Here are some ideas on teaching math and science skills without an expensive homeschool curriculum program.

Unschooling simply means drawing on the child's own inherent curiosity to define the contours of their educational experience. It does not mean that education is unorganized.

Instead of a curriculum imposed from without, unschooling focuses on learner-chosen activities as the primary vehicle of education.

Focus your strengths! You might not have the money to buy the latest box set curricula, but maybe you're darn good at finding quality resources in the library. Or maybe you're not very academically oriented yourself but you're great at crafting and creative projects. That's fantastic! Instead of working through a history book with your kids, do some historical-themed art projects. Work to your strengths. 

Back in the day when I first started homeschooling, most of us were eclectic homeschoolers or unschoolers. Catholic homeschooling was very unstructured with few resources available. There were few home study programs and little homeschool curriculum. Most of us lived at the library, relied on our homeschooling friends, and found educational value in everyday life.

Long ago, a homeschool friend drove across the country to a family event and returned to say she was terribly behind in school. I was puzzled. “But your kids saw the country! That’s school!”