North Aurora Library Used book sale

books

This isn’t specific to homeschoolers, but most of us have more books that we need, but still not as many as we think we need.

If you feel this way, you might find some interesting books at the Messenger Public Library in North Aurora.

This is just about to wrap up for today, but will be open again tomorrow, August 1 from 9-3.

Check out their website for all the details and directions.

Subscribe to The Old Schoolhouse magazine and enjoy some amazing freebies!

About six months ago I got a subscription to The Old Schoolhouse magazine when they had some outrageous deal going on, and I have not regretted it since.

Along with the magazine I receive a fresh dose of homeschool inspiration covering a variety of topics, both practical and theoretical to give my homeschool day the makeover it needs now and then. I appreciate the wisdom from veteran, and “retired”, homeschoolers. I soak up the tips and ideas for unit studies or handling a problem that I find myself wrestling with.

Each publication reminds me that I am normal. 🙂 And, it encourages me to know I don’t struggle alone through Algebra, spelling woes, and trying to somehow get all the housework done on top of it. It’s always good to know that many others walk this same path.

Well, if you could use some of that encouragement delivered to your mailbox, they have another pretty incredible deal going on right now.

They already had a sweet deal with 19 free gifts (scroll and click through that link to find out about all the goodies — from gifts cards to DVD classes) coming your way for the first 5,000 people to sign up for a two year subscription (fyi, at last count 1,000 people had already taken advantage of this deal). Now, you can get an extra $5 off using this code: ELSGL5OFF

It says their gifts can’t be combined with any other offers, but this offer was made specially to work with the subscription and gifts, just plug it in during check out for the extra $5 off. For $34 you can enjoy all the free gifts plus a two-year subscription to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Just make sure you enter that code when you check out to get your extra $5 off. And, share that code around with anyone you want to. That code can be used by anyone (in the US) and everyone to enjoy this deal and all these great free gifts (until they run out, of course).

I know you won’t be disappointed in the quality of their magazine, and the meaty content it brings with it. It has been a great encouragement to me, and I wanted to share my enthusiasm with you.

Christopher Columbus’ boats spotted!

The Niña

This taken from an article in a local paper:

Replicas of two of Christopher Columbus’ ships are scheduled to spend nearly a week at Waukegan Harbor beginning July 29.

The “Pinta” and the “Nina” will be docked next to the Waukegan Yacht Club until their departure early Aug. 3. They will be open for viewing for a charge.

Both ships will be touring together as a new and enhanced “sailing museum” for the purpose of educating the public and school children on the ships used by Columbus and many early explorers to discover the world.

While in port, the public is invited to visit the ships for walk-aboard self-guided tours. The prices are $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and $5 for children. Children 4 and under are free. The ships will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. No reservations necessary.

Teachers or groups wishing to schedule a 30-minute guided tour with a crew member should call the ship directly at (787) 672-2152. Minimum of 15 and the cost is $3 per person. Visit the Web site at www.thenina.com for additional information.

Sounds like a great educational activity! To prepare for your trip here are some links on Christopher Columbus:

Happy Exploring!

CHAMPs orientation meeting

As we race toward the start of school, don’t forget to consider how co-ops may play a part in your homeschooling. The Chicago area offers an abundance of classes and support group for you to plug into. Check out the tabs at the top of this site for many options. Many of these host get-acquainted opportunities this time of year. As we become aware of them, we will post them here.

CHAMPs homeschool co-op is having a parent and teacher orientation night

When: Monday, Aug 3 from 7-9 

Where: Mount Prospect Bible Church, 505 W Golf Rd, Mt Prospect (just west of Rt 83, south side of street)

You can view the CHAMP’s website for information on classes and schedules.   If you would like to meet the teachers and ask about classes or the co-op program, please come join them on August 3. 
-Cheryl Seda

Crusaders Homeschool Sports

 

Now is the time for fall sports to start picking up speed.

Based in Big Rock, Crusaders have a number of sports available to homeschoolers including basketball, soccer, volleyball, track and a PE class.

See their website (Crossroads Youth Center) for additional information or to register your child(ren) for some fall activities.

Free E-books and reader

Barnes & Noble.com

Barnes and Noble has a free ebook reader available right now. Also, when you download it and create an account you also get six free ebooks including Little Women and Pride and Prejudice.

Just looking over the E-Reader quickly, I am excited about using this tool to read and organize the many ebooks that I have come to acquire. The program gives you a way to organize your books on various “bookshelves” and while reading you may jump to certain pages and chapters as you desire. Also, you can take notes as you read for future reference.

For free, there is not much to complain about in this handy device which you can download to your phone or computer. And, since Little Women was on our list to read this year, that comes as an added bonus.

Homeschool Showcase

Another great edition of Homeschool Showcase is up over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. As we gear up for another school year, check out some of the great posts for ideas to get your school year off with a bang.

One post that I noted includes 100 links to sites where you can buy, sell, trade, and even write books. So, if you are looking to expand (or clear out) your book inventory, you’ll want to check that out.

There’s lots more to enjoy so be sure to meander through the links.

Curriculum plans

Looking for some curriculum ideas for the upcoming school year?

Need some inspiration to get started (or finished) on your planning?

Kris over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers hosted a great weekly wrap up that included a number of people sharing their curriculum plans for the year ahead. Many of the posts include links to helpful websites and lots of fleshed out plans for a variety of ages and homeschooling styles.

Feel free to check it out, and be prepared to spend some serious time following the links, so much great stuff there!

And, if you are interested, here are some of our plans for the upcoming school year, over at my blog Delighting in His Richness.

More cheap school supplies

Office Max has crayons for a penny!

Yep, just one cent and you can get yourself a pack of 24 crayons.

Also, scissors for 20 cents.

And, for 25 cents you can get a pack of erasers and pencil grips. These deals are good all week.

CVS

More Free after Extra bucks items (Only through TUESDAY):

100 Sheet Composition Notebook
99 cents, and comes with a 99 cent extra buck reward

Tot stapler or sticky notes
99 cents, and comes with a 99 cent extra buck reward

Easy Touch pen 2 pack
99 cents, and comes with a 99 cent extra buck reward

Quarter deals:

  • 4 oz. Elmer’s Glue
  • Manual Pencil sharpeners
  • Pencil top erasers (12 pack)
  • 5 pack mechanical pencils
  • 100 lined index cards
  • pencil case

That’s the only deals I see this week, but I’m sure we’ll see more again next week.

Stocking up? Or, are you still in denial? It is almost August, ya’ know. 🙂

Downloadable E-book on Creation

Came across this at Five J’s blog.

If you are looking for some information to supplement your science lessons, or to stimulate your own thinking on the topic of Creation vs. Evolution here is what you can expect to find in these pages:

This book describes Dr. Martin’s personal journey from an evolution-trained scientist to a Bible-believing creationist. Dr. Martin examines many of the claims and theories of prominent evolutionists, comparing their often incredible, inconsistent, pseudo-scientific explanations of origins to the clear and simple description of the Creation as depicted in the Bible.

This book is available for a free ebook download, or for purchase of a paperback book.