Is Free Curriculum Really Free

Do you love to get free curriculum? Is free curriculum really free? I love freebies, but sometimes it costs so much more than it is worth. In this podcast, we discuss the real cost of free and how you can organize your freebies and really get the most out of them.

Homeschooling on one income means learning to be frugal and cut corners. It also means that you look for sales and bargains and freebies and printables fit that niche. Many times you can find freebies on a composite website or post, where many different freebies are listed and often in the blogger is nice–sorted into grade-specific or topic-specific categories. With little time and organization, you can get some wonderful printables for your kids.

Do you have a plan for your homeschool, for example, specific subjects you are teaching and the time of the year this is taking place? This is very important, so you can make your freebie work for you. If you are teaching classical music in December, this is a good time to use a freebie on the composers. You can use a one month calendar and list your themes or topics that you will study.

Even if you use a boxed curriculum, you can use a

Is Free Curriculum Really Free?

Episode #275

Pro’s of Free Curriculum

You don’t have to pay for it.
Innovative freebies and printables.
Something for every grade and subject
Don’t have to leave home
Use it for multiple kids

Con’s of Free Curriculum

You don’t know how it use it.
You have to print it out.
Printing is expensive.
There is too much of it!
It is not very good, or it is not complete

How to make free curriculum work for you:

Make a list of what you have downloaded. Use a spreadsheet to keep track, it is easier to search on a spreadsheet. If you do not have a word processing program use google docs or some other free program. You can download the document as a PDF and print it out or search the document.
Before you print the document, look through it and see if you can use all or part of the printable.
Organize your freebie in grade levels or topics.
Decide how the printable will work with your existing plan.
If you can’t use the printable now, write down when you can use it. If you have your printables organized you can put down a date, or start a new page (on the spreadsheet) with the year, and place the printable name there.
Do not print out the printable until you need it — that saves on storage, and you may change your mind.

If you have a money saving idea or ways to make freebies work for you that is helpful, please share your idea with us!

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