A Great Homeschooling Resource

Remember my nervousness a few weeks ago upon discovering that our local homeschooling store was closing their storefront? Well, a bit more research led me to their website and I ordered a catalog. They also have pick-up at their warehouse, which is only about 20 minutes away from us.

I received the catalog about a week ago and I've been going through it and writing out our curriculum plans for next year, including some more formal "schooling" for Alex and Olivia. I finished my list up today and decided to do a little price comparing just to make sure that I wasn't sacrificing money for convenience. And boy was I shocked when I discovered that not only was I NOT sacrificing money, I was actually saving money.

I compared the prices from Homeschooling Books (which is the catalog from Mott Media, the one that is by me), Christian Book Distributors, and Rainbow Resource. I compared the CBD catalog and didn't think to write the prices down, although everything I looked at was either the same as or higher than the prices in the Homeschooling Books catalog. That was the same thing I found when comparing with Rainbow Resource.

Here is a breakdown of some of the things we are purchasing:

• Mystery of History, vol. 2 - $35.90 at HB, $38.00 at RR
• Writing Strands, level 3 - $15.95 at HB, $16.75 at RR
• Christian Kids Explore Earth & Space - $23.90 at HB, $24.50 at RR
• The Fallacy Detective - $12.55 at HB, $19.95 at RR
• Bear Counters - $12.75 at HB, $14.75 at RR

And because I was so excited after reading that, I decided to look into a few other things, even though they are not things that we are purchasing this year.

• Saxon Math 54 (full kit) - $54.80 at HB, $56.95 at RR
• Apologia Textbooks - $23.50 at HB, $26.50 at RR
• Little Hands to Heaven - $23.95 at HB, $31.25 at RR
• Drawing Basics - $47.92 at HB, $48.36 at RR

As you may notice, some of the price differences are pretty minor. However, when you are buying a lot for many children, even a little bit really makes a difference. The only caveat with Homeschooling Books is that you do have to pay shipping, unlike Rainbow Resource where it is free after a $150 order. But I think it's definitely worth doing the comparisons. Although if you decide you want to go with Homeschooling Books and not have to pay the shipping, I have a floor you can sleep on!