Maggie2354 Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 Do you keep old homeschool books after you're done with them? I'm not really talking about curriculum so much, because those are always being updated with new editions, etc. I'm mainly interested in literature books and readers (history, science, etc.) -the pretty, illustrated books. I have kept most of ours from Pre-K up and would really love some reasons NOT to keep them now that I will have a 10th grader and 8th grader next school year, who will never read them again themselves. Haha! The only reason for keeping them that I can think of is for future grandchildren that may be homeschooled, which seems silly since they will probably be able to find anything they want by then as well, and they may choose not to homeschool at all. I could just get rid of them and give my kids some money to help with books, if they wind up homeschooling later. But, I wonder if you will even be able to find some of these good old books by then? This thought process kind of makes me feel like I'm not trusting God with the future, though. Anyway, I really want to clean out! 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 Middle ground - bless a homeschool family with them, whether by donating or by selling at a good price. Your house will be decluttered, the books will be used by real children (instead of saved for future imaginary grandchildren), and you get to still trust God. I have storage space for my bookshelves, so I'm keeping mine. (I have a small spare room that will function as a library and den.) It's very likely that I will have some homeschooled grandchildren, and that I may even be the one to teach them. I would want my favorite books. The parents of these future imaginary grandchildren have extensive health struggles and money might therefore be an issue, so I don't want us all to be kicking ourselves for letting our excellent, beautiful and classic books go! If you do let your books go, you might want to keep your very favorite picture books for the grandchildren, for when they visit your house. Those books aren't going to get any cheaper. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 Save your absolute favourites and give away or sell the rest unless you have plenty of space for storage. I know that we have some that have sentimental value for the kids, so we'll hold onto those and any books that I thought were fantastic and would be afraid of going out of print. But most of the books, while good, are just not worth holding onto long-term. Our house just isn't big enough. 🙂 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 (edited) Keep the books you have (or had) a relationship with. :) You know, the ones you would buy again if the house burned down, because you and that book had something together. Or get really hard nosed and limit your self to a certain space (these shelves, this closet, whatever) and only keep what fits. (says the woman who has books in every room in the house, except the bathroom because it is too steamy.) I do have some out of print goodies I'm keeping. Even if none of my other kids use them. Or if none of my hypothetical grandchildren might use them. I went through a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get those books, and I'm not ready to let go yet. Maybe some day, but not yet. Edited April 13, 2019 by Zoo Keeper 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom2834 Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 I got rid of so many books when we moved. I’d been homeschooling ten years worth 4 kids and I bought way too many books. I sold them for next to nothing each and made almost $1000 at a couple books sales and taking the rest to a used book store. I have not regretted it. It was so much more than we could handle. Getting rid of them was a huge job and one i’m glad we’ll never have to tackle again. My mom saved books and they seemed to crumble and fall apart when she gave them to my kids. I’m sure they could be stored better than she did but they did not stand up to the years. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 I've saved a lot of the literature, but got rid of most science and history books. I've kept some specialty books, but even those I've started weeding out. If our kids homeschool their kids, it will be at least 10 years from now (by the time they meet someone, get married, have kids etc... LOL!) That will put it at what, 20-30 years since I used curriculum for the grade their kids would be in?! They aren't going to want the same history and science stuff--there will be new stuff out by then. Sell it now while it's worth something. Literature that we loved though, I keep. I kept my favorite books from my growing up years and read them to my kids :-). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 If you move, you may wish that you have fewer books. When we moved, my kids' college friends did our library and wrote silly things on the boxes like "bricks," "more bricks," and "backbreaker." I have gotten rid of some, but it's hard. So many great memories. I also didn't move with the library bookcases, so they're mostly in boxes still. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 Well, it appears that my oldest may be having children before my youngest is gone.... so how many books I actually keep/get rid of changes. I am getting rid of quite a bit (for me anyhow) in this move (at least one large Billy Shelf full). But, Italy isn't exactly a great place to get rid of American books 😉 We're going to try to sell some, but the rest may go home with me and get sold/given away at the convention used book sale in 2020 (I may get rid of more at that time). There are books I purchased to go with curriculum. Some are series favorites I intend to keep... Billy & Blaze, Nate the Great, Amelia Bedlelia, My Dr. Seuss and Disney picture books, my MATH curriculum (I'm keeping all of my Fred, AoPS, Foerster, Jacobs and Larson Texts (and the videos - which are currently on thumb drives). I'm keeping my WTM Writing with Ease, Teach Your Kids to Read books, my K12 readers (we really enjoyed these), my Mosdos and my Textword Press (mostly because they are freaking expensive, and I'd rather loan them to people who need them and keep them just in case). My art series (Look at Me), my kid's science readers (not text books), lots of picture books, etc. I have a great wide middle I will probably eliminate of old used books we picked up to fit a need. What I'd like to do is replace some of my thrifty paperbacks with more library quality books... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 I just have to say this........I ruthlessly pruned because of a move years ago and have actually went on the second hand market and bought a few of my favorite K-3 things in recent months. Things that do not appear to be being published anymore but were awesome or might be hard to find later. This all came about from a discussion with a young mother who is in the home ed planning stages and as I looked for my favorite memories I realized they were going to be mighty hard to find in another decade plus when my kids might want the stuff for their kids. I have room for another box and decided to fill it. 😂 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 1 minute ago, mumto2 said: I just have to say this........I ruthlessly pruned because of a move years ago and have actually went on the second hand market and bought a few of my favorite K-3 things in recent months. Things that do not appear to be being published anymore but were awesome or might be hard to find later. This all came about from a discussion with a young mother who is in the home ed planning stages and as I looked for my favorite memories I realized they were going to be mighty hard to find in another decade plus when my kids might want the stuff for their kids. I have room for another box and decided to fill it. 😂 I think that's why I'm afraid to be too ruthless. There are books I lost during a move years ago (over 20) that I still miss, they are out of print, and I cannot replace them. But, I still remember many of the titles. As I've gone through every one of our books during the packing, I've got books from when I was a child, and books we read to my kids (again and again), most of them are classics (older and newer). I don't want to part with books that I have a feeling I'd like to have again, because they do go out of print and are hard to find. Blondie is currently reading a book that was my mother's when she was a tween-ager, that I enjoyed... there are also books like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm that was my Grandma's favorite book as a girl, that I read and loved, and that I've shared with all 3 of my girls...I also kept some books that will need to be tossed (they are beyond repair), because I want to make sure I remember to go re-purchase them for my library. I hope to have a small selection of Board Books, a large selection of picture books and a strong selection of classic literature (classic to me, anyhow). I am not sure at this point if I will keep all of my historical fiction, or if much of it will be replaced by electronic versions allowing me to donate the rest. I suppose it comes down to how my girls react to the various series. If it becomes a part of them... I'll hold onto the books to pass on to the girls for their families. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 They don't spark joy. ☺️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 2 hours ago, Roadrunner said: They don't spark joy. ☺️ That's what my youngest says. She's my partner when I clean out because she's ruthless. Totally. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jboo Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 If you sell or donate them, write down their names. When I was low on shelf space many years ago, I did a major purge, and I wish I knew what some of those books might have been. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 I saved: classics ... modern classics (Ayn Rand) .... our favorite books ever ... and I picked one medium sized moving box and told the kids to put inside their favorite books from their childhood picture books. It was very hard, but they did it and we don't have too many regrets. Those we have regretted, we can easily purchase again. We gave the rest to a dear friend with a little boy who loves loves books and I know his mom will read them to him over and over. They now live in a special shelf in their home and I am full of joy when I see them. That's it, everything else goes unless we use it all the time (Dictionary, theology books, Bibles etc.) The fact is, cleaning around it and around it all over and over will be exhausting and difficult, so choose the most special ones and then find a special little person to give the rest to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie2354 Posted April 14, 2019 Author Share Posted April 14, 2019 Thanks so much, everyone! Good ideas to ponder before the big purge. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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