Free and Low Cost Homeschooling Resources

I'm not gonna lie. Homeschooling has cost us a bundle. Between changing teaching philosophies, a love of books and games, a lack of self control, and well, children and life, it has not been cheap.  Along this journey though I've discovered some great resources that are either free or very low cost. Homeschooling DOES NOT have to cost an arm and a leg- even living in a rural and relatively poor state, I have found a large number of resources to share.

The Dollar Store

the dollar store has a surprisingly decent supply of workbooks and teacher supplies.
Meg Grooms has several wonderful posts on dollar store finds, so i'll link t hem here and not reinvent the wheel
Homeschooling Bargains
Science at the Dollar Store

Oh, and this Gameschool blog has become one of my favorites, and has lots of posts with free printables and games and ideas as well.

Teachers Pay Teachers

Membership here is free, and you can narrow your searches down by cost, so you can search for resources within your current budget.

Back to School Sales

I love when our store has their annual back to school sale and I can get notebooks for 19 cents and crayons for under a dollar a box. I stock up on all the essentials; printer paper, markers, crayons, notebooks, pencils during these sales. Good news is my kid doesn't "need" a brand new backpack and lunch box every year.

Education.com

education.com has all kinds of worksheets and lessons. when I need to print off the odd worksheet to fill in a gap or supplement my curriculum I head here. Sometimes I use some of their worksheets when I just don't feel like doing a full math lesson that day. Or week.   You get a limited number of free downloads a month. If you subscribe make sure to wait for one of their frequent 50% off sales.

The Library! 

Never forget your local library. Don't be afraid to ask for interlibrary loans or for them to purchase books for you. Some libraries can loan out homeschool kits, museum passes, games, puzzles, movies and audiobooks. Checkout your libraries website as well, many resources can be found there depending on what services your library has subscribed to.  Look under Homework help sections and the like and see what's there.  Not to mention family friendly activities (free field trips anyone?)  Get to know your local librarians, they will serve you well.

Thrift-stores

Books, games, art and experiment supplies, book cases and more can all be thrifted. Keep your eyes open, you know know.

Friends of the Library Bookstore
If your library has a friends of the library bookstore, check it out! They often support a charity or the library and can have great deals on used materials.

Local Homeshool Groups

For all kinds of reasons you should see if your area has an online homeschool presence, facebook can be a good place to start.  People may be selling supplies and such at low costs there, with no shipping since it's local. Also, friends from your local support groups may be hoping to loan you, give you, or let you look through, materials. Or host field trips, science days, co-ops and the like.

Online Market Places

While Facebook market places, local garage sale groups and Craigslist aren't usually homeschool specific, sometimes great deals can show up anyway. Think games, book cases, books, art supplies and legos.

Podcasts

There are lots of great podcasts available that are free and kid friendly. A future post I will list podcasts we've found, but don't count them out!

Youtube

Over the past school year I have come across a number of books CDS and movies, listed in my curriculums,  that I couldn't find or couldn't find for a reasonable price. But when I searched youtube for them there for free! Don't discount youtube just because your kids most annoying youtubers can be found there.