TOG users...do you ONLY use the library?

[Alenee]

I saw Jennefer's thread about library use and wanted to ask a question.

 

I'm about to put in an order for UG TOG books that's going to cost me about $270. That's about half of the UG Y2 books. I double-checked prices with Rainbow and the ship cost would throw off any savings. There really weren't a whole lot from the list at Rainbow. The rest I plan to get from the library. I went through the whole list and wrote down how many copies the library has and if it was under 3, I chose to buy the book. I know several families using Y2 this year and don't want to be mess up the schedule waiting for books.

 

But do any of you ONLY use what the library has and scrap the rest? If so, do you feel you get a complete history out of that? My dh is fine with spending the money since we have two more dd's that will eventually use these books. I'm just having a really hard time with that dollar amount.

[TheCoffeeChick]

I am interested in this question also. My "plan" is to use the library for everything for the LG & UG levels. (I may buy the suggested craft books, just so I don't have to have them in my house for so long) What ever I can't get from the library, I am going to just substitue with other books that it does have.

 

Also, if you are not in a co-op, you may not interfere with other's schedules to check out because everyone starts school at different times of the year and spend different amounts of time for each week. I know we are not starting till the middle of September because we plan on being on vacation for a few weeks at the end of August into September. Other families start in August, or even July. There are also the ones who school year round and stretch out some of the weeks. So, you won't necessarily be on the same week or using the same books as the other TOG families in your area.

 

If you are using amazon, be sure to take advantage of the buy 3 get 1 free deal. A lot of the TOG books are listed this way and it really puts a dent into what you have to pay for. :)

 

All that being said, I do think I will be buying the DI & RH level books. They are worth the money I think. I have a list in my purse that I carry around of all the books for these levels, so that when I hit a garage sale or library booksale I can refer to the list to see if I will need the books I find. Hopefully, if I can purchase the books WAY before I need them, it will motivate me to read them before my dc get to them:tongue_smilie:.

 

God's Blessings into your TOG adventure.

[siloam]

Well then I am a nightmare. I don't use the Library at all, but buy all the books. LOL!

 

The key to Library use is that the History portion of TOG is not books specific. You really can substitute any book your Library has on the same topic, so if the one listed is missing just see what they do have.

 

Also remember you can sell them when you are finished.

 

Heather

[MelissaMinNC]

I've done Y1 with a LG student this year only using the library. I didn't buy any of the books. For Y2, I am going to use the library for most things, but I'm going to buy the books I know are going to be used week after week - this year I really wish I had bought Classical Kids and Old Testament Days, for example. I had them out of the library so often, and ended up paying late fees more than once.

 

Since my dd is in 1st this year, I didn't concern myself much with whether or not the library had the "right" book. History assignments are topic specific not book specific, but even with the literature assignments, I didn't worry about it. We just didn't do the worksheets if we didn't have the right book. But we read a lot of good and interesting books that we might not have if we'd bought all the assigned books, and we did narrations or illustrations if we didn't do the worksheets. I just figured whatever she knows about ancient history at the end of 1st grade is about 100 times more than I knew till I was an adult, so something is going right. ;)

 

Right now, I am investing in the year plans, and picking up books that correspond with the time period as I see them used or very cheap. When dd is in 5th and ds is in 1st, we'll be starting the cycle again, and I won't have to buy the year plan, so hopefully I'll have that money to spend on the books. It's just not my primary concern right now, and we haven't got the finances for all the books (or the space to store them!).

 

:)

Melissa

[michaeljenn]

This will be my first year with TOG, using Y2. I decided to buy what I needed. It is quite a chunk of change toooooo. I have to buy for UG and D! However, I have younger children that will eventually use the same books. For me, it is better to just purchase them for several reasons: 1. Our library hardly had any of the books from TOG; 2. I don't want to have to spend the bulk of my time reserving the books and going and picking them up, besides I am always a day late getting them back to the library... fines.. sigh.. 3. I love being able to just pull them off of my own shelf when we need them.

 

I just placed an order for my Y2 U1 books for UG and D and it was $280. I did not even try to look for deals. Hubby likes the idea of supporting another homeschool family. I have already printed off the lists for the books that I will need for U2-4, and if I happen upon them used, then I will go ahead and purchase them.

 

I know this is such a difficult decision and time draining. I also spent loads of time filling up a cart on Amazon, Christianbook, and Rainbow Resource. It came out to about $20 higher to just order from TOG. I found that alot of the books at TOG are actually cheaper than Amazon.

 

Hope this helps some. So, I guess my answer is... if you can swing the costs, I would just buy the book. You can always resale them to other TOG users.

[jananc]

I've used TOG 4 years now, beginning the 5th in August.

 

Up to this point, I bought only history spines that were used more than 3 weeks and literature that were not in my library. I used the library and subsituted the rest. Luckily, our local library system had a good number of the books and I didn't notice a conflict with other TOG'ers in getting them.

 

This coming year, though, I'll have an R student and a D student. I'm finding myself buying more of the books, mainly because I want my 2 dc to be able to answer the accountability questions with less trouble.

 

If I still had only younger (LG and UG) I would just rely on the library.

 

Oh, and I usually just buy books one unit at a time to spread out the cost more :001_smile:

[gardenschooler]

If I do TOG, that's what I'll do. My library has almost all of the books. The only one I didn't find there was the Bible atlas used for Year 1 (but there are other bible atlases). I'd just buy the few books that are the 4-year spines, like Western Civ.

 

I should take this as a sign that TOG will work for me, shouldn't I?

[Karen in CO]

I am using TOG for next year. I ordered all of the books from the library after I got my manual. Then I spend a few weeks looking over them and reading what I could from them. I made a list of ones that I would buy based on future usability and what I would just order when the time came to use it. I also found some collections that had multiple stories in that I either already owned or bought. I bought the books for the first five weeks and I have a list of the when I need to buy the others.

[TheCoffeeChick]

I am using TOG for next year. I ordered all of the books from the library after I got my manual. Then I spend a few weeks looking over them and reading what I could from them. I made a list of ones that I would buy based on future usability and what I would just order when the time came to use it. I also found some collections that had multiple stories in that I either already owned or bought. I bought the books for the first five weeks and I have a list of the when I need to buy the others.

:hurray:I like this idea ... I think I'll put a hold on a bunch of the books that I plan on using in the fall to see which ones I like best! You never know, I may like them so much I'll decide to buy a copy of my own instead of using the library's copy.