TengoFive Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I am typing in all of the book recommendations from the SOTW activity guides along with which of my library has them. I just need everything on one list to carry with me to the library, second hand store, etc. I really wish they would put it all in one place in the AG. They could keep everything the way it is now, just add the title, author, and chapter to a simple list. I'm halfway through Book 3. Only 1 and half more books to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Okay, I'll bite. Yes I think you are insane ;). I try to remember that the list in the book, isn't the be all end all of book lists. In fact I find if I just look around my library between the ones they have and others not on the list, there are more then enough good books available (and we are on our third library). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmy Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I do something similar - but keep it mainly electronically. I go through the AG before we start and add every book in it to my amazon wishlist (I have separate wish lists for science, history, etc). I also cross reference the books lists at Sonlight, Ambleside Online, and Winterpromise to see if they have other choices I want to consider. Then I go through the wishlist on Amazon and look at each book and determine it's priority - then choose with ones to buy at the 4 - for - 3 deal, and which ones to buy used (I find a lot of OOP SOTW book recs on amazon used), which ones will be big picture book favorites (we tend to buy those in hardback) and then make a list of which ones to get at the library. It works really well for me! So, yep, I'll come sit in the crazy corner with you. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I do something similar - but keep it mainly electronically. I go through the AG before we start and add every book in it to my amazon wishlist (I have separate wish lists for science, history, etc). I also cross reference the books lists at Sonlight, Ambleside Online, and Winterpromise to see if they have other choices I want to consider. Then I go through the wishlist on Amazon and look at each book and determine it's priority - then choose with ones to buy at the 4 - for - 3 deal, and which ones to buy used (I find a lot of OOP SOTW book recs on amazon used), which ones will be big picture book favorites (we tend to buy those in hardback) and then make a list of which ones to get at the library. It works really well for me! So, yep, I'll come sit in the crazy corner with you. :) Emmy - can you give an approximate, ball-park, I'm not going to hold you to it cost of what additional books cost? I didn't even realize people bought the books I just thought everyone went to the library. Just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Can you e-mail it to me when you're done? I promise I have bought the books. I'll send you a picture of myself with them to prove it (if I have to). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I think that's a great idea. If any of you wouldn't mind sharing, please PM me for my email address. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmy Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Emmy - can you give an approximate, ball-park, I'm not going to hold you to it cost of what additional books cost? I didn't even realize people bought the books I just thought everyone went to the library. Just curious. I want to preface my answer by saying.....we don't buy a "core" from sonlight or the like. Instead we use SOTW and buy an equivalent dollar amount of books - I figure that way, instead of spending a portion of that sum on teachers manuals and such, we just get more books. So with that I'll gulp and admit it's about $300ish - so about what I'd spend on a "core" from someone. I really really like owning the books and the kids go back and read them/ look at the pictures all the time. It's not uncommon for us to tell the kids to pick 2-3 books and go look at them in bed before lights out - and most of the time they are picking the school books to enjoy again. I'm sure when we get to the next stage and it's not so many picture books I won't need to spend as much (and they probably won't take them to bed with them - ha!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I'm sure when we get to the next stage and it's not so many picture books I won't need to spend as much (and they probably won't take them to bed with them - ha!) I do the same thing, Emmy, with the Amazon lists. I also figured that when the kids were older I'd not need to spend as much. I was wrong. I want hardcovers of all those classics because I'm going to be studying them all year x4. I also needed study guides to each book. I was shocked when I looked at the total. It was at least as expensive as a year of SOTW stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I do something similar - but keep it mainly electronically. I go through the AG before we start and add every book in it to my amazon wishlist (I have separate wish lists for science, history, etc). I also cross reference the books lists at Sonlight, Ambleside Online, and Winterpromise to see if they have other choices I want to consider. Then I go through the wishlist on Amazon and look at each book and determine it's priority - then choose with ones to buy at the 4 - for - 3 deal, and which ones to buy used (I find a lot of OOP SOTW book recs on amazon used), which ones will be big picture book favorites (we tend to buy those in hardback) and then make a list of which ones to get at the library. It works really well for me! So, yep, I'll come sit in the crazy corner with you. :) I did the same thing! :001_smile: I'm going to use SOTW 2 instead of SL core 2 in the fall so I've been organizing my Amazon wishlist. I've been spoiled by SL and prefer to own the books and not have to keep track of too many library books, plus my kids will read a lot of them on their own. I found it to be around $350 but that didn't phase me since SL core 2 would have been around $400 with the advanced readers package. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shasta Mom Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I haven't bought one! I do use my library all the time. WHat helps me is the use of an interlibrary database, so I don't have to check different libraries for the books. You might ask at your library about an ILL loan. Also, I just compile my list about every 2 weeks - so it isn't too bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmy Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I do the same thing, Emmy, with the Amazon lists. I also figured that when the kids were older I'd not need to spend as much. I was wrong. I want hardcovers of all those classics because I'm going to be studying them all year x4. I also needed study guides to each book. I was shocked when I looked at the total. It was at least as expensive as a year of SOTW stuff. oh dear! I'll have to break the news to my dh now LOL, I assured him it wouldn't be so costly down the road (although he doesn't mind too much - he sees how much use we get out of these books). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ELaurie Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I write in the Dewey decimal system numbers in the margin as I look them up, which also serves as a note about which books our library has. Sometimes I get really organized and look them up in advance :tongue_smilie: Even when I can't find most of the books, I can usually find a number of others that look very good. I always bring home more books than we actually need, and feel like I cover things pretty adequately for a 1st and 3rd grader. I generally buy only those books that I know we will refer to more than once; reference books, history and science encyclopedias, art books, books with wonderful illustrations, favorite literature or poetry. Otherwise, I rely on the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I want to preface my answer by saying.....we don't buy a "core" from sonlight or the like. Instead we use SOTW and buy an equivalent dollar amount of books - I figure that way, instead of spending a portion of that sum on teachers manuals and such, we just get more books. So with that I'll gulp and admit it's about $300ish - so about what I'd spend on a "core" from someone. I really really like owning the books and the kids go back and read them/ look at the pictures all the time. It's not uncommon for us to tell the kids to pick 2-3 books and go look at them in bed before lights out - and most of the time they are picking the school books to enjoy again. I'm sure when we get to the next stage and it's not so many picture books I won't need to spend as much (and they probably won't take them to bed with them - ha!) Thanks. I'm thinking of using the SOTW as my "core", so I was just curious what a good lot of books to go with them are. I am just loving all these grammar stage books that I keep seeing, so I am sure we'll want to buy a bunch of them, too! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macrina Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I haven't bought one! I do use my library all the time. WHat helps me is the use of an interlibrary database, so I don't have to check different libraries for the books. You might ask at your library about an ILL loan. Also, I just compile my list about every 2 weeks - so it isn't too bad. This is me. I save my hs/book money for encyclopedias, LOTS of fiction/literature (about 400 so far in the K-12 range), math "toys", field trips, etc. I get 97% of non fiction from the library, including all SOTW stuff. I do invest in things like nature handbooks and the like for our shelve. Also dd loves the "you wouldn't want to be..." series and similar and I purchases one of those every now and again. But fiction is the priority with my book money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I did the same thing with WP AS 1. Searched all the libraries near by and put which one has them on my list. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I tried to get them to do a fold-up, laminated list several years ago.... I have now seen one place that offers something like this (at convention last year). Maybe I'll do it myself one fine day..... I do type up my yearly list of books by week and then I have that when I'm ready to order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I do that but only 1 book at a time. Right now I am making my list for SOTW vol 2. I like having the list handy as I start hitting the used curriculum fairs, used bookstores and the big book sales in the next couple of months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Oh yes! I wanted this list too, because I entered so many of them into my wishlist on Paperbackswap.com. It would have helped me so much to have all the titles in one place. I didn't order them all on PBS.com, and I know there are lots of other great books out there, but I do like to have one or two for each section on hand, in case we never make it to the library or the hold books don't come in in time. I even asked about it here, but no one had done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
platosacademy Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 What I do with my son is have him read SOTW. When he finishes a chapter, he puts a check mark next to any of the books on the list that he's interested in reading. Then, I get them from the library or request them through interlibrary loan. Library day is like a birthday party around here. Because he chose the books from the list, he gets VERY excited, and wants to read them the second we get home with them...our library lets us have 100 books out at a time, and 10 out from interlibrary loan. Let's just say the librarian has dropped his mouth a few times when he's overridden the book limits. We picked up 48 SOTW books from the library Tuesday (we are heavy readers around here) and 24 of them are ready to go back to the library two days later. We do weekly library trips. We have a very very tight budget - so buying the books aren't an option for us. Books he's particularly liked get put on a "Wishlist" for birthdays... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mariposa Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I actually typed them all up last year in an excel spreadsheet to have them all in one place (and I checked to see if our library had them or not too). Easier for me than carting the book around and flipping through the chapters! Now I'm moving on to vol. 2 for next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCoppock Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Can you e-mail it to me when you're done? I promise I have bought the books. I'll send you a picture of myself with them to prove it (if I have to). I would like a copy too and am willing to strike a pose with my books to prove I purchased them.:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabanana1992 Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Oh my - please share! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyco Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 For the SOTW activity guides, I go online and see which our library system has...and it's a really big system. I don't usually buy any books recommended in the AG...but books recommended in WTM, that's a different story. I pretty much do the same thing. I cross-check with the Veritas Press catalogue and Sonlight readers, look everything up on Amazon, then decide which to buy new, used, etc. Now, as we re-use the AG for my second child, I can look at the notes I made and I'll know which books our system has and will save a little time by only requesting those. I had some idea that I would go back over the AGs again and choose the books recommended for older children for my first child, but that hasn't happened yet. This year we started with the ancients again, and I have been buying more books because we'll study them more in depth and use them at least twice. The only problem is that sometimes I end up with two copies of a book or three different versions of the Odyssey...or I'll request a book from the library and my children will tell me, "We have that book, mom!" Maybe I should keep a better inventory? Really, though, this book hunt is fun for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TengoFive Posted February 14, 2009 Author Share Posted February 14, 2009 I went through Book Two and purchased the books I saw used several times. Heroines, Heroes, and a few others. The others I just get from the library unless I see it at a used book sale or thrift store (which is why I need a list in one place). A lot of times I'll see a book at the sale and think, "Hmm, that sounds familiar. I wonder if its a recommended book." This list is going to make my life so much easier! I think I may even start using my pda again, just to have this list on there. LOL. FWIW I put it in Excel form with the following headings: Title, Author, library or have, Book #, Chapter #, F/NF, and extra notes (usually secondary library or audio/video) I would send it along to those who've requested it, but in the front of the AG it specifically addresses that. So, unless I get permission to do so, it will remain solely on my computer.:blush: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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