The best $$ you ever spent

[Mommee & Baba]

I'm not currently homeschooling any highschoolers but instead elementary. So if that's ok I'll chime in :)

 

As for picking just ONE...I'm going with

 

All about spelling - This has taught both my dd's to read BETTER, understand how to actually pronounce words that they've been saying wrong for awhile but no one really noticed. It's brought my dd's closer to letters, their friendships with one another (like the qu together and the ck and ng...ect)....my dd6 went from struggling to read and not wanting to read because she just couldn't know the word at first glance to now wanting to write all on her own sounding them out and imagining the tokens in her head to break up each sound in the word to form it. Purely amazing to me! And this is just a SPELLING curriculum! NEVER EVER did I think it'd have this sort of impact on her reading!!

 

Right after that ONE follows my next 2 FAVS!!!

First Language Lessons

Writing with Ease

 

I can't seperate these because they are the best bestfriend pair (as I call them) when talking about language arts, grammar and writing. These books have taught my dd's and ME so much about the BEAUTY of LA, Grammar and Writing. MOST days we dig into these books and just enjoy them immensely. The poems in FLL are beautiful and FUN! WWE has some stories that not even myself have heard and so we get to see a different side and get to grow with the stories and their interest and depth. Sounds cheesy but we will go back and read the poems from FLL several times just because we liked it and the poems that are for memorizing...we hang them up on our classroom wall. They are laminated and have cute little clipart with them. As we walk through the shopping store we'll as a family recite the poems! Yup we're one of "THOSE" homeschool families! :lol:

 

What I haven't used yet but am completely nuts over starting....

SOTW! We went MOH last year and we all ENJOYED it immensely but had to stop halfway through as it was beginning to cause the "glazed over" look on my dd's faces....so next year we're implementing SOTW with MOH....however we're doing SOTW until we get back to where we left off in MOH, but SOTW will be a great review/recap on what we learned in MOH from a different view point and not just bible history based.:)

[Halftime Hope]

- Lial's math series

- still "picking our way" through the SOTWs along with high school history texts and TOG. They're just so much more "real people-ish" and complement the "spine" textbooks very nicely. (I'm so darned eloquent this morning :glare: )

- Lively Art of Writing; just can't say enough good about this book

[bugs]

The Well-Trained Mind - Second to the Bible, it has been my guide for over 5 years.

 

Homeschool Tracker +- It is my organizer.

 

R&S Grammar Books

MUS (through Pre-Algebra)

 

This Board - It has been priceless :001_smile:.

[Angie in VA]

1. Teaching the Trivium by the Bluedorns

2. every audio book, story, collection of educational songs we ever bought

3. MUSIC LESSONS

4. paying for library privileges in another county

5. iPods

6. high speed internet

7. laser printer

8. (free) little to no tv :)

9. building our own house

10. moving to the country

Edited April 24, 2011 by Angie in VA
additions

[distancia]

--every penny we have spent on foreign travel; I do believe there is nothing that can open a mind more than experiencing, firsthand, the diversity of this planet

 

--every dollar we have spent on college courses: Clovis Community College (online) at $125 for up to 6 credit hours; and University of Idaho Independent Study at $100 credit/hour for advanced foreign language classes as well as upper-level courses

 

--the $90 for each CLEP exam that dd took (and passed)

 

--the $55 for MUS Geometry which gave dd an extra 40 point edge on her SAT exams, thereby throwing her into a higher scholarship category and garnering an extra $5500- per year in awards

 

--TWTM book, which encouraged me to pursue excellence in education, despite our brief (2 year) stint of homeschooling. Dd has just started a Greek & Latin language college course--and I can do a :thumbup: that dd is finally getting a truly classical education, as short as it may be!

 

I would never have believed homeschooling possible for our family. We were forced into it when our lives came apart due to a family tragedy, and we had no options but to pick up the pieces and go on. Sometimes blessings come in mysterious ways!

Edited April 25, 2011 by distancia

[ange]

:bigear: Love this thread...thank you!

[swimmermom3]

This is kind of embarrassing, especially since I am a lit and history kind of person, but I love, absolutely love Foerster Algebra 1, especially my TE. The "whys" of math are opening up to me and I actually look forward to my math sessions with my youngest son. I am doing remedial work with my oldest son using the same book and it makes my job so much easier.

 

I wish they published a geometry book that made as much sense. I am almost feeling brave enough to order from the Art of Problem Solving series for my youngest.

[creekland]

I'm with those who answer somewhat differently as I feel almost any curriculum could have been made to work.

 

Discovering this board has been priceless.

 

I'm glad we live on a farm - it's been priceless for raising boys (though we aren't, technically, farmers - we have a decent amount of land and raise ponies, chickens, and have a garden, but have "other" jobs).

 

All the money and time we spent traveling is something I consider priceless. My boys have learned tons more by taking our time and traveling than they would have through books or videos of any sort. I wish we had invested less (esp since we lost a bit) and traveled more.

 

Satellite TV so we could get History, Travel (when it used to have more travel), Discovery, Documentary, and other such channels.

 

Our library card (free).

 

$$ spent on Microbio at the cc.

 

For math, I've loved TT and it has produced great results for my boys.

 

For English, my favorite was Lightning Lit for 7th, 8th, and their high school non-European World courses (not for the English in the World courses, but for the great readings for more culture). Wordly-Wise has been a good vocab addition. White and Strunk's, "An Element of Style" makes the priceless list. Plus, I'm glad we did Latin and Greek roots for a couple of years (we didn't do Latin overall - with no regrets).

[Brenda in MA]

This is kind of embarrassing, especially since I am a lit and history kind of person, but I love, absolutely love Foerster Algebra 1, especially my TE. The "whys" of math are opening up to me and I actually look forward to my math sessions with my youngest son. I am doing remedial work with my oldest son using the same book and it makes my job so much easier.

 

Lisa,

 

I agree with you -- not about Forester Algebra (never used it), but about the chance to come back to a subject I didn't much care for in high school and really learn to appreciate it more as an adult. For me, the math/sci person, that subject would be literature. Over our homeschooling journey, I have really appreciated the chance to revisit a few classic titles I read earlier, and also to read so many new ones for the first time. I can really say now that I enjoy literature in a way I never thought possible.

 

I think that one of the greatest joys of classical hsing for me has been to have the chance to develop really well-rounded kids. Even though they both have their own favorite areas of focus, they appreciate all kinds of materials and topics. Through hsing, both of my sons have really grown to love learning, and that is the best gift.

 

Brenda

[Hunter's Moon]

Honestly, nothing I have spent money on thus far in my homeschooling journey has been "best money I've ever spent" worthy. Then again, it is only the first year and I'll have many years ahead with my own children to find that.

 

I did find Zumdahl Chemistry at a used bookstore, almost perfect condition and only $7.99, but I don't plan to start it until I finish Apologia Chemistry so I can't say.

 

Lial's is wonderful, love it. BUT, I didn't buy it. A lovely lady on these boards sent it to me free.

 

So, this board has been completely priceless and if there was a monthly membership fee (not making a suggestion!!!) I'd have to factor that into my yearly homeschooling budget because without these boards I'd be lost. :tongue_smilie:

[WTMindy]

All four volumes of SOTW and the activity guides!

[krstbrwn]

I put my daughters in Writing the Essay with Alexandria Tutorials taught by Matthew Turnbull. For my youngest daughter, this has been the best money I have ever spent. While her writing skills have improved, I have been most impressed with the literature they read and discuss. It's the discussion that is the best. Mr. Turnbull has given my youngest daughter a passion for literature that I did not know was there. My oldest daughter is also benefitting from the class, just not to the extreme of my youngest. Two totally different personalities, you know? Anyway, to date, this money has been extremely well spent. An emerging critical thinker has begun to develop in my house, and I am so excited.

[dymphna57]

My first dc absorbed books and I didn't have much else to do but try to stay with them.

I agree that I wish I had gone to the IEW course when my friends did. I would have had that head start I needed when we just folded over writing difficulties. But I didn't have the money then! I trust that God gave me the money when I needed to find IEW.

I have to say that audible.com saved us again when reading became a problem. The money spent there has returned again and again.

iPods are part of our lives. The refurbished shuffles have many cousins.

I think this board and Ora et Laboro have kept me sane and searching for answers for problems instead of giving up.

:grouphug:

[BlsdMama]

iPods are part of our lives. The refurbished shuffles have many cousins.

I think this board and Ora et Laboro have kept me sane and searching for answers for problems instead of giving up.

:grouphug:

 

That's just teasing and a little cruel... The Ora et Laboro board is closed to new members. ;)

[KinderSafari]

Science - Apologia especially younger ones with notebooking journals. Hope they keep expanding those to the older sciences!

 

Math - Saxon math, but only with Saxon Teacher CDs. We started with Saxon, quit, and came back solely because of the CDs - saved me HOURS EACH WEEK of answering and/or repeating lessons. The Saxon Teacher CDs provide step by step answers to EVERY problem in the book. Again, saved me HOURS of time each week arguing every problem. Before that they were convinced every wrong answer they got was really written wrong in the book and I should show them everything and basically re-teach every lesson.

 

Writing - I'm curious to see if I will add IEW to this list for next year. I'm taking the plunge because of the HUNDREDS of recommendations and tagline recommendations I've seen on the board. :)

 

And to comment on other posts here: You have to PAY TO USE YOUR LIBRARY?? I obviously need to be even more grateful (if that's possible) for ours here! Ours also connects to 27 other area libraries that will send any materials in their database to us for free too!

[creekland]

And to comment on other posts here: You have to PAY TO USE YOUR LIBRARY?? I obviously need to be even more grateful (if that's possible) for ours here! Ours also connects to 27 other area libraries that will send any materials in their database to us for free too!

 

I can't answer for others, but our library is free. We can access anything in any library (school, college, public) in PA for free. That latter part MIGHT change with budget cuts, but I hope not.

[Angie in VA]

And to comment on other posts here: You have to PAY TO USE YOUR LIBRARY?? I obviously need to be even more grateful (if that's possible) for ours here! Ours also connects to 27 other area libraries that will send any materials in their database to us for free too!

 

I live in a county where the library system is, um, lacking. I live next to a county (and used to live in that county) where there is a library system. Id est, several branches in several counties, make one big library system, but b/c I no longer live in one of those counties, I pay to use it.

 

I make my trips count (w/ high gas prices, but w/ our busy schedules, I always have) so that I can go to one of a few branches near me. I can look up a book online and have the library hold it for me to pick up at any branch I want to. It's worth that $ for me.

 

Now, I will say that a librarian told me recently that what I pay for out-of-area privileges is less than what tax payers in those counties pay for the library (system). Interesting.

 

 

 

So, yeah, I pay to use that library system.

Edited April 25, 2011 by Angie in VA
corrections

[Mom22ns]

I live in a county where the library system is, um, lacking. I live next to a county (and used to live in that county) where there is a library system. Id est, several branches in several counties, make one big library system, but b/c I no longer live in one of those counties, I pay to use it.

 

 

 

Same here. It is the best $50 I spend each year.

[FloridaLisa]

Same here. It is the best $50 I spend each year.

 

And the same here as well. We're just over the county line but we use the meeting rooms, interlibrary loan, study rooms and many services from our neighboring county for an annual fee.

 

Lisa

[Jane Elliot]

I've been pondering my answer ever since this thread came up. I finally decided that I could have found a decent substitute for every other curriculum we've purchased, but The Well-Trained Mind completely changed our homeschool path and continues to be my constant reference. I couldn't have found a substitute for it; it has so shaped our homeschool that I have to say for us there is no equal.

 

Worldview Academy is the best non-curricular money we've spent. We don't do camps, but this is the exception. It has reaped countless benefits for the money spent.

[BlsdMama]

Now, I will say that a librarian told me recently that what I pay for out-of-area privileges is less than what tax payers in those counties pay for the library (system). Interesting.

 

 

 

So, yeah, I pay to use that library system.

 

We pay to use our LOCAL library system. Because we live 1.3 miles outside of the city limits they don't get the taxes they would as if we were in city limits and so we pay $79 per household per year.

[creekland]

We pay to use our LOCAL library system. Because we live 1.3 miles outside of the city limits they don't get the taxes they would as if we were in city limits and so we pay $79 per household per year.

 

Wow, the main library we use is in the next county over from us (roughly 10 miles away), but we can use any library within either county with our card plus get any book in the state at any library for free. I'm beginning to realize just how nice this is. Prior to this thread I had considered that "normal." Now I wonder if what we have is "normal" for PA, or just our area...