Zephyr Hill

A Family Blog

How to Supplement a Homeschool Education

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hssupplement1 Even if you already have a full curriculum in place, there are ways to expand learning opportunities and provide extra support in areas where your child needs improvement.

And it doesn’t have to be costly.

Here are some ways that we have supplemented our home learning over the years.

Field Trips: When you’re homeschooling, almost anywhere you go be turned into a learning experience. In fact, I’ll go even further than that. Your children are learning all the time! So tie this into your lessons when you can.

  • Volunteer at your church or in the community and use this to reinforce a civics or social studies lesson
  • Involve your child in the next grocery trip by preparing the list together, estimating prices and helping count money at the checkout.
  • Visit the zoo, a botanical garden, a local farm, nature center or hiking trails while studying biology, astronomy or zoology.
  • Visit a history museum when your lessons correspond to current exhibits.
  • Take your children to the state capitol or court house. Try to be there when elected officials will be available, or when guided tours are held. Also check into opportunities for teens to work as Pages in the state legislature.
  • Go to the fire or police department. Call ahead and see if they will do a presentation for your small group.

Online Programs: Digital resources are one of the easiest and most accessible ways to supplement your curriculum. Sites like FutureSchool are just one example. It’s a comprehensive math and English teaching system for American students and their families; FutureSchool utilizes a variety of tools like customized lesson plans, live teacher support and detailed progress reports.

Books: Think outside the textbook. Having your child read a novel that follows a textbook lesson (i.e. reading The Red Badge of Courage while studying the Civil War) is the most obvious strategy, but you can get even more creative. Use Egyptian paper dolls to supplement an ancient history lesson. Recite and/or act out parts of the Illiad while studying the history of Rome. Enjoy a book about constellations and the mythology behind them while studying the solar system.

Household Items: Toys, tools and even your digital camera can all help to expand your child’s education. Here some examples:

  • Help your child take pictures of plants and leaves with your digital camera for a nature journal.
  • Use tools from the garage to teach concepts like motion, force, gravity, magnetism, energy and simple mechanics.
  • Make a grocery store out of canned goods and let your child price and buy items for math.
  • Play a game of Monopoly to teach about interest, investing and mortgages.
  • Use the map or globe to play impromptu geography games.

 

Writing: Pen pals were a big deal in my childhood years; nearly all my friends (and all three of my sisters) had one! I wrote to a girl named Yujin Lee from China, and another from Wisconsin, for many years. We exchanged pictures, news, and jokes and I saved all the correspondence in a shoe box until college. Yujin’s beautiful and delicately written letters were something I looked forward to every month, as were the interesting mementos she would sometimes tuck inside from China.

There are other fun ways to encourage more writing!

  • Writing letters to the newspaper or a children’s magazine
  • Entering essay and poetry contests
  • Corresponding with local elected officials (yes, they are eager to hear from young people who are not of voting age yet).

Tutoring: Think outside the box. It doesn’t have to be an expensive private teacher. A “tutor” might also be the local mechanic that your son works with a couple of times a week or your daughter’s grandmother as she passes on her crocheting skills.

I’d love to read about the ways that your family has provided enrichment and additional learning opportunities to supplement your homeschool experience.

 

 

 

 

This post was sponsored by Future School. 

Homeschooling on a Budget

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Yes, it’s possible to save money by teaching your children at home. In fact, you might even spend less than you would if they were attending a “free” public school. No mandatory school supplies to buy. No pressure to purchase new clothes just for school. No gas from commuting to school or extra curricular activities. It can really add up.

You might be thinking “But homeschoolers have to purchase their own curriculum!” So exactly how can you save money?

Buy Used or Borrow: There are tons of places to find good used textbooks: yard sales, Ebay, Amazon, library sales, and homeschool fairs and conferences. There’s no requirement to buy new or have the very latest edition of a book on hand if an edition that’s a few years old would work just as well. Wouldn’t you rather spend $5 than $50?

Don’t overlook opportunities to borrow, either. Chances are you have a friend, neighbor or family members who might have homeschooled at some point. Ask if they are willing to lend you some books. They might even give them away. My sister had a set of old readers that she used for her daughter, an only child. She was more than happy to lend us the entire set, saving us a bunch of money as the readers encompassed all the elementary years.

Enroll in a Virtual School: Don’t overlook this growing trend! Online schools like Connections Academy offer a complete curriculum for your child and the cost ranges from absolutely free to just 40 or 50 dollars for the entire year. And some schools even lend you a laptop for no charge! It’s not all online, either, so don’t worry that your child will plant himself in front of the family PC and grow roots. Most virtual schools have both online and hands-on components. That means you’ll most likely get a box of beautiful textbooks, supplies and learning aids mailed right to your door and your child will use the computer only part of the time, for quizzes, enrichment and contact with certified teachers.

Connections Academy is national, but you can also find many options for your particular state. These virtual schools are usually tied to a local school district, yet you don’t have to be in the district to enroll. Just Google a phrase like “Missouri Virtual Schools” and see what comes up. Or contact your state’s Department of Education.

Do it Yourself: You can create your own bare bones curriculum to save a lot of money, although this option takes a lot of time and dedication. But it might appeal to those parents who have that “pioneer spirit” and possess a lot of natural creativity. You can create your own worksheets in a word processing program. Or print them for free at homeschooling websites. Use books that you already own as primary texts (storybooks, dictionaries, Bibles, encyclopedias, etc.) and add resources as needed.

Sell or Swap: Look around your house. You might already have some things you can sell or swap for needed books and materials. Don’t just limit yourself to educational items, either. If you have a bunch of DVD’s that no one watches anymore, sell them on Ebay and then use the credit in your Paypal account to buy a few things you need for school. Or visit sites like Homeschool Classifieds to buy, sell and trade.

Homeschooling does not have to be expensive. In fact, it can be quite cheap! You’ll feel good knowing you’ve not only given your child an excellent education, but saved the family money in the process.