great way to make the worksheet reusable. You can use dry erase pens on it to do the work, then you just wipe it clean to reuse it.
