Make your homeschool week worth their efforts. How? With a school store!

Back in 2006, I taught in a school district that could not even afford books for the children. I thought, “Uh, how do I teach them, then?” And the assistant principal was pretty much like, “Make it do what it do.”

With no resources and a straight-out-of-college budget, I was stumped. I prayed and Yah answered. That is where I learned the skill of curriculum design…born right out of lack (lol).

I created my own scope and sequence (it was just a month at a time),  developed lesson plans, and searched high and low for free worksheets to help them with independent practice (once the material was learned, of course). But there was one catch…they hadn’t been learning so they had zero motivation.

Enter, the beloved school store! I…

1. designed personalized classroom dollars with Word and a laminator machine,
2. purchased a bunch of Dollar Tree snacks and items I knew they needed (it was an impoverished neighborhood, so many of them did not even have the bare necessities),
3. fixed up a huge old wooden cabinet already in my classroom,
4. gave it (the cabinet) a name and a sign
5. and stocked it up for purchase.

My students walked in the next day and I introduced them to their new classroom store, showed the money, and encouraged them to earn by working hard on subject material so they could buy items at the end of each week. They were ecstatic!

I had no clue how I was going to fund the store on a weekly basis, but I trusted Yah would provide being as though the idea was beyond me. And, He did. I even ended up creating a bank, giving them weekly paychecks for classroom jobs, and the ability to cash the classroom paychecks for more classroom dollars—that not only inspired them to work in excellence, but amplified my math lessons.

When I started to homeschool back in 2013, I knew I had to implement this idea. For the last seven years, I’ve done so and it truly makes a difference. I might notice a little boredom, resistance or upset over subject material, and I make it worth their while by providing earning opportunity.

Try it, and let me know in the comments how it changes your classroom atmosphere.