One of the great things about homeschooling is that you don’t have to be limited to just one approach—you can mix and match, taking what you like from each approach, to maximize your child’s learning.

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Tip #4 Attend a convention or curriculum fair
“At a curriculum fair, you have many of the homeschool publishers and their most popular products all gathered under one roof,” explains Beverly McCord. “You can really pick up a book and thumb through it—you can’t do that when you are trying to shop over the internet or through mail order catalogs. You can get honest consumer feedback. Just stand at a publishers’ booth for about 10 minutes and get an earful of what homeschoolers think about some of the titles of that publisher—which ones are the jewels that everybody’s using and which ones are really not that helpful. Many of these publishers actually wrote the materials they’re selling. I just love being able to talk to a live human being and really get my questions answered.” - Kirk & Beverly McCord, Founders and Coordinators, Arlington Book Fair (Texas)

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Tip #5 Tap into the used Curriculum market
Save money by borrowing, buying, or selling second-hand materials and swapping with other homeschoolers in your local support group, at regional/state book fairs, or through used curriculum vendors.

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Tip #6 Choose a place to do school
In the kitchen? Living room? In a school room? Each family finds solutions that work for them. For some creative ideas for streamlining and maximizing your space, check out these books:

• Help for the Harried Homeschooler: A Practical Guide to Balancing Your Child’s Education with the Rest of Your Life by Christine Field, www.homefieldadvantage.org.

• Clutter’s Last Stand by Don Aslett.

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Tip #7 Be creative with field trips
Start with nearby chambers of commerce, tourism offices, historical societies, town halls, craft guilds, fire/rescue companies, other support groups, and yellow pages. Next, try your local library or book store for family travel guides for the region in which you are interested . . . and then use your imagination!