Where to Find Homeschool Curriculum

A homeschool curriculum can be as diverse as the population that homeschools! Materials can be easy to find at times and difficult at other times. A lot depends on what you are looking for and how much you wish to spend.

Traditional Curriculum
Many traditional curriculum can be purchased directly from a publisher's website. Some popular curriculum are:
1. ABeka at http://www.abeka.org/
2. Sonlight at http://www.sonlight.com
3. Calvert at http://www.calvertschool.org
4. Bob Jones University at http://www.bjupress.com
5. Alpha Omega at http://www.aop.com/home/
6. Five in a Row at http://www.fiveinarow.com/

Of course these are only just a few of the choices for curriculum. The above companies provide curriculum either in whole or in part. But, you can take one of the above curriculum and use it solely with very little additional material.

But homeschoolers are all about additional material and supplementary material. And other homeschoolers may like to pick and choose bits and pieces from different publishing companies. You can visit any textbook publisher's site and find books that you would like to use in your homeschool. You can usually purchase these directly from the publisher. This is one way to assure that your textbooks and/or workbooks are brand new!

But if, like many homeschoolers, finances are tight because one parent is home educating the children and the other parent provides the sole income, you may need more creative ways to get your curriculum. It CAN be done on a budget! Here are some great sources to try:
1. Rainbow Resource Center at http://www.rainbowresource.com . At this site you can purchase traditional and non traditional books. Sometimes you can purchase complete curriculum and other times you purchase single books on a subject. They carry a large selection of books for homeschool students. Their printed catalog is the size of a mid sized city's phone book! And, the best part is that they discount items to provide you the best price on new books!
2. Ebay at http://www.ebay.com is also a wonderful source for curriculum books. Of course most of the time they are used but often this is okay. Be sure to check with the seller to find the condition of the books you are looking at. You can also often find other learning materials such as manipulatives or other kits to be used in your child's education.
3. Ebay's sister site Half.com at http://www.half.com also often has some very good deals on books. You can often find good quality used books for more than half of the original prices.
4. Amazon is also another good source. Amazon at http://www.amazon.com has both new and used materials. You can also find games and many other materials.

To many, the Internet has been a blessing. It is much easier to see the abundance of materials available and explore new options. It is an avenue to research new techniques and ideas. But, other often like to see and touch books before purchasing them. For those people there are still options!

There are brick and mortar stores that carry many books that are appropriate for homeschoolers. These are usually stores that cater to teachers but there is no reason why a homeschooling parent can's shop there too. These stores are often somewhat on the expensive side but often there is a teacher discount (You ARE a teacher, you know! Just show proof that you are homeschooling your child and you will usually be able to qualify for the discount.)

There are also homeschool curriculum fairs and almost every state has one at some time or another Many of these fairs occur in the spring when homeschoolers are finishing up and getting ready to start a new year. Many times there are used book sales at these homeschool fairs as well or at least a room set aside for people to sell their used books. You can often get good deals and save on shipping, in the very least!

Many areas have homeschool book swaps or sales. You can get the book that you've been looking for half the price sometimes. Homeschool families usually take very good care of their books and if they know that they are going to be selling them, they often do not write in them at all. Do check though because everyone is different.

Of course, there are always flea markets and yard sales. We have found some tremendous deals at venues such as these. They may not necessarily be "curriculum books" but there are good books to read and learn from and often computer software, music, musical instruments and much, much more! You just never know what you will find at such places!

Then there are FREE resources! Yes, there is the public library! That is one of the best, often most overlooked resource there is! You do NOT have to own every book you use to teach your children. Many books you will use for a very short time and either learn the material or find that the book is not what you thought or find that your child just doesn't have the interest. Why waste money on buying such a book when you can simply borrow it for free from the public library! And, the library system I use in my state has a feature where I can reserve books and have them sent to my branch so I can access books and videos from the entire state's system. I have found wonderful resources this way. Some I have found worthy of purchasing but others I am glad to borrow for short periods!