Living on One Income in a Two Income World: Part One

For school supplies, look first to a dollar discount store. I found handwriting paper, crayons, pencils, glue, paints, puzzles, craft supplies, classroom decorations, workbooks and more.

Finally, you're on the internet so use it! It is a homeschoolers greatest free resource. All you have to do is check my list of articles to find resources on just about every subject you are pursuing. Need a map of Afganistan? You can print one out. Need to find a phonics lesson? Are you kids studying butterflies? Do you like to design your own unit studies? All of it can be found with a little elbow mouse grease on the internet. Learn to use the search engines and always check the big lesson plan sites like Ask ERIC. Don't be intimidated by " Teacher" anything. You are the teacher and are encountering many of the same things as public school teachers (except overcrowding and shootouts). You may have a learning disabled student, a student with low motivation, a gifted student, or days when you need to break out of the mold and do something fun!

The good news is you can do it easier and cheaper than they can. Take a field trip. Visit a community "expert" on a topic. Discuss a topic as a family. One of the most enjoyable things we did was dress up as different sides of the debate of the annexation of Texas. We then conducted the debate as the historical figures. It made this formerly hot topic of annexation come alive in our house. If you have chosen to homeschool you probably think outside the box anyway, so don't be afraid to use your creativity to teach!

Next Article Coming in this Series: Living on One Income in a Two Income World: Saving on Your Household Spending