Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Tasha’s New Favorite Books for Homeschool

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I’ll take my turn to share my favorite books for homeschool too! For today, check out Tasha’s excitement, experience, and enjoy her encouragement!

Tasha’s New Favorite Books for Homeschool

by Tasha Hackett

I’ve just stumbled upon an amazing homeschool resource! Beautiful Feet Books is my new favorite. Is it weird that I’m already looking forward to the next nine years with my firstborn so I can read more of these books for homeschool?

Do you ever look at a homeschool mom and wonder, “Wow. How does she do it?” Or maybe it’s cringe-worthy and you think, “Jeez, why would someone choose to hang out with their kids all day?”

I get it. Maybe it’s not for everyone. But boy, when all the pieces line up and you get to see the one-year-old crawl into the eight-year-old’s lap for a book and a snuggle and the three and five-year-old are busy cutting paper for a project they’re developing on their own… that’s where the magic happens. I homeschool for a variety of reasons, but one is the gift of learning with them through the reading of great books.

Round two looking for homeschool books

Second generation homeschooling mom here. I always knew that I would homeschool my kids before I even had them. Today, I can tell you, I’m in it for the long haul! This year I have a 3rd grader, a Kindergartener, and an almost four-year-old that doesn’t want to be left out. (Oh! And the one year old will be getting into everything in the meantime.) But things haven’t gone as smoothly as I’d hoped.

My firstborn went to Kindergarten and fall semester of First Grade at the public school before I committed (again, for real this time) to homeschooling. It’s been a journey, to say the least. But I am beyond excited for school to start this year. Only five weeks left! I’m just waiting on one more order of books to arrive from Beautiful Feet Books and then I’ll have everything in place. Am I organized this year or what!?

You’ve Got This

If you are jumping into homeschooling, whether by choice or necessity, just breathe. And smile. You will be amazing! Your kids will think they have the very best mom who loves them so much. Just think, you get to be the one to witness the  “ah-ha!” moment when it just clicks.

When  “Just carry the one!” finally makes sense, you get to be there to celebrate with him. You get to have slow mornings and hot chocolate whenever you want. Imagine taking the time to snuggle for a picture book at 10:30 am. You also get to sit side by side with your older ones and dig into Algebra again, but You Can Do This!

You’ll be great. Especially with all the great resources available to us now. (Keep reading for a promo code to my new favorite bookstore!)

kids watching printer

This is how homeschool kids have fun. Haha, just kidding!

Thanks, Mom!

My mom, bless her heart, did the best she could with what she had, ya know? When she started homeschooling me, she had not been dreaming of it for years like I’ve been doing; there was no internet or Facebook homeschool groups. She had a daughter who was struggling, picked on by teachers, physically sick, and shy to the point of anxiety. (Hey! That was me. I’ve overcome mountains of insecurities. Thanks Mom for doing what was best for me.)

Point is… she had a paper curriculum catalog, and a once-a-year book fair. She figured it out on the fly mid-year with three girls under eight. (I turned out great by the way.)

Now I’m planning my kid’s school-year and I have the entire world’s resources available to me and sometimes it’s just too much. I know about Charlotte Mason, and Classical Conversations, and Montessori, and Waldorf, and Unschooling, and Wild and Free, and Traditional, … and wait a minute! You mean you can’t just get History, Math, Language Arts, and Science textbooks and just go with it anymore?

looking at books

Textbooks are out, living books for homeschool are in.

Dear fellow mothers, I am bursting with excitement. I want to tell you ALL THE THINGS about homeschooling, but I really need to focus here. Just the facts, ma’am. I was homeschooled with textbooks. I sat at the table (or the couch, or my bed, or the car) and I read my textbook, I took the quiz, I took the tests.

What if I told you there’s a better way?

I’ve found some of the true joys of homeschooling with the Charlotte Mason idea of using “Living Books” for much of my curriculum. A well-written biography of George Washington that reads like a novel is going to leave a longer-lasting impression than a chapter on George Washington in a History textbook.

I have researched and researched and researched such books and finally stumbled upon Beautiful Feet Books. They sell “curriculum” packs that are not textbooks, but a collection of books in a theme at varied grade levels. For this fall, I ordered the EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY PRIMARY JUMBO PACK: over 20 books for only $210. Believe me when I tell you this is the cheapest price you will find for these books. I price checked the individual books at three other sites. (And you know I did. I spent two hours price checking. So… you’re welcome.)

kids playing together

Spend less time researching books and more time playing in the sprinkler this summer.

You can customize your pack.

Beautiful Feet Books allows you to adjust your book packs. If you already own a few of the books in the pack, or (like me) you don’t want to bother with the lesson book that accompanies because you already have a separate curriculum you’re using, it’s no problem, just click the option “Customize your pack.”

Or, you have the option of purchasing the books individually. You get the idea. We are focusing on American History this year, so I was glad to find a ready-made pack of American History stories for K-3rd. It will fit into our year perfectly.

What if I told you the books are already homeschool mom approved?

I let my order sit in the cart for three days deliberating if I should place the order or not! In the end, I went for it after reading at least thirty reviews from other homeschool moms. Being able to pick a book out of a stack and know that it’s preapproved, at grade-level, interesting, historically accurate, and appropriate is a huge weight off my shoulders.

Later this month I’ll tell you more about what I’m planning for Hackett Academy this year. For now I’m working on getting the papers and binders and pencils all in their places. Five weeks is plenty of time… but I’m doing my best to start out on the right foot.

Homeschool = Flexibility

One of the joys of homeschooling is how easily it adapts to your life. I had a baby last year. We spent more time loving on a newborn than we did learning about George Washington, and I have no regrets about that. With so many little ones who aren’t strong readers, trying to juggle multiple subjects in multiple grades would be impossible, I’m looking forward to learning with my kids all about our country’s history, and doing it all together. I’m beyond grateful someone else took the time to find these amazing books and put them in a collection for me. Now all I have to do is open it up!

Want to check out Beautiful Feet Books?

Beautiful Feet Books is a digital storefront that sells living books in all grade levels, from the illustrated Leif the Lucky to Beowulf. Purchases can be made individually or in a curriculum pack with a teacher’s guide (or customize your pack by removing the books you don’t need). Have a look and tell me what you think! Use the code BFB2020 for free shipping during the month of July.

Are you a homeschool family? What are you excited about this year?

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Our Kindergarten Through College Curriculum Plan for 2019

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Every year it’s fun to talk through upcoming school plans! We’ve got our hands full this year with a kindergartener, a 9th grader, a 12th grader, and one in college. (We’ve got a college graduate and a baby boy too, but woohoo, they aren’t studying for tests this year. Our graduate is beyond happy about this.) Here’s our kindergarten through college curriculum plan for 2019!

Our Kindergarten through College Curriculum Plan

Bonus Boy and I have already started several of his books, simply because he was excited and he likes to stay busy. Who am I to argue with someone who wants to have a reading lesson? Meanwhile, our high schoolers are trying not to think about school starting yet. I don’t blame them. Summer break is bliss.

Here’s the rundown of our curriculum plan!

Bonus Boy, grade K:

  1. We will be using our Learn to Serve Complete Curriculum Package as a primary focus. Serve and learn, learn and serve!
  2. We’ll work our way through at least the beginning of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. (Once he gets the gist of reading, we’ll move on to Bob Books and other easy readers.) (Oh, I just ordered these – SO CUTE!!)
  3. We’ll follow many of (but not all of) Sonlight’s kindergarten suggestions for Read-Alouds, History, and Science.
  4. We’ll use the fantastic downloads we got last spring during the Build Your Bundle Sale. (*SEE NOTE BELOW!!)
  5. We’ll use Explode the Code, Italic Handwriting, and Miquon Math workbooks.
  6. We’ll use several of the curriculum packets I’ve created to meet his specific needs. I’ll share more about these soon!
  7. He’ll receive speech and language services from our public school once each week. I am SO GRATEFUL that they are so supportive of our plan to homeschool while still working with him to improve his speech and language skills. I’ll be a part of these sessions so that we can be more aware of what we’ll need to continue working on at home with him.
  8. We’ll read, read, read, read, and read! Library here we come!
  9. We’ll play, play, play! This boy loves to be on the go, explore, and be with friends. Never a dull moment, we’ll be involved in many activities that keep him interacting and active!

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*The Build Your Bundle folks are offering a flash sale today through noon on Thursday, August 8! Look through all the digital curriculum offered at up to 92% off and take advantage of this surprise offer. Bonus Boy and I are LOVING all we bought from this sale a few weeks ago. These books are all wonderful supplements to our regular curriculum!

Build Your Bundle - The Biggest Homeschool Curriculum Sale of the Year

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Malachi, grade 9:

  1. He will be taking Chamber Singers (choir) and Strength Training (weight lifting) at our public high school so that he will qualify to play tennis and soccer with the public school team.
  2. He will finish Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1 and begin Algebra 2.
  3. He will work on Wordly Wise and Grammar books, and read many of Sonlight’s suggested English and Literature options for 9th grade.
  4. We will read and work through Apologia Physical Science together.
  5. We will read through many of Sonlight’s Church History suggestions.
  6. He and Bonus Boy will work through Travel the World, Experience the Creator together (with Malachi doing the entire book and Bonus Boy only doing the parts he is ready for).

I’ll share in more detail soon, but check out one of our newest curriculum creations!

Elias, grade 12:

Boy #3 has become a senior this year! I’d say I blinked and here we are. But yeah right. We worked hard and here we are. Heh. :)

Elias is mostly finished with his regular high school credits, so he’ll be doing mostly college-level work this year.

  1. He will be taking Chamber Singers (choir) and Strength Training (weight lifting) at our public high school so that he will qualify to play soccer with the public school team.
  2. He will be taking classes at York College: College Algebra, College Speech, College Intro to Business, College American History, and one other college class to be determined. These will be divided between two semesters and will give him both high school and college credits.
  3. At the end of this year, Elias will graduate from high school with 30 college credits (he started taking college-level classes as a high school sophomore) so he will begin college next year as a college sophomore!

In case you’re wondering about our other boys…

Asa graduated from college in May and is working toward a full-time career in Videography. He is incredibly gifted in this field and has used his summer to work on several video projects for clients.

Justus is starting his second year at York College (though technically now he is a college junior). He is pursuing a degree in Vocal Performance and wants to have a career in Music Production. He is in choir, student government, and helps with the men’s soccer team.

And because he shouldn’t be left out, our foster Boy Babe is 8 months old and learning how to stay away from the stairs and electrical outlets. He gets an extraordinary amount kisses from the seven of us every day, so we’re pretty sure that’s why he’s so roly-poly.

I’d love to hear more about your upcoming school plans (public, private, or homeschool)! And stay tuned because we have some fun curriculum creations we’re about to reveal. Psst, some are FREE!

 

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I Can’t Believe I’m Doing This Again!

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I can’t believe I am doing this again!

I had given away almost all of our books, keeping only those that we had loved the most. You know, to save for future grandkids.

I had cleared away most of our learning toys, keeping only those that were of the highest quality. Once again, to save for future grandkids.

I had told myself with each finished subject, “Well, that’s the last time I’ll ever teach that one!” And I did a little happy dance and breathed a sigh of relief. After all, while we’ve loved our homeschool life since 2002, it’s been good, hard work.

I wasn’t even a little bit sorry to put the Biology book away FOREVER. Goodbye, terms like cyclin-dependent kinase. I’ve read about you – out loud and with good intention- at least twelve times and I still don’t know what you are. Hmm, oh well. Bye! Goodbye! Bye-bye!!

These have been my thoughts ever since our youngest started his middle school grades three years ago. Finished with this! Almost done with that! Never have to teach those again!

And then God surprised us by providing a darling Bonus Boy for our family – one whose last name will soon become Coppinger. Our youngest son suddenly became a middle son. Four sons became five. (Currently, we are also fostering Boy #6.) I can assure you that if you didn’t see any of this coming, we most certainly didn’t either. Oh, but God knew. He’s been planning this all along.

 


I Can’t Believe We’re Doing this Again!

As we’ve settled him in and readjusted our family life, we talked about and prayed about sending this one, our Bonus Boy, to school. After all, I thought I was done. I had given away all the little kid school books. And well, I’m a little bit tired.

But God has made it clear after several months of prayer that while it would have been a fine option to let a public or private school educate our Bonus Boy, it will be better for his many needs if we teach him at home. And so, my friends, after being in high school and college teaching class mode for the past several years – I have found myself preparing to teach a kindergartener again!!

God has beautifully transformed my heart to make me want to do this. Praise Him, He has made me excited about it!

We will most certainly be working through our Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve and Learn Your Numbers, Learn to Serve books. We will use Sonlight Curriculum as a guide for the core subjects, just as we’ve done with our big boys for the past 17 years. And we’ll pick up all the other great teaching and learning options we come across that meet our family’s needs.

This week, I’m definitely taking advantage of the Build Your Bundle Homeschool Curriculum Sale. I already picked up the Kindergarten Bundle and the Character Bundle.  UPDATE!! I discovered a much better deal with this, scratched my original plan, and did this instead —->

Instead of getting the pre-packaged bundles, I am instead going through the list of all 180 books offered, picking all the ones that are right for us, AND!!!

The more we buy, the bigger discount we get!!

Here’s how it works:

  1. Click here and find this button:

2. Click on that, and you’ll see this:

3. Look through all the eBooks, memberships, and eCourses listed (there are 180)! Add all you want to the cart, knowing that at minimum, you’re going to get 75% off and at most, you could get 90% off!!!

4. Once your cart hits a $100 retail, you’ll suddenly see YOUR total jump down to $25! Keep adding, and that percentage off keeps growning. It is SWEET!!!! I just got a ton of books for so cheap!!

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I love that I don’t have to find shelf space for these books! I’m simply storing them on my computer to download and print as needed. Perfect!

We’ll be reviving some of our old family homeschool traditions…
And beginning a few new ones, I’m sure.


Our God is a good God, full of surprises that He provides for in every way.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve been learning is to not make my own plans but to instead fully surrender to trusting God’s plans. We didn’t know we’d become foster parents. We didn’t know we would adopt. We didn’t know we’d start our homeschool journey all over again.

And we didn’t know that what would begin as a huge shock and surprise would turn out to be something that – difficult as some days have been – we couldn’t imagine life without.

It’s time for me to borrow or re-purchase many of the great resources we had used before and given away. Thinking about this makes me laugh every time! I just really, really had no idea that I would one day need all those books and manipulatives I so cheerfully passed on!!! Oh God, what a joy you are to give us gifts we would never expect!

We don’t know what tomorrow brings. God is beautifully and perfectly in charge. His plans for all of our tomorrow’s are set in motion, and we have the glorious privilege of walking in obedience with Him.

Please share: What has God surprised you with recently?

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Homeschool Curriculum Question

If you homeschool, I would love to hear what you’ve used and loved through the years!?

Also, I encourage you to head over to the HUGE Build Your Bundle Homeschool Curriculum Sale going on this week only! There are hundreds of resources available at up to 92% off.

This sale is only offered once each year, and now’s the time! These are all digital and printable products, which is perfect to supplement your kids’ needs and school work options. And once you purchase, you can keep the files on your computer and print them for any and all of your kids for years to come!

Build Your Bundle - The Biggest Homeschool Curriculum Sale of the Year

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An Update on our School Year (Our Schedule, Curriculum, Homeschool, Public School, College, oh my!)

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Way back in August when I shared this very delicious Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe, I mentioned a bit about our school year and our family Bible time. Several asked for more information, so here I am, a month and a half later, finally getting around to writing a few details about our schedule and curriculum.

schedule and curriculum

The good news: So far, this year isn’t as difficult as the past three years have been. Thank you, God. Our high school aged sons had some tougher classes during those years that threatened to push both student and mother over the edge of sanity. Everything in comparison seems easier this year, even though it’s still hard work. So here we are, not losing our sanity. Mostly.

This year we have:

Asa ~ age 20, a college junior

asa2sm

Of course he’s not still homeschooling or even living at home, but I thought you might like an update on him anyway. :) Asa lives on the York College campus across town, so we still get to see him from time to time! He’s in the thick of his Business Communications degree plan, is known as “the video guy” on campus, and is well on his way to making a career of videography and photography. He’s paying his way through school with his camera, by studying hard so he can keep his academic scholarship (he has to maintain a 3.75 gpa or higher, phew!), plus he’s got a soccer and a choir scholarship. Somehow he keeps up with all of this, along with heavy involvement on campus, without ever sleeping. Also, he has an adorable girlfriend. Be still my heart.

Justus ~ age 17.5, a high school senior

Justus Senior6600

He is all but finished with his high school graduation requirements, so he is focusing now on getting more college credits under his belt. (We heart dual credits!) He’s taking World Literature on the York College campus, and Intro To Business at the public high school for college credit.

Big News! Nebraska changed their requirements this year for homeschoolers. In order to participate in extracurricular activities at the public school, homeschoolers only have to take two classes (which is much more doable for our family compared to previous state requirements). So Justus and Elias are taking two classes each at our local high school so that they can play soccer with the team in the spring. So exciting!

Justus is taking piano and voice lessons each week, choir at the public school, and produces music on software at home each week too. Perhaps it goes without saying that he is planning to be a music major in college next year.

Elias ~ age 15.5, a high school sophomore 

elias2sm

This kid is hitting his high school basics hard this semester so that he can begin dual credits next semester (or next year…we’re still working out some of the specifics). He’s taking Choir and Weight Lifting at the public high school for his two required classes which will make him eligible to play soccer with the team. We chose those because there’s no homework involved, seeing as his homeschool academic plate is very full this year (details below).

Elias takes voice lessons each week and has no idea what he wants to do as a career in the future. It will be fun to watch God reveal that to him in the coming years!

Malachi, age 12.5, a 7th grader

malachi3sm

This guy is so full of ideas I can’t keep up. He’d rather ignore all school work and instead develop his ideas all day (mostly with LEGOs and YouTube, both of which he’d like to turn into businesses). Unfortunately, he has mean parents who still make him do his Pre-Algebra. So, he works hard to get his school work done by lunch, if possible, so that he can go with ALL THE IDEAS all afternoon.

He is on both a city team and a club team for soccer this fall and is busy writing two scripts for a church middle school event in the spring.

All three of our boys who still live at home will play for our homeschool basketball team this winter (Malachi’s first year!). They also all referee soccer for our city rec league, and some for club teams too, which has been great money for them through the years. They all work with Matt here and there doing various handy man or lawn care jobs, which is great for their work ethic, skills training, and savings accounts!

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What does our school year schedule look like?

6:30ish I get up and have quiet time with God before the household gets up. The boys wake up to their alarm clocks so they can be ready and at the table at 8:00.

8:00 Our family enjoys breakfast and Bible time together (I explained more about our family Bible time here).

8:40 Justus and Elias leave for Choir at the public school. Elias has Weight Lifting right after that, so Justus hangs out in the library and does school work during that period.

Meanwhile, Malachi and I read World History together (Sonlight curriculum) at home. Then he heads to a computer to work on Pre-Algebra (Teaching Textbooks) in the hopes that he’ll be done with that computer before Elias gets home. I answer emails and do other small blogging jobs while staying nearby to answer any math questions Malachi has.

10:30 Justus and Elias get home from public school. Justus practices his piano, guitar, and does any college class homework that needs to be done.

Elias starts on Geometry (Teaching Textbooks), then moves on to English, Zoology, and Economics (all guided by Sonlight curriculum suggestions, but adapted by Matt and me to fit his needs/learning style/state requirements). He finishes his day with Spanish (DuoLingo) usually around 2:00. We’re trying to squeeze in some ACT practice right now as well.

Malachi does his English, Science, and Reading (all Sonlight curriculum), then moves on to Spanish (DuoLingo). If he’s diligent, he can be finished with his work by noon.

12:00 Justus heads out to his Intro to Business class at the public school.

1:00 Everyone (and by this, I mean everyone but Asa, of course) is home and we eat lunch together, if possible.

1:45 On Tuesday/Thursday, Justus heads to the York College campus for his World Lit class. Elias and Malachi finish any work they have left. This is the point I can usually get a little bit of uninterrupted blogging work done, maybe, sort of. (Not that it matters, but it is 3:47 right now and I have been interrupted no less than 13 times in the past 30 minutes. Working from home is so relaxing and productive.)

The rest of the day and evening involves soccer games, church activities, or ministry opportunities. Often we don’t eat dinner together until around 8:00 pm during the fall. However, our boys’ homeschool basketball season is about to begin, which will mean that they need to eat and leave by 6:30 on Tues/Thurs evenings.

Our School Year - Homeschool, Public, and College

Through each full day, God always provides for our spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. My dirty kitchen though? Well, I’ll get that clean after all the kids graduate.

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Learn Your Letters/Learn Your Numbers Learn to Serve Package Giveaway (For you and a friend!)

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

This giveaway is extra fun because you can win a package for yourself and one for a friend! Share this with a friend so she can enter too, then you all have double the chances at winning!

malachi_apple_pie_344

What is Learn Your Letters (and Learn Your Numbers), Learn to Serve? It’s a complete early learning curriculum kit that helps you teach your young kids basic counting and reading skills and at the same time…

Teach them to serve others.

Teach them to think of others. Teach them to be creative in their service to others. Teach them to be comfortable with older people, younger people, sick people – all people with needs.

Learn Your Numbers Learn to Serve cover sm

Read all about Learn Your Letters/Numbers, Learn to Serve packages here. This downloadable package contains hundreds of pages of ideas and instructions for activities to help your kids learn letter sounds and counting skills. They’ll memorize scripture associated with each letter sound. You’ll read Bible stories together.

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There are printables, book selections, and all kinds of service ideas! There’s so many ideas, you can’t possibly do them all, but that’s part of the fun. You can pick and choose what works for your family and your individual kids and run with it!

See all the details about Learn Your Letters and Learn Your Numbers, Learn to Serve here.

Want to win a package set for yourself and for a friend? Enter to win the Rafflecopter below. Tell your friend to come enter to. Then you both double your chances of winning!

I’ll draw a random winner on July 14. Watch for an email sharing about the winners!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Ways Our Family Saves Money on Homeschool Curriculum

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Here are two things I’ve learned when it comes to buying homeschool curriculum:

  1. Homeschooling should be looked at as an investment.
  2. Homeschooling doesn’t have to be expensive.

In my 14+ years of homeschooling I’ve learned to recognize that just like with healthy eating – it is worth it to invest in the good stuff. Spending money for great curriculum is as worth it as spending money for great food. Ahhh, books and butter. Curriculum and vegetables. It all goes hand in hand, right? Buying high quality is worth the cost.

But there are also many ways to keep your curriculum costs down so that maybe, just maybe, we can enjoy good books and save money too. (Well, of course.)

How to Save Money on Homeschool Curriculum

How to Save Money on Homeschool Curriculum

Here are several ways I’ve saved money through our homeschooling years:

1. Use the Library

This one is too obvious, but still worth a mention. While I have really appreciated owning lots of great literature and having it on our shelves to grab at any time – there are plenty of books we have simply checked out from the library as needed. Cost is free, unless you forget to take the books back on time and have pay late fees. I know nothing about this.

2. Buy Used

Every year, I sit down with a list of books each of our kids will be reading during the school year. If we don’t already own it and I prefer not to have to get it at the library, I check on Amazon and see if I can find a used copy. I have saved so much money doing this.

Occasionally I’ve found needed books at garage sales or I’ve bought curriculum from other homeschool families who are cleaning the closet. (I’ve even been blessed by people handing me their used books for free!) As long as the book isn’t falling apart, buying a used book is just as nice as buying a new book – and you’ll save a few bucks per book too!

books

3. Borrow and Share

One of the best ways I’ve found to save on big ticket items (like Teaching Textbooks or Apologia Science books) is to borrow and share with friends. This only works if our kids are in different grade levels and will therefore not be needing the same books or software at the same time. But coordinating with friends (i.e. I’ll buy the 5th grade book and you buy the 6th grade book, then we’ll swap next year) can be a huge money saver.

4. Divide the Dollar Amount by Number of Kids in Your Family

It has helped me “justify” a quality purchase when I do the math – knowing that I will eventually use each item for all four of my kids. Therefore, if I spend $40 on something, I know it really breaks down to just $10 per kid. Make sense?

5. Use and Reuse

With many of our consumable books through the years, I had our oldest kids leave the book blank and write their answers in a 20¢ notebook instead. That way I could save the consumable book to reuse – instead of having to buy it over and over each time another kid needed it. Yay for Malachi. The youngest kid gets to write in his books.

6. Go Digital

I’m learning to love digital books more an more for these reasons:

  • They save bookshelf space
  • I can organize them easily on my computer
  • They save money
  • I can use them over and over as needed for my family

Last year when the Build Your Bundle Homeschool Curriculum Sale was offered, I grabbed several packages to use for my younger two boys. Ah-ma-zing. Throughout this school year I supplemented our regular curriculum with eBooks I had picked up last year for cheap!!

What great ways have you found to save money on books?

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If I Love Homeschooling So Much, Why Do I Love Summer Break Better?

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I am a homeschool mom and I have some confessions to make.

We just finished our school year, put away all the books and CDs, drop-kicked our science lessons, and had ice cream for breakfast to celebrate. (It’s a yearly tradition the boys don’t let me forget about for some reason.)

boys school shopping 2015

Oh look. Here are the boys at the beginning of this school year – 
so full of hopes and dreams and eager to do Algebra.
In other words, they were bummed that summer break was over.

Last week I made a face at all our reference books as I put them back on the shelf as if to say, “I don’t want to see you for a very long time. I’m sick of you. Gather dust you…you big huge book full of words.” (Do I know how to give out insults or do I know how to give out insults?)

I no longer care if any of the pencils in our house are sharpened. I don’t know where any notebooks are, nor am I concerned with how many blank pages remain in them. No one has to give me a report at lunchtime on how much school work they still need to finish up for the day. Instead of saying, “Whose turn is it to do math at the computer?” I will say, “You guys want me to pull the van out of the driveway so you can shoot hoops?”

These are some of the emotions I feel about our impending summer break:

end of school year 1 (1) end of school year 1 (2) end of school year 1 (3)

But really. I love homeschooling.

It certainly isn’t for everyone, but as for me, I love pretty much everything about homeschooling. It is the rocking-est thing that I get to spend this much time with my kids. We seriously get to do some of the coolest activities, go to the most amazing places, and get to know some of the most incredible people. I love the homeschooling life!!! I even love the actual learning part. 

But when we can put the books away and just be? Oh it is so nice and wonderful.

Also? I love summer better than all the seasons. You all know this about me. I love heat and sunshine and I am so over cold, cloudy winter weather. I’m ready to enjoy being outside, soak up Vitamin D, swim, grill, garden, oh and you know what else?

I’m excited to take my kids to the library.

See, this is where I start to sound silly. (Because the selfies. Those weren’t silly.)

I like going to the library more in the summertime than I do during the school year. When we go during the school year, we usually go with a purpose and we need to hurry back home to study and learn. But when we go to the library during the summer we browse the shelves, linger over “just for fun” books, take our time, and check out all the books that look remotely interesting. There’s just something about the library in the summertime.

So there you have it. This mom loves to homeschool. But I also love summer break so much that I am busting out in dance moves (selfies not included).

Whether you are a homeschool mom or a public/private school mom – what are some of your emotions about summer break? Leave a comment to describe, and by all means do feel free to send me an emotion selfie. (I’m serious. laura @ heavenlyhomemakers.com)

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One For You ~ One For a Friend: Learn Your Letters and Numbers, Learn to Serve Curriculum Giveaway

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

As Christmas approaches, I thought it would be fun to give away some of our most popular shop items. Then I decided it would be even more fun if you had a chance to win one for you and one for a friend! We’ll start this Christmas giveaway fun with Learn Your Letters (and Numbers), Learn to Serve Complete Curriculum Kits!

Learn Your Letters and Your Numbers Package Deal

Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve is an 183 page downloadable kit that includes thorough lesson plans, games, crafts, recipes, memory verses, Bible story suggestions, vocabulary stimulation and discussion, play, books to read and so much more…all while encouraging service to God! We recommend this for ages 2-7.

To go along with it, we recently created Learn Your Numbers, Learn to Serve. It contains 148 pages filled with activities, patterns, printables, instructions, crafts, and games – all with the purpose of teaching your child numbers, counting, Bible stories and teachings, and a heart of service.

Learn more specifics about these curriculum kits here. Academics is important, but teaching our kids to serve is most important of all. These books equip you to teach both!

If you’d like to win a copy of both of these books for yourself and for a friend, leave a comment on this post. Be sure to tell your friends about it so they can come enter too. It gives you more chances to win, assuming your friend will share one with you if she wins!

I’ll draw a random winner on Wednesday, December 30. Be watching for a post sharing the winners of these Christmas giveaways. You’ll be responsible for contacting me if your name is chosen!

Now think of a friend you’d love to bless. Leave a comment here for a chance to win copies of these books for both of you!

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character badges

Psst! The winner of our Character Badges Giveaway is: Jennifer: [email protected] Jennifer, email me and I’ll forward your info on for your prize!

Remember that Character Badges is also offering us all a 10% discount on any order! Use the code HH10 to receive the discount. This offer is good through December 31, 2015.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

The “I’m Not Here So You Might As Well Steal Everything From My Shop” Sale

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

No really. I’m not here. I’m at church camp and I’m mostly offline because the internet doesn’t like church camp as much as the rest of us do.

So while I’m gone, I figure you might as well go raid my shop. No really, go ahead. No one is watching. You won’t even have to sneak. I’m giving you permission.

Heavenly Homemakers Books and eCourses

I’ll even give you a coupon code – let’s call it LAURAISGONE – so that you can go fill your cart with anything you want (except for our printed items) at a 35% discount. Yep, 35% off!!!

To be clear: I’m nice, but if you buy any of our printed items with the coupon code I will reappear as soon as I’m able to refund your purchase and say, “Sorry, I’m not that nice and I can’t eat all of our printing and shipping costs.” So again: DO NOT use the code on our printed books. (Somebody sure is bossy. Good thing she’s gone.) <—Hey, I heard that.

The good news is, when you sneak into my shop you will find over 30 other e-products in our shop for immediate download. That’s a lot to pick from along with a very healthy discount.

So go to the Heavenly Homemakers Shop now. Spend as long as you want looking though all of the eBooks, Curriculum, eCourses, and more. Put everything you want (except the printed items – I can’t remember if I said that already) into your cart, then use the code LAURAISGONE to knock off 35% of your total.

You can use this code through Wednesday, July 22.

Okeedokee? Don’t have too much fun without me while I’m gone. But do enjoy the discount – on everything but the printed items. (I just can’t let it go.)

Heavenly Homemakers Shop is Here
Use the code LAURAISGONE for a 35% discount

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How You Can Get Our Curriculum Kit Plus Four Other Resources For LESS Than the Cost of the Curriculum

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I loved watching this order come through on Monday, knowing the recipient was getting a huge bang for her buck.

shopping cart

See, normally our Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve complete curriculum kit download is $45.00. You get a lot in this kit, no doubt. But this week? Since we’re running a 40% off sale on everything downloadable on our site, you can get the curriculum kit plus several other resources – for LESS than the original cost of the curriculum.

If you’ve been eyeing any of our downloadable items, from ebook to eCourse to curriculum – you must take advantage of this great deal this week. Use the code BIRTHDAY at checkout to receive 40% off your entire order of downloads. Note:  All printed items are excluded from this sale. Watch for fun bonus buys with printed books soon!


Many are taking advantage of this huge discount. Have you? Come and get it!!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!