Homeschool Expo Tips

Don’t Be Overwhelmed at Homeschool Expos

Homeschool expos are held in various cities around South Africa with Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontein, George and Johannesburg hosting regular annual events.

Details of times and venues can be found on our site Homeschool Events.

Homeschool Expo Tips

1. Take stock before you leave home

Think about what you need for the upcoming school year. What do you already have? If you are starting homeschooling for the first time, plan to shop for JUST THE BARE ESSENTIALS.

• a Maths curriculum
• a Language Arts programme in your child’s mother tongue
• Afrikaans / English second language if your child/ren are grade 3 or higher
• Social Studies
• Science (maybe)

What you might need, will vary depending on the ages and grade levels of your children, the number of children you are homeschooling and what you already have.

2. Check the schedule of speakers

See what speakers and topics appeal to you and make sure you will be at the expo in time to attend the talks. If you won’t be there all day, choose the talks that are by seasoned home educators, rather than other ‘experts’ or salesmen with their own agendas. Experience has shown that the encouragement from parents who have walked a mile or two ahead of you on this journey is most valuable!

3. Locate the curriculum providers

When you walk into the hall, make a point of finding the vendors that sell homeschooling products specifically. Walk right past all the tables selling toys, games, books, CDs, learning aids and anything that is not designed specifically for homeschooling.

As you circle your way around the hall, this should lead you to the mere handful of homeschool curriculum providers. Look, listen, ask your questions and be sure to take a flyer or pricelist.

Don’t commit to anything on the spur of the moment, unless it is specifically what you came to find.

Too often we hear from parents who were drawn in by convincing sales talk, only to regret the choice they made. Take your time to investigate your options thoroughly.

(Come and say “hello” at our Footprints table and see and touch our beautiful products in English and Afrikaans!

Our educational South African board games make excellent gifts, so bring some cash for those!)

4. Look at the other products

Finally, when you have looked at all the homeschooling stuff, then take your last trip around and see what else there is. You might find bargains for gifts, great books to add to your home library as well as other optional extras that are just good to have.

5. Sort your product info

When you get home, sift through the pamplets and flyers you have gathered. Don’t toss too many away as there is a good chance you may want to refer back to some product at a later stage of your homeschool journey.

Go back to the list you made when you started out and see if you have found what you need.

Remember, that not all the available products will be on display at the expo. Ask veteran homeschoolers to recommend other products to you too. They can tell you the pros and cons of the tried and tested products they have used!

Be cautious of new online curriculum providers that have launched since the Covid-19 pandemic – some are great and apparently some are not!

6. Buy after doing your homework

Contact the companies whose products you like and get the details that you need to place your order when you have calmly weighed up all your options and worked out your budget. It’s a good idea to order the most expensive items early (in September/October, if you can) and then month by month, buy the remainder that you need before January. In this way you can break up your payments.

Click here to find details of Homeschool Expos & Events around the country.