Homeschooling for Free: A Step-by-Step Guide Using the Internet and a Library Card

Can I really Homeschool for FREE?

If you are reading this, you likely fall into one of two categories:

You are looking for ways to cut your homeschooling costs, or
You don’t believe that you can homeschool for free, so you are here out of curiosity

Either way, I hope that you find some inspiration to keep your homeschool affordable, if not altogether free.

Let’s be honest, truly FREE homeschool doesn’t exist, but as I’m sure you’ll see in this post, you can get pretty close. After all, you’ll need to pay for internet, paper, pens/pencils, and maybe even some other supplies like a printer and ink. But many of you have those things already.

Don’t I need a Curriculum?

The number one question I see from new homeschoolers is “What curriculum should I use?”. But behind that question lies a deeper concern.

Many new homeschooling parents don’t feel equipped to teach their kids. Parents have the desire and they even see the need to homeschool. But they don’t believe they know HOW to homeschool or they don’t feel like they know enough to teach their kids.

Other homeschool parents are concerned that they aren’t doing “enough” in their homeschool. The curriculum provides a structure and an outline that gives the assurance that they are doing enough and staying on track.

Don’t get me wrong, curriculum has its place, and if it works for you, then use it. There is a wealth of beautiful and sound curricula out there. I have used many and liked some, but it gets expensive especially because I found myself only using bits and pieces of it.

An Alternative to Traditional Curriculum

We live in an age of information. We can learn about anything we want in a matter of minutes. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing.

Think about the last time you learned something new. Perhaps it was how to bake sourdough, how to crochet, how to teach long division, or something else. (I guess you know what I’ve been learning!) How did you learn it? I’m guessing that you didn’t spend money on a curriculum.

Now think about what you remember learning in science class in the 5th grade. Or history in 7th. Do you remember how to diagram a sentence? Probably not.

I’m not saying that learning those things was pointless. What I am saying is that most grade school learning is about EXPOSURE, not mastery or memorization. Do you know why I had to look up how to do long division? Because I haven’t done it since the 4th grade! Wanna know how long it took me to learn it again? About 15 minutes. Let’s assume that our kids will be able to do the same when they are adults.

Changing the focus

Instead of focusing on getting through a particular curriculum, why not focus on teaching your kids HOW to learn? We use interest-led learning to guide us here. What are your kids interested in? Show them how to use the library and the internet to learn about it! No curriculum required.

When you let go of curriculum-based homeschooling, you are free to focus on teaching your kids HOW to learn, while also teaching them to evaluate information and ideas by using critical thinking skills.

Now, we do use a curriculum for reading and math. My kids are all dyslexic so reading instruction is crucial. Even so, we use free reading programs! I don’t pay $200-$300 a year for the popular Orton-Gillingham reading programs. I found two online that are 100% free and have worked well for us. (They are also evidence-based for dyslexia). There are plenty of free math resources out there as well.

If your kids can read, they can learn anything! They just need you to show them HOW.

The Step-By-Step Guide to Homeschooling for Free

Once you've changed the focus of your homeschool (and worked on your mindset of what school "should" look like), you are free to do what works for your family. And you CAN homeschool for free!

Step 1: Gather supplies. This is the part that might cost money- though it can be very little if you do it right. You might need paper and binders or notebooks, pens, and art supplies. You’ll need access to the internet and a library card (one for each kid is great too!). Some of these things you likely already have.

Step 2: Choose your topics. Decide what you HAVE to learn and what you WANT to learn. You’ll need to follow the requirements of your state in terms of subjects taught in school. Beyond that, the sky’s the limit. Does your son want to learn how to code in scratch? Does your daughter want to learn about cryptocurrency? Go for it!

Step 3: Collect your learning materials. Go to the library and find books on your chosen subjects. Use audiobooks, podcasts, YouTube videos, documentaries, and whatever else you can find to aid in the learning.

This step requires the most prep and research. Finding good, free material isn’t always easy. Here are some of the things we do to find the content for our learning.

Explore book lists on curriculum websites. I often go to the websites of different curriculum providers and explore their booklists. I copy/paste into a Google doc and then look for those books in my local library.
Ask around. Do your friends have books or resources that they love? Ask in a Facebook group for homeschoolers.
Do an internet search. Do you know there is a dyslexia specialist who has a whole series of videos teaching kids to read for FREE on YouTube? Our U.S. States study uses a single book about the states and the Homeschool Pop U.S. States Video Playlist. You can find these resources and more on our Free Homeschool Resources Page.

Step 4: Read, watch videos, listen to audiobooks and LEARN. Then create a portfolio of your learning. We find that the simplest way to do this is by creating a notebook of what we’ve learned. This is commonly called “Notebooking” in the homeschool world and you can read all about how we do this HERE.

That’s it! Everything else can be adapted from this.

What about the rest?

Do you want your kids to do copywork? Have them copy a paragraph from the book you read today into their notebook. Spelling? Have them go through a book and find and copy 10 words that have the “ee” sound, or that start with the letter T. Use your creativity to incorporate any subject into your learning time.

Math is typically the subject that parents are the most concerned about. But even math can be taught using free online resources. Additionally, you can check with your local library to see what resources they have for teaching math.

A library card, the internet, some time, and creativity are all you need to homeschool your kids.

A word about learning challenges

In my experience, this style of learning works great for learning challenges. Early in my homeschool journey, I became so frustrated with workbooks and worksheets because my dyslexic children would struggle so much to complete them. The combination of interest-led learning and notebooking allows them to take more ownership of their learning and is easily adapted to their ability.

You CAN homeschool for free

Some of you are ready to abandon curriculum-based learning and adopt the method described above. But even if you aren’t, you can still homeschool for free! It may take a little more effort to find free curricula that you like, but it could save you a lot of money in the long run.

To find free curricula, check your library, the local school district (some allow you to borrow curriculum), and of course, the internet. You can also check out my list of FREE Homeschool Resources.

Homeschooling doesn’t need to be overly complicated or expensive. This is how we keep homeschooling affordable and super simple.