Our lifestyle is our choice, and it might be different than yours. Different than your neighbors'. Different than your sister's cousin's hairdresser's who also homeschools.
If you know our family, you already knew we were different, right?! The homeschooling part - maybe even the radical unschooling part - is probably not that big of a surprise.
In turn, we believe that this site, which started out as a "family journal," has turned into a place where people from around the world can receive open-minded support about the educational choices their families are making. I truly believe that is what our family is called to provide, and I hope you'll stand behind that!
My biggest dream is for our learning efforts to become self-sustaining. In real-world terms, that means I hope we can make enough money, mostly through this website, to fund our learning adventures - and to have both the technology and the time available to us to share them through Our School at Home!
We give what we have freely - but lately, we have been especially blessed by friends who have reached out to us and helped us fill our cup to pour it out again!
If you're interested in helping us out, please read on. There are some traditional - and not-so-traditional - ways you can lend a hand!
Giant A+ Rewards
This costs you nothing and doesn't affect your gas rewards or other Bonuscard savings - but every month, we receive a fraction of what you've spent, directly from Giant, to help offset costs of things like books, trips and lessons.
You can read more about the program here. To support us, choose school ID 06495 by registering in-store or designating our school online.
Advertising on our site
If you have a small (or large!) business and would like to spread the word about it, we offer affordable advertising packages starting as low as $25 a month. You'll reach more than 5,000 people across ourschoolathome.com and our related Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest accounts!Email me at joan at ourschoolathome dot com for a full list of rates. We're open to unconventional ideas, especially for products and services we support and believe in!
Amazon wishlist gifts
But boy, there are certain things we really like. Legos. Books that we can read over and over again. Family movie favorites.
ANY contributions from Sarah's list are warmly welcomed. Also, if you happen to have any of the items on it, or related ones, that you're looking to find a new home for, we are THRILLED to "use used" whenever possible!
Use our Amazon affiliate links
Occasionally, you'll see posts of mine that have what are called affiliate links. Essentially, I receive a little bit of money if you purchase the product after clicking on my link.I only link to things we legitimately use and recommend, so if you see such a link, it's because we really do believe in the movie, book or other item!
Buy our awesome used books
We'd love to invite you to browse around here.
Among other things, we often list our used educational books, and we have a variety of special-interest finds too, especially on history topics!
(And, we have some just plain weird stuff, like a 1966 hardcover titled "A Salute to Onions." You never know what you'll get in a box of used books!)
Share your skills
Chris and I, along with my mom, LOVE being Sarah's teachers. But we're only three people, and her interests are wide and deep.From time to time, we've had need of someone with particular experience to help Sarah with some project or another.
If you have a skill you'd like to share, let us know by emailing joan at ourschoolathome dot com.
A few things that would be particularly awesome:
- If you or someone you know is a pet groomer who would welcome Sarah as a "shadow" for a day, that would be amazing!
- Are you of Native American descent, or knowledgable about Indian culture? Sarah would love to attend some real events (not the commercial-style powwows that sometimes come to town) or talk to native people about their culture.
- If you're a carpenter who works at a reasonable price, we actually have some learning-related construction needs (shelving, storage, etc.) and we'd love to hear from you!
- Sarah is fascinated with the idea of having her art represented by an art gallery. If you know anyone who could help explain that process to her, she'd be thrilled.
I'll add other particular items as they come up, but please don't hesitate to reach out if you'd like to share your passion!
Paypal donations
Oh, ick, that part where I say that we can use extra money if you have some to spare! No one likes that, right?Well, the truth is, we can. All our homeschooling expenses, including books, movies, classes and trips, work like any other cost in our family's budget - the money has to be available without taking from another needed area.
We are very blessed to make use of a lot of free and low-cost programs in our community. We live for 4-H, our local parks and our library and the opportunities they provide us. But more often than not, it's a stretch to include things like Lego Junior Robotics Camp, a science and technology enrichment program, or overnight field trips, like our recent Assateague excursion, that double as family vacations.
So as much as it's hard for me to put out there, yes, monetary contributions are welcomed as well, in any amount. You can choose how we spend the money, too, if you like. So if you'd like to particularly offset a certain cost, or support our learning in a particular subject area, let us know!
Most of all, THANK YOU. Thank you for all your comments, your support (in person and online) and your love for us.
That means the world, and we are grateful every day for the ways we have been blessed through our homeschooling journey!
Is there a way we could bless you and your family? Please let us know and we will do what we can! Email me at joan at ourschoolathome dot com.
