A big concern for parents and students is "where do we get the textbooks to follow the curriculum?"
When you register with a school that offers homeschooling programs, you are usually given a copy of the textbooks needed for the student to complete that grade. Your registered school will assign you your designated textbooks from their library, and you can either choose to check out the textbooks (using your student ID card), or, you can just obtain the names and ISBN numbers of the books you will need to buy the books brand new online.
Please know that you have to get on top of finding schoolbooks by no later than June 1st to prepare for the following year! Schools buy out textbooks quickly, and the publishing companies only print a certain number of stock per year, and the last thing you want is a delay come September!
My family usually just went to the school and took pictures of the textbook covers and ISBNs, but post-pandemic, we just email my teacher, or the school office to obtain the names, and ISBN numbers, and go cruise the internet for people who are selling. You can also contact students of a higher grade (if you know anyone who is homeschooled) and they usually have a copy of the names for the textbooks according to the Alberta curriculum.
Here is a list of websites to visit when looking for textbooks online:
- Amazon (The number one choice! They sell almost everything, and you can search by department, book title, author, or ISBN).
- EBay (This is great if you're looking to buy second-hand school textbooks because its usually less pricey).
- Indigo & Chapters (Whether you shop online or go in person, you can find textbooks, novels, and workbooks *like the KEY books for diploma exam prep* for a great price, brand new!)
- Scholastic (This works for K-6 textbooks, work books and leisure novels).
- Nelson, Pearson, or McGraw-Hill Ryerson (Sometimes you have to go right to the publisher. You can get science textbooks and some resources like exams from these companies).
- Oxford University Press (If you're looking for a Social Studies textbook, look no further).
- Bookfinder.com offers some insights as to where textbooks are available if you punch in the ISBN number.
If it's other school supplies you're looking for (like graphing calculators, stationary, school laptops, binders, trigonometry sets, arts & crafts, or DIY science experiments) I recommend you check the following places:
- Amazon (Anything I just listed can be found on Amazon. Art supplies like nobody's business, trigonometry sets, awesome calculators, and science kits with beakers, stirring rods, plastic syringes, battery holders and voltmeters, scales, microscopes with assorted specimens on slides, you name it!)
- Staples (The one-stop shop for stationary, binders to store schoolwork, page dividers, lined paper, blank paper, pens, pencils, highlighters, sticky notes, paperclips, binder clips, hole punch machine, laminating machine, graphing calculators, computers, accessories, and so much more!)
- Best Buy (also a great place to buy computers, their accessories, and any software you might want or need).
- Michaels (If you need art supplies, creative inspiration, or even to attend art classes, Michaels is the place to go!)