phathui5 Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 We have a chance of being able to use a flexible charter school for next year that would let us pick out up to $900 of non-religious curriculum per child. I've always done the early grades as cheaply as I can and I'm excited about the possibility of being able to get them new things. What should I look into? What would you recommend for Kindergarten and 1st grade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I am envious. What do you use with your olders? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I would buy a lot of books since our library is OK but not fantastic. I would also buy hands-on learning things like puzzles, games, science experiments, etc. Look at Timberdoodle- they have some fun educational things there. What fun- spending $900 on curriculum for kids that young would be like Christmas for me:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 What fun! Some things we've enjoyed are Reading Eggs, HWT, Right Start math, Saxon, and Miquon math, and bunches of art supplies ( if allowed). Might want to vheck out Timberdoodle too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Will the charter require you to return non-consumables? Are you allowed to use the money towards classes & things like music lessons or just curriculum? If the charter has a lending library of materials that other families have turned in, I would check out their selection before ordering any materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Waldorf art supplies. Hardcopy reference books. Printer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mississippi Mama Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Home Science Tools, usborne books, Critical Thinking Company, Fun with Composers, piano wizard academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakven Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 we did that for several years- lots of consumable art supplies!!! workbooks and consumable stuff, after you get consumables out of the way then order other stuff since you'll likely have to send it back. also SCIENCE kits!!! they are usually consumable if they have consumable products. What state are you in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawlas Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I'm in a similar situation, only I get $360-ish dollars for three semesters. Soooo excited :D. I'm hazy on the details yet, but I'm hoping I'll be able to use it for stuff like trips to the aquarium, swimming lessons, messy art classes and the like as well as books and supplies. I've loosely mapped out what I'm *hoping* to accomplish this year (Kindergarten) and made a rough, prioritized list. I'm sure it will evolve as we go along . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 We get a similar deal, but we get more than twice that amount ($2000). :) Here are some of the things I am getting: 5th grader Mr. Q physical science and all of the supplies (including a list of stuff from Radio Shack) Science kits: Snap Circuits Green, Optical Science & Art, Engino IEW's SWI-A Growing with Grammar Writing journals Dick Blick art supplies Homeschool in th Woods's composers and artists activity-paks Spelling Plus Math supplements like grocery cart math and hands on equations verbal problems (we are using CLE math) Swimming lessons Field trips For my 4 year old (he only gets $200) IEW's PAL reading and writing Elemental Science exploring science Right Start math games cards (I already have RS A and horizons k math, and Evan-Moor early childhood themes) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 At those ages, I would buy kumon workbooks, a ton of art supplies, educational board games, books books and more books for my home library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Baer Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 At those ages, I would buy kumon workbooks, a ton of art supplies, educational board games, books books and more books for my home library. that I'd need in the future. If you had to spend the money now, definitely purchase quality art supplies that will last and yes books or ebook reader or iPad. We still have bees wax crayons from K and DS is in 8th grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Another question- does your charter require you to spend the full stipend on each child or are you allowed to transfer a certain amount from the younger students to the older students? Our charter allows me to transfer funding from DS to DD so long as I can prove to the teacher that I have sufficient materials to cover the basic subjects with him. I usually wind up transferring between $100 & $200 from him to her per semester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I've used similar funding for classes and a nice big amazon order. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 Will the charter require you to return non-consumables? I don't know yet. Are you allowed to use the money towards classes & things like music lessons or just curriculum? Yes, though between working and having five children, our time for that is extremely limited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 does your charter require you to spend the full stipend on each child or are you allowed to transfer a certain amount from the younger students to the older students? I hadn't thought to ask them that. That would be good though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessieC Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I used Moving Beyond the Page with my first grader this year and it was awesome! There are four concepts--Community, Measurement, Culture, and Matter and Movement. You can buy one or all four. It's completely secular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Well, aren't you going to have fun shopping!! I am working on my order too through the school program we are using. This year I am getting tons of cool stuff (including a huge amount from Remedia). I thought for sure I'd be over our amount....but I still have $1000 to go! In our program, we have to return nonconsumables when we are either done with them (which could be years) or when we leave the program (which I am not planning on doing). My dd has a specific amount and my son has $500 more than her....but it's just combined as a family (they don't divvy out who gets what), so that's really nice. My kids are older than K/1st....but just some of the stuff we are getting: HO Middle Ages (with all kinds of knights/castles/medieval things to go with it) History Portfolio Jr Medieval LOF Elementary LLATL tons of art supplies (plus sketching/painting items for older son) lots of logic type books/anti-coloring books/perplexors..... Key To.... Teaching Textbooks Math U See a bunch of science kits RSO lots of stuff from Remedia (real life math stuff, a bunch of life skill type things for son, story folders/books.......my dd went crazy over all the stuff in that catalog) Zoom Making Spelling Sense Possibly: Power Glide Elementary French, Home Science Adventure kits, Atelier Art I could go on....but this is the main stuff, it might give you some ideas. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cpresz Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I completely agree with the Usborne books ... my kids have learned so much through those amazing books. The lift the flap series is one of my favorites. Also, my daughter probably knows more than her public school counterparts about the human body because of the Lift The Flap Human Body and Flip Flop Body books. Books by Brian Cleary are great too, for language arts. I'm thankful that my library has an abundance of them, as we'll be checking them out all next year. I'd probably purchase Math manipulatives, as many as I could get my hands on (though, I have a very visual/kinesthetic learner). Also, I'd probably purchase items from Insect Lore for science experiments and observation. Our next purchase from them will be the frog tank. I *might* purchase an Amazon Prime membership (though I don't know if that's included in what's acceptable for you) because you can borrow so many different titles AND get free shipping. And I buy a lot of my things from Amazon (though, I know that's a little controversial). Anyway - have fun spending the Benjamins! I have curriculum hoarding/addiction issues, so if I had $900 to spend, I'd probably start foaming at the mouth :drool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Lego Education!!! There are some nice sets for that age group: http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/product/duplo_early_simple_machines_iii_homeschool_pack/1569 http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/product/early_math_shape_and_space_set_with_teacher_guide/408 http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/product/math_games_set_with_cd/998 Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 I'm starting an imaginary shopping list for each child, in case we get into the program :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 It's not just theoretical anymore! We got in for next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Congrats! It is a lot of money, but somehow it disappears really fast too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EppieJ Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 (edited) For K/1st I like the Sonlight reading lists. Pattern Blocks, Unifix Cubes, Tangrams are awesome things to have on hand. I also like File Folder games and Kumon workbooks. Anything that can be used for counting, sorting and patterning will give you a lot of mileage. Magnet kits can be loads of fun- check out Lakeshore Learning for some ideas of what's out there. Funtastic Frogs Math is another good product. Rainbow Resource has a ton of stuff you can look through- science kits (although I haven't always had great success with their plant kits- think maybe the seeds were too old), art supplies, literature.... For art, think about things like PrismaColor, Sculpey Clay, Pipe Cleaners, collage materials, acrylic and/or tempura paints...since you have funds offer a variety of materials for exploration and really let them try a bunch of different types of things. Art books I would recommend: Kids Create!, Scribble Cookies, Mudworks, and Evan-Moore's How to Teach Art to Children. Story of the World audio (or other audio books such as those from GreatHall Productions or Classical Kids). I would suggest just volume one for the age of your students. History/Literature Pockets. We used History Pockets Ancient Civilizations for K and then moved into SOTW. It's a nice segue. Oh, we also loved Reader Rabbit at our house. My ds was 9 yrs old before he reluctantly gave up his pre-school disc, he enjoyed it so much! JumpStart is another good one. Hope this helps! Edited July 3, 2012 by EppieJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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