In light of the Minimalist Schooling Challenge threads from the past

[birchbark]

I actually am living one out right now. Since DH works from home and we HS the kids, we decided to try going south for a couple months this winter. Everything we needed had to come down in a minivan with a cartop carrier; no trailer. I got all the supplies needed for schooling three kids for two months in a 15-gal tote, including art and music, with a little room to spare. (This would not include a laptop for the high schooler and two cheap Kindles for the youngers. They were in the passenger cabin staving off boredom for a three-day drive!) 

 

Even though I loaded up the Kindles with books before we left, I'm finding the kids do not read as readily with them as they do hardcopy books. Anyone else find this to be true?

[Arcadia]

My kids did not like Kindle's formatting for some books. Especially if the illustrations get truncated. Otherwise they don't mind ebooks.

 

Also when travelling, my kids are too tired to read, even my stuck in a book most of the time kid. They rather nap in between destinations. My DS11 still gets mild car sick reading.

[Barb_]

My kids definitely read more when the physical books are available. Actually, come to think of it so do I.

[ezrabean2005]

I had this problem at the beginning.  One thing I did was to rotate the subjects so that the kindle was not used for every single thing.  I also ensured that each reading was short / age appropriate with discussion / written work in between.  Finally for the more challenging books (challenging to the specific child), we'd "buddy read" taking turns by page or by paragraph until they got into the book more.

[TracyP]

My kids will read on a kindle, but they prefer print books. For some reason my dd's preference is even stronger when the reading is challenging.

[Mom22ns]

My kids prefer print books.

 

I prefer ebooks on my phone so they are always with me.

[Lori D.]

 

I actually am living one out right now. Since DH works from home and we HS the kids, we decided to try going south for a couple months this winter. Everything we needed had to come down in a minivan with a cartop carrier; no trailer. I got all the supplies needed for schooling three kids for two months in a 15-gal tote, including art and music, with a little room to spare. (This would not include a laptop for the high schooler and two cheap Kindles for the youngers. They were in the passenger cabin staving off boredom for a three-day drive!) 

 

Even though I loaded up the Kindles with books before we left, I'm finding the kids do not read as readily with them as they do hardcopy books. Anyone else find this to be true?

 

 

First congratulations on an AMAZING packing job of the mini-van of containing everything your family needs for a several-month-long trip! I am truly in awe!  :hurray:

 

For actual car traveling, our DSs far preferred listening to audio books with headsets, as one DS esp. was prone to car sickness -- so neither e-readers nor physical books work for him.

 

re: your question about not reading from e-readers as readily as physical books... Well, I am a book-o-phile, and dearly love holding books -- even the smell of books --, and turning pages, and having the ability to flip forward and backward as desired. And e-readers just can NOT reproduce the experience of picture books or books with illustrations. So, just me, but if I were in this situation, I'd be feeling "book starved" and in need of a dose of "real" books. ;)

 

Sounds like you're already there in the south? And are you staying in one place for those winter months? If so, perhaps "cheat" a little and add a few physical books to the rotation to vary the e-reading by hitting a few second-hand stores and allowing everyone to pick out a handful of used books to enjoy now, and then re-sell or donate right before you hit the road to head home… Or what about picking up a small stack of a variety of children's/tween/teen (don't know your DC's ages) magazines for the kids to enjoy having physical reading material, but that is thinner and lighter, and more "disposable" when finished?

 

Or, if still traveling from place to place, find the nearest library and 2x/week for the rest of the trip, pack up the family, head to the library for a few hours and just read physical books right there in the library you find yourself in. That way you don't collect any physical books to have to bring home and interfere with your fabulous packing! :)

Edited February 26, 2016 by Lori D.

[Peaceful Isle]

My kids like kindle books better than real books. Go figure? I'd rather have the real books.

[MEmama]

We are "real" book readers here. No interest in spending more time on a screen than we already do.

 

We are minimalist homeschoolers too, I guess. All his texts and notebooks that we actually use fit easily on one small bookshelf. Makes it easy. :)

[birchbark]

For actual car traveling, our DSs far preferred listening to audio books with headsets, as one DS esp. was prone to car sickness -- so neither e-readers nor physical books work for him.

 

Yes! We all love audio books.

 

re: your question about not reading from e-readers as readily as physical books... Well, I am a book-o-phile, and dearly love holding books -- even the smell of books --, and turning pages, and having the ability to flip forward and backward as desired. And e-readers just can NOT reproduce the experience of picture books or books with illustrations. So, just me, but if I were in this situation, I'd be feeling "book starved" and in need of a dose of "real" books. ;)

 

That's me as well, and I guess I'm glad to discover that the kiddos are the same way!

 

Sounds like you're already there in the south? And are you staying in one place for those winter months? If so, perhaps "cheat" a little and add a few physical books to the rotation to vary the e-reading by hitting a few second-hand stores and allowing everyone to pick out a handful of used books to enjoy now, and then re-sell or donate right before you hit the road to head home… 

 

I've already succumbed to the allure of the book section of the local Goodwill. :D  And this is also what we're doing with toys, as I packed very few.

 

The one thing schoolish I neglected to pack was an atlas of some sort. When I got here, I thought "The inflatable globe would have been perfect!" The kids and I went to check out the Hobby Lobby, as we don't have one at home. One aisle in particular was FULL of awesome stuff for HSing. They had an inflatable globe but next to it was a Scrunch Map, printed on Tyvek. We love it and it's a perfect solution for traveling.

[Hunter]

Narratives work better as ebooks than non-narratives. A Paperwhite is better for those narratives, but not as good if you are trying to use non-narratives.

 

EBooks are better tolerated with breaks taken for real books. My favorite eBook breaks are these small books:

 

Strayer-Upton

Phonics for Success version of Alpha-Phonics

http://www.amazon.com/Phonics-Success-Samuel-L-Blumenfeld/dp/1495144216

McGuffey's Speller

Harvey's Elementary Grammar

Drawing Textbook

Alon Bement's Energetic Line

 

I was down to half a box, spread back to a full box, and I think I am soon going to be forced back to a 1/2 box. Added to the above, I am planning 

 

Don Potter's First Readers Anthology for Alpha-Phonics

http://www.amazon.com/First-Readers-Anthology-Blumenfelds-Phonics/dp/1481169556/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1456519779&sr=1-1-fkmr2&keywords=don+potter+readers+anthology

Ruth Beechick's The Three R's

American Library Longfellow's Poems (Bible quality paper reduces bulk)

http://www.amazon.com/Henry-Wadsworth-Longfellow-Writings-Library/dp/188301185X

 

Despite their bulk, I don't know how to function without these bulky books

Handbook of Nature Study

Merriam Webster Large Print Dictionary

Large Print KJV Bible

 

In the past I've owned a few smaller atlases, but none of them seem worth repurchasing to me right now.

 

No fear Shakespeare are cheap enough to purchase and dump when finished. I'm using Macbeth right now and also purchased the Shakespeare in Bits app for my tablet. And have a few library books out.

 

I have declared some book like toilet paper. I am resigned to repurchasing and dumping as needed. No Fear Shakespeare is one of them. Dover Publications Thrift Editions are dirt cheap and I can afford to replace these as needed. http://store.doverpublications.com/

 

 

Edited February 26, 2016 by Hunter

[Lori D.]

For actual car traveling, our DSs far preferred listening to audio books with headsets...

 

Yes! We all love audio books.

 

...I am a book-o-phile, and… if I were in this situation, I'd be feeling "book starved" and in need of a dose of "real" books.  ;)

 

That's me as well, and I guess I'm glad to discover that the kiddos are the same way!

 

…perhaps…hit a few second-hand stores and allowing everyone to pick out a handful of used books to enjoy now, and then re-sell or donate right before you hit the road to head home… 

 

I've already succumbed to the allure of the book section of the local Goodwill.  :D  And this is also what we're doing with toys, as I packed very few.

_____________________________

 

The one thing schoolish I neglected to pack was an atlas of some sort. When I got here, I thought "The inflatable globe would have been perfect!" The kids and I went to check out the Hobby Lobby, as we don't have one at home. One aisle in particular was FULL of awesome stuff for HSing. They had an inflatable globe but next to it was a Scrunch Map, printed on Tyvek. We love it and it's a perfect solution for traveling.

 

Awesome! And actually, that makes the trip more fun and memorable if you stop from time to time to supplement your homeschool "road schooling" supplies -- your kids will love saying next year, "Remember when we were on our big trip last year and needed our inflatable globe, and found all those cool things at Hobby Lobby and got our scrunch map?!" Which then opens the door for other memories, or dragging out the scrunch map and tracing the route you took on your trip, and other fun things. :)

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip, and -- I'd hit the Good Will again for a few more books or some kids magazines. ;)  :laugh:

Edited February 26, 2016 by Lori D.

[Guest]

So what's in that tote?!!

 

 

[Hunter]

I have an librivox app on my phone. And I've gotten some good deals through audible.com from credits. Buying or borrowing a whispersync title offers the audiobook at a reduced price. I can also borrow audiobooks from my library.

 

There are audiobook versions of many popular homeschool titles that are not in eBook. James Herriot Treasury, Golden Goblet, Birchbark House, to name just a few.

[birchbark]

So what's in that tote?!!

 

What you see in my siggy along with an Egermeier's Bible Story book, a little poetry book, 50 Famous Stories Retold (these constitute Circle Time), white and construction paper, a graph comp book for math, handwriting paper, the Nine-Note recorder book and two recorders, two sets of watercolors, one set of colored pencils, one of those little whiteboards from Miller's, and three bedtime read-alouds. I only brought a few of the Wee Folk Art books, thinking we could read some online, and use the library for others. Oh, and I guess the ukulele wasn't in the tote either; that's music for the 9th-grader. 

 

It helps having three of the 9th-grader's classes online. His math class videos are digitally stored, with enough worksheets printed for the trip. ACE science is just a few little booklets, with videos on the computer.

 

He has been able to just step into the local CAP squadron, which is really nice. 

 

The one thing I was nervous about was not having a printer, but so far we have not missed it. 

Edited February 27, 2016 by birchbark

[Guest SetFreeByTruth]

I'm impressed with your organizational skills.  I've found reducing and minimizing to be beneficial; I guess the rubber meets the road when you have limited space on an extended family trip :).  You also find out what's truly important for day-to-day living.

Edited February 28, 2016 by SetFreeByTruth

[bethben]

My kids like kindle books better than real books. Go figure? I'd rather have the real books.

 

My ds has only begun reading books in more volume because of his kindle. He doesn't like the weight of books and often the ones from the library are "dirty" (pages a little ripped, worn pages/covers).  Now, he's reading because he wants to instead of me requiring it.

[Hunter]

My ds has only begun reading books in more volume because of his kindle. He doesn't like the weight of books and often the ones from the library are "dirty" (pages a little ripped, worn pages/covers).  Now, he's reading because he wants to instead of me requiring it.

 

I have a totally germ phobic student, and loaning her a paperwhite got her reading more. I had to take it back for a bit, but then was able to get myself a newer 3G Paperwhite as a Christmas gift to myself, and give her back the older wifi one. 

 

Germ phobia and texture issues are pretty common with my peeps. Some cannot even handle looking at certain patterns.

Edited February 27, 2016 by Hunter

[bolt.]

My dd likes her errader better than paper books. I think she just feels like it's a 'screen' so it's cool.

[EmilyGF]

Totally.

 

Think about eating - what will get eaten more quickly: a bowl of chips on the table or a bag of chips in the pantry? 

 

Just seeing books sitting around leads my kids to read them more. Having a book in bed, a book in the car, a book on the buffet counter (yes, my house is a little messy...) means they read a lot more. And I read a lot more, too, if the book is sitting around and reminding me that I was planning to read it. The exception would be if I lose the hard copy of the book!

[Janeway]

 

I actually am living one out right now. Since DH works from home and we HS the kids, we decided to try going south for a couple months this winter. Everything we needed had to come down in a minivan with a cartop carrier; no trailer. I got all the supplies needed for schooling three kids for two months in a 15-gal tote, including art and music, with a little room to spare. (This would not include a laptop for the high schooler and two cheap Kindles for the youngers. They were in the passenger cabin staving off boredom for a three-day drive!) 

 

Even though I loaded up the Kindles with books before we left, I'm finding the kids do not read as readily with them as they do hardcopy books. Anyone else find this to be true?

 

I cannot stand reading from an ebook unless I really have to get the information from the book. Otherwise, I won't. We have one Kindle here, it is lost some place in the house. No one is interested in it. We call it "fake books." 

 

Maybe wherever you are at, you can find a used book store and pick up a bunch of books for cheap. It's worth a try.