prairiewindmomma Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 I am about to sit down with a few Godiva chocolates, a stack of post-it notes, and this year's edition of the RR catalog. I've been reading it since 2003. These days, it's a walk down memory lane as much as it is a search for something new since I hand down so many materials. There's a really nice forward just opposite the front cover....on planning the FAMILY way, with a nod towards how even homeschoolers have had their lives changed by the pandemic. Does anyone else have catalogs they look forward to receiving still? 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 Ah Rainbow Resource— the good ole days! I no longer get it. I wish I had another kid at that stage. I think. 🤔 wait, do I? Garden seed catalogues still excite me! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 I never did because it looked about as exciting as a phone book. I received one this spring (the first time in years!) and they've really updated their look. So much more visually appealing and so many pictures! I enjoyed it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 I used to pour over that catalog. Loved it. Now my youngest is married. I would still likely love to look through it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 I spent many hours with the Rainbow Resource catalog. I used to take it to bed and read it there. There were MANY dogeared pages when I was done. Thanks for some happy memories, @prairiewindmomma! Regards, Kareni 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calm37 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 RR was mine, but we kept the Timberdoodle catalog in the bathroom. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mominco Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 Oh I miss those days!DD graduated HS 2 years ago and we both miss RR.I can order the catalog but I feel bad doing that since we are done with homeschooling and will probably not order anything from them! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 9 minutes ago, mominco said: Oh I miss those days!DD graduated HS 2 years ago and we both miss RR.I can order the catalog but I feel bad doing that since we are done with homeschooling and will probably not order anything from them! Yeah, same. I'd love to get a catalog for old times sake but that would be a terrible waste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 Oh how I loved that catalog. Each year my husband would move the old one to the van so I had always had something to read! I would love to look through it again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 I love RR and still read it even though all of my kids are grown. I now look for new things for my grandkids. I also love Timberdoodle and a few of my dds get that one for Christmas ideas. A few more that I like are Evan-Moore, Prufrock Press, Critical Thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 11 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said: I am about to sit down with a few Godiva chocolates, a stack of post-it notes, and this year's edition of the RR catalog. I've been reading it since 2003. These days, it's a walk down memory lane as much as it is a search for something new since I hand down so many materials. There's a really nice forward just opposite the front cover....on planning the FAMILY way, with a nod towards how even homeschoolers have had their lives changed by the pandemic. Does anyone else have catalogs they look forward to receiving still? Yes! I sometimes still browse/skim a whole subject to see if there is a resource I've forgotten that would be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 The new 2020 RR catalog is 286 pages long, & newly available to download here:https://www.rainbowresource.com/category/999999923/Catalog-Page.html I too feel nostalgic when I remember paging thru the catalog-as-thick-as-a-phone-book. But even that comment totally shows how much of an Old Homeschooler I am. I've loved seeing the RR family grow, and how I always felt secure knowing that there was one company were you could find nearly anything you needed. We graduated our final son last month, so I'll just be reading the foreword & taking a glance thru it. Our homeschool journey was a roller coaster, but also thanks to RR (& other companies) we found the resources we needed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaybee Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 Oh yes, I pored over The Elijah Company, Timberdoodle, and Rainbow Resource for hours. Though the financial planning part of curriculum choosing was stressful (what if I get the wrong thing so I waste money, and don't have what I really need, etc.), I really enjoyed the research. It made me sad when The Elijah Company went out of business. Those seem like rather gentle days of homeschooling, and I miss them. Maybe I'm not remembering the hard parts, lol. But when we started out, there was no internet. I would have enjoyed having a resource like WTM (books and forums), but the lack of technology also made life simpler in many ways. During that era of homeschooling, the explosion of homeschooling materials was just beginning to happen. We were stepping out into new-ish territory. Today, it seems so weird to me the lack of thought and research that so many homeschoolers put into their schooling plans (I don't think this generally applies to people on this forum, lol!). I guess there were those then as well--mostly then they would just choose a boxed curriculum and make it work. And it did, for some of them--just not us. Though I must admit that in some later years, due to a variety of circumstances, we went to Calvert. After those years, we returned to the pick and choose method again. Both systems served us well for the times we needed them. Well, lots of nostalgic musings... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 When my girls were little, I used to take my catalog with us to the lake. While they played at the water's edge, I'd lay on my towel with an iced coffee and my homeschool catalogs. I folded down all the pages of interesting things things that required further research. Good times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, Seasider too said: There have been many times in the last few months I wished I were in the little kid, early homeschooling days again. Been there, too, these past few weeks. The oldest just graduated from high school. I had him attend a cyber school for 12th grade, so I didn’t get to homeschool that year. And due to the shutdowns, the big research paper the kids were going to do in school didn’t get done. That was the one thing they had to take off the kids’ plates (long story, but even though it was a cyber school, it shut down for a few weeks in the middle of March due to Covid. There was some confusion about whether or not they had to shut down, legally, even though it was cyber.) But I neeeeeeed this boy to have done a big research paper before he hits college, so I spent the day yesterday creating a little mini lesson in writing research papers and I’m going to have him write me one (or two) over the summer. Gosh, it felt so good to be planning something again!! I missed that part of homeschooling so much. I was feeling wistful and wishing so much that we could start all over again. I would be such a better teacher this time around. 🙂 I guess 11 years of experience will do that, huh? 😄 —— I used to love getting the RR catalog in the mail. I almost never ordered from it, but I loved browsing. There was something satisfying in paging through it—the very feel of the paper. Edited June 11, 2020 by Garga 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 I'm so glad I don't have to start over. I messed up plenty, but those mistakes are what made my kids what they are today--for better or worse. I still keep the last big catalog I got from RR - before they started printing just half per year. But I don't look through it anymore. I don't even really page through Christian Book's homeschool catalog. It is kind of freeing knowing what I need, but it was more fun eyeing everything. Except, when I knew I wanted my two younger boys to work on some "applications of punctuation and frequently misused words", I went looking to see what was out there. I remembered how nerve-wracking it was to not know what I wanted to use & to only be able to see little samples (never enough). I know why I was always writing my own stiff or significantly tweaking other people's stuff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 I think I am feeling the effects of Gen Xers having one foot in the analog era and one foot in the digital era because I used to love looking at catalogs. I remember circling what I wanted for Xmas when I was a kid in the old Sears catalogs at my Grandma's house, but these days all that paper seems so wasteful and inefficient. From research to shopping, I am firmly in the camp of doing everything online now. My oldest is taking an AP class this summer, and I asked him if he wanted me to buy the hardcopy or digital book for the class, and he looked at me like I had 3 heads. Digital, mom, duh. Well ok then, about $100 saved between the two versions. Done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 1 hour ago, Plum said: Paper college catalogs were so much easier to thumb through and mark up for alternate schedules. YES.....I still like paper catalogs, paper non fiction/reference books, etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easypeasy Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 I unsubscribed once I didn't need to order anything anymore - but, man! I loved getting that fat catalog and filling it with post-it flags and highlighted notes. I ordered so much from them over the years... 💛 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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