hollyh Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 How do you choose your books? By that I mean more of - where do you find your lists of books to go through? I would have no idea where to start and how to find good quality books other than going to the library or going through other pre-made curriculums and using their booklists. Then I think that would be awfully expensive to order a ton of books and then not use many because I didn't like them or didn't feel they fit the right age level, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I have a couple of curriculum sellers that I LOVE, and I get thier catalogs regularly, that have extensive book lists: the ones I use are MP, SL, VP, and a few odds and ends. (disclaimer: I might or might not agree with their religious views or pedagogy but I like thier book lists). I also do a library search. I also know (generally) what books we have, what books I want to use for when. With that in mind I create my class. For older kids/ jr. and high I'll probably ask some questions over on the high school board specific to my class (esp if I haven't taught it before). Then do a library/amazon search, read reviews and decide from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I look at every catalog and book I can get my hands on. I generally pick what is universally accepted across all lists and individual books that are attractive to me or things I know will suit an individual child. Check... The Well-Trained Mind and AG Latin-Centered Curriculum Sonlight Veritas Press Ambleside Online Tapestry of Grace Winter Promise My Father's World Heart of Dakota Tanglewood Simply Charlotte Mason Living Books Curriculum Memoria Press and more, more, more... I also look inside as many books I can via the library or Amazon. I find many additional supplementary books by following bunny trails on Amazon. For me, picking books is the single most fun part of planning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frugalmama Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 For me it depends on if we are using it as a core text, or just supplemental reading. For Core texts, I normally ask online, look at catalogs, and see what everyone else is using. If I can find it locally to look at, I do so before buying. For supplemental - I go with whatever I find at the thrift shop or library used book sale that fits and looks good. I do make lists of possibilities to look for from curriculum's that I like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenangelcat Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I search online for booklists but more often I just use the library search function and book out every book on the subject I can find. We pick up boxes of 30+ books weekly so I just look through them and send back what won't work for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I look at the big homeschool publisher lists but I also study amazon by topic, sorted to children's books and use my library system website. Sometimes I just go to the library to see what they have on the nonfiction shelves to pick a favorite. My advice - take it a week to a month at a time and find what you need as you learn what works best. Have a rough outline & schedule of what you want to cover when. The joy in putting it together yourself is finding what works and being able to adjust to what is going on in life/school/learning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I search online for booklists but more often I just use the library search function and book out every book on the subject I can find. We pick up boxes of 30+ books weekly so I just look through them and send back what won't work for us. I do that too. Some weeks it might be a simple picture book or two, other weeks, more detailed books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I use a textbook as a spine to give me the framework that I want to follow... So as an example -- for biology, I used CPO Life science to put together the subjects I wanted to cover -- classification, biochemistry, cells, invertebrates, vertebrates, botany, etc... Then I look for materials to supplement it - videos, books, websites, songs, experiments, etc... I put it all in a schedule -- a table in Word (which I never end up following exactly). I use the textbook as independent 'homework'. The supplemental materials I find from the forums or from browsing biology teachers websites. It doesn't take very long at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 How do you choose your books? By that I mean more of - where do you find your lists of books to go through? I would have no idea where to start and how to find good quality books other than going to the library or going through other pre-made curriculums and using their booklists. Then I think that would be awfully expensive to order a ton of books and then not use many because I didn't like them or didn't feel they fit the right age level, etc. I've only been doing this for a little over a year now...so bear with me. I come up with an idea of what I want to teach. I'll give you an example (and this shows how it doesn't go as I planned). I plan to teach Physics to my 10 yro and 9 yro until September. I scoured the internet looking for physics resources. Everything is either geared towards high school or really, REALLY young kids. I prefer living books to teach science, but it seems impossible with this subject. My library had NOTHING. So, I ended up buying the Level 1 Physics textbook from RS4K. I sat down with it and created a 50 page workbook based on the text. I've printed it out and I'm going to spiral-bound it. Because I want this to have a lab element to it, I also included 3 labs from each chapter (that I came up with) plus a Physics Workshop kit from Home Science Tools and a few project kits from there also. So, my history...we're studying the Ancients this year. I checked through TWTM, Latin-Centered Curriculum, My Father's World and practically every other website that markets a unit on the Ancients. I narrowed our reading down to a manageable number of books (THIS is important. too many books = no good). I also have a couple of spines (Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, etc). I buy our books one at a time. So, next week, my kids are reading Black Ships Before Troy and I'll buy it this week. When we near the end of that one, I'll order the next book on our schedule. I read alot of reviews on books before I buy them. Also, look at samples as much as you can. I've looked at boxed curriculums many, many times and I really can't find anything that is *exactly* what I'm looking for. Writing my own curriculum just seems to work out better than anything else we've tried. Downside - it's very time-consuming. It's Sunday and I'm working on school. :ack2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I really like Maureen Wittman's For the Love of Literature: Teaching Core Subjects With Literature. It is Catholic but I think non-Catholics could use it as well because most of the suggestions are secular and the Catholic books are specifically marked with a cross. Christine Miller's All Through the Ages is a similar book written from a Protestant POV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I use booklists that I find online, in catalogs, and in books as a starting point. I try to check these books out of the library before I decide to use them, or at least look up reviews on Amazon and on these message boards. I also find books on Amazon and just by searching the library catalog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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