How Used Curriculum Sales Can Help Homeschool Families: Jennifer Laporte

TRANSCRIPT

Shanxi: Hello, this is Shanxi Omoniyi, host of MPE’s “Homeschool Hints” podcast to encourage you wherever you may be on your homeschool journey. 

Today I'm talking with Jennifer Laporte. She's an MPE board member and also the coordinator for this year's used curriculum sale, and we'll be discussing used curriculum sales and how they can help you in your homeschool. So, Jennifer, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your homeschool journey? 

Jennifer: Certainly. I have been homeschooling for about 20 years, and I realized that my homeschool journey started when my oldest was about 3. Because I started by checking out all the books that the library had about homeschooling. And as I did lots of reading and discussing with my husband, I felt really drawn.

But I was also fairly terrified about starting for a couple of reasons. One of them was, I did not know anyone in the entire city who homeschooled, and I also wasn't sure how we were going to afford it. And during that time, I felt like God very graciously reassured me that if it was something he had called me to do, that I could trust him to provide for my needs.

And he has. Through all the many years of homeschooling, he has taken care of what we needed, including helping us when finances were tough.

And one of the ways is through something like the used curriculum sale, which was a place to get things that were, you know, maybe out of our reach financially to buy new, but we were able to use through the used curriculum sale.

Shanxi: That is awesome. So what can people expect to find at a used curriculum sale? I mean, I know that was one of the things that struck me when I first went. It's not just curriculum. It's also a lot of educational materials, such as board games, toys, crafts, math manipulatives. I mean, you name it, every year has something different, it seems. 

Jennifer: Yes, we have a wide variety of curriculum and workbooks and maybe videos, things like that. But also as you said, we do have lots of games and lots, lots, lots of books that are great for school, but also just great for people who love to read and are good books that we would want our children to be reading.

So one thing that you might not think of, which I got last year, was some science supplies. I got a microscope for my child. And that was wonderful because I didn't really think about it, but that's just for kids to learn just because they think it's exciting to grab things around the house or outside and come and look at them under the microscope.

And you know, just to give you an idea, when I went last year, I got a set of CDs for my history curriculum at an amazing price. And I got a teachers manual that I needed for my grammar, and I got a microscope that we have been utilizing during our homeschool this year.

Shanxi: That's awesome. What would you say sets a used curriculum sale apart from, you know, say just buying curriculum online? Or if, you know, you're looking through Facebook Marketplace. What would you say are the things that still set it apart from those kinds of experiences? 

Jennifer: I am a frugal person, but I also like to kind of try before I buy it. That makes sense, and that's one of the reasons I love the library, because many times I'll check out a book, read through a lot of it before I decide: Do I really want to spend money on this book?

And so you can't exactly rent things at the used curriculum sale to try them out that much, but you do really get to get your hands on it and you know, look at more than just, you know, a page or two, which you might get online. You can really flip through the whole thing.

What I think is really nice is a lot of times, the sellers will be able to give you some advice or information that you wouldn't find online about the pros and cons of what you're looking at. So that's one of the reasons that I really think it's a great deal.

I also think that especially even for kids, there's so many great books that are usually at very reasonable prices. And they can bring their money and come and find books that maybe they wouldn't have even thought to look for online. But they see them, and it's an opportunity for them to try something new themselves. 

Shanxi: Yes, I love that you brought that up about children because I know my kids always look forward to these. They're like, Mom, when's the next used curriculum sale? And so they usually saving up just to go because they have found such amazing books there. My daughter, one year, there was like a whole series on pets, and she loves animals. And so she was like, I have to get this animal set. And she just reads them over and over again, and it never gets old for her.

So can you give me a brief description of what to expect, or what it's like for people who maybe, this is their first time going? 

Jennifer: One of the things I will say, from my own experience, I remember going to a used curriculum sale. It's been a few years, my first one. And I was shocked by how much parking problems there might be. I couldn't believe how crowded parking was. There can be a lot of other people there, and so you can be, you know, need to find, take a minute to find your parking spot.

And you might end up waiting in line to get into the building. And there will be, you know, lots of people in the aisles. So just to kind of be aware that it's a busy place, but it's a place that's full of, hopefully, deals that will fit any homeschooler. It's going to be a busy place. 

Shanxi: Yes, I'm glad you brought that up. I was blown away by how much of a problem parking was for me too.

And that's why I would say, you know, come with a friend, if you want to carpool. That also really helps because then, you know, you can both help each other know where you parked, <laughs> and you can also help carry things for each other, because sometimes you may end up buying more than you thought you would.

So another good tip is to bring trundles. I see wheeled shopping carts, you know, the whole thing, the whole nine yards. It's like, I know somebody once talked about, you know, like the shopping rush after Thanksgiving, except this is happening in June. So just be prepared. 

Jennifer: Yes. Another option for carrying that I find helpful is a backpack. If you can't get a wheeled cart, it still will leave your hands free to keep looking at other options.

Shanxi: Yes, definitely. What about money? I know in times past, we've advised people to bring cash just in case the, you know, the sellers are local families, so they don't always take credit cards. But these days, you know, there's PayPal, there’s Venmo. What would you say are, like, best practices for people to keep in mind?

Jennifer: Well, I think that is a good, good point. That is, it will be a little hard to know. So I've prepared for multiple options. So I would probably have some cash. But also be prepared if you already use one of these, you know, payment services, to have all your information and be ready to use it. I think that you're probably right that there's going to be some sellers with cash only. There might be sellers that won't take cash at all. So I would have both options available.

Shanxi: That's awesome. This year, there's also going to be a “how to homeschool” workshop before the sale. Could you tell us a bit more about that and what to expect for people who, you know, this might be their first, second, even third year of homeschooling, and they're still getting their feet wet, so to speak? 

Jennifer: Sure. So the “how to homeschool” workshop is geared towards people who have either never homeschooled before or who are still in one of their, you know, earlier years of homeschooling.

So it's meant to, kind of, give overall ideas on how to homeschool in Missouri, how to homeschool in Kansas, in terms of legal requirements, as well as ideas on how to make the best choices that you're making for your children - in terms of how to pick curriculum or how to make a structure for your homeschool, how to plan and schedule and do the things for your homeschool that might not be something that you've gotten already if you're relatively new to it.

Shanxi: Yeah. And the nice thing about getting started homeschooling is, you have a huge community of people out there. It's just sometimes you need to take your time to find the connections local to you and near you.

So if your child's still in preschool, like you were saying, you know, when you started, your oldest was 3. What would you say for people like that who, they still have a few years to go? Should they also come to the workshop? 

Jennifer: For me personally, I know that I attended my first homeschool conference at that point when my daughter was 3, so I still had time to learn, and it felt less hurried. I think it's a great opportunity to go ahead, and you would still get value out of it, even if you're not quite ready to start your homeschool officially. It would help you feel well prepared with the information you need, so that you have time to look it over and think about it rather than waiting.

Shanxi: Well, thank you. Anything else that people should know about this event, which is coming up? June the 11th, right, 6-8 p.m. at Kansas City First Church of the Nazarene?

Jennifer: That's right. I would say we're going to park in the back and enter on their lower level. There's a covered canopy or portico, and that's where you will enter to get to the sale. And there'll be signs directing you.

And we're very excited this year because we're trying something completely new, which is we're having a joint sale with multiple homeschool groups, with the goal that we will have more buyers for our sellers and more sellers for our buyers.

MPE is doing the sale in conjunction with Kansas City Homeschool Connection and Cass County Home Educators. And anyone is free to come to the sale as a buyer, and hopefully as I said, we will have plenty of sellers there to choose from as you're figuring out how you want to spend your money. You can have lots of options.

Shanxi: Having been a seller as well as a buyer, these used curriculum sales, I know how close knit the seller community can get too. Because oftentimes, you know, even before the sale’s going, you know, setting up, we're like dashing between tables and looking over everybody's wares and saying, That looks so great. Could I just buy that or just take that back from my daughter? <laughs> And you get some great deals just in-between sellers as well. And it really as a community.

So if this is your first time, just speaking from a seller’s perspective, feel free to reach out to the sellers anytime because most of them are homeschool families just like you, except with a little bit more experience maybe.

And I know that I've loved just talking with buyers who come to my table and they're like, Oh, that curriculum, you know, I see you're selling it, and I've never been able to, you know, actually touch it before. And what have you found useful about it? What have you found some of the, perhaps, possible disadvantages to using it?

It's very a friendly atmosphere, and you might end up making, you know, connections you never thought you would have otherwise. 

Jennifer: Yes. And the goal is to benefit our homeschool community with this used curriculum sale because we know that times can be tough financially.

And even as a homeschool family, most of the time, families are operating on smaller budgets, and so we want to really bless our families with this chance to purchase curriculum that maybe otherwise they would not be able to afford, through our efforts in the used curriculum sale.

Shanxi: Yes, absolutely. And thank you so much, Jennifer. I know it's not a small undertaking to coordinate such a large event, but we just so appreciate everything you're doing. So thank you. 

Jennifer: You're welcome. And I'll give a shoutout to my co-leader, who is also named Jennifer - Jennifer Ireland. She and I are in charge of the curriculum sale for the first time this year, so we are still in learning mode ourselves.

But we are hopeful that everyone will have a positive, hopefully, very productive experience, in terms of being able to come away with many things that they will be happy to have purchased. 

Shanxi: Thanks so much for listening. We hope you are encouraged in your homeschool journey.

Please continue the conversation with us on our website, midwesthomeschoolers.org or e-mail us at podcast at midwestparenteducators.org. We're also active on social media if you'd like to connect with us there. Thanks to Kevin McLeod of incompetech.com for providing this royalty-free song, Wholesome, which is licensed under creativecommons.org.