Homeschooling offers the flexibility to take the summer off, homeschool year round, or switch it up and try some free homeschool products and camps in the summer. After all, summertime is a great time to experiment while keeping kids busy. We did a lot of that when my kids were younger. I liked to take advantage of free trials, especially, because there was no risk in seeing if my kids liked something. And, it offered something for them to do when they got bored or it was too hot outside.
So, have you had a rough year and need to use the summer to redeem the lost time? No problem! Is it time to try something new but you’re not sure what might be best? I’ve got something for you, too. Or, maybe your budget is tight, but you school year round, like me. Read on!
Free Homeschool Products to the Rescue!
Free Trials
As I mentioned above, one of my favorite free homeschool products for summer (besides trying to incorporate outdoor learning as much as possible), was free trials. One summer, I used a Reading Skills Assessment free trial to help me determine where my severely dyslexic son was at with his reading. That allowed me to plan appropriately for the fall. At different times, I also took advantage of a Code Avengers free trial, and a free sample each of Math Mammoth and DoodleMaths, to see if they were a good fit or not. At the time, we were also able to access Discovery Education Streaming for the summer. All in all, free trials allowed my kids to explore their interests a little deeper and see if it was truly an abiding interest or a passing one. In addition, they were a nice alternative activity for productive use of time during the very loose summer months. And, they allowed me to try out online learning guilt free. I accessed all of these free trials in the Homeschool Buyers Club (which used to be called the Homeschool Buyers Co-op). They currently offer nineteen free trials, plus free gifts when you join the club!
Grab Free Printables
All summer long, (and in fact, all the time), many homeschool bloggers offer free printables. For example, In All You Do, has a summer printables collection that includes worksheets and summer themed prompts to add a bit of structure to your days. Another site that has even more free printables, especially science ones, is Simple Living Creative Learning. Check out the insects pack, phases of the moon, constellation cards, and more. Pinterest boards will help you find many, many more free printables. So, grab the ones you want. Then, add in some library books and field trips, and you’ve got a nice summer of relaxed learning. Just remember the downside of free printables is that you need to have access to a color printer and lots and lots of paper…
Free Homeschool Products in Bundles and Subscriber Exclusives
Another way to get free homeschool products is by checking out the Homeschool Blessings Bundles. Every month, they have several sponsors offering a free product. They also have large, quarterly bundles of products offered for free. These are generally products that are sold in the sponsors’ stores that are only free for a limited time. These products tend toward the younger set and often contain a lot of language arts, Bible, and history products. But, there are usually a few science items and/or a few 4th-10th grade items. So, if you don’t mind a hodge podge of free homeschool products that include ones you might not use, this might be a good option. All of these products are, of course, PDFs. So, you will either have to print out the products (see above, except these are full products, i.e. books) or be scrolling through them on your computer.
I am also aware of homeschool bloggers who offer a Freebie Friday, whereby their newsletter subscribers have exclusive access to limited time unadvertised, free homeschool products. You have to be one of their subscribers to access these, but it’s worth investigating.
Why not grab all the goods? You can grab free trials of quality online homeschool curriculum from the Homeschool Buyer’s Club and fill in with some other free homeschool products as well. Don’t waste these summer months and then have to reteach material in September. Keep them learning all year round!
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