blessed2fosteradopt Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Would you buy the full AC1 program (or any full program) if 75% of the books and readers were available through your local library or inter-library loan (which is free). All I would need is the TT and a handful of books and the guide. On the other hand, I do struggle to get out some times b/c I have (2) two year olds and chaos abounds. I do have a hubby, however, that could help out with this. What is the longest any one particular book is used for? I can have a book out for 5 weeks at a time. Would this be long enough? I am just trying to save wherever I can. I am looking at other curricula for other subjects and it is amazing how expensive it is getting. Any thoughts? Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Frankweiler Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Hello, We're doing AS1 next year and my plan is to buy the IG and the history books from WP and Amazon. The "adventure reading" books we will get from the library, since I know those will only be used for short period of time (<6 weeks) while the history books may be used throughout the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Would you buy the full AC1 program (or any full program) if 75% of the books and readers were available through your local library or inter-library loan (which is free). All I would need is the TT and a handful of books and the guide. No, I didn't. I just bought the exclusives and a few odds and ends for AW and S&S from WP. Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Lisa, That might work. Here I only get 2 weeks and the staff is difficult to deal with. Half bend the rules and half don't, so you never know what you are going to get and my fines can quickly out weigh any benefits. With 5 weeks you might be able to make it work. Though it sill might be easier just to buy the books, if you can afford it. If you can't afford it, by all means use the Library. You can also use more generic lapbooking pages if needed. Hold That Thought has some that I used. You can make as many copies as you need too. Because I was doing two WP programs (AW and AS 1) with 4 kids, plus the Native American add on that also has it's own pages, I would have had over $100 in notebooking pages alone. HTT worked fine here. Hope you find a good solution! Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowWhite Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Personally, I have been buying the whole programs (even when I could find the books at the library) because I am TERRIBLE about making timely library visits. But that's just me. I think you have to *know yourself* and make your decision that way. Keep in mind you could buy some of your books from half.com and then resell them the same way when finished. On the other hand, if you buy the partial program and then find that you don't do well with the library plan, you could STILL get the remaining books from half.com. Siloam's suggestion about notebooking will work with other programs, but not AC1, because the Time Travelers is an all inclusive purchase: Spine, Activities, and Notebooking/Lapbooking all in one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blessed2fosteradopt Posted February 22, 2009 Author Share Posted February 22, 2009 Well, Jennifer, thanks for that gentle nudge. It sounds like I am much like you when it comes to the library. That is my concern. By the time I end up paying the fees I will surely incur, I probably will have been able to buy the program twice. :) I will talk to DH about it. He would probably be willing to help out. I will also look at half.com as an option. Thanks to all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Siloam's suggestion about notebooking will work with other programs, but not AC1, because the Time Travelers is an all inclusive purchase: Spine, Activities, and Notebooking/Lapbooking all in one. Good to know! They changed it so much that what I know doesn't apply! :001_huh: Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowWhite Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 It's not so much a change, Heather, American Crossing is a new release program for 2008-09 (grades 4-8, with a high school supplement available). It uses Homeschool in the Woods Time Travelers as its spine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 You don't want to buy the full core right now, because some of the books have gone out of print, making it impossible for them to fulfill timely and without substitutions. Instead, buy the IG, the TT set (4 cd's with printed text) and the student pack. I know that looks expensive, but don't even CONSIDER printing all that stuff yourself! You'll drive yourself insane and defeat the whole purpose of making your life better with 2 yo's. I bought AC to make my life easy with the new baby, and having all that stuff preprinted makes it SO easy to implement. On the WP boards I've been describing our progress, how I set up our notebooks, etc. And if you do that, I think you'll have enough energy to use the library, no problem. If you try to print all those pages *and* use the library *and* keep up with 2 yo's, well you're more woman than I am. ;) As far as the books, they were easy for me to track down. What I usually do is open two windows, one with amazon and the other with http://www.bookfinder.com Bookfinder is a search engine that searches all the usual places (alibris, half.com, etc.). That way I could tell whether the book was a better value used, new, on the amazon marketplace, whatever. I didn't keep track of what I spent, but I think I spent enough less, buying them used, to at least balance out the cost of the IG. That way I had all the books specified in the IG, not replacements for oop. That was important to me, but I know some people are more flexible. If you look at the IG samples for AC (one week on their website and another shown in the catalog), you'll see the Bobbie Kalman informational books are used, reading a bit each day, parallel to the TT text readings. The historical fiction spines are your read alouds and you just read a chapter a day, not really connected to anything. Some of the historical fiction books do take about 5 weeks, and they may or may not be at your library, don't know. If they aren't, you could place an order periodically to amazon and just order the next 3 books or something. That way you're spreading out your cost. WP AC is such a delight for us and so easy to implement. Just make it easy on yourself and buy the preprinted stuff to get the full benefit. I'd rather have the stuff preprinted and use the library for books than the opposite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 You can buy the whole thing used and then sell the whole thing used and it will probably cost you less than gas and library fees. Even if you buy it new, if you are willing to wait a while until it sells, it looks like people are getting 70% of what they paid for it. Interlibrary loans don't work very well. I needed some books on Egypt and all three were at the same library 20 minutes away. They ordered them from 2 different places and it took 3 weeks to get them all at different times. I plan to just buy the program. By the time I buy the books that my library does not have, pay library fees, and buy the WP exclusives, I don't think it will really save that much. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 It's not so much a change, Heather, American Crossing is a new release program for 2008-09 (grades 4-8, with a high school supplement available). It uses Homeschool in the Woods Time Travelers as its spine. Actually I do know that, I was confused though. :D I thought the Early American Trades and Crafts pack was the same as the Time Travelers pack. Thanks for clarifying! Details, details....:001_huh: Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blessed2fosteradopt Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 You don't want to buy the full core right now, because some of the books have gone out of print, making it impossible for them to fulfill timely and without substitutions. Are you suggesting that I can buy the IG now? Because some of the books going out of print, you don't suppose they will make substitutions and/or changes to the IG, do you? Also, does any one know if there is an impending price hike? I really want to get a jump on things for next year. This has been our first year homeschooling and I have noticed that because I have not previewed all my curricula thoroughly, it seems I am always wasting precious time during lessons. I would love to purchase the IG and TT now if possible. What do you all think?? Thank you again for everything. My 2 yo's have me in a tailspin so if I seem somewhat incoherent with some of my questions, please forgive me! Blessings, Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 PPSSST: I have seen the entire AC 1 program on the for sale boards regularly. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowWhite Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Yes, they will likely change the schedule to accommodate the replacement books. That is their usual method of re-releasing programs when a book goes OOP. There is no way of knowing about price changes. I can tell you that it is unlikely the price of their instructor guide will change much. The new catalog comes out in March. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Lisa, can you try a trial run? Set up a regular library visit, or pick up by your DH, and try it for a couple of months to see if it works. If after the month you've gotten and sent back all of the books as planned, go ahead and buy just the IG and spine books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 The new catalog comes out in March. May I hijack? Are we expecting any new programs this year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Lisa, sorry, I just assumed you were wanting to buy and start NOW. If you don't need it till later, then that's your choice whether to wait for the new IG and buy the core whole from them or order now and piecemeal. I don't think you need preread AC so much as you need time to get it set up. Just being honest, it took me 6 hours to get the notebooks set up! It's like a jet taking off, where you have so much time to get up and going, but once you're going, it's SMOOTH SAILING! Others would know what the track record is with WP and whether that new, updated IG would be available as soon as you want in order to buy the whole core from them. I'm just saying if you want it before then and are buying the current IG (which is perfectly fine), then buy the books yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 They have hinted about a new World History in a year program, but I don't know if it will be in this coming catalog. They will have the new AS2 with the new AC2 from what I understand. I am hoping for another science program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowWhite Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 May I hijack? Are we expecting any new programs this year? The only one that has "leaked" is American Cultures, which is the second half of Amer history for grades 4-8, after American Crossing. (and was mostly expected). Then Don said, "That will be the New American Story 2" when I told him how I would be spending my discounted gift certificates last December, so that program is being revamped (again mostly expected). Last year though, Hideaways was a total surprise with zero leaks. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there's something else released as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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