I have heard many, many families who, when in a bind, and not able to afford homeschool curriculum, went completely digital and found all of their materials online. I have not done it, but I do supplement (sometimes heavily) with what we find online. I hope these tips will help others of you who are looking for free homeschool resources.
How to Find Free Homeschool Resources
1. Follow Educational Blogs
There are many educational blogs (including this one!) who offer free downloads and materials, even webinars, giveaways, and classes from time to time. Get on their email lists and watch for those freebies. Gmail is easy enough to create a new account with, simply make one up just for those emails to keep them separate from personal email. Here is a list of some of the Educational Blogs with freebies that I follow.
- Free Homeschool Deals
- Homeschool Giveaways
- Homeschool Freebie of the Day
- Today's Frugal Mom
- Money Saving Mom
- Paradise Praises
- Lemonhass.com (homeschool resources for Spanish speakers)
- Year Round Homeschooling
- Organized Home Organized School
- Embark on the Journey
- Homeschool Preschool (Coming Soon!)
- In All You Do
- Not Consumed
- Homeschool Copywork
- Living Life and Learning
- Art Curator for Kids
- Math Geek Mama
- The Proverbial Homemaker
- Only Passionate Curiosity Homeschool
- Happy Brown House
- Homeschool Encouragement
2. Join Facebook Groups
If you are on Facebook, there are numerous groups that have been created for the express purpose of sharing free homeschool resources with one another. Join some of them and watch through what is posted. Likewise, you are usually invited to share links to free resources you recommend as well. I know this list is not exhaustive, but it's a start:
- Paradise Praises Community
- Homeschool Giveaways and Freebies
- Family Friendly Freebies, Deals & Giveaways
- Free Homeschooling Resources
- Free Homeschool Curriculum
- Affording the Homeschool Life
- Homeschool Tips for Moms
3. Use Google
I did not figure this out myself, someone told me, but it makes so much sense! Every school year, public school teachers are required to list class resources and other things on their teacher websites. Most of these are FREE resources and would be helpful to homeschoolers as well.
Go to Google.com and type in “Mrs (insert your child's grade level) class”
The search results should list hundreds of personal resources lists of teachers in your child's grade level. You an expect to find PDFs, schedules, outlines, lapbooks and even full textbooks for your homeschool use.
4. Become a Patron of Your Local Library
I think this one is often overlooked, but speaking as someone who does not have a local public library at my disposal… your library is a goldmine of resources that you do not want to take for granted! Before you buy that kindle on Amazon, check to see if your library has it first. Before you give up or give in, stop in to see what they have to offer, you may be pleasantly surprised, from maps, to books, to movies, to free classes, you can find lots of free curriculum at the library.