Purchasing discount home-school books is a great step toward inexpensive homeschooling. Begin by making a list of books you want to purchase for each child, subject and grade level. Be sure to make note of each book's retail price. Then check with the following retailers to find the lowest prices available:

* Booksellers like Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Borders and Half Price Books allow home-schoolers to to take advantage of teacher's discount programs to purchase new books at a reduced price. You may be asked to present official documentation when applying for the educator's discount. If documentation is necessary, you can create a letter or home-school ID card on your home computer. Barnes & Nobles and Borders also host annual teacher appreciation events that offer savings over and above the educator's discount.
* Christian Book Distributors offers a free Educational/Home-school catalog that offers savings of up to 90% on home-school books and curricula. Its catalog also features product reviews by home-school book author, Karen Andreola.
* Rainbow Resource offers price savings on a variety of materials from popular home-school curriculum suppliers. The company provides free shipping on orders over above $150. Its free catalog is also a great source of product reviews.
* Scholastic offers a monthly book club flyer where home-schoolers can purchase materials for prices as low as 95 cents. The company also hosts semi-annual Customer Appreciation Warehouse Sales where it sells many of the fiction and nonfiction books from its monthly fliers at half the cover price. By registering for these sales through Scholastic's website, you can print a fast cart pass that also serves as a coupon at checkout.
* Usborne Books provides money saving opportunities through its home shows, e-fairs and consultant program. By introducing friends to Usborne books through a party hosted in your home or on a consultant's website, you can earn free homeschooling books for your children. Usborne also provides home educators with the chance to become independent consultants. During my first 3 months as an Usborne consultant, I earned over $600 in free books, received commission on materials I purchased for my family, and earned money for use in our home-school.


By purchasing materials at a home school curriculum fair, you can eliminate shipping costs and take advantage of show specials. Vendor fairs can save you money and time. By viewing the books before purchasing, you reduce the risk of having to return materials and select new ones.

You can also save money on homeschooling resources and supplies by taking advantage of teacher's discount programs at Office Depot, Office Max, and Staples.