The Home School Foundation Art Auction

The Homeschool Legal Defense Association has a companion organization that comes along side homeschool families during crises and times of unusual financial need. These families might be faced with that unfathomable decision: to provide for the basic needs of their family members, or to continue homeschooling. The Home School Foundation seeks to help families to meet their financial needs and still continue homeschooling.

Right now, HSLDA is using art work from last year’s art contest as a fundraiser for the Home School Foundation. The young artists have donated their work for an auction with the proceeds going to benefit home school families in need.

Never Let Me Go

The following came via email from HSLDA:

Contributions to the Homeschool Foundation for the artwork are tax deductible and will go to support the  Special Needs fund.

The auctions end on December 31st, 2009 at 5pm EST.

To view the art and participate, visit:

http://hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=7384

If you have any questions, please contact us at: contests@hslda.org

I would encourage you to take some time to view the pieces available for auction, you just might find one that would look great on your living room or home school room wall, and in the process help a home school family in need.

Black Friday Sales

Department and electronics stores aren’t the only ones with amazing deals this week.

If you find yourself with some extra money in your budget, or relatives asking what you would like for Christmas, or maybe you just want something a little educational to give your kids this Christmas season . . . you will want to check out the amazing sales taking place at various homeschool vendors.

I’m sure to miss some, but here are a few of the deals that I have come across recently:

First, a freebie from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine — a holiday planning guide. Free to download!

If you do some shopping in their store and spend more than $50 you also receive over $300 in bonus gifts for free. They have additional bonuses if your total increases. Check out their 4th annual Black Friday Special for details.

CurrClick always has great freebies everyweek, and this week they will also have a Black Friday giveaway. Be sure to check out their website during the day this Friday, November 27th. They are sure to have some great stuff both at great prices and free for the taking.

Notebookingpages.com also promises to have some great deals in honor of Black Friday. They will offer 35% off most of their products starting November 24 and continuing through the 30th. While at their site, make sure to check out their freebies also. Great inspiration that will cost you nothing.

Hands of a Child also has deals, especially for the Super Members. They have extended this, and I just got this email:

You’re in luck because we’ve extended the sale for everyone staring November 26th through midnight on November 29th (EST Zone)

All Project Packs in any format are 35% off

Everthing else on our site is 20% off

Visit our website at www.HandsofaChild.com to shop starting on November 26th!

Code: BlackFriday

Be sure to hit apply to see the discount in your cart during step 4 of checkout.

And, don’t forget the Scholastic Sale right here in the Chicago area.

Scholastic Warehouse

Great deals abound at the Scholastic Warehouse sales!
Great deals abound at the Scholastic Warehouse sales!

These sales can be more a temptation than a blessing at times, but we have found some great finds at the Scholastic Warehouse sales, and with Christmas around the corner, you just might be in the market for some gifts.

Check out their website for locations and hours. They have a number of them around the greater Chicago area, and chances are you might find one within driving distance for you.

Also, make sure to take advantage of registering online. Then you will receive a coupon good for an additional $10 off your purchase of $50-$100. From experience, it is pretty easy to hit that $50. Not because their items are expensive, but because they have so much to choose from. You will come away with a nice stash of books and goodies for that amount of money.

Happy shopping!

Children’s Clothing and Toy Resale Season

You may already know, but as garage sale season winds down, a whole new type of sale begins to dot the landscape. The clothing resale.

I first learned about these sales over twelve years ago and have haunted them ever since.

Basically, children’s clothing and toy resales provide families a place to sell their outgrown items and buy other people’s outgrown items all in one place.

If you want more details about how to buy and sell successfully at these sales, I wrote about that a while back on my blog:

Buying from used clothing sales

Selling at used clothing sales

It may be too late in the game to jump in as a seller, but the buyers have lots of opportunities. Here are the ones that I know of so far (click on links for more details regarding locations and times):

September 12th — Dupage County Fairgrounds —Step by Step, Mothers and More, and Mothers of Multiples

September 11th and 12 — Batavia — Alice Gustafson School

September 12th — Lemont — Church of Nazarene

September 19th — Mooseheart (Thanks, Raelyn!)– Tri-City Mother of Twins and Triplets

September 26th — Kaneland — http://www.kaneland.org/d302/news/?id=967

September 25th and 26th — Geneva — Western Avenue School

September 26th — Elmhurst — Timothy Christian School

September 26 — Lilly Lake — Lily Lake School (THIS ONE WAS CANCELLED DUE TO LACK OF SELLERS!)

September 26 — Oak Park — Mothers of Multiples

September 26 — Round Lake Beach — Lake County Mother of Twins Club

Do you know of any that I missed? Please leave a comment with the location and times if you know so we can share this information around.

Office Max Teacher Appreciation event

We rely on Office Max for lots of little, and occasionally big, items throughout our homeschool year.

Here is an event I have enjoyed in recent years (important note: check your local store for dates. Some have held these already, and others may not be on this same day, call ahead to make check your local details) :

OfficeMax
Office Supplies Paper Technology Ink and Toner Furniture
IN-STORE EVENT - AUGUST 9 TEACHER APPRECIATION DAY
Receive a FREE Reusable Shopping Bag and get 15% off everything you can fit inside*
Find a Store
PLUS, Receive a Coupon to EARN 15% in MaxPerks® Bonus Rewards on any printer purchase. Present your MaxPerks ID card and the coupon in-store to earn 15% in Bonus Rewards. Coupon Valid August 9 thru August 15.

*Valid August 9, 2009. Offer available to MaxPerks® Rewards for Teachers members or new teacher member sign-ups only.
All merchandise must fit inside this bag to qualify for the 15% discount. 15% discount applies to all regular, sale and clearance priced items, before taxes. 15% discount offer not valid on purchases of computers, monitors, printers, gift certificates, OfficeMax brand gift cards, general-use prepaid cards, phone cards, MaxAssurance® or assembly. Merchandise must be in original packaging. Discount applies to in-stock items only. Discount may only be used once. Special orders are not eligible for the 15% discount. Not valid with any other coupon offer, Associate discount card(s) and/or Retail ConnectSM Card pricing. No price adjustments from previous ads will be made. One bag per customer. Valid in-store only. No rainchecks will be given for this 15% discount. Void if copied, sold, transferred, taxed or where prohibited. Not valid on prior purchases or for credit card payments. No cash or credit back. Cash value .001¢. © 2009 OMX, Inc.
In the event the store runs out of the reusable bags, a substitute bag will be provided for use with the 15% discount. See store associate for complete details and exclusions.

♦Offer valid for MaxPerks® Rewards for Teachers members or new teacher member sign-ups only. 15% Bonus Reward valid on any printer purchase. Bonus Reward offer is available from August 9, 2009 to August 15, 2009. Items, and related Bonus Rewards, are available while supplies last. Member’s MaxPerks ID card and coupon must be presented at time of purchase; no Bonus Reward adjustments will be made after purchase. Bonus Reward offer valid in-store only. For percentage based Bonus Reward, percentage of Bonus Rewards issued is based upon price actually paid by Member, as advertised price can be reduced by any applicable coupon or discount. Bonus Rewards will be issued in the next statement cycle. Bonus Rewards for these offers, along with any other Bonus Rewards a Member may have earned during the same period, will be issued in the form of a reward card redeemable toward future purchases. Reward card expires 90 days from date of issuance except for reward cards for FL Members, which expire 1 year from date of issuance.

Private in-store event is for personal use only. Excludes gift cards. We reserve the right to limit quantities. Commercial credit cannot be used for payment. No other coupons will be honored at this event. Delivery items included. Not responsible for printing or typographical errors. All amounts represented in this email are subject to change. OfficeMax®, officemax.com, OfficeMax Express®, OfficeMax ImPress® and FurnitureMax® are registered trademarks of OMX, Inc.

Notebooking pages sale

Walmart is not the only place for back to school specials. The homeschool community is also bursting at the seams with special deals for people looking to stock up on items needed for the year ahead. For just another couple days you can enjoy an incredible discount at NotebookingPages.com.

Here is the deal through Friday, August 7th, 2009:

Gearing up for next year? Have a big wish list? With so many homeschooling curriculums, resources, and books available, it’s tough to pick and choose the best for your family and it’s even more difficult to make it all fit your budget. We cut the busywork out of our days years ago with notebooking and put an end to the major spending as well.

Finish your year without regrets!
At the end of the school year, instead of looking at unfinished workbooks and curriculums with regret and guilt, we pull out our notebooks and look back with joy and satisfaction on all we learned. It’s amazing to watch the kids read back over their notebooks – such pride and enthusiasm for what they captured from their studies.

Now is a great time to get started!
Perhaps you are a seasoned notebooking family or maybe you’ve been waiting to finish your current course of study before giving notebooking a try.  Whatever the study, whatever the topic . . .now is a super time to start (or stock up) with one (or ALL!) of our sets because . . .

EVERYTHING in the store is 50% off!

**Use the discount code below during checkout to receive your savings**

Use 50% discount code = b2school09 during checkout!

Click Here to Visit Store

Right now she has an unreal sale — for just $50 you can get all the pages she has created (the list is huge! States, Latin, history, character, etc.)

Even if you don’t decide to take advantage of the deals she has to offer right now, you can check out her many free resources that she has made available. I have used a number of these over the years with my kids. Well done, and ready to use.

Book Sale!!!

Home School Textbook and Guided Reading Sale

When: Friday August 7th from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Where: 439 S. Liberty St. Elgin, IL 60120
What: Great bargains on individual and whole book sets including —

  • Houghton Mifflin,
  • Saxon
  • Purposeful Design
  • A Reason for…
  • Open Court
  • and more.

Plus guided reading sets to build your school library.

From K-12, new and used.

Cash only.

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.