Discount Home-School Books - Resources That Will Lower Your Homeschooling Cost

Purchasing discount home-school books is a great step toward inexpensive homeschooling. Begin by making a list of books you want to purchase for each child, subject and grade level. Be sure to make note of each book's retail price. Then check with the following retailers to find the lowest prices available:

• Booksellers like Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Borders and Half Price Books allow home-schoolers to to take advantage of teacher's discount programs to purchase new books at a reduced price. You may be asked to present official documentation when applying for the educator's discount. If documentation is necessary, you can create a letter or home-school ID card on your home computer. Barnes & Nobles and Borders also host annual teacher appreciation events that offer savings over and above the educator's discount.
• Christian Book Distributors offers a free Educational/Home-school catalog that offers savings of up to 90% on home-school books and curricula. Its catalog also features product reviews by home-school book author, Karen Andreola.
• Rainbow Resource offers price savings on a variety of materials from popular home-school curriculum suppliers. The company provides free shipping on orders over above $150. Its free catalog is also a great source of product reviews.
• Scholastic offers a monthly book club flyer where home-schoolers can purchase materials for prices as low as 95 cents. The company also hosts semi-annual Customer Appreciation Warehouse Sales where it sells many of the fiction and nonfiction books from its monthly fliers at half the cover price. By registering for these sales through Scholastic's website, you can print a fast cart pass that also serves as a coupon at checkout.
• Usborne Books provides money saving opportunities through its home shows, e-fairs and consultant program. By introducing friends to Usborne books through a party hosted in your home or on a consultant's website, you can earn free homeschooling books for your children. Usborne also provides home educators with the chance to become independent consultants. During my first 3 months as an Usborne consultant, I earned over $600 in free books, received commission on materials I purchased for my family, and earned money for use in our home-school.

By purchasing materials at a home school curriculum fair, you can eliminate shipping costs and take advantage of show specials. Vendor fairs can save you money and time. By viewing the books before purchasing, you reduce the risk of having to return materials and select new ones.

You can also save money on homeschooling resources and supplies by taking advantage of teacher's discount programs at Office Depot, Office Max, and Staples.

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Here is a list of other retailers that offer homeschool discounts

For links to free homeschooling resources and tips for buying used curriculum, visit the affordable homeschooling section of Carletta's website, Successful Homeschooling.

Homeschooling and Socialization - Is it an Issue?

Probably the most often asked question of homeschoolers is "What about socialization?" People who don't homeschool have an image that homeschooled children become hermits and don't interact or talk to anyone for the entire day. Parents who homeschool usually roll their eyes at any comments about socialization because they know that their children get plenty of social interaction.

Here are some common answers to the question of socialization and homeschooling:

1. Homeschool children have been and continue to socialize with many people all day long. The have been interacting with their parents and siblings since they have been born. They continue to interact with parents and siblings which can sometimes be the most challenging social interactions people can encounter. They say that if you can get along with your family, you can get along with anyone.

2. The socialization that takes place in schools is not necessarily positive. That is one reason that many parents homeschool in the first place. The school environment forces students to interact mainly with people of their own age. Homeschoolers are able to interact with people in many different age groups.

3. Most homeschool parents provide their children with many opportunities for social interaction outside the home. They can participate in homeschool support groups, scouting, special classes at museums, church activities, ballet classes, swim lessons, drama classes, etc.

4. Homeschool children tend to have fewer behavior problems and develop the skills they need to function in society at the same rate that public school children do.

School is not the only place you can meet people. Put your fears aside. Most homeschool children I have met are very easy to talk to and can carry on a conversation with people of all ages.

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For more tips on homeschooling, grab your free report "How to Homeschool using the Best Resources" at http://www.homeschool-how-to.com

Heidi Johnson specializes in helping families find resources to simplify and improve their lives.

Should I Home School?

"As parents we ask ourselves many things when it comes to raising our children...we worry about what they eat, what they watch, who they play with, how they behave themselves when we're not around. Of course, we also worry about their schooling. But how many of us feel confident enough to take charge of our children's education and what advantages are there to doing so?"

Seriously, have you ever thought about teaching your child? It's quite a concept, isn't it? The truth is, most people never dream of taking on the responsibility of their child's education, at least, not in this day and age. It doesn't even enter into the heads of most parents. Most don't consider it an option because they have so much faith in the school system and the teachers who operate it. Well, is that truly the case or do most parents overlook the option of homeschooling their children because they simply don't feel qualified. Most parents who think about homeschooling feel overwhelmed by the very idea. They stop dead thinking about how much work will be involved; how much patience they'll have to maintain. They wonder, can I be the parent and the teacher? Will I have to learn all of the subjects? Why should I home school? These questions and more have risen every time I speak about homeschooling, every time I discuss the great benefits of this educational approach.

Home schooling does require time and energy, there's no getting around this. But if you play your cards right and focus on getting your kids excited about learning, in time, you can leave most of the teaching up to them. What I mean by this, is the first few years of their life until the age of seven, you teach your children to read, write, and apply basic math skills..

Here are some other things to consider:

• Once your children have mastered the basic skills of learning, once they know how to read and apply numbers, then you can have them start working independently.

• Gradually, children can learn to teach themselves.

• In the beginning, homeschooling requires three to four hours of work a day, supplemented by the odd field trips.

• By the time your kids reach seven or eight years old, however, homeschooling only requires about one hour from you and about five to six hours from them every day.

• The major advantage of this approach to learning, however, is that your kids eventually develop a habit of studying independently.

Of course, most parents worry about having the patience to teach their kids the basics study skills. As a business woman, the idea of staying at home with my kids every day never really occurred to me as a lifestyle unto itself. On the other hand, I was very focused on raising my kids the proper way did. When I first started home schooling, the whole process took some getting used to; the process was both difficult and demanding, with the first two months being the hardest, like most new things we begin. Once my kids and I had settled into a routine, however, things started to become a lot easier. Only seven months later, homeschooling for me and for my kids is a piece of cake. It's thrilling to see my kids really benefiting from the experience.

At the end of the day, the curriculum you choose also helps you to teach all the subjects relevant to a rounded education. As the teacher, all you have to do is follow the curriculum and the agenda that is written for you on a daily basis by home school advocates. You will learn as you go.

When it came to distinguishing between school and home, I began my homeschooling odyssey by explaining to my kids that when I am a teacher I will speak English only, and when I am a mom, I will speak Dari only. However you establish it, you need to make sure that your kids know that you have two different roles. In school time, my children get to be students who ask thousands of questions; as their teacher, I have to answer. In home time, I am teaching manners, and showing them what good behavior is. Above all, I've found that it's important to always be the best person you can so your children have a good role model to follow.

So, why should you home school? There are many reasons:

1. To allow your child to learn at their level, and excel at their pace.

2. To teach them all the things you think are important, including religious studies.

3. To let them become creative and find the gifts they were blessed with.

4. To give them confidence in their abilities.

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If you would like more information about home schooling, you may be interested to hear Zohra speak on the subject or otherwise to sign up to receive one-on-one guidance about developing a suitable home schooling program for your children. Contact us directly for more information.