Do you keep curricula for siblings far apart in age?

[Moniksca]

I have 2 sons who are 6 years apart in age, we're wrapping up our year, and I'm wondering if I should hold onto curricula for 6 years for my second. Would it be more practical to sell everything off and then purchase (possibly used) when the time comes for my second to hs. I do plan on having a 3rd child at some point as well. Things can change a lot in 6 years, what would you do?

I have no idea what kind of learning style the younger is, he's only 2.

[mom2denj]

I have a 13 yr old dd and a 4 yr old dd homeschooling and yes, I do keep my Sonlight cores. I keep a few other things, but I also sell cirriculum that I am not sure of, or is cheap enough that I can repurchase later if I choose to. I know that the Sonlight cores will change some over time, but they worked great for us now, so they will work just fine later.

[Jody]

I have found I have to like it so much to hang on too it. I found that if I wasn't sure than it was too old to sell later. People want the latest so it matches with the current workbooks.

 

If I did like something I bought two of that workbook so I have it to match.

[Susan in TX]

We have a small house and so any homeschooling curricula I choose to keep for younger siblings takes up valuable storage space, so unless it is something that would be hard to replace, I sell it unless I'm going to need it in two years or less. The exception to that would be something that I know I'm going to want to use later that does not have a good resale value. I also kept my oldest's phonics curriculum (Rod & Staff) even though I wasn't using it at the time for younger kids. It was a sentimental thing.

 

Susan in TX

[REv1053]

DS1 is 12yo and DS2 is 3yo. We are keeping our Sonlight cores but selling all of our workbooks. I don't know yet what kind of learner DS2 will be so I don't want to keep some old curriculum in the hopes that DS2 likes that curriculum as well.

[Moniksca]

I'm still in school so we're still moving alot, I just can't seem to part with some of the things we've used, since we've enjoyed it so much.

[melmichigan]

I have eight years between my oldest and my youngest. I am keeping all the SL cores, I can always buy a new IG later and change books if I need to, besides history doesn't change much. :) I also keep any literature based materials for science, math, etc. I am keeping some of the higher math, and all my SM HIG's since they are standard edition.

Edited June 26, 2010 by melmichigan

[Whereneverever]

My two oldest are 3 years apart, and yes, I'm keeping the stuff I love.

[LynnG in Arizona]

My second is twelve years older than my third (with a fourth coming up as the caboose).

 

I kept my Sonlight literature and the best reference books that we had accumulated over the years. I kept my educational DVDs and the supplements that are still in great shape.

 

But I'm forcing myself to get rid of everything else. Math, grammar, history, and science have all been sold or thrown away. I figure there will be other (sometimes better) programs out down the road. And as other people have said, I don't know what their learning styles will be or even what my homeschooling philosopy/focus will be at that time. Not that I expect it to change dramatically, but I do seem to continually evolve as a homeschool teacher.

[momteaches2]

I keep mine. My kids are 16, 12, and 7. I've kept all of our Saxon math texts, Horizon math TG, Apologia middle/high school books, and our R&S English texts.

[mcconnellboys]

Mine are this far apart in age, too. I did keep my things until I could see what the youngest was going to need. I am just now (during middle school) really beginning to cull out things for younger children.

[Mommee & Baba]

I'm keeping all the curic. we use and like. This not only saves me future stress, but also saves me money.

 

I have DD7 and DD5 whom of course share alot of their curic only a year apart. BUT I have a 16m old son that I'm saving materials for. Plus alot of the materials we've purchased used were a HUGE savings and even THAT much more of a savings if we are able to use them with our son too.

[AHASRADA]

I agree with most of the PPs. It really depends on how much storage space you have, how often you move, how expensive it would be to replace the curriculum, and the resale value.

 

My kids are 3 years apart, and early on, I saved everything. Then I realized that my kids' learning styles, strengths and weaknesses are completely opposite each other. What worked for ds definitely would not work for dd, which a few exceptions (like FLL). We have also moved a lot, and currently don't have a ton of storage space. Dragging all those books around has become a huge burden. Since I know I will likely find something else that would be a better fit when the time comes, I usually just resell most things, keeping only those with sentimental value or a true possibility of being used again.

[higginszoo]

I keep it ... I have a 6 1/2 year span (with 2 in the middle). I don't always use all of the same thing with everyone, but so far, I've been able to re-use things with at least 2 dc. My 9 year old did all of his curriculum selection for next year off of my shelves, mostly things that I'd used with his older siblings.

[skaterbabs]

Dot is 6 years old; Yacko is 14, Wacko is 12.

 

Yes, we are saving all non-consumables for her. Anything that WORKS for us, is saved for the next child. After Dot finishes something, I sell it immediately, though. ;)

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I have 2 sons who are 6 years apart in age, we're wrapping up our year, and I'm wondering if I should hold onto curricula for 6 years for my second. Would it be more practical to sell everything off and then purchase (possibly used) when the time comes for my second to hs. I do plan on having a 3rd child at some point as well. Things can change a lot in 6 years, what would you do?

I have no idea what kind of learning style the younger is, he's only 2.

 

I have kept most things unless I decided that I liked it so little that I wasn't going to use it again.

 

I have reused Saxon math and some science materials.

 

Long ago I decided that it wasn't worth my time to not write in consumable workbooks, so I don't really have those to go back to. Fortunately, I am able to buy the student pages for the math levels we're using.

 

Later kids might have different needs. But for me, it is worth hanging on to something until I know that I'm not going to use is.

 

I don't keep everything out on the shelf though. I box up SL books that we're not using and books that are too easy for one set of kids and too hard for the other. I also tend to box up history books for periods that we're not studying, except for some fun books that they like to browse just for kicks.

 

Having said that, this week I'm planning on purging some things that I have that just never seem to be put to use.

[Barb_]

Keep your favorites if you can. I still use my favorite stuff from when my now 20yo was in elementary/middle.

 

Barb

[Violet Crown]

Mine are 14, 7, and 2, and I'm envying the ability of others in this thread to get rid of curricula. I'm saving everything--who knows what #3's learning style will be? who knows if there will be a #4? what if my grandchildren are homeschooled and my kids find that 1990's LLATL books with crumbly spines are exactly what their children need?:)

 

Like Sebastian, though, I box between-years curriculum items to save room. So much of our "curriculum," though, is just books, and since you can never guess when a child will pull something off the shelf you thought would be too advanced for them (or beneath them...), I keep it all out.

[NanceXToo]

Definitely. I got a great deal on a used K-8 set of Oak Meadow. I used OM4 with my daughter this past year, and will be using OM5 with her in the fall.

 

I'll be starting my son on OMK this fall and will definitely be saving all of the older grades until they've BOTH had a chance to use all of them.

 

I love OM and will not sell it until they are both finished with it.

[skissugar]

I keep most of mine.. even in the small space i have, i find room to store it. If we use it for my oldest and like it, I quickly go buy whatever consumable i need when we are done with the course and then store it away. I have done this with MUS,SOTW,Analytical grammar,Lord of the rings study,IEW-SWI,lightning lit.. etc.. once my daughter is done with it I sell it. It is more pricey up front but I am finding that as my son gets into higher up grades it is going to free up some money to pay for those more expensive courses and things to go with them because I will have all the stuff already for her to do school (does that make sense?) I currently have a 7th grader and a 3rd grader :)

[Supertechmom]

I have a 12 year spread with two in between those. I spent a lot of time searching searching searching. I picked the items that I thought would work best with us and most of it for the most part did. And even though so far each child seems to be the polar opposite of each other, the materials I selected work well with the differences. ANd I even go as far as to purchase ahead as well. I go to used sales and if I see a workbook for a song, I grab it up. Right now I have R&S english for 3 grades for 3 children waiting..... even though it will be around 12 years before the youngest ever needs that work book. I have everything Singapore for 2 kids and am working on getting the rest for the last child.That way I'm never in the situation of being forced to get rid of the books because I can't get the workbooks anymore. I do the same for our math and history. I rarely just outright purchase books for reading so any that I do are automatically keepers. It's starting to pay off as I only had to buy this year for the oldest. Everything else was waiting for the next one and I just pulled out the stuff for the preschooler.

 

As for storage, I have two closets in which we put a up high shelf. There is just enough clearance to stand a book upright from the ceiling to the shelf. We reinforced it too. I have all the waiting to use stuff on those shelves. And then I made a storage spot in the attic with some plywood across the beams and put stuff in there too.

 

I put so much work into picking the stuff to begin with that changing up just gives me chills to think of agonizing all over again,

[Sandy in Indy]

I have a nine year gap...and, yes, I'm saving curriculum. I've purchased the workbooks to go with Singapore, kept the Alg. and Geo. courses, kept history resources (just how much will ancient history change in the next nine years??? :) ), have all the R&S English books, etc. Anything that was a "dud" the first time around I sold. I can't see selling and re-purchasing the same materials.

 

I'm sure I'll change some things with my youngest...but this material will be available if I need it.

[Aoife]

we kind of have a funky gap :tongue_smilie: I have 2 DSDs that are 4 years apart and then 2 soon to be 3 close in age DSs that are 8 and some years younger then my youngest DSD.

 

That being said. We will keep certain things. We know we are sticking with SM and MUS long term so MUS is a keeper and I buy the extra consumables for SM when I order another level. If I end up ordering IEW then I will be keeping that too as I certainly don't want to sell it and then turn around and buy it again and loose money. We primarily only do writing, grammar and math in an afterschooling fashion with my DSDs though so that would be the only things saved for a long term gap.

 

Now with the DSs we will most likely be keeping much more. The largest gap in the boys will be about 4 years so when we buy for the oldest we buy enough consumables for the younger two. I have already done my fair share of buying reviewing trying and selling to figure out what I like best. The only things I can think of that would make me sell off anything else would be if it just totally didn't work or something new came out which just blew me away.

:lol:

[funschooler5]

I keep everything that works for us. I have replaced a few things that I've kept, like Story of the World 1 & 2 when they were revised, but for the most part I just replace workbooks. I'm always afraid that my favorite stuff is going to go out of print, or become hard to find. Also, I get a sentimental attachment to curricula we've used a ling time.