So I realized there are many homeschoolers who have not heard of Homeschool Buyers Co-op. Just in my small Park Day group only a couple of us have ever heard of this web site. So I figured I have thousands of readers and there has to be many of you who have not heard of it either.
Now I know a lot of my readers are solid Heart of Dakota users, but Homeschool Buyers Co-op has so many things to choose from that even a die-hard HODer can use the site for many things to. Oh my, you are all probably wondering what Homeschool Buyers Co-op is, right?
Here is how they explain who they are.
The Homeschool Buyers Co-op is the nation's largest purchasing cooperative for families educating with a homeschool curriculum. Membership is absolutely free and private. Whether or not you join, browse the site, return as often as you like, and take full advantage of the many wonderful homeschooling resources and services for homeschooling families!
Why have a Homeschool Buyers Co-op? It's simple. School districts get volume discounts because they have purchasing power, but we homeschoolers pay retail because we don't. So, if we want to get affordable homeschooling programs and homeschool curriculum, we need to give ourselves the same purchasing power as school districts.
That's where the Co-op comes in. By pooling the purchasing power of our entire membership, we are able to call major educational publishers and homeschooling curriculum providers and ask for the same discounts they give school districts. And it works! Because virtually every vendor will give discounts for their homeschool curriculum if they are assured adequate volumes.
How do we get the volumes needed for affordable homeschooling programs? We do it through a unique process called a "GroupBuy". Essentially, we negotiate volume discounts with the homeschool curriculum providers, then put an offer out to our members that says, for example, "Hey, Co-opers, you can get 20% off for this homeschool curriculum, but if we get 20 members to sign up, everybody will get 30% off, and if 50 members sign up, everybody will get 40% off and so on."
They also have some freebies that are great in which you do not have to become a member. Like free ID cards for you and your children. This is a good idea for the younger children to wear on field trips with address and phone numbers printed on the back and even for the older, high school aged children to have in case they get stopped by the police etc. They also have a free resource of free curriculum that is out there on the web with just a click away. You have a place to post curriculum that you are selling or look at things to purchase from other homeschoolers, different scholarship programs that may be available, field trips, up and coming conferences and so much more and again all for free! And there is even an e-store available that has some pretty good stuff I have purchased form there before.
Lets face it, as homeschoolers we need to save money and curriculum is expensive. So if you can get a 40% discount on the curriculum you are looking for then why not? That is a big savings. I am still kicking myself in the behind for not purchasing the Rosetta Stone foreign language course when it was available for 40% off.
So take a moment and pop over to Homeschool Buyer's Co-op and look around. You will need a little time. The web site is huge and has so much to look at so get a cup of coffee or tea and sit down and enjoy a looksie!
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