Buying Used Homeschool Curriculum

So you are thinking about buying used homeschool curriculum. There are some things that you should consider first.

The Positive Points

Buying used homeschool curriculum can save you some money. How much you save depends on where you buy the curriculum. You can probable save the most by finding a homeschool parent who will sell you materials. If the person is local you can also check the curriculum before you buy it.

If you have curriculum to sell you can make a few dollars. You might also be able to swap materials with another homeschool parent. Selling your materials can also save room in your house.

Some people like to buy used homeschool books so that they can save the environment. They feel that if they buy curriculum that is already available then no new trees will be turned into paper.

Some Negative Points

There are other points that need to be considered when you think about buying used homeschooling curriculum.

Yes buying used could save you money. But someone else looses. When you buy used the author or publisher does not get paid. This probably does not hurt a large publishing house, but it can be detrimental to a small company. A lot of authors that produce homeschool materials are homeschoolers themselves. Some work out of their home. They depend on selling books to make a living.

If you cannot check the books for damage it might not be worth buying. There are a lot of things that could be wrong with your used curriculum. Textbooks could have pages ripped, missing, or colored on. Workbooks could have the problems worked.

If you buy used software make sure that it will work on your computer. Some of the older software does not work with Window's Vista.

What's Available?

Although not everything is available as used homeschool curriculum you can find a lot of materials. Most of the curriculum is older. So if you are looking for the latest and greatest used might not be for you.

• You can find textbooks for math, science, social studies, and language arts. Sometimes you can find the teachers manual and student workbook that goes along with the text.
• There are unit studies such as Kono or Weaver.
• A lot of phonic and reading programs can be found used.
• In a used bookstore I have seen pattern blocks, linking cubes, Cuisenaire Rods, and other manipulatives.
• If you cannot find the biographies that you want in the library you might be able to find the book at a used bookstore.
• It is always nice to own a few fiction books for your child to read. You can find used ones at used bookstores, online, and at library sales.
• Sometimes you can find educational games used. You will need to check to see that all of the pieces are in the game.
• Software can also be found used.

Where to Buy

As I mentioned above you can find local homeschool families that have materials for sale. If you do not have friends that homeschool see if your local homeschool organization has a sale day.

Some items can be found at garage sales and used bookstores.

Libraries and schools sometimes sell their surplus materials to the public.

Sometimes there are local stores that sell used curriculum. In the Seattle area Homeschool Potpourri sold both new and used homeschool books. You could also take your materials and sell them on consignment.

There are also sites where you can sell and buy used homeschool curriculum.

The couple of times that I have bought used curriculum online I used Amazon. I was happy with the product that I bought. It said that it was slightly used. Which it was only the cover was damaged.

Used homeschool curriculum can save you money. It can keep you homeschooling if you are having financially difficulties.

But if your can buy new do so. Buying new can help keep ma and pa homeschool companies stay in business.