5 Powerful Ways to Level Up Your Homeschool Curriculum on a Budget

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Picture this.

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Your kid is sitting at the kitchen

table staring blankly at page

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47 of their history textbook.

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They're reading the words,

but nothing is sinking in.

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You can see it in their eyes.

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They're bored, disconnected,

just trying to get through it.

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Now imagine this instead, that same kid.

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Is standing in a museum filled with

Samurai weapons and war gear, talking

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your head off about famous warriors, what

weapons they used, what conquest they

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achieved and lands that they conquered

hundreds and thousands of years ago.

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Their eyes are bright.

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They're sharing plenty of insights

that they've learned from all the

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books they've absorbed on the topic.

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They're engaged.

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Same history lesson, totally

different experience.

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And here's the best part.

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You don't need an expensive curriculum

to create that second scenario.

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We know this from firsthand experience

because our 14-year-old son teaches

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us not only about Samurai, but many

other armies and cultures and heroes,

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science, astronomy, and other topics.

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While I spread peanut

butter and jelly on bread.

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At lunchtime, we're gonna talk

about how to level up your

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homeschool curriculum on a budget.

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Intro: A fast growing number

of parents are starting their

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homeschooling journey while others

have been homeschooling for years.

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All of these parents are asking one big

question, how can I afford to homeschool?

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We are here to answer that

important question once and for all.

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Hi, I'm Crystal Obby.

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And I'm Anthony Obby.

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We've been homeschooling our five

kids for 13 years and we funded it.

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Through our online consulting business

that we've been running for over 17

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years now, we're combining Crystal's

financial coaching expertise with my

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digital marketing background where I help

entrepreneurs launch and sell online.

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We're here to help fellow homeschooling

parents self-fund their homeschool

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journey and create lifestyle businesses.

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For financial freedom without a nine to

five job, are you ready to start living

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life on your own terms and make your

homeschooling experience a lot more fun?

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Well then sit back, crank up

the volume, and enjoy this

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episode of Homeschool Money.

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Hey guys, welcome to the

Homeschool Money podcast.

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I'm your host, Anthony Obby.

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I'm Crystal Obby.

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Today we're talking about something

that's going to change the way

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you think about curriculum.

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You know, how most advice about

homeschooling on a budget focuses on

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finding cheap curriculum or cutting costs?

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Well, today we're flipping

that script entirely.

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We're talking about how to take whatever

curriculum you already have, whether

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it's a basic textbook, a budget workbook,

or even a free online program, and

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transform it into a rich, memorable,

multisensory learning experience

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without spending much money at all.

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Because here's the truth, the

curriculum isn't the magic.

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You are the magic.

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And with some creativity, you can turn

even the most basic lesson into something

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your kids will remember for years.

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So let's dive into some practical,

actionable ways to level up

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what you're already using.

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So the first thing is that you can

bring learning to life with field trips.

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The first way to enhance any curriculum

is to take it off the pages and into

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the world, real world with field trips.

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Now, I'm not talking about expensive

theme parks or museum memberships.

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Those, some of those are great too.

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I'm talking about free or low

cost field trips that connect

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directly to what you're studying.

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Let's say you're studying the water cycle.

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Instead of just reading about

evaporation and condensation, take

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your kids to a local pond or creek.

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Bring a notebook and sketch what you see.

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Talk about where the water

comes from and where it goes.

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If it's a hot day, watch puddles

evaporate from the parking lot.

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Suddenly the water cycle isn't abstract.

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It's right there are you

studying local history?

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Visit historical markers, old cemeteries,

or preserved buildings in your town.

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Most are completely free and have

incredible stories attached to them.

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That's super fun when you're

like studying genealogy.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Especially family history.

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Right.

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Are you learning about government?

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Attend a city council meeting, they're

open to the public, they're free, and

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your kids will see democracy in action.

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We had a really great time

visiting the state capitol.

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All of our kids, we got a

chance to be involved and it

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was a really great experience.

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Yeah, it was exciting because we

actually sat in on a sitting hearing

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and got a chance to see them slam the

gavel and talk back and forth about

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the, things that they were working on.

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So that was really interesting.

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The key is to match the field

trip to your curriculum.

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Before you go review what you're learning

during the trip, ask questions after.

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Have your kids draw or write

about what they discovered.

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1 Comm: Hey, real quick, if you're liking

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episode with a friend, your

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They'll be glad you did.

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Now, back to the show.

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This turns a single lesson into

a multi-day immersive experience.

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Another thing you could do is

cook your way through curriculum.

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One of our favorite ways to

enhance learning is by cooking.

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I love standing in the kitchen at the

end of a day and cooking with the kids.

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Food is an incredible teaching tool

because it engages all the senses

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and it works for almost any subject.

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Let's break down some examples.

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If you're studying ancient

Rome, make Roman bread or a

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simple porridge like they ate.

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Eating what people ate makes

history, tangible and memorable.

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I remember whenever I was in the second

grade, we had a a foreign exchange teacher

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and we made baklava and I still talk

about baklava and the whole experience

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of talking about it, making it and

having it at one of our school fairs,

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and that's like one of the only things I

remember from my educational experience.

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That's really interesting.

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So let's take geography.

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Are your kids learning about a country?

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You can cook a traditional

dish from that culture.

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Make tacos when studying Mexico, or

stir fry for China or curry for India.

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Talk about the ingredients, where

they came from, how they grow and

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their significance to that region.

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A fun and easy one is always when

you're studying science because

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chemistry happens in the kitchen.

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Baking bread teaches about

yeast and fermentation.

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Making ice cream demonstrates

freezing points in states of matter.

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Even scrambling an egg

shows protein denaturation.

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What about math?

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Cooking is full of fractions,

measurements and conversions.

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Double a recipe for multiplication

practice or have it for division.

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Let younger kids measure ingredients to

learn about cups, teaspoons, and volume.

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You don't need fancy ingredients

or complicated recipes.

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Often the simplest foods are the

most educational like biscuits.

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And as a bonus, you get to eat

your lesson when you're all done.

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A third idea is to interview real people.

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This is one of my favorites.

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Here's something that most homeschool

families underutilized, the incredible

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resource of real human beings who

have stories and expertise to share.

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Every community is full of people and even

your families with fascinating experiences

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that can bring your curriculum to life.

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And most people are honored and excited to

share when a kid shows genuine interest.

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Here's how to connect

curriculum with people.

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Studying World War ii.

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Find a veteran or someone whose

parents served, and ask if

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your child can interview them.

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Prepare thoughtful

questions ahead of time.

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Are you learning about

careers in your science unit?

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Email a local veterinarian, engineer

or nurse and ask if you can do

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a 15 minute phone or video call.

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Many professionals love

talking to curious kids.

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Are you studying immigration?

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Talk to someone in your community

who immigrated to your country.

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Ask them about their journey,

their homeland, what surprised

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them and what they miss.

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What about entrepreneurship?

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Interview a local, small business owner

about how they started their business.

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The key is to prepare your

child to be a good interviewer.

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Help them write five to

10 thoughtful questions.

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Teach them to listen, ask, follow

ups, and say thank you afterwards.

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Have them write a summary

or a thank you note.

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These conversations can create

connections that textbooks can never do.

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Your kids will remember these stories

far longer than they will remember any

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worksheet, and they will be well on

their way to developing skills that

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will serve them in their adulthood work.

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The fourth idea is to do

hands-on crafts and projects.

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I'm not talking about random busy work.

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We're talking about crafts that deepen

understanding and create tangible

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connections to what you're studying.

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If you're studying history, you can build

a model of something you're studying.

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Popsicle stick bridges when learning

about architecture, clay pottery.

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When studying ancient civilizations,

create a timeline on a long strip of paper

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using drawings, dates, and connections.

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Let's take literature, for example.

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Make a shoebox or diorama

of a scene from the book.

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Create wanted posters for characters.

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Design a book cover or a movie poster.

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Write and perform a different ending.

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Yeah.

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For science, you can build a

volcano for geology, create

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a model of the solar system.

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Make a butterfly lifecycle wheel,

build a simple circuit with a battery

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and LED light, and make sure to be

careful because yeah, we almost had a

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house fire from doing that ourselves.

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Ha, yes.

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Geography create salt dough maps

with raised mountains and valleys.

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Make a paper mache globe design a travel

brochure for a country you're studying.

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The beauty of these projects is

that they're multi-day activities.

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They require planning, problem

solving, and creativity.

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And you probably already have most of

the supplies, paper, cardboard, tape.

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Markers, things from nature recyclables.

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Don't stress about perfection.

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The process is what matters.

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The thinking, the creating, the doing.

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2 Comm: Hey, friend, quick break.

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If you're ready to fund your homeschool

without relying on a nine to five

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job, you have to check this out.

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We're giving you instant access to.

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This is the system that changed everything

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The fifth idea is to do

dramatic reenactments.

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Reenacting scenarios from your curriculum

is one of the most powerful ways to cement

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learning, and it costs absolutely nothing.

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So from history, you can

act out historical events.

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You can reenact the Boston Tea

Party in your living room, put

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on a mock trial stage, a debate

between historical figures.

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Let your kids write simple

scripts or improvise.

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For literature, you can perform scenes

from the books that you're reading.

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You can assign parts.

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Use simple costumes from the

dress up box or closet and let

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kids interpret the characters.

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You can even film it and

watch it back together.

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Another thing you can do is have the

kids make their own costumes for it.

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If you don't already have costumes,

that's right for science, you

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can act out the processes you're

learning, be atoms bonding together.

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Demonstrate how the digestive system

works by having each kid represent a

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different organ model predator prey

relationships with a game of tag.

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For math, you can create a pretend

store and practice making change.

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Run a restaurant and calculate

bills stage, a mock auction to

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practice estimating and bidding.

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The physical act of embodying

concepts, moving, speaking, deciding.

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It activates learning in a

completely different way than

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reading or writing alone.

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Plus, it's fun, and when

learning is fun, it sticks.

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Don't worry about production value.

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This isn't about being theater ready.

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It's about engagement and

understanding with the things

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that your children are learning.

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So to recap, these five powerful

budget friendly ways to level

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up your homeschool curriculum.

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The first one was field trips that

connect lessons to real places.

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Number two is cooking to engage the

senses and teach across subjects.

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Number three, interviewing real people

to add human stories and expertise.

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Number four, crafts and projects

that make learning tangible.

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Number five, dramatic reenactments

to embody and experience concepts.

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Here's the beautiful thing.

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You can combine these approaches when

you're studying westward expansion.

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Interview, someone who's done genealogy

research on pioneer ancestors.

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Build a covered wagon model reenact

as a scene from the Oregon Trail,

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and visit a local historical site.

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You're taking one curriculum unit and

turning it into a week or two of immersive

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multi-sensory learning, and it costs you

almost nothing except time and creativity.

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So we hope that you're getting

the point and the takeaway from

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what we've talked about today, the

curriculum is just a starting point.

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It's a framework, it's

a guide, a springboard.

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What transforms education from adequate

to extraordinary is what you add to it.

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The experiences, the connections,

the moments of wonder.

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You don't need to spend more money.

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You need to think beyond the book.

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So pick one lesson coming up this

week and ask yourself, how can I

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help this come alive for my kids?

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Then choose one of the strategies that

we talked about today and give it a try.

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Thanks so much for listening.

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Go level up that curriculum and

we'll catch you in the next episode.

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Outro: If you like today's episode,

make sure you tap the follow button

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help you share it with a friend or your

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Like me?

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For tips and strategies to make your

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go to homeschool money.com

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and register right now, ready

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Head over to homeschool money.com

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You'll get the tools, templates,

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Each module of this program is designed

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And right now we have an amazing limited

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Bye.