After spending a wonderful weekend at the annual home school conference, I was once again amazed at how many curriculum choices we have to choose from.

When I was first involved in home schooling, as a recent college graduate in the late 1980’s in the height of the home school battle, the parents I worked with had just two choices, A Beka or Bob Jones. Now there were two gyms full of vendors and  hallways full of the overflow. There are catalogs 2 inches thick full of curriculum choices.

How do you choose? You could easily spend thousands (I know people who do every year), but you don’t have too.  We spend very little on home school materials and I still think our children are getting an excellent education.

Want to know my secrets?

1. Use non-consumable books. That means no workbooks that one child writes in and then you thrown them away. Whenever possible we buy hard back books for the first child that each child down the line will also use. For example, we just purchased Apologia Chemistry for $55. Sounds expensive doesn’t it? But it’s a hard cover book that all 5 of my children will use. That brings its cost down to just $11 per child for an excellent curriculum. Then when we’re done with it, I can resell it. Or look at Spelling Power. We purchased the book for about $50 several years ago. It starts about third grade and continues until your child has completed every level (usually about 10th grade.) I have five children who will use that one book for about 8 years each, which would be 40 years total. That brings the cost of that one book down to slightly over a dollar a year for each child.

2. Use literature. I’m a big fan of the literature approach to education. I’ve read a lot about Charlotte Mason and practice many of her ideas. When ever possible I’ll use a book rather than a text book. Library books are free! We also love book sales, garage sales and thrift stores.

3. Buy used. Before shelling out the big bucks for brand new books, check out eBay, Amazon, or the Curriculum Market at Home School Legal Defense (http://market.hslda.org).

4. Ask yourself if you need it. So much of the curriculum and extras we buy never even get used. Give yourself three good reasons why you need it before you buy.

5. Remember that an expensive curriculum doesn’t guarantee an excellent education. Many of the pioneer children had just the McGuffy Readers, the Bible and a few other books. The most important part of your child’s education is teaching them to love to learn.