Posts Tagged ‘used books’
One for all! Books that is.
Recently I just read about a charity that is helping to supply books to homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters etc in order to give the kids there something to read. Imagine the gift these books will be to allow kids to soar away with their imagination and leave behind the cruel world around them.
“I met a child who loved to read but didn’t own a book. I found a lot more like her when I took a closer look.
I rallied troops to help me and we sought books by the heap. And now we find the kids in need and give them books for keeps!”
This is the motto for Books for Keeps which I think it is worth all of us adopting.
Another great way to help give books to others is through BookMooch. This is a book swap site in which you post books you wish to give thereby earning points. You can then use your earned points to choose books you would like to mooch from others. Your only cost is the shipping cost of the books that are mooched from you! I often have people ask if I have a certain book, and if I can find it on there for free I will pass it along to them!
Many local libraries also collect books near the holidays in order to give the gift of reading to those less fortunate. Books are such an integral part of learning, and learning is an important part of life. So giving the gift of reading, or even a used book, is necessary so that there is at least one book for all!
The environment and the issues surrounding it is a common topic today. It is important to teach children about the environment, about the threats to it and about how they can help.
Simply reducing, reusing and recycling can be the first steps to helping the environment. Lead by example: recycle used paper (make sure you use both sides), seperate your trash into recyclable, compostable and reusable (great sorting lesson for kids). Donate out-grown clothing to a thrift store or charity, pay attention to packaging when buying products. Getting your children involved in the choices and the actions will help them learn how important it is to do.
Use downloadable resources so you only need to print the pages you need. Use household items meant for the recycling bin for crafts and science experiments. Melt down old crayons to make new ones, use a blackboard to write notes rather than paper. Adopt some wildlife as a gift for someone or as part of your school lesson plan. We adopted a sea turtle, then learned all about it and tracked his movements in the ocean!
Just the effort of thinking about it, and making good choices can make a world of difference.
To help pass the lesson on read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, underneath all the rhyme and silliness there is a strong message!
Although the practice of teaching home-schooled kids can be a joy, tracking down books can be another story entirely. In public schools, the textbooks are often long out-of-date and torn to shreds, but at least they are provided free of charge. It’s not until college that most kids have to start worrying about paying grossly exorbitant prices for books. Home-schoolers have to provide their own study materials from the outset.
Parents of home-schooled kids like to get as much value for their money as possible; that way they can afford more materials for the next semester. Used homeschool books are considerably cheaper than new copies, and they are not defaced and marked up in the fashion of public school hand-me-downs. And since they are become the propety of the student, they don’t need to be turned back in at the end of a semester.
There are many advantages to homeschooling but one big disadvantage is paying for all the books, workbooks, resources and curriculum you need each year. Of course there are curriculum companies that can sell you the entire lessons for that grade, but what if you have multiple grade levels and what about next year?
Your best method of building up your homeschool library that can benefit lessons in every level is to start early. Scour the shelves of used book stores. Dive into boxes of books at garage sales. Check out homeschool exchange sites. Locate other homeschoolers that might be finished with that year. Plan ahead and you can keep your homeschool resources within your budget.