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Everything seems to be moving to more of a digital format, and that goes with homeschool curricula as well. I know the appeal to see, touch, feel, and smell new books is hard to replace, but digital curriculum actually has a lot of great benefits.
Benefits of Digital Curriculum
Cost effective.
Without the costs associated with print and marketing, digital publications can be much cheaper, which means you save money!
Easy to store & organize.
Forget the bookshelves – digital products don’t take up any real space. Simply download and save onto your computer. If you create files based on subject (or publisher or year, or child it’s for, or whatever work for you!) it’s easy to find it all again when you need them. If you are a complete download hoarder, you might consider an extra hard drive or another way to save these files off your computer.
Just print what you need.
If you download a resource and the first 10 pages are information about the company, their philosophy, how to use the materials, etc – you don’t have to print them out and waste paper. You can simply print out the worksheet page or whatever it is you need specifically.
Buy products that are specifically targetted to the lesson / topic you are teaching.
Sometimes all you want is something JUST about the topic you are learning about and instead of having to buy a large resource on a lot of topics, there’s a pretty good chance you can find a more targetted tool. For example, if you are reading Charlotte’s Web and wanted to find something to go along with it – you can find a lapbook, or novel study, or colouring pages, etc.
More variety.
Since lots of people can and do create digital resources, you can often find a wide selection of the same kinds of things – with each designer’s personal touch. Fr example, there are many varieties of book reports available – the decision of which one you will use is completely up to your goals, your child’s learning style and ability, and the interest you have.
Easy click links to additional resources.
Many times, a curriculum or product will refer to websites or other online resources to support or expand learning. The advantage that a digital product has over print in this area is that they can make those links clickable. That is huge in the world of online because, let’s face it, links can be a garbled mess of letters and numbers sometimes and that can be a real pain to type in yourself. Plus, digital products can easy update the links if they change or go missing. Print …. not so much.
Reusable.
If you have more than one kid, or need to go over something again to ensure solid comprehension, digital products allow you the opportunity to use the same resource more than once. Unlike the print consumables like notebooks and such, with a digital download, you just need to print out what you’d like again. As a parent with several kids, this is a great financial relief because I know that when I’m done with it for KidA, I can keep it tucked away into its virtual folder for KidB and C and D …. etc whenever they are ready for it. For course, you should always read the terms of use, because there are times that resources only allow one per child and you will need to pay for more copies. Please respect the publisher’s requests for this.
Where to find digital curriculum materials
Check with your favourite publisher.
More and more much-loved curriculum providers are offering digital versions of their materials. Check their websites first to see what they have available.
Designated Websites
There are several really popular websites that specialize in selling digital products – Teachers Pay Teachers and Educents, for example. These sites have large selections and really well-known, making purchase easy to find, download, and use quickly.
Bloggers
Lots of homeschooling bloggers design, make, and sell or give away their own resources. I think that’s probably because we, in the field, see what is needed and make it for our own kids and then want to share it with you. Here on this site, you can find my store where I have some products for sale, but you can also sign up for my emails and get access to my free printables library too.
Online Sales
Throughout the year, there are offers of discounted products through sales offers and events. For example, the Build Your Bundle Sale that usually happens in the spring which puts together collections of resources from a huge variety of publishers and creates bundles which are very discounted in price. The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle usually happens early in the spring as well. Plus, there are other sales through the year, so keep your eyes open for great online sales.
Do you use digital curriculum? Where is your favourite place to find it?
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Have a thorough appreciation for digital products particularly if they are cheaper than the physical one. Makes shipping cheaper as well which is like yeah for Canadians. Or actually anyone not living stateside.
Agreed! 😀