Xanadu Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 (edited) As I was sitting here sorting through a pile of DS's old clothes contemplating hand me downs and how weird it is that my DS "hands down" to my DD, it occurred to me that being on the receiving end of the "used" cycle isn't all that bad.... (I know he's 12 and she's 6, but HE inherited the 4ft tall..or should that be short...Welsh gene from my Grandfather, and SHE inherited the 6'7" daddy gene and now we have a 6yo only 3 inches shorter than the 12yo....who play's like she's 6 inches taller, Napoleon has got nothing on this kid) The 1/2 worn out knees in all the pants kind of suck, and wearing boy jeans is a bit hard on any true self-respecting DIVA's heart (even if she does prefer the high rise in boy jeans and hates the low rider/hip hugger girl jeans) But tonight I had a lightbulb moment....The ability to have free reign with most homeschooling "hand me downs" totally makes up for it. (When I mentioned this to DS he started laughing, and said with a smirk, "Your referring to the fact that she will never have to spend 2 hours erasing the answers out of the $30 workbook she should have copied in the composition notebook??? ...and the 6yo got quiet and started smiling like she won a prize) My last positive spin on hand me downs was the REUSE part of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.....It wasn't well received by the 6yo who claimed at the time, "We don't reuse Toilet paper, why do I have to reuse his pants?" Even though she readily acknowledged that if we bought new jeans they were the same type, from the boy's department, or older girl jeans from the thrift stores (aka pre-low-rise epidemic), she still had a problem with wearing his pants....after much discussion the reason became apparent...BOY COOTIES. After explaining there was a magic spray for that .....(think night-time bedroom monster spray) she accepted the new status quo. But accepting is not Embracing. She now embraces her position at the bottom of the "hand me down" chain, pants and all. All it took was realizing she gets to scribble, and draw. Write and read, highlight and bend without fear of having to keep the book usable for another student. (I'll admit patches/bedazzling helped too....for the pants, not the books...*smile*) Don't get me wrong, I'm not heartless, I've been known to let a few workbooks under $10 slide, particularly math and handwriting...Miquon anyone? But series workbooks, language skills, composition these remain untouched.......I'm sure there will even be a few workbooks/series that even the mini-munchkin will be forbidden from writing in..... I mean like no WAY am I letting Level 1 of MCT get written in......RIGHT? But WWE 3 on the other hand....Spiral Binding here we come. I can't be alone in this....how many other HS moms keep their older children on tight leashes when it comes to handling/using HS resources, while letting their youngest just have at it and finish them up? Edited December 17, 2011 by Xanadu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHASRADA Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 My dc are such completely different types of learners, with different interests, strengths and weaknesses, I realized a long time ago that dd was never going to use most of ds's used curriculum. As for baby dd, I am not hanging on to curriculum for over 10 years, hoping it might work for her. I'm imagining workbooks will be obsolete by then anyway, and all her schoolwork will be done on an ipad (or whatever will have been invented by then. ;). No, both of my dc have to be equally careful to leave all of their school books (aside from the cheaper workbooks) as pristine as possible. Once they finish with them, I list them on the "For Sale" board, and they're out the door! (the books, that is, not the dc) :D BTW, since ds is 6'1" and dd is 4'10", we don't have any clothing hand-me-downs going on here either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingmama Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I can't be alone in this....how many other HS moms keep their older children on tight leashes when it comes to handling/using HS resources, while letting their youngest just have at it and finish them up? Not me. All my kids will get/have their own workbooks. If they were at school they would all have their own set in each grade. Plus I like to keep some of their workbooks as a reminder if their progression -especially the younger grades. My DS just got his own new set of the Get Ready for the Code series and he was so proud. His own books that came in the mail just for him - just like his sister got when she was his age. My kids like to write in the workbooks - not in a copybook - and they like the decorate and colour the workbooks. I suppose if I were really hard up for money I would make them hand me downs but we aren't so I let the kids have ownership of their books and keep them for their own and not hand them down. Besides it isn't worth the stress it would cause me trying to keep the books nice. My DD is rough on her things and even if I didn't let her write in the books she would still damage them. My kids love getting fresh new books just as much as I do.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanadu Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 My dc are such completely different types of learners, with different interests, strengths and weaknesses, I realized a long time ago that dd was never going to use most of ds's used curriculum. As for baby dd, I am not hanging on to curriculum for over 10 years, hoping it might work for her. I'm imagining workbooks will be obsolete by then anyway, and all her schoolwork will be done on an ipad (or whatever will have been invented by then. ;). No, both of my dc have to be equally careful to leave all of their school books (aside from the cheaper workbooks) as pristine as possible. Once they finish with them, I list them on the "For Sale" board, and they're out the door! (the books, that is, not the dc) :D BTW, since ds is 6'1" and dd is 4'10", we don't have any clothing hand-me-downs going on here either. ;) I also have a 2 year rule (which I didn't mention..lol)...If I'm not going to have the other child use it within 2 years then it is also out the door....Software is resold that same year (That stuff goes obsolete entirely too fast to hold on to) DD6 is a bit advanced and DS 12 is dyslexic/dysgraphic so she will be flying thru MCT and FLL 4 very soon, material he just finished in my efforts to reboot his language skills from the beginning. Fortunately he doesn't seem to mind that she is close on his heals......but then again he has always been my laid back, go with the flow type child. I wish I could keep everything pristine....but my 6yo is my "wild child". She's a force of nature who is constantly changing where and how she studies. I found her today cutting the pages out of her book to reglue the words in a random order.....I used to stress it, now I just roll with it. (But I'm telling you, I'm guarding those MCT books with my life.....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanadu Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 Not me. All my kids will get/have their own workbooks. If they were at school they would all have their own set in each grade. Plus I like to keep some of their workbooks as a reminder if their progression -especially the younger grades. I suppose if I were really hard up for money I would make them hand me downs but we aren't so I let the kids have ownership of their books and keep them for their own and not hand them down. My kids love getting fresh new books just as much as I do.:D Its not hard up so much as CHEAP (I admit it..*Smile*)....I look at every dollar I don't have to re-spend on Curriculum I know I am going to reuse with the next child, as yet another dollar I can spend on other BOOKS. Our library isn't that great, and timing ILL and Hold requests has becoming increasingly inconvenient, not to mention the waste of gas to get there. With the availability of super low prices, 4 for 3 offers and free shipping from Amazon its just easier to order our monthly reading/literature books. And yes...they love getting new workbooks, but they love getting an audiobook copy of a beloved story or a Leatherbound Classic from B&N to add to our collection even more KWIM? I remember being in school and never using workbooks. Seriously, maybe its my age but we used textbooks that had 8 other children's names in them. We wrote on loose leaf paper in notebooks...we listened to lectures and took notes, we copied the questions out of the textbook and answered in full sentences. WE Did have alot of photocopys and handouts.....(I'm only 33 so I'm not that old, and I went to a rural but affluent public school...but the difference could very well be the rural part) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I can't be alone in this....how many other HS moms keep their older children on tight leashes when it comes to handling/using HS resources, while letting their youngest just have at it and finish them up? Isn't this an invitation for an unexpected pregnancy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanadu Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 Isn't this an invitation for an unexpected pregnancy? :lol: With my luck............:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Marmalade Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I can't be alone in this....how many other HS moms keep their older children on tight leashes when it comes to handling/using HS resources, while letting their youngest just have at it and finish them up? Not me! I buy workbooks to use them! My oldest gets everything new, and my youngest gets everything new. We use a lot of computer programs that can get re-used, and a lot of literature that gets re-used, but the workbooks are new both times around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetMissMagnolia Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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