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August 20, 2007 - by Terri Johnson, author of
Homeschooling ABCs (www.homeschoolingabcs.com
) -
dedicated to helping new homeschoolers gain the
confidence and the necessary skills to successfully teach
their children at home.
How to Avoid Overbuying Curricula
Have you ever been so wooed by a product description that you
have purchased it right on the spot? Or so convinced by friends
or cyber-buddies that your children’s education will not be
complete unless you use a certain curriculum? Perhaps you have
felt so intimidated about teaching a certain subject that you
have purchased everything available on the topic to be sure
that you cover it adequately and not leave holes in your
children’s education.
Whatever the reason, many well-meaning homeschooling parents
over-buy when it comes to curriculum. This is certainly not an
unforgivable sin - in fact, I am the first one to say that we
should not skimp when it comes to providing the atmosphere and
resources for our kids’ learning.
But let us discuss some ways we can control the financial
outflow during this season of buying.
Here are five ways that you can avoid over-buying and
successfully plan for a bountiful year of learning:
1. Make Your
Plan - Take some time to map out your upcoming
school year. What subjects would you like to cover? How does
each of your children learn best? How much time will you have
to devote to schooling each day? What subjects will your
children need you by their side and which ones can they study
independently? These are big questions. Take one child at a
time and map out some goals. Take into consideration his/her
age and preferred learning style. Take stock of his progress in
each subject area. Will you need to emphasize a particular
subject more now because of overlooking it in past years? Are
there subjects that he is truly motivated in and can pursue
more independently, thereby freeing up your time as teacher?
Make for yourself a rough plan and schedule for your family and
then move onto step #2.
2. Take
Inventory - Scan your bookshelves and dig
through those cabinets to find your educational resources. Pull
out those unused math books, grammar and spelling workbooks,
literature guides, etc. Make three stacks - 1. Will Never Use,
2. Might Use Someday, and 3. Will Use This Year. Take a look at
stack number 2 again and ask yourself, “When will I use this?”,
“Who would I use this with?”, and “What am I waiting for?” If
you truly feel like you have a good sense that you will
actually use the resource sometime in the near future (year or
two) then put it away until next year. If you just cannot nail
yourself down on when you would use it or what the
circumstances would be for you to use it, put this book or
curriculum with stack number 1.
3. Clear It
Out - Take your books and curricula in stack
number 1 and get rid of them. The best thing you can do with
used educational resources is put them up for sale. Someone out
there is looking for what you already have and are not using.
There are many online places that you can sell your school
books - eBay, VegSource, Well-Trained Mind Sale and Swap board,
and many, many more. Place a reasonable price to it, then add
another couple bucks to the price and sell it “postage paid”.
This means that you as the seller will take care of the
shipping costs (this just seems simpler to me and the buyer
feels like she is getting a good deal). Media mail is the
cheapest way to send books and other media products - CDs,
video’s, curriculum in binders, etc.
4. Buy The Basics
First - Now take stock again of what you have
and what you now need. Buy your basic subjects first - math,
grammar, spelling, history, science. You may even find some of
what you are looking for on those used swap boards while you
are listing your items to sell. If you have time, wait until
these arrive before purchasing anything more at this point.
5. Fill in the
Gaps - Once you receive your basic materials,
read through them. Take notes of what else you are going to
need to fill out the program. Does the math program that you
chose require that you purchase manipulatives? Does the grammar
book contain writing exercises and does it meet your
requirements for a good writing program, or will you need
something more? Does the history curriculum contain geography
lessons? Will you need notebooks, composition books or planners
for each child? Finally, decide how much time and energy you
will have to devote to the extras, such as hands-on projects,
foreign language study, logic, music, art and look for
materials that will fit the bill.
Follow these five steps and you will bring spending under
control. Educating our children is not cheap these days and
does require some financial outlay, but we do not have to buy
everything out there to ensure that our children receive the
best education possible. Your commitment to raising your
children well, training them to be contributors to the family,
and spending time with them - over the books or playing in the
backyard - is what will bring about educational success. There
is no perfect curriculum just waiting to be discovered - it is
you that will make the difference in your children’s lives.
Blessings to you on your educational journey,
Terri Johnson
Knowledge Quest, Inc.
Terri Johnson, along with her husband Todd, has been
teaching their children at home for 11 years. They also
run a publishing company - Knowledge Quest, Inc. - producing
history and geography materials for the homeschool
marketplace. This past year, they have started two online
classes - Homeschooling ABCs (
www.homeschoolingabcs.com) - dedicated to
helping new homeschoolers gain the confidence and the necessary
skills to successfully teach their children at home; and Upper
Level Homeschool (www.upperlevelhomeschool.com) –
encouraging and equipping homeschooling parents to stay the
course even when their teen enter high school and to finish the
race strong.
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