sted Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 Just curious, do most of you TOG users make the plunge and buy all the books or try getting most from your library. I can see where owning them would make things much easier but I guess cost is a factor. Thanks, Shannon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 I am starting Year 1 with 2 10yo's, and I am using a mix of library and buying my own books. At this age, I would prefer most books to be from the library, because they will not be read repeatedly and I don't have any younger kids coming up who will need them later. A few books (like Henty & Sutcliffe) I'm buying just because I believe they are worthy to keep for years. Also, if a book is used for more than a few weeks I'm buying it, mostly for convenience sake. As we move into the Dialectic & Rhetoric stages I will tend to buy more of the books, because many will be kept by my kids in their own personal library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 Instead of stressing about getting books through interlibrary loan and wondering when they'll come or when they are due back especially when you have 20-30 books out at a time...yeah, having the books on the shelf is wonderful! I have dd7 and ds3. He will follow the same path as dd7 b/c they are four years apart TOG1: 1st/Dd, 1st/Ds TOG2: 2nd/Dd, 2nd/Ds and so on. This means if I buy Lower Grammar books for dd, ds will use them. Whatever books I buy will be used again and if I want I can sell them afterwards because they are great books. Now I only use the library for books *I* want to read instead of the kids' reading selections. I do plan for them to use the library for their own "free" reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susie in tx Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 We switched midstream from SL to TOG, so I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on books. I have purchased most of the core and in-depth history books that will be used for several weeks. Everything else comes from the library. If our library doesn't have it, I buy it. Or, I use something on the alternate list. I'm borrowing everything my library has for R level for ME to read. If our library doesn't have the R level book, then I don't read it. My children are in D, UG, and LG levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 We buy them. Currently I have, Year 1,2 and 3 books Ug, LG and D on the shelves. They are on 5 long shelves dotted by year with the unit and week on them. I love being able to pull them off before planning, expensive but worth it :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie in AR Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 Just curious, do most of you TOG users make the plunge and buy all the books or try getting most from your library. I can see where owning them would make things much easier but I guess cost is a factor. Thanks, Shannon I use the library for whichever of the books they have; the others we buy. My library is very, very easy for me to use, though. I reserve/renew online. When we reserve, they have them ready and waiting and dh just pulls up to their drive-thru window (which is about 2 blocks from his office) and picks them up. He takes them back the same way. If it was difficult or a chore to use the library I would probably try to purchase more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zee Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 I only buy the books that are not available at my library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M&M Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 I buy the spine and the books that are used for many weeks and the books that are used more than one year. I add in library books and try to remember that as long as I have a main spine (SOTW, BJU history etc.) then I don't have to own so many books for each week. I can just buy the best books that we will use over and over for the younger children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Heather Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 I have three kids 2, 6, and 10, so we will definitely go back through them again and again. Easier for us than having to figure out the library thing, and less planning on my part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 I use the library for whichever of the books they have; the others we buy. My library is very, very easy for me to use, though. I reserve/renew online. When we reserve, they have them ready and waiting and dh just pulls up to their drive-thru window (which is about 2 blocks from his office) and picks them up. He takes them back the same way. If it was difficult or a chore to use the library I would probably try to purchase more. Yup, this is the same for us. We have a great library where I can reserve online. This takes care of about half the books. The others I buy. I find they have good resale value on the TOG boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 We used the library system for the books however we will be doing somethign different this year. We are starting Yr 3 next month. We will buy the core books. I will pick one book in each section to buy. If we have time then we will see if library has them. I had so many late fees due to books being lost and then found later as well as forgetting to return them incrued massive late fees. I decided that from here on out we will buy used what we want to use and just resell later or keep for grandkids as my kids want to homeschool their own children. Kind of a two one punch investment. Let me use my money wisely instead of on fines from library. You can buy many used TOG books for a very good price and get most of your money back when you resell. I like this idea much better and will be doing that for most of my books. Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 I have a great library system, can reserve books online- so I find that I am buying a little less then half...mostly books used more than 1 or 2 weeks or books the library doesn't have but I thought a book would round out our studies. I already own Story of the world and Streams of civilizations, I am using those as spines...we love listening to SOW on audio. We just started out with TOG this year, so far I am buying books one unit at a time- to see how I do and to spread the cost out. I try to remind myself that we don't need to read all the books covered...for instance when we covered Jewish OT customs, I settled on one book suggested for all levels and resisted ordering others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paisley Hedgehog Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 I used TOG a few years back and used the library, but I didn't like not having the exact book recomemnded and I am not good at pulling stuff together, so this time around I bought all the books. I figure we will go through each level a few more times so it is worth it to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 Just curious, do most of you TOG users make the plunge and buy all the books or try getting most from your library. I can see where owning them would make things much easier but I guess cost is a factor. Thanks, Shannon I buy them and a lot of them used. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaMinNC Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 If there is a little more room in the budget for next year, I may buy a few. But there probably won't be with the price increase of TOG and with some other curricula stuff we need. So, I will probably continue to get books from the library. I do/will buy if I find books at yard sales or the used book store, but I just can't afford to buy the books in addition to the year plan right now. I have a GREAT library system though. I can reserve books from any branch of our city's library and have them all sent to the branch that I prefer to visit. I pick them up and return them there. I renew online. My library has a ton of books available, so if the exact TOG book isn't there, it's easy to find something to substitute. I don't worry at all about this at this point because dd is 6 and is going to revisit this same year plan 2 more times before graduating. I don't know if I could use TOG on our tight budget if my library were not as good as it is. Right now I am investing in the year plans. When we hit the ancients again, dd will be in 5th, ds will be in 1st and I will own all the year plans. So then I can start spending that money on books. God willing. HTH, Melissa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melora in NC Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 I'm getting ready to use TOG Yr 1 with a (then) 5th grader & 1st grader next year, and we are buying only what I can't find at the library. Our library system is small, so in many cases I am simply looking for something Similar to the suggested titles. I purchased things that aren't available through the library and which are used pretty heavily. Even doing it this way, the program is expensive, by our standards, but I am really looking forward to beginning to use it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.