School funding...

In our area, we have lots of homeschoolers. There is an "Umbrella" school that we are under, also called a charter school. We are accountable to the program for the work that we do each week, set goals for the student's school work each year, and then we receive funding from them for school resources. We receive $2000 per child at this point, for approved school related items, such as paper, pencils, crayons, staplers, tape, ink cartridges, binders, and some curriculum. Since it is a non-Christian entity, they will not pay for any Christian items, or anything by a Christian publisher.

We have enjoyed it, because the kids get tested there, and I don't have to do it. Caleb's drum lessons and baseball fees have been paid for. They changed some of the funding guidelines this year, so they don't cover most sports-related clothing, any more furniture (last year we got two big bookshelves!) and several other things. They will pay for most educational games, books, math curriculum, construction paper, and more. I like that I can get most school supplies paid for. They even have paid for Rebekah's college classes this year. That is a HUGE help!

Usually at the end of the year though, the younger girls especially, have funding left over. We already have lots of books and curriculum from the older kids, so it can be a small challenge to utilize their funds. I have gathered a list of items that we have gotten before to help other homeschool families in my area gather ideas.

Here is what we have gotten before:
A set of 100 colored pencils
Solar system kit, paintable to hang
pencils/ scissors organizer for the desk
pencil cases, erasers
A local trip (within 350 miles), one night hotel stay
A ball to sit on (great for my ADHD kids!)
Scissors, crayons, glue, glue sticks, markers, rulers, Sharpies
pencils (mechanical too), pencil lead refills
dry erase boards and markers
Sticky notes, index cards
Large pack of construction paper (300 sheets? Maybe 500?)
Scotch tape and dispenser
a case of paper
a magnetic/ white board for our spelling curriculum, eraser
Maps
backpacks
Educational puzzles, esp. maps
Computer, printer, ink
IPAD with case
swimsuits (no longer fundable), dance clothing, baseball pants, etc., (may not be fundable anymore)
Drum/ piano lesson fees
Crossover class fees (classes taken at a local school, such as band)
Magnet kit, butterfly kit, ant farm
Many, many, many books!

Great books with a historical emphasis!

Trebuchet kit
Drawing books
Large binders to organize papers, page protectors, subject dividers
folders
Art supplies- paint, paper, brushes, watercolor paints
Money kit, calculators
Tangram puzzle/ game cards
Handwriting books
Books for Five in A Row curriculum
Math, reading curriculum, spelling curriculum/ magnets, workbooks (secular only)
Museum admissions, art museum, pool punch cards, pool admissions
Swim lessons
Bicycles, bike helmets
Rollerblades
Telescope
A new stapler, staples
Clay for art
Pencil grips for pencils
Internet fees (but not cable)
Mileage to/ from classes
ACT or SAT assessment (one per year)
Class fees outside the home- choir, speech, dance, etc.,

This was at Office Depot, I found it cheaper on Amazon.co

X-Acto school Pro heavy duty electric pencil sharpener
Many games: Ticket to Ride, Ticket to Ride Europe, expansion packs for Ticket to Ride,  Sum Swamp, Math Dice, Rory's story cubes, Wordplay, Flag Frenzy, Timeline, Sequence, Blockus, Bananagrams, Quiddler, Set, Speed multiplication, Spelling Bee, and many more. We love playing games!

Here are other ideas that we have not purchased, because we either already owned them, received them as gifts, or don't need them:

jump drive for computer
math manipulatives
teaching clock
Flash cards
Dictionaries
Microscope
Boggle Jr. game
Scrabble Jr. game
Educational camps (science, art)
Kindle for reading
GLOBE
Organizational items- bins, etc.,
Storage boxes for spelling cards or flash cards
Clipboards (useful for not working at a table)
Twistables colored pencils
Mr. Sketch markers
Poetry books
Science kits- Magic School Bus or Young Scientist
Magazine subscriptions- National Geographic, Highlights (?)
Art supplies, or art curriculum
Blue tooth speaker (unsure of funding for this item)

I am unsure yet what we will spend the rest of our money on. We will probably go to a museum or two before the end of the school year. We may buy more books for the summer reading.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.


Matthew 21:15
But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.