Jump to content

Menu

Building a family library quickly and affordably


Recommended Posts

Hi everyone!   I hope everyone is having a great school year.  I am looking at the idea of spending next years homeschool budget on a large volume of hardback classic literature books for our family (and to lend with love to other homeschooling families).  I have about 1000 dollars budget and I love the idea of uniformity.  I have Preschool pretty much already covered through Sonlight cores/ many Treasuries, so I am mainly looking for K-12 chapter books and high school lit that shouldn't be missed; I know that is a broad range-lol. 

 

Do you know of an unabridged series like this?

 

What series of books would you make sure were a part of your library?

 

Thank you for reading/ responding to my post!

 

Brenda

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is this an allowance you're given through outside funding? Because, honestly, I don't know that that'd be my first pick of how to drop $1K.  I'm still hyperventilating about the fact that chemistry for my high schooler is going to run $500 next year just for text and supplies....and I just donated about 1500 books that I spent $$$$ on over the years.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't do it either.  I just bought books for curriculum when we needed them.  As a child, my parents bought a bunch of classics in nice hardcover bindings - they looked great on the shelves and that's pretty much where they stayed.  None of my 5 siblings and I touched them.  I can imagine that's also what would happen in my house.  My 17 year old isn't interested, my 13 year old would read the classic, but  hates how heavy books like that get (and also hates when books are obviously pre-read) so he reads classics on his Kindle, and my 12 year old is a non-fiction lover.  My dh worked for a Christian publisher and I have a ton of good Christian fiction for younger grades that now just sits there.  It's hard to get rid of.  

 

Personally, if I was doing it over again, I would continue to buy books for the curriculum I'm using and just get the rest of the chapter books from the library.  

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I live in an area with an extremely small library, and a son who has read every book in sight-over and over.  We have six sweet children who would enjoy the books.  They don't have to be uniform, but I do desire hardback editions that are not abridged.  I have already purchased my k-8 Reading programs, Spelling, English, Mathematics, Science, and basic History texts although I do plan on adding Story of the World 1-4 series this year, as I plan to do it after MFW Adventures along with BF books series on different topics.  I am still adding to my high school Science, History, and LOF High School Math books, and a few additional electives for high school (each child will be different).  Our basic program is set up- our children don't do everything the same, but they do follow a linear pattern through whatever programs they choose.  I only need to add workbooks/ consumables for each child yearly.

 

This year would be the first year in a long time that I could afford to spend a decent amount on schooling, most years I only have funds for consumables.  I bought the majority of my curriculum/ textbooks when I received an inheritance, and doing so was one of the best things that I ever did, as we went through several years of being broke afterward.  Our library limits books to two at a time, and have an extremely small selection, so having a bookshelf of classic literature would be a blessing to our family and other families in our town.  

 

Does anyone know of a quality set of books, as buying a set is usually more economical?   

Edited by homemommy83
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is this an allowance you're given through outside funding? Because, honestly, I don't know that that'd be my first pick of how to drop $1K.  I'm still hyperventilating about the fact that chemistry for my high schooler is going to run $500 next year just for text and supplies....and I just donated about 1500 books that I spent $$$$ on over the years.

 

This isn't outside funding, just my tax return money that we have allotted for curriculum/books for the next few years.

I feel that our children will miss out on many classics if it isn't already in our home, as our library is very limiting/ I don't want to spend a ton of money on fines vs. owning the books.  

 

High School is very expensive, but at least I have 6 kiddos to use each textbook-lol. 

 

I am jealous of who received your books-lol. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a lot cheaper, if you want classics, to get an e-reader app on your phones and computers and just download them for free off of Project Gutenberg.

 

We purchase Kindles for our children a few years ago, but they never seemed to use them for reading, as they have access to games/ internet, so we no longer use them for reading time.  We also only have one laptop (the one that I am typing on-lol), that is mainly used by our highschooler, as we don't want our younger kiddos focused on computers, but cuddled up with books (media tends to distract our children from reading, rather than encouraging it-this may just be our family).

 

I think for adults who want to read, this is definitely the most economical.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have individual sets here, per each person's taste.  The little kid has a budding collection of well illustrated classics (like from Candlewick press) and the leatherbound kids' books from Barnes & Noble: Jungle Book, Heidi, Greek Myths..

The teen prefers nice hardbacks in the style they were first written AND Oxford annotated versions.  So he has a collection of original-style issues like To Kill A Mockingbird, Catch-22, Catcher In The Rye...and then some of the more difficult stories are annotated OUP books- Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights..

 

I'm not sure I would spend the money for a matching set when needs are so different.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have individual sets here, per each person's taste.  The little kid has a budding collection of well illustrated classics (like from Candlewick press) and the leatherbound kids' books from Barnes & Noble: Jungle Book, Heidi, Greek Myths..

The teen prefers nice hardbacks in the style they were first written AND Oxford annotated versions.  So he has a collection of original-style issues like To Kill A Mockingbird, Catch-22, Catcher In The Rye...and then some of the more difficult stories are annotated OUP books- Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights..

 

I'm not sure I would spend the money for a matching set when needs are so different.

 

That is so sweet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

they never seemed to use them for reading, as they have access to games/ internet, so we no longer use them for reading time.

 

Pro tip for everybody else on this thread who has not bought Kindles yet: Get the sort of kindle that doesn't have access to games (that is, one that's not a tablet), and use parental controls to block internet access.

 

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is the kind of thing that appeals to ME so much.

 

But my kids are drawn to new books.

 

Yes I can rotate some so things seem new, and that goes a long way.

 

But new, exciting books are library books or books they pick themselves in some way. They also like to find thing themselves or through recommendations from peers, more than they like to hear about things from me.

 

I read every book on the shelf at home when I was a child; but my kids aren't like that and I have found I'm better off to bring home library books or let them pick their own or ask for things they have heard about.

 

It's just their style.

 

Still I think it is really a nice idea. And for me personally I am just making sure my kids read; not making sure they read anything specific; and that is a different situation for sure!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pro tip for everybody else on this thread who has not bought Kindles yet: Get the sort of kindle that doesn't have access to games (that is, one that's not a tablet), and use parental controls to block internet access.

You can restrict game usage on Kindle Fires so that the only option accessible is reading.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So many of the classics can be bought cheaply from op shops etc. it's the more modern books, specific homeschool curricula and up to date science books that cost although the library is a great resource. Do you have to spend the money now or can you use it as you need stuff?

 

Also I think Well Trained Mind, Well Educated Mind, story is the World Series and history of the World Series are all well worth investing in. Plus they are harder to come across second hand. Also if you are going to need math curricula etc maybe buy some of that because they can be expensive.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hardbound sets that my kids love are Collier Jr Classics and Journeys through Bookland. 2 of my girls love JtB so much that they bought their own set to put away for the future. Our sets are the older versions. I think the Classic set is from the 40s or 50s and the JtB series are like 1909-1932 eds.

 

No, the are not unabridged. Doesn't change my love for them. You can view the JtB series on Gutenberg.

 

I also like Landmark books, American Heritage Library (jr version for younger kids), Horizon/Caravel books. (Great lists of them herehttp://www.valerieslivinglibrary.com ). My kids have also enjoyed the Time-Life History of Civilization series. https://www.amazon.com/Time-Life-Frame-25/dp/B000LTUVTK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 (I got the complete series like new from a library sale for something like $15.00.)

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can restrict game usage on Kindle Fires so that the only option accessible is reading.

 

I never could figure out how to do that for the main user, just additional ones-kwim; this would be great to look into.  I will go to Amazon and look and see if I can do it myself, as this would be a blessing here.  I bought the Kindles thinking that a certain amount of Educational app time would be good, but my children would just bypass their profiles to mine (which I didn't put any restrictions on-kwim).  At that time we didn't have the computer, so I didn't want to limit my time working on things, kwim.  We have tons downloaded to those Kindles as I was trying to give my oldest more literature access, and HE did read a lot on his, it was just all of the other kiddos who saw it as a game station-lol. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What about putting the money in a savings account and using it to buy a few books at a time as needed? That way you will be sure to select the books that you know you really want, and you don't have to decide all of them right now.

 

This is a great idea, just put the homeschool money in a separate account and buy a few books per child as they read the ones that they were already given.  I really like this idea.  I would also mean that I could buy one smaller bookshelf at a time vs. 2/3 larger ones now.  If we keep it in a separate account we would definitely leave it alone.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a friend who is nearing the end of her homeschool years with a ton of hardcovered landmark books. She may want to sell?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Landmark books are fabulous, pm me if she does decide to sell.  I won't have extra money until I get my tax refund sometime in February.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We really love the leatherbound kids classics from Barnes & Noble, though I’ve seen them at Costco too.

 

While they aren’t classics, the best addition to our home library has been the boxes of horrible books. We have a box for horrible histories, one for horrible science, and another being added this year fork horrible geography. My boys love these, as have many of their friends.

 

I would highly suggest going to a local used book store. You will for sure find lots of classics there, and the prices will be reasonable. More importantly, they will all look different, feel different, which makes it more interesting for kids and adults, and also lets them more easily identify books.

 

Also not a classic collection, but The Who Was... series is great for elementary biographies.

Edited by Btervet
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If that's REALLY what you want to do, hands down, I would buy the Penguin hardcover classics.

http://www.penguin.com/static/pages/classics/hardcoverclassics/index.php

I have several of these. For longer works, the bindings are quite right and unwieldy. They are great for Jane Austen, but Dracula for example is almost hard to hold open. A book like Les Miserables wouldn't work in this edition at all.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would also recommend going to a local used book sale.   There are usually at least one or two in my area in early May each year, as families are finishing up a school year and are selling books and curriculum to have extra spending $$$ on next year's curriculum.   You can purchase most literature-type books and readers for $0.50 or $1 each.

 

I have found that my kids are much more interested in actually reading new books when I purchase them a few at a time, rather than a huge quantity.

 

Our library system allows us to borrow e-books which I then download to my kids' Kindles.   We have the Kindle eReaders, not tablets, so they can hold a TON of books and get read daily.  There are hundreds of classic books that are free for Kindle as well.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree that heaven is found in a pile of books-lol. A friend of mine is always bringing boxes of books by our house- I LOVE her, not just for the books either-lol.

Such a good trait in a friend. 😠And especially Landmarks! I'm trying to build a collection and it's slow going.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does your library do book sales or have a shop?  I've gotten most of our books from there (50 cent to $1 a book at every library book sale I've gone to, in two cities).

 

Things I would look for....

 

Mother Goose/Fairy Tales

Winnie the Pooh

Little House on the Prairie

Phantom Tollbooth

Bambi/Bambi's Children (the originals, not the Disney version)

Secret Garden

A Little Princess

Tom Sawyer

Huckleberry Finn

Hobbit/Lord of the Rings

Jane Eyre

My Side of the Mountain

A Wrinkle in Time

To Kill a Mockingbird

Fahrenheit 451

Crime and Punishment

Shakespeare Anthology

An Agatha Christie novel

A play by Eugene O'Neil

A play by Tennessee Williams

 

Norton's Anthology of Poetry to cover poems for high school (a lot of their Literature Anthologies would cover a lot of high school reading, too, especially short stories and plays). 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have purchased most of our books from garage sales and library sales.  Prices at library sales here run a bit higher - $2 for paperbacks and $3 for hardbacks, but at the end they sell a bag for $5.  There are almost always a number of classics still available at the end.

 

FWIW, I stopped buying classic world literature in translation; people sell or donate the texts they read in college 20-40 years ago, but often the newer translations are easier to read and understand.  Now I check out several translations from the library to determine which best suits our needs.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing I like to do is buy a Lot of books on ebay.   I don't mean a quantity but one sale with a lot (as in collection) of books.  It also appeals to my frugal nature because the price per book is fairly cheap.  Need to get Horrible Science.   Horrible Histories is totally awesome.   

 

eta:  Amazon is cheaper on the complete Horrible Science set than ebay.  

Edited by shawthorne44
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pro tip for everybody else on this thread who has not bought Kindles yet: Get the sort of kindle that doesn't have access to games (that is, one that's not a tablet), and use parental controls to block internet access.

 

Agreed. When I see Kindle I figure it is a basic e-ink Kindle.  We have three in our house. My husband and I have Kindle Voyager and my son has the hand me down e-ink Kindle that has been loaded with books I am okay with him reading. (And he reads on it). Its nice to let him take it back to his room and not have to worry about what he is doing on it.

 

The other type-- that is an Android OS tablet and can get games on it, is called the Kindle Fire.

Edited by vonfirmath
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agreed. When I see Kindle I figure it is a basic e-ink Kindle.  We have three in our house. My husband and I have Kindle Voyager and my son has the hand me down e-ink Kindle that has been loaded with books I am okay with him reading. (And he reads on it). Its nice to let him take it back to his room and not have to worry about what he is doing on it.

 

The other type-- that is an Android OS tablet and can get games on it, is called the Kindle Fire.

This is why we had issues, we bought Kindle Fires.  I will definitely go with paperwhite in the future.  I loved my paperwhite until it wouldn't get  a charge anymore. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given the ages of your kids, I probably wouldn't because they're likely going to slowly get destroyed, and you don't want to be hyperventilating every time one of your kids grabs a book to read. Or worse, they won't read them because new leather-bound hardcovers are awkward and uncomfortable, and you'll get increasingly upset that you spent $1k on public domain books that are sitting on the shelf collecting dust.

 

You can probably find a bunch of paperback classics at a thrift store that your kids can love (literally) to pieces, and it won't be a big deal. If I was in your shoes, I would use the money to buy everyone his or her own Kindle Paperwhite.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given the ages of your kids, I probably wouldn't because they're likely going to slowly get destroyed, and you don't want to be hyperventilating every time one of your kids grabs a book to read. Or worse, they won't read them because new leather-bound hardcovers are awkward and uncomfortable, and you'll get increasingly upset that you spent $1k on public domain books that are sitting on the shelf collecting dust.

 

You can probably find a bunch of paperback classics at a thrift store that your kids can love (literally) to pieces, and it won't be a big deal. If I was in your shoes, I would use the money to buy everyone his or her own Kindle Paperwhite.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given the ages of your kids, I probably wouldn't because they're likely going to slowly get destroyed, and you don't want to be hyperventilating every time one of your kids grabs a book to read. Or worse, they won't read them because new leather-bound hardcovers are awkward and uncomfortable, and you'll get increasingly upset that you spent $1k on public domain books that are sitting on the shelf collecting dust.

 

You can probably find a bunch of paperback classics at a thrift store that your kids can love (literally) to pieces, and it won't be a big deal. If I was in your shoes, I would use the money to buy everyone his or her own Kindle Paperwhite.

I just bought 4 paperwhites for my kiddos CMAS- thank you for the encouragement!  I will set up books individually for each child a few at a time.  I am so excited for their Christmas now.

 

Brenda

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...