A.Balaban Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 My HS library is pretty sparse- I do not even own a copy of the WTM. I just check it out from the library. I have some extra money right now that I could spend on homeschooling materials. I do not need anything for Pre-K, I am mostly set for that. For K- which is still a long ways off- I only need a couple things. I am more interested in other kinds of books that would be useful, but not necessarily curriculum. I am looking through the Rainbow Resource catalog and Amazon, but there are so many choices I have no idea where to start. I needed to make a purchase last night and I spent over 2 hours debating on what to purchase. :D What would you buy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 For generic advice, I'd buy a few items for my "professional development" and pretty books for the kids, beginning with the WTM literature recs. What I actually want right now is 'Teaching the Classics' for me, Lang's Fairy Tales, a pop up Mother Goose for the kids and a collection of three Australian poetry books which some silly person with no taste allowed to go out of print. Don't you have a 30 page Amazon wishlist yet? What's wrong with you? :001_huh::tongue_smilie: Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I'd start with a collection of poetry, like Favorite Poems, Old and New, lots of fairy tales, like the Lang fairy books, and books to read aloud, like Winnie-the-Pooh, Nurse Matilda, Charlotte's Web and the like. The Ambleside Online Year 0 recommendations are good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Kiddos Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Simply Charlotte Mason has a nice list- their ""Early Years List". I also like the books that Five In a Row uses. You can find the lists online. My HS library is pretty sparse- I do not even own a copy of the WTM. I just check it out from the library. I have some extra money right now that I could spend on homeschooling materials. I do not need anything for Pre-K, I am mostly set for that. For K- which is still a long ways off- I only need a couple things. I am more interested in other kinds of books that would be useful, but not necessarily curriculum. I am looking through the Rainbow Resource catalog and Amazon, but there are so many choices I have no idea where to start. I needed to make a purchase last night and I spent over 2 hours debating on what to purchase. :D What would you buy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I've been making some purchases lately: For Mommy: The Well-Trained Mind, The Complete Writer/Writing With Ease, Educating the Whole-Hearted Child For the kiddos: Beatrix Potter collection, Aesop for Children, Favorite Poems Old & New, Fun with Nature, More Fun with Nature I figure these will last us a good while...and they can be used now -- as read alouds when they're little -- and later for copywork and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriciaS Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 The Andrew Lang books are free for Kindle on Amazon right now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adventumacademy Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 The Andrew Lang books are free for Kindle on Amazon right now! Thanks for sharing this!! Just downloaded them! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readinmom Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Garage sales have been the best place for me to find resources, especially the books recommended by WTM. Last summer I picked up an entire Egyptian/Ancient Greece/Rome collection (20+ books) from a family that was done with their 6th grade research project for ps. I agree with starting collections: poetry, drama, etc. Make a list and carry it with you. You never know when you'll run across something good. Also, remember that 2nd semester is ending soon. College students, and schools in general will be looking to unload their books for cheap. I purchased a lot of the Dover thrift editions of classics at a college bookstore for 50 cents each. Building a library takes time...be patient. Scour thrift stores, garage sales, library sales, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I would buy a my own copy of The Well Trained Mind. I used to check it out often too, but love having my own copy (actually copies now. I recently found an older edition at a used sale!) Also, what about good encyclopedias like the Kingfisher History or some Illustrated science ones for the kids. Do you have a good dictionary? I also like the What Your Kindergartner and 1st Grader Needs to Know books. They are great to have on shelf. And what do you like to read? I enjoy history. So I would buy some Alison Weir books if I had some extra $ to spend. I own a couple. I have read a couple more, and I plan to read them all eventually. I love her style. I know that I will refer to these and reread often, so they are worth having to me. The more I know history, the better I can teach it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Buy an Amazon or B&N gift card for yourself so the money will be there when you actually need it. Otherwise, you may end up buying something you don't really need or won't actually use. I too would scour thrift stores before buying something new that is for the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmMusa Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I enjoyed having What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know and What your First Grader... I might go for the 2nd grade one next year, too. It's fun to use to fill in the blanks on some days or to add some art/quotes, or just for a different pace. I'd get Little House on the Prairie books too if you'd like to read those aloud. I don't have many books in my "library" b/c I borrow tons and tons. I've bought a few lit. books we used for history or reading this year for my older ones. My 1st grader is wanting to read at bedtime and we're not sure what to get her. I'd like to buy her something but she likes checking out the easy reader books from the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Oh, I just remembered.... my girls LOVE the DK encyclopedias: First Nature First Human Body First Animal First Space We have all the "first" ones and they take them everywhere - great for long car rides, waiting in offices, etc. Worth the price and you usually can get them used on Amazon. We really enjoy these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 When Children Love to Learn is a great book. Also Liping Ma's book. I would buy some math manipulatives: c-rods (get the large set), 100's board, base 10 blocks (get the large set), geoboards, look at the Right Start math manipulatives....they are all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doodle Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Save your money and wait until the summer library book sales. I have found so many great books at the library sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Save your money and wait until the summer library book sales. I have found so many great books at the library sales. :iagree: Much of the time, these books are in great condition too. Beatrix Potter and A.A.Milne should be priority #1. Collect good hardcover, beautifully illustrated versions. The audiobook of Winnie-the-Pooh narrated by Peter Dennis is not to be missed. http://www.memoriapress.com/descriptions/Supplemental_Read-Aloud.html http://amblesideonline.org/00.shtml http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html TWTM is good to own, and I would recommend reading Charlotte Mason's writings. Miquon Math materials are best begun slowly and young. You read the teacher's materials while your little one plays with cuisenaire rods. It won't hurt a child to simply *play* with the rods for a year before beginning any math. I read a lot of Montessori when my dc were little. I would check your library for most of your reading, and some of your dc's reading. Mine get attached to favorite books though...we have had some serious tears over returning wonderful childrens books.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALB Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Let's Read and Find Out science books (I've been typing that a lot lately. :tongue_smilie: My dc just eat them up!) Thornten Burgess books like "The Adventures of Reddy Fox," "The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel" I second the Little House on the Prairie collection E.B. White's books Art books, like Usborne's Art Treasury, Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists... Writing With Ease (textbook) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Balaban Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 Aaah! I knew you all would come through for me! I have been scouring the web, and now I am afraid my wish-list is actually much too long. :lol: We have already checked out different versions of Winnie the Pooh stories from the library, but I must say I saw much nicer ones on Amazon! I will definitely have to purchase those. Ambleside linked to a collection of Beatrix Potter that was $100.... while it is a good deal, I don't think I could justify spending that much money! I will probably have to get those books in a single volume. I already have a "First Dictionary" but we would need an "older" middle/late elementary dictionary. I very much like the idea of buying the DK First References, those seemed like they would be very enjoyable! I also liked the Fun with Nature since that would be great to do when I take my kids to the state park in the summer. As far as math manipulative go, is there a set of them? I have no idea. I am planning on using MEP, if that matters. But as far as basic math counters and such I think they would be very useful. Right now we just use anything around the house - my son loves these brightly colored craft puff balls that we count now, or we use his alphabet blocks. Well, it takes me so long to make a decision about things - the only things I would purchase would be those things that I can't get through my library (or that I need a copy for myself). My library is pretty small, but we can do inter-library loan and for right now, it's okay. For other books that my library does not have (or that I can't get on loan) I will start a, uh, "search grid" :lol: to buy the item used. Woooo! I'm making my list! Thank you so much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Aaah! I knew you all would come through for me! I have been scouring the web, and now I am afraid my wish-list is actually much too long. :lol: Mine is a hundred pages long. How's yours? :tongue_smilie: We have already checked out different versions of Winnie the Pooh stories from the library, but I must say I saw much nicer ones on Amazon! I will definitely have to purchase those. Yes, they are most definitely worth having glossy versions of! Ambleside linked to a collection of Beatrix Potter that was $100.... while it is a good deal, I don't think I could justify spending that much money! I will probably have to get those books in a single volume. Many kids don't like them, but I taught mine to via the dvds. Dvds aren't exactly what I'd call literature ;) but these ones were worth breaking rules over. As far as math manipulative go, is there a set of them? I have no idea. I am planning on using MEP, if that matters. But as far as basic math counters and such I think they would be very useful. Right now we just use anything around the house - my son loves these brightly colored craft puff balls that we count now, or we use his alphabet blocks. I think c-rods are great, but I wouldn't spend money on counters myself. :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilbean05 Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 If I could pick just one book collection to take with me somewhere because I was limited on space, I would pick The World Treasury of Children's Literature. There are two volumes and they are OVERFLOWING with beautiful, amazing children's literature, from The Little House and Aesops Fables to A Kiss for Little Bear and Make Way for Ducklings. WONDERFUL!! If I could pick a SECOND book collection, I would get my hands on Collier's Junior Classics. There are ten volumes, all hardback, loaded with stories, rhymes, folktales, fair tales, myths...it is an amazing collection. They are currently out of print, but you can easily find them at a used book store or on paperbackswap. LOVE these books. I have more recommendations for third and forth and fifth..heheh..we love books! PM me if you want some more suggestions. :) Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Hmm, I'd buy my favorite teaching / child raising books. (From the ones you've read but don't own.) I would look at my skills: what subject that I need to teach should I work on first (math? Latin? Grammar?). I'd get Liping Ma's book for sure, probably a Charlotte Mason book, the Well Trained Mind (a used copy if cheaper - you can get up-to-date curriculum recs here), and the Latin Centered Education. For the kids I'd start with Five in a Row, Ambleside years 0-2, and the 1000 Good Books lists. I'd buy low cost items ONLY, keeping a list for the used book store (mine does trades!!), yard sales, etc. Use the library when you can, I tend to buy the chapter books that will take longer to read, even though the FIAR books are so good I usually buy them anyway! I like Amazon marketplace and Paperback Swap. I pick up any classics that I don't already own if I see them at the used book store (I almost always have credit). Such a fun topic: book buying. It just makes you smile. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.