Lesson 3: 'What Hast Thou in the House?'

Resources for home schools are never inexpensive. I may not be as costly as private school, but sometimes I think it's not far off. (And I know that even though none of us consider public school to be an option, fees and school supplies there aren't cheap either). There is, however, a question of how do we best steward the resources that God gives us.

Along with what I believe is God's approach for education, the Principle Approach offers the opportunity to make the most of what we have in the house. After the major outlay of the purchase of foundational books, purchases for homes using the Principle Approach are not at all exorbitant. I have family that spends in the 1000s each year for their homeschooling materials. We don't. The first year was the most expensive as we purchased our foundational books. After that we've spent less than $500 per year for both boys. This year I haven't spent anything yet. Our planned purchases will be about $250. The point is that we begin with what we have. There is a biblical principle that states that we are to use well first what God has already given us. When we use those things well, then He will bless us with more. It may only be just what we need, but we will and do have what we need right now.

I have found many things at Goodwill--actually I believe they were things that God placed for me there. Once, while shopping at Goodwill, I found a set of books (20 volumes) for $1.99 each that contain primary source documents for every period of American history. They are an awesome source for working with speeches and essays and sermons from our history. We already had made a priority of purchasing the foundational books from FACE. Those also have a great deal of primary sources that we have found useful. There are some internet sources that allow free downloads of literature. We have found some of our needs there. During my last trip to Goodwill I found a beautiful copy of Hans Brinker. There is another online source for used materials I use: www. alibris.com. I've found things there. Plus we use the library a lot. I do have a great library here at the house, but I have gotten to the point that I'm purchasing really very little and we still have jr and sr high to finish. I don't expect our purchasing to change all that much through that time.