Buy All the Things

This is the last part in a series based on this cost/benefit analysis.  Here you can find Part 1:Scoping out the Sequence, Part 2: Making the Grade, Part 3: Unscheduling, Part 4: Why DIY?, Part 5: Race to the Finish Part 6: Do Over and Part 7: Finger on the Pulse.  The last "plus" isn't truly a "benefit" but it's one of the most fun ones to write about, so here we go:

• I don't have to pay for textbooks.  But this almost doesn't count, because there is no doubt that I'll find other ways to spend the money on our homeschooling ... some of them probably made necessary by this approach.

So here are some of the things I've spent money on instead of math textbooks:

• notebook paper
• ink pens
• new binders
• compasses and protractors
• a clock face stamp
• laminating sleeves
• dry erase markers
• dry erase crayons
• clipboards
• math quick-reference card

And here are some of the things I can imagine myself going overboard and using up the entire tax return purchasing in the future:

• more math-related read alouds (recently we've really been enjoying Sir Cumference books from the library, but I'm thinking we might want to own them)
• more math manipulatives
• subscription to MathAntics.com
• our own copy of Math on the Level
• Life of Fred books
• some new board games that would be particularly relevant to upcoming math concepts
• logical problem solving activities
• lots more fun math stuff!

From Homeschool Ryan Gosling