Using Digital Curriculum in Your Homeschool
I love paper books. Love. They are a big part of our entertainment and our education in homeschooling! I wouldn’t trade them in for anything.
So why would I bother with digital curriculum and ebooks? Although I was reluctant to begin using them, I have found them to be really valuable over the years for several reasons. They key is to make sure you actually use them!
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Pros and Cons of Using Digital Curriculum
Pros:
- Save money! Digital curriculum is more affordable than paperback books in many cases. Most eBooks, especially curriculum, are available in formats that can be used on any device, including your computer.
- They often allow use for multiple children in the home without violating copyright (as opposed to buying separate consumables for each child).
- You can choose to print only what you want/need (I do this ALL the time with several curricula).
- Easily portable for learning experiences while traveling or for lesson planning at the coffee shop.
- Take advantage of free curriculum and living books available almost daily.
- More space on your shelves for other books!
Cons:
- You loose the tactile experience unless you print it out.
- eBooks can create digital clutter without a digital organizational system.
- Can’t share digital products with other families without potentially violating copyright.
Organizing eBooks and Digital Curriculum
The main problem I’ve found with digital curriculum and ebooks is keeping track of them so that they actually get used. Then you face the potential of forgetting or losing what you already have.
The main problem I’ve found with digital curriculum and ebooks is keeping track of them so that they actually get used. Then you face the potential of forgetting or losing what you already have.
Here’s how I do it:
1 – First, I organize my ebooks and digital curriculum into folders by subject on my computer (Reading, Writing, Math, Science, etc.). It’s simple but keeps things easy to find.
2 – I also keep a short list of ebooks and curriculum by subject written in my homeschool planner. That way I can easily reference it to find resources and supplements for my lesson plans. You could put one in a digital file on your computer or phone as well.
1 – First, I organize my ebooks and digital curriculum into folders by subject on my computer (Reading, Writing, Math, Science, etc.). It’s simple but keeps things easy to find.
2 – I also keep a short list of ebooks and curriculum by subject written in my homeschool planner. That way I can easily reference it to find resources and supplements for my lesson plans. You could put one in a digital file on your computer or phone as well.
3 – Finally, I give myself a reminder to check the digital curriculum files each quarter when I do my rough plans for the coming three months. This could be a checkbox in your planner or a reminder on your digital calendar. It really helps!
My Favorite Digital Curriculum
There are MANY digital curriculum bundles and options available out there. I like to watch for digital homeschool curriculum bundles because then you can snag an even BIGGER savings on curriculum. But there are also options available all year that are fantastic.
- Sound Words for Kids: Lessons in Theology – My theology curriculum for ages pre-k and elementary. Once a week with some weekly memory review.
- Bible Road Trip – Our staple Bible curriculum that we’ve used for years. My older kids also do the notebooking journals.
- SchoolhouseTeachers – To pull in electives and supplements to our studies, fun rabbit trails, etc.
- Tapestry of Grace Year – TOG is a great, Christ-centered curriculum perfect for multi-level teaching.
- SkillTrek – An online life skills program for multiple ages. Great for teaching them all those life skills I probably should have. LOL!
- Music in Our Homeschool – We use the Music in Our Homeschool Plus membership for music appreciation and love it! They have downloadable elements for each lesson as well.
- No Sweat Nature Studies – Nature Studies membership that we love! It has downloadable elements for many of the lessons, and we use their printable NaturExplorer studies as well.
- Notebooking resources from Productive Homeschooling
Free and Frugal Homeschool eBooks as Digital Curriculum
Here is a good list that will get you started finding great free and frugal ebooks. Feel free to leave a comment to this blog post with any additional sites people might be interested in. Have fun!
- Your Library: Ours has a selection of eBooks available to checkout online. See if yours does as well!
- Amazon ebooks collection Free ebooks on Amazon, and links to more ebook archives.
- Project Gutenberg has great older classics available for free.
- Free Homeschool Deals One of my favorite sites that compiles lists of free eBooks and digital curriculum on a daily basis.
- Homeschool Giveaways and Freebies is another favorite site of mine for free curriculum.
- Books Should Be Free has free public domain autdiobooks and ebooks.
- Heritage History free eBooks listed by genre (science, Bible, literature, etc.)
- Classic Reader for Christian classics
- Librivox for a selection of free audiobooks
- CurrClick is a great source of free and frugal homeschool curriculum. We have many labpbooks, unit studies, and more that we have found there!
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This is a great list!! Thanks for sharing 🙂 Pinned.
I do love ebooks. They are easy to read from anywhere and do not need to carry bundles of papers with us. They all available on a single window. Its really awesome, but it needs organizing in a proper way. Whatever, whether it might be paper books or ebooks they should be organized.
What an amazing opportunity!
This is a really helpful list. Thanks!
I am excited about Mystery of History II!
Awesome! The Ellen McHenry bundle will be a definite for us!
The ones I am most interested in are the Elementary Bundles and the Upper Grade Bundles.
I am definitely looking at all 4 elementary bundles, Charlotte Mason and the unit study ones.
I’m so very excited about the Build your own bundle sale! There’s so much to choose! I can’t decide yet, but looking at Grammar Galaxy, Mystery of History and dyslexia classes.
What a great opportunity.
I am most excited about the Charlotte Mason, Elementary 1 and Special Needs bundles.
Elementary Bundle #3, Unit Studies Bundle, thematic units bundle, Healthy Families Bundle,etc.
I’m really interested in the Charater and Elementary bundles.
Excited about planners in the byb!
Great blog post! Love the idea printing only what I need and organizing everything. Thanks for all those wonderful links!
Looking forward to picking up some more TruthQuest History!
I love the convienence of digital! We move a lot and I can take everything with me in such a small package.
I want to check out several of them but the homeschool helps one is what caught my eye immediately.
I am most interested in one of the elementary bundles.
Excited about science to add to what we are doing.
I A most excited about the character bundle and homeschool help bundle.
I am excited about the products for the upper grades! Guest Hollow’s Biology schedule, the Planned Purity book, Who Dun It Mystery writing, and several others!
Awesome deal!
I love this sale!
I would love one of the elementary bundles that includes maestro classics
I am definitely a curriculum junkie! I also love, love, love ebooks! I can print all or just what I want as well as multiple copies for multiple children. Thank you so much for chance to SERIOUSLY stretch our homeschool budget 🙂
I am slowly building an ebook collection. My older children will son be reading away!
Love the BYB sale every year!!!
Thanks for the giveaway!
I am excited about all of the geography and history resources!
I like the “notebooking project from BiblioPlan that guides students on a tour of all fifty U.S. states”
I really like the early childhood bundle.
I am most especially looking at the special needs bundle.
I am shopping the bundles sale for the first time. Beginning homeschooling this coming Fall. Thank you for all the great information.
I have not looked at all of the bundles yet, but so far the Charlotte Mason bundle looks good
Thank you for this list!
I am excited most about the charlotte mason bundle and early learning stuff!
I am loving the Character Building Bundle. This is our primary focus this year, so I’m definitely looking forward to putting it to good use!
I love digital curriculum. I just seem to forget where I put it and what is what. Hahaha
Thanks for sharing! This will help me get organized!
There’s a lot I see that I like-Truth Quest, Guest Hollows Biology, Paths of Exploration. It’s going to be hard to decide.
Just starting to use more electronic helps in our homeschool.
I look forward to buying Raising Real Men.
There are SO many items I’m interested in, but I’m super excited about the music theory items
I am interested in a couple of the elementary bundles and I’m not sure what others. I’m just starting to look at them as I’ve never ordered digital curricula before. Getting a free spending spree would certainly help me in my decisions. Thanks for offering this giveaway!
I am interested in the elementary bundles and the character building bundle
I want it all! If only that was in my budget!
I love books and my boys do too! This giveaway is awesome! I love Build your Bundle too. It is an excellent way to get what we need or want the most at amazing prices. Thank you!
I would love to get all of the elementary homeschool bundles, I have 4 kids under the age of 6 so I think this would be a great fit for our family.
I might have to buy a preschool/k bundle, elementary bundle, and an upper level bundle! They all look great!
Thanks for resources!!
I’m looking at the Mystery of HIstory extras . . .
Yay!
Teaching Math through art.
Build you bundle is great! Ebooks are great money savers, portable and flexible but you need an organization plan so that you will utilize the ebooks!
Mystery of History!
I love paper books, but space is definitely becoming an issue here!
These are great ideas! I have been struggling with organizing e-curriculum. Thanks.
This is really neat info!
Thanks!!
I’m excited about the build your own bundles options
Oooh the Charlotte Mason bundle for starters!!!! Have to go feed kids but that bundle looks amazing…and its only the first one I looked at!
When I click the links in the article, they take me to purchase the curriculum, but there’s no place to comment what I’m most excited for.
This year, I really like the cursive copywork cuericulum for my kids. And I was excited about the periodic table curriculum.
I’ve done the mystery bundle before, and it was worth every penny.
Thanks for all the great information!
Thanks for all the useful links!
So much to choose from!
The Charlotte Mason bundle is at the top of our list this year! But it’s hard to choose with so many options! Thanks for the giveaway!
I can’t wait to shop!! Thank you for the great tips you always provide.
The Ellen McHenry Bundle, for sure!!
Thanks for all your great info!!!
The Mystery of History resources are my favorites
We have not used any digital curriculum items yet, but I feel like our tiny home is being swallowed up with books so this is something I would like to try.
I am excited about the Early Learning bundle! I have a 5 year old daughter that will start kindergarten but most of the books can really help us. I am excited about the Healthy Families and Homeschool Helps as well as this is my first year really homeschooling!
I really like the In the Hands of a Child bundle. I’ve used their products before and we really enjoyed them!
I love ebooks and hope that I can get my kids to love to read as much as me.
I loved my bundle from last year… alas this year I do not have the funds to buy… would love to win this year!
Thanks so much for this info and giveaway!
There are so many good products. I think I’m most excited about the first two elementary bundles this year. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this list. We are always looking for free resources for our homeschool.
one of the elementary bundles
Anything and everything for pre-K.
The Mystery Bundle looks interesting.
Wow, that is a lot of choices. I like a lot of the science ones.
Lots of great stuff, but I’m most excited about the Ellen McHenry bundle! 😀
I like the elementary bundle #2 The spanish lessons and 15 min music lessons were the things that drew my eye.
Thanks for listing the links to the audio books. While I like reading aloud, it’s great to be able to save your voice some days too!!
Loving the Charlotte Mason bundle and the Maestro Classic mp3 options!
The Unit Studies Bundle looks amazing and I am always curious to see what the Mystery Bundle has!
Thanks for all the BYO Bundle info. I’m currently excited about the Elementary ones and Charlotte Mason one.
This sounds like wonderful resources.
The two items on the periodic table look great! We are starting Chemistry next year and these would be a great resource to go along with our other picks.
Excited about notebookingpages, history & geography. Thanks.
Both Upper Grades Bundles and the Ellen McHenry Bundle look great! So many resources for such a great price!
Wow. I haven’t used the build your own bundles before, but there looks like some amazing products to try! I might try the mystery bundle just to see what comes with it. 🙂
I’ve recently discovered how much my kids love unit studies and lapbooks, so I’m excited about many of the products offered like Oceans, Victoria and Her World and lapbooks on American Indians and the Wright Brothers (which go with what we’re studying this summer).
Great resources thank you
I would like the elementary bundles or the helps bundle
Thanks! There are a few her that I haven’t seen.
Wow there is so much to choose from! I am interested in A Walk In The Woods, World War 2 Curriculum, The Holocaust Curriculum, The Blessings of Chores and more.
I want the elementary bundle #2, a journey through learning, and in the hands of a child. I would also like some on homeschooling for the mom.
I love ebooks!
Becoming more digital in our homeschool is the direction we are heading into because we don’t live in the States and often travel so our homeschool baggages needs to be light. Thanks for all the ways to organize them. I love the BYOB and am super excited about these next few days.
I’m most interested (so far) in the BiblioPlan products (especially the audiobook), the TruthQuest history binder-builder, and the Schoolhouse Teachers membership.
Great links, thanks!!!
Am looking at ekem. Bu dles 1 and 3 fir this year!
I am really interested in the elementary bundles
Thanks for doing this for everyone. I would like the healthy living, homemaking, and character building bundles.
Thank you for the organizing tips!
I am interested in the Brother/Sister bundle
Great resources for a new homeschooling mom! Thank you!