displace Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 I have never been but am considering going this weekend to lakeshore learning. In general is it a good store for browsing and then buying things cheaper off amazon or rainbow resource? Or is it cost competitive to online stores? Are most stores large, small, medium sized? Do you find good ideas there or have you seen it all before? In case it helps, I'm actually putting together a school room haha! We have a need to be more isolated for certain work, mostly writing and reading. I am trying to get inspiration for decorations that are cute/nice/cheap and can be rotated. I'm also maybe looking for a display thing for our current sight words or rules we're working on. I usually just tape up our current project for reading rules. I do know I want the letter doh stampers but if the store is usually expensive for most supplies I'll forgo it as a purchasing place and maybe just go for inspiration or just stay home :). It's a 45 min drive away and I'd have DH watch the kids just so I could go. Eta - I tend to be more serious of a personality and while working with DS and I want some kid friendly and lighthearted things in the school room to visually be fun for DS and to help me feel lighthearted too. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathmarm Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 I have never been in the store, I ordered from them online once because they had the best price on the specific items that I wanted. If you have an idea of what you want then I would look up prices for some of those items online and get an idea of what the "going rate" for those types of items are, maybe read some reviews. There are school supply/teacher stores that sell classroom supplies so I'd want to check those types of websites for decoration prices. Maybe take an RR catalog or your fully charged smart phone with you so that you can do some comparison shopping on the spot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenninMN Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 I found it a fun place to browse and get motivated. I tended to buy educational games that Lakeshore produced themselves so there really was no comparison shopping. Last time I was there - which was awhile ago - they had a big screen with their computer games available to play. I bought a few of those for pepping school up. My son has aged out of all this fun stuff now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer132 Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 In my experience, they are more expensive than other places (Amazon, oriental trading). Personally I would just browse on the Lakeshore website, and then decide if I wanted to go. As far as size, I'd say the store is a medium size. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share Posted August 14, 2015 I have never been in the store, I ordered from them online once because they had the best price on the specific items that I wanted. If you have an idea of what you want then I would look up prices for some of those items online and get an idea of what the "going rate" for those types of items are, maybe read some reviews. There are school supply/teacher stores that sell classroom supplies so I'd want to check those types of websites for decoration prices. Maybe take an RR catalog or your fully charged smart phone with you so that you can do some comparison shopping on the spot. I like the idea of generally looking up prices for some things ahead of time. I chuckled at bringing th RR catalog along. :) I get overwhelmed just opening it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Ariel Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 The store nearest to me is pretty good sized. There is a lot to look at and at times I have found things I did not see in other places and wouldn't bother to search for on amazon, etc. Probably because I didn't know they existed! They do have some sort of reward card for teachers which homeschoolers can use. They have good sales, coupons, advertisements that come in the mail. Prices may have been slightly higher, cannot say for sure, but I bought from them because I do appreciate an actual store in my general metropolitan area where I can really look at things and decide before I buy. Some things might be so specific it would be difficult to look for them on the internet. If we don't buy from these stores they are going to disappear. I have not bought from them in a while as my kids are now teens and they tend to have more for younger kids. Good luck! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 I have their reward card and get coupons sent to my phone. Our store is medium sized. I agree on them having more for younger kids. They do have some stuff geared towards middle school but most stuff is geared for elementary. But for the things you are looking for (decorations and a display for words and things of that nature) they are pretty good. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insertcreativenamehere Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Yes, definitely targeted towards elementary. Once you get on their mailing list, you do get coupons via text and/or mail, so that makes their prices more competitive. I still use them primarily for inspiration, although I do buy handwriting paper, etc. there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 they have a good website. targeted towards preschool/elementary. classrooms. they have some interesting things. I found them overpriced, and their educational supplies felt very workbookish. My local homeschool used bookstore is more appealing to me. they do have a Saturday morning craft day to which I used to take dudeling. so does home depot on the first Saturday of the month. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 I love browsing the store. Often I find ideas for things but use stuff I already have at home. I also don't ever pay full price for things there. If you sign up on their webpage for email alerts and text alerts you will always have a coupon. It seems to alternate between a BOGO 1/2 off and a 20% off coupon. The one I recieved yesterday is BOGO 1/2 off with code 9930. And do sign up for the Teachers discount card for additional savings:) One other thing: for some reason I have found their shipping costs to be higher. Just be aware of that when you are looking for the best prices! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Browsing Lakeshore Learning is happy fun time for me. I do find things online that I don't necessarily find in the store (love their math Activity Centers), but I always walk out with a bag of cool stuff. No, they are not cheap, but yes they do have stuff that other places do not. Totally awesome, wonderful stuff. It is very good for my budget that the closest Lakeshore is 2 hours away. I only get there once or twice a year. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 I used to love to browse our Lakeshore Learning store (2 hours away, so I only got there once/year or so). It was medium-sized. I never compare-shopped items I got there, so I don't know about their prices. But they had lots of great supplementary stuff (and interesting core work-books) that generally are less expensive. Well-known brands like Scholastic and Evan-Moor, and less known brands too. I'd often get their middle-school -- 4th, 5th, and 6th -- grade workbooks for science. They were fun with fun experiments -- perfect for unit studies. I'd get grammar workbooks there too. The store had nice big posters for grammar explanations and more. I miss going there now that my kids have graduated! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share Posted August 14, 2015 Thanks! These replies were helpful for me :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Coming in a little late, but you should definitely go! It's tons of fun. Make sure you google for coupons, because they have their best sales and coupons right now! You can get a 20% off. Yes, some of the stuff you'll want is specific to them and not something you can get cheaper on amazon exactly BUT it's also really good! I have this really beloved alphabet set that I got there. I yearn for the number set too and just haven't taken the plunge because our store didn't have it in stock and I was too cheap to pay shipping. You'll have fun. You should definitely go. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 I don't know if all of their stores have this but I often go simply so that I can use their really big laminators. I have a laminator at home but it is half the size of theirs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted August 16, 2015 Author Share Posted August 16, 2015 So, I did go and I spent hours there just browsing. I also spent some money on cost comparable items, and I think I got some good ideas for DIY games. I was grateful to browse and open books and poke about. There were some ideas that I'd like to implement involving games but I need to tailor. And some games I could use but likely aren't worth $10-20 each. I think every teacher was there too :) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 I've recently changed my preferences to include much more natural materials/loose parts/Reggio-inspired stuff, so LL no longer holds any appeal for me. I do wish they had more realistic or artistic posters, though, because I would love a convenient place to buy those. They only have Carson-Delosa-type cartoony stuff, which is really unappealing to me now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted August 16, 2015 Author Share Posted August 16, 2015 Yeah, the decorations were ok. All I kept thinking was I can at least print off holiday pics on card stock or something small to beef up the area, like each month rotated a month picture. It they had holiday decoration I would have gotten some. They did have an excellent Dr. Seuss phonics poster set but it was way too large so oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Sounds like a fun trip! My trouble with getting all inspired is I can't necessarily *get done* everything I'm inspired with. Then I have to look at it and go if I pay $15 and it gets DONE that's better than spending $0 and trying to make it homemade and not getting it done. I bought a couple money game kits there, and yes they were money and yes I might have been able to find some free file folder game equivalent online or something on TPT. But my $15 games are actually getting used, right now. When I first started homeschooling I bought some posters to put on the closet doors. They were cute and inexpensive. 11-12 years later they're still there. So I guess if you really, really like decorations, they're good. A lot are just impulsive, because they're cute to us. I have a couple bulletin boards and a cute seuss set. I don't think ds even notices. He's just in too much motion. One year I bought dd a set of butterflies meant for bulletin boards, and that was awesome. We hung them with clear thread from the ceiling and we had butterflies all over our room for years! I get my fettish for school supplies out with tools, tools, tools. Paper cutters, scissors, punches, papers, drawers to stack the papers, did I mention scissors? Lakeshore has a fun alphabet beanbag set. It's one of those things I look at and go oh I could make that, but I don't. You could use it to spell. They have unusually nice Toobs, and you could use the little critters for rewards or to hide in a rice bin for fine motor or sensory. They usually have a stack of rainbow scratch paper for cheap ($4) which you could write words on. Sometimes I find good fidgets or good PE toys to use for breaks. Well that's good you had so much fun! Definitely resist on the decorations, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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