Where can I find used curriculum online?

I start with my list of books I want to buy. See the January 2007 post titled "Home school books, how do I decide?"

I buy alot of curr. from E-bay http://www.ebay.com/ . Once I search for the title of an item, I save it in my favorite searches. Then e-bay e-mails me for the next 6 months if that specific item gets posted. I bid some rediculously low bid (what I'm willing to pay - I'm a serious cheapskate) and if I don't get it, I just wait until someone else posts it. I've gotten TONS of incredible deals that way.

I look for a lot of Catholic items and have tried Catholic Swap, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cathswap , but prices in other parts of the country and Canada are not the "yard sale" prices we're used to paying here in the midwest, so I don't find much that's a bargain. I have bought a few things from there, though. You just join it as a Yahoo group and when your membership is approved (a few days), you can post & search for what you want.

I've had good luck for Catholic items as a member of the message board at Oro Et Laboro, http://p105.ezboard.com/boroetlaboro . It's a message board you ask to join. They accept posts as (For Sale) FS: Title or (Want To Buy) WTB: Title of book. In the body of the message you can put whatever you're looking for and even how much you'd like to get it for. I use it more often as an INCREDIBLE resource for loving, grounded homeschool moms who will guide me in any quandry from finding yarn at Wal-mart to homeschool reviews and from pregnancy questions to graduation parties. Those women are God-sent.

Throughout the year, I'll buy used books through Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/ . I put in my book title and if there are used items for sale, they'll show up. I always keep in mind, though, that shipping for used items is $3.50 (about), so I add that to the price of the book to see if it's worth it to me.

We have 2 homeschool used curriculum sales in town in April & June put on by different groups. I rarely find Catholic materials, but BOY, do I find great prices on misc. books and curriculum!!

I have non Catholic friends who use All Used Homeschool Curriculum Board, http://homeschool.crecon.com/classifieds/classifieds.cgi (just type the title in the left-hand column search bar) and they also find things at a local bookstore that caters to the homeschool crowd. I haven't found things at either place - I guess I'm just difficult that way!

Then when I've exhausted these resources, I know, I'm going to have to pay for it new. This is where the final pare down happens. Is it really worth it to me? Will I really use it? Then, when I'm done with my last most painful deletions of the list...

I'll give what's left on the list to my little, local Catholic bookstore. I give them my list of book titles, author and publisher with the cheapest prices (such as Amazon) I can get it new and where I can get that (in case they need to look up an item they're unfamiliar with). I discussed it with them beforehand and they can get me 10-20% off the retail price of many new items when I spend a chunck at one time. I usually end up with $200-500 worth of new items I buy through them at a one time purchase. I don't get that discount if I buy just a few books at a time.

P.S. If that's not enough links for you, try www.geocities.com/Athens/8259/used.html - THAT ought to keep you busy for a while....

Home school books, how do I decide?

These are things I have before I start.

1. I already know my teaching style.
2. I already know my children's learning style.
3. I know what kind of homeschooler I want to be when I grow up (Classical, Eclectic, Traditional, Unschooler, and what mix of these I am).
4. I have an idea of my general goals for our school (sainthood, doesn't stand out too much, academic excellence, satisfied with a reasonable effort, religious focus, well prepared for a trade.... and what mix of these seemingly divergent goals we're shooting for).
5. I have an idea of my goals for each child for the upcoming year (one child may need a serious review of spelling, one may be eager for more challenging science, one may need to learn to read, one may need more social events, etc.)

If you don't already have the above somewhat fixed in your mind, you'll be better off sitting down with a few good books and getting some of it at least swirling around in your head. Since my head is already full of those things, and I'm full of other stuff that you might not want to be a witness to, I can move onto choosing books.

This is my process. I start somewhere in the middle of the year assessing what's working for us and changing what isn't with an eye to next year. Any thoughts, reviews, or druthers, I type or paste into my "Curriculum Wishlist" document. It started as a Word document, but it got too combobulated and I had to convert it to Excel. It's organized by child and by year I think I'll use that material.

My homeschool friends tell me I'm late to every event and early in my planning. Most don't start until after the school year has ended. I'm just a party-girl who likes my summers free! Sometime in the late winter or spring, I start a master list of In-my-wildest-dreams-I-could-afford-all-these-books. I make sure each main subject is represented. I may have 3 language arts curriculae on the list and still have to decide between them.

All spring long, as I'm paring down my book list (it usually starts out at about $5000 if I bought it all and I get it down to about 20% of that by the end of the spring for the 4 kids). I get lots of reviews & suggestions from :

• Oro Et Laboro http://p105.ezboard.com/boroetlaboro . It's a Catholic message board you ask to join.
• The Well Trained Mind K-8 Curriculum Message Board http://www.welltrainedmind.com/activeboards.php,
• Amazon reviews at http://www.amazon.com
• Homeschool Reviews http://homeschoolreviews.com/default.aspx to make my decisions.

As I allow reality to hit, I start deleting books off my list to pare it down.

1. The first question I ask myself is if this would be a good fit for the child I'm buying it for. (The item has already appealed to me and my teaching style to get on the list, but I guess that would be the first-first question.)
2. The second question is how would I use this item? As a supplement? As a spine? How many spine/supplements do I really need for one subject?
3. The last question I ask myself is do I really have time in my school day to actually USE the item (We book-a-holics have to really buckle down to ask this question). Sometimes, I have to write out the kids' schedule to answer this question. Example: If I only want them to do foreign language for 30 minutes / day, do they have time to do the main curriculum I bought plus this foreign language readers?

I don't usually discard items based on price. I may have a cap that it's only worth $xx to me, but I don't delete it off my list because it costs so much from the publisher. That's what the next post is about...

Once I have my (mostly) finalized list, I buy as much curriculum used as I can. See the January 2007 post, "Where can I find used curriculum online?"

Pamper Yourself

I'm having a Pampered Chef party. If you know me, even remotely, you're invited. Thursday, February 15, 2007 @ 6:30pm.

It's a Valentine's Theme (a day late - the day after Valentine's - and a dollar short - I can get those conversation hearts 1/2 price, then! )

The special for attending a party in February is All Stoneware 20% off.

If you want to book a party, the February hostess special is 60% any 2 stoneware items. (I think January is cookware.) That's why I'M hosting a February party - I really want that New Traditions Cranberry Stoneware - at right. I've wanted them since they first came out, but they are REALLY alot. I also couldn't see spending the $$ when they weren't big enough for my family. I went to a party this fall (thanks, Julie) and MY consultant, Kim was doing the party. She said they came in bigger sizes, now. She also REFUSED to let me buy any cranberry at full price - she knows Dave really well, too. She told me if I wanted it, I had to have a party in February when I could get it at such a discount.

I won't feel bad at all if you don't come to my party, but want to book a party off my invitation. E-mail me and I'll get you my consultant's info to book a party. (See how altruistic I am??)

If you want to take a look at some products before the party, either stop by to look at the catalog (but not the cleanliness of my house), or go to the Pampered Chef website www.pamperedchef.com If you don't want to come to the party - because you're having major surgery that day, or really don't like me THAT much, I can take orders ahead.

REALITY : I LOVE throwing any kind of party, so you can come feast, maybe win a door prize and not buy a thing -- and I'll be thrilled that I even have friends. I like throwing parties so much that I'm even MAKING little door prizes... so I hope some people come who don't order ANYTHING, so they can just enjoy the door prizes I'm doing. That's what I call a PARTY - food, friends, and I don't have to cook!

Don't forget that Kim has a little something if you bring a friend (that I didn't already invite).

No Christmas Tree, No Christmas Tree ....

I was told that I HAD TO BLOG this incident - yes, it's an incident.
Well, Maggie, our black lab was so happy that there were no longer presents under the Christmas tree blocking her view of the window. She watches out for ferocious dogs who happen to be casing our house to kill us all in our sleep who are pretending to take a walk with their masters on the sidewalk. On New Year's Eve, she saw a killer cockerspaniel and jumped on the window. That's how we discovered which replacement windows our windows take last year when she cracked one by jumping on it to get a killer chipmunk - btw, our windows take SPECIAL ORDER!
So, we're having a birthday party with our friends on New Year's Eve (Happy Birthday, John!), eating the chocolate covered nuts they brought, pretending to have fun like grown-ups (while the kids were running screaming through the house) and Maggie jumped on the window. she reared back (I'm sure to protect her family from that killer!) and fell into the Christmas tree, which promptly fell over. Dave jumped up to catch it, but missed. He tried to pick it back up again, but snapped the top off the tree. Upon examination, the base was also snapped. The ornament that had a sleigh with 6 little snowmen heads with each of our names on them that our friends had just given us an hour or so before ... had missing snowman heads for Jenn & Dave.

So on New Year's Day (to the tune of Let it Snow) we sang "Go to Lowe's, Go to Lowe's, Go to Lowe's". Then (to the tune of There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays) "There's no place like Lowe's for the Holidays...if you want to be happy in a million ways, for the Holidays you can't beat Lowe's Sweet Lowe's." Then we got there and in a large empty room I sang a solo of "No Christmas Trees, No Christmas trees..." We went to store after store - everything was either sold out or closed.

I have no pictures to show you, because...I DIDN'T get a digital camera for Christmas. I TOLD you I wasn't going to get one, but still you readers and co-bloggers got my hopes up...
So next year it looks like we'll have to pay full price for a Christmas tree. If only she'd knocked it over on Christmas Eve rather than New Year's Eve.

Kids' Vacation Budget.

How did we get to the place where our kids are taking the family on vacation?
They had been saving for a puppy.

In spring of 2005, Dave told them they could buy a puppy if they saved $200. At that time they thought it was impossible. Then in spring of 2006, they realized they were just about $20 from their goal. I was anxious and Dave was adamant - the time for the offer had expired. However, he hadn't told them there was a time limit. What's a loving parent to do (when you REALLY don't want a puppy?) We decided to divide and conquer.

Mama - "So, what would you do with your money if you didn't get a puppy?"
Kids, flatly - "We're getting a puppy."
Mama - "Well, but let's say you already had a puppy and you had this much money. What would you want to do with it?"
Ds4 "Go to Chuck E. Cheese."
Dd10 - "Buy books" (that's my girl).
Dd8 - "Go to the dollar store" (her dream store).
Ds6 - "Get a puppy."

So, then it was just a matter of getting them to dream of their individual goals rather than their group goals.
"Wow, Chuck E. Cheese would sure be cool." , "What's a book that you'd really like to own?"...
Ds4 was the easiest to break. "Your little brother has decided to take his money out of the puppy effort and go to Chuck E. Cheese. Once a person breaks from the puppy effort, the deal is then expired for that person."
Dd10 agreed, "O.K., I'd rather buy books."
Dd8 chose candy at the movies.
Ds6 was nonpulsed. "That's fine, I'll just save for a puppy on my own." Given enough time, he could have done it. So, Dave and I tried another tactic with him.

"Someone is giving away hamsters for free, so you could have a hamster, if you bought all the accessories to take care of it. I think that would be about $50." That did it and we've had no more serious puppy discussions.

This vacation will be our traditional January visit to our favorite state park inn. We stay in a suite that sleeps 6 at the 2-for-1 winter special they have going from Dec 1 - Feb 28th. I didn't think we'd be able to go this year. Dave's emergency appendectomy this fall put a crimp in our financial style. So the kids counted their pennies and asked me to add up the credits they had on their chart that wasn't in their money cups yet. They were thrilled to discover they had around $250 if they added it all up together. They'd been saving money from July - December througout 2006. Well, ds4 wanted the family to go to Chuck E. Cheese, so he took $25 of his money in June or so to do that. And Dd 9, spent around $10 at various dollar stores and another $10 or so buying sweets at the dollar movie this summer. Ds6 bought a hamster cage, toys & bedding for $50 this fall.


$25.00 - Tithe
$120.00 - 2 nights at the Inn
$50.00 - Dog Sitting fees for 6-7 visits to our home for provisions, potty & play
$50.00 - 2 Craft Room Visits for 4 kids
*Groceries for vacation to eat in the room $50 - Mama & Daddy
**Meals out ~3 $100 - Mama & Daddy

*Eating out of our room is so much cheaper. The room has a mini fridge & mini microwave. The room also had a private exterior patio and door. Last year, I thought I'd be smart and pack a cooler with more fridge supplies like cold meat slices & cheese and leave it outside on the patio without ice - it is winter in Indiana, after all. Can anyone see where this is going? (I didn't). Well, I guess racoons are really good at opening coolers and there was no food in the completely opened, overturned cooler that was dragged off the patio by the morning. It was that next morning that Dd10 told me she'd seen warning signs at the nature center about not leaving coolers outside overnight due to smart racoons. She hadn't said a thing the night before when I told everyone my brilliant idea.

**Eating at the restaurant at the Inn is REALLY pricey!! So, we don't do that. But the little town just outside the park has several restaurants, so we do get a few meals there after all my ice has melted in the cooler.

We ususally have the empty Inn and full-sized pool and hot tub almost to ourselves. We take sleds and boots for snow play. We buy flashlights - we never seem to keep one intact year to year - for evening hikes (I stay in the room and start the hot chocolate - I'm not an outdoorsey girl). We swim and go to the nature center where the naturalist focuses on our children, who are the only ones at the center. We bring one family read-aloud and laze around in between trips to the gameroom and craftroom. It's 2 1/2 days of lazy quiet. The kids still talk about the year we did an indian unit study while we stayed there and the things they learned.

Lovely Gift Idea

I'm sure the last thing you want to think about 2 days after Christmas is more gifts! However, I thought this one was worth considering as a 'throughout the year' gift (Birthday, Anniversary, etc).

This is lovely gift idea. You could use photos or kids' drawings .... just a darling little rememberance for an inexpensive "I love you" gift.

Allowances

We do give our kids allowances (as evidenced by the fact that they're spending it to go on vacation for a couple of days). They have to tithe off what they earn, but then the rest is theirs.

• They have certain jobs they do that aren't for pay : cleaning their rooms, making their beds, folding and putting away their own laundry, etc.
• Then they have assigned jobs that they have to do that they can get paid for if they do the job joyfully: taking out the trash, sweeping the kitchen, emptying the trash, doing laundry...
• We also have a list of jobs they can earn money for if either I ask them to do it or they choose to do it.

We do this on a sliding scale and give credits for jobs done. Each credit is worth a quarter until they have 10 credits in a week. Then we double it and each credit is worth 50 cents until the end of the week when they start over again. We want them to be eager to work hard. On weeks that I highly encourage them (like we're having a Christmas party) and they're not doing school, dd10 has earned $14 in a week. Her average is about $2, though - she ususally doesn't quite reach 10 credits in a week. The younger kids tend to earn less as money isn't as big a motivator to work for hours at a time. Our credit system used to just sort of work, but as the kids are getting older, they are utilizing the ability to make money more often.

1. I went through each room and wrote down all the jobs I was willing to let the kids do (they aren't allowed to clean out the fireplace no matter how many times they ask).
2. Then I assigned how many credits each job is worth. For example in the kitchen, washing down all the counters with bleach water is worth 1 credit. Moping the tile in the kitchen & dining room area (which is joined together) is worth 2 credits. Scrubbing the tile on their hands and knees with a cloth is worth 3 credits. Also, jobs I intensely dislike they can earn alot of credits for because I'd rather pay them than do it myself. (I despise matching socks, so 10 matched pairs out of our overflowing large basket of unmatched socks is 1 credit).
3. Finally I decided if they could do that same job daily for credits, weekly or monthly.
4. Then I posted a chart organized by room.

My house still isn't the cleanest or most organized on the block, but this system has worked really well for us. I have a different chart we put with our calendar with columns of the kids' names at the top and rows of weeks and months listed. Then we use tally marks to keep track of credits.

If you'd like copy of any of my charts, just e-mail me, and I'll send it!