I am acquiring a shelf of learning resources. I’m sure that many of them are high-priced and fancy. These are high quality learning resources.
Want to know where I’ve been getting them? Garage sales and friends. A friend was having a “get the stuff out of my house” giveaway, and she is a homeschooler. I took an armload. We have also been frequenting garage sales on the weekend and searching for manipulatives for math and activities that will build small motor skills, since this is an area that my daughter needs to work on. Yesterday we hit the jackpot. We spent fifteen dollars at a garage sale. A local daycare was getting rid of a lot of extra stuff, so we brought some of it home. There were lacing shapes, planet games, glow in the dark mobiles, and of course, the game Operation. My daughter loves to pretend to be a doctor and she needs to work on small motor skills: what could be better?
We’re also going to head to the bulk section of the grocery store to find some more math counting and sorting manipulatives. These are otherwise known as beans and pasta.
What is my list of the best places to find educational resources?
The library holds used book sales, where the library sells off used stock. You can find amazing books like encyclopedias for almost nothing. Looking for craft supplies? Thrift stores have just enough for a child’s art project. Garage sales, particularly multi-family or daycare garage sales have wonderful learning resources. Nature is also a place to find patterns and colors, and you can have a great adventure picking up shells or fall leaves.
The best learning resources are often free or very cheap. That’s all right. If you have a theme in mind, your child has a deep interest in a particular topic, or you know of a skill that your child needs to learn, head off to the garage sales and the thrift stores. There is a wealth of old stuff out there, and you can give it new life as a teaching tool.
Image courtesy of jmgriffin at stock exchange.