Books – Page 5 – Chicagoland Homeschool Network

Used curriculum sale in Elk Grove

Big sale coming at the Beacon Homeschool Group.

They have over 20 different families selling their used curriculum. Loads of things to choose from for less than new cost!!!
Bring small bills to making paying easier. 5’s, 1’s, and quarters!!

When: Tuesday, April 27 7:00-9:00pm
Where : Elk Grove Village Public Library

Everyone is invited to come out and see the great finds!
For more details, check their website. www.beaconhomeschool.org

Beacon is a non-denominational Christian support group for parents who home educate their children. Their membership is open to any home schooling family for support. The goals of Beacon are to provide fellowship, encouragement, field trips, workshops, and resources for our members to benefit from.

Used curriculum sale in West Chicago

The following information came from the Homeschool University in West Chicago:

HomeSchool         University
Used         Book & Curriculum Sale

Where:

Community  Fellowship 

28W240 North Ave.

West Chicago
 
When:

Thursday, April        15th from 10:30am –        2pm

SHOPPERS: Planning         for next year? Looking for the books, curriculum and other  educational        resources you’ll need? Then don’t miss the HSU         Used Book & Curriculum Sale on April 15th!!           Admission is FREE! This is the PERFECT place to find what you need  at a        fraction of the cost of new materials! We sort the        books and provide lots of signs to help you find your way to those  special        items you’re looking for! Lots of categories to choose from…and  even        some FREE STUFF! Help us spread the        word!!!
Interested in a  homeschooling co-op for your        kids?
Come visit our  OPEN HOUSE Thursday, April 15th from        9am –    4pm

Scholastic Dollar Day Sale

This is located in Bloomingdale, and I have often found it a great source for fresh reading material for our at home classroom as well as little rewards for learning incentives. As usual, if you register in advance you can print out a coupon for money off if you spend over $60.

Read on for more details:

Please add BookFairs@emailer.scholastic.com to your address book.

Save BIG on Books During Our Dollar Days Sale!

•	Hundreds of GREAT BOOKS all $5 or less! (Sale applies to selected product only)
•	Register online and receive a coupon to save $10 OFF a purchase of $60-100, or $15 OFF a purchase greater than $100. (Enter source code: EMAIL)
•	Limited time only – Find great deals on quality books for home, school, and classroom libraries.
•	Dollar Days are exclusive sales for educators, librarians and Book Fair volunteers.
•	Preferred payment methods: Credit cards, checks, purchase orders, and Scholastic Dollars. Items purchased with Scholastic Dollars do not qualify for further discount pricing and will sell at the cover price.

> Find a Sale Near You
(Enter Source Code: EMAIL)

Visit Scholastic.com Book Fairs | Find a Warehouse Sale | Contact Us

Giveaway!

What better way to enjoy this snowy day than with a giveaway of a wonderful brand-new (not even in the stores yet) book?

A few days ago I received a package in the mail with a children’s picture book on prayer. This book is not for me to keep, it is just for one of you! The author contacted me and graciously offered a book to giveaway to one of my readers.

To see more images or to pre-order this book to be released on February 16, check out Anthony DeStefano’s website.

This is a beautiful book that helps teach children about prayer by walking them through a child’s prayer. Anthony DeStefano along with illustrator Mark Elliott have created a pictorial and linguistic image of praying to God with humility, thankfulness, and requests.

There an abundance of good picture books to read with your kids, but not enough of them contain a spiritual message that we would like to pass along to them. This book is a great addition to your home bookshelves.

Of course, it also caught my eye and my kids noticed that the picture hanging on the wall is Raphael’s Sistene Madonna that we were just studying in history. Nice when learning crosses real life . . .

Anyway, if you would like to enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post. And you can earn an extra entry by sharing about this giveaway with some of your friends. Either blog, tweet, post, or email about this giveaway somewhere, and come back and leave a second comment saying you did so and you will receive a second entry.

You want another entry? Well, because I appreciate all my fans and subscribers so much, if you are a fan on Facebook or a subscriber to this site leave another comment for yet another entry. Not yet a fan? No problem, become one, and then leave a comment.

That’s a total of three possible entries (one just for telling me you are reading this, one for telling others about it, and one for subscribing or being a fan).

The contest will continue through Friday, February 19, at 11:00 p.m.

Even if you don’t win you can order this online from Amazon or other websites, or keep your eye out for it in your local bookstore as well.

Used Book Sale Season is Coming!

One of the larger homeschool book sales in the Chicago area is set for May 1. These sales offer a great place to pick up gently used curriculum at a fraction of the price of buying new. Also, they welcome sellers, so start clearing out all those books you do not need and make room for the next year’s needs. Mark your calendars now!

Date:      Saturday, May 1, 2010

Time:      8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Location:      Christian Liberty Academy

502 W. Euclid Avenue

Arlington Heights, IL 60004

(847) 259-4444

Free Admissions!

Come, join home school and Christian school parents from throughout northern Illinois as they gather to buy and sell their new and used educational materials and school books. This event offers a wide variety of books at bargain prices, and an opportunity to sell or trade your used school materials. A limited number of display tables will be available free of charge; you are also welcome to bring your own tables. Set up starts at 7:30.

Christian Liberty Press will be selling new CLP-published books at 25% discount. New books from other publishers will also be available for purchase.

The Christian Liberty Academy music department will also have a bake sale to raise funds for their mission trip.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact:

Lina King
Conventions Coordinator
Christian Liberty Press
Christian Liberty Academy School System
502 W. Euclid Avenue
Arlington Heights, IL 60004
(847) 385-2057

Books, books, and more books

Got enough books to open a small library?

Finding you could probably do without a few?

Looking for a good home for some of your excess books?

The military is actually looking for a few good books.

Find out more about this program at the Books for Soldiers website.

As eager as you may be to pass along some great reads,

there are some guidelines (posted on their site as well) to keep in mind:

Try to keep your package the size of a shoe box or similar. When we send out a box, we use FLAT RATE BOXES that the US Postal Service offers. It is a very good deal – you can cram as much as you can in the box and shipping is a flat $8.10. Also, the boxes are FREE from the US Post Office.

Large packages over 25 pounds probably will not get through or be greatly delayed.

Include a note to the recipient. Tell them about your support of them and your hopes of a safe return. If you are sending to the unit in general, explain that these books are a gift to the whole unit and to give them to someone else once they are finished.

It is also good to send a small care package of useful items along with your book. Click here for a recommended list.

Include your return address. Packages with no valid return address will be considered a suspicious package and likely to be destroyed according to the Defense Department.

Any book is better than nothing, but if you have the choice, please send the paperback version because it is smaller, lighter, and easier to carry.

Obviously, they want mostly books geared toward adults, not children, but since most homeschoolers are bookaholics all around, you probably have your share of those to spare as well. There is a bit of a process to go through to actually send your books, but if you want to encourage a soldier this holiday season, a little effort on your part could go a long way.

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.

Looking for Phonics tutoring for your child?

Betty Davis, published author of How Jill Learned to Read Using Phonics and educator for more than ten years is offering resources and classes to children aged four through twelve in reading and writing. You may check out her website at Funn with Phonics Tutoring.

She has designed this program that walk children through three main levels of reading mastery.

From her website
Level 1:

Students will clap , march, and sing as they learn the sounds of the alphabet. Art and other forms of media is used to support the phonics concept that is being taught that week. Each week students’ are taught a new word family that is associated with a particular short vowel.

Level 2 and 3:

For students who are familiar with the word families associated with level one, level 2 focus on learning blends, while level three focuses on long vowels, digraphs, and diphthongs.

Based in McHenry County, Betty is available to meet at public libraries throughout the Northwest Suburbs.

For more information, feel free to contact her by email at: readingbooks52@comcast.net

Or see her website: http://www.funwithphonicstutoring.net/

Scholastic Warehouse

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!

TOS Crew Review — Mystery of History 3

A couple years ago I heard about a history text that caught my attention. It focused on not just the important events and people of history, but God’s working through it all, and from a biblical perspective. I kept an eye out for it at used book sales (my main avenue for accumulating new curriculum), but it never reared its cover.

No wonder. I have no desire to let go of this book either, and will move Volumes I and II closer to the top of my “Buy for homeschool” list.

It brings us all together to study one history, from the kindergartener to the middle schooler. I love things we do all together, and the kids learn even more from each other, even their younger siblings.

Product: Mystery of History Vol. 3 student reader and companion guide
Details: This full color history text offers 84 lessons beginning in the Renaissance and ending in early American history.
Price: $59.95 for the text and $29.95 for the CD of the companion guide (various packages available on their site as well)

What we loved . . .

Scriptural basis. The book clearly looks at history and historical figures from a Christian viewpoint. The title tells it all, history is His story.
Adaptable for a variety of ages. Although a bit above me four year old, my five year old will listen along and grasp the basics of what we have read and discussed. Activities are varied for the different ages as well.
Related activity ideas. Some projects get a little involved, but lots of creativity and greater in depth study comes out of these extra tasks.
The book is very high quality. Beautiful pictures, sturdy cover and pages, well written, interesting to read, and just overall impressive just to look at.
Pretest quizzes to see what we already know (which was generally nothing . . . ) While these asked questions that were a bit specific (e.g. True/False: Columbus returned to the New World with 17 ships on his second voyage), it showed us how much we had to learn, and got us excited about the chapter ahead.

Challenges we faced . . .

Some of the daily readings ran a little long. I probably could have split them up into a couple days, but they are well written and engaging, so it was hard to just stop in the middle and pick up another time.
As great as the book is with its wonderful pictures, there were times they talked about a person or place and I thought, “Where’s the picture?” Thanks to the internet, we could of course find our own, but I did feel there were some gaps in that regard in the printed material.

I have no hesitation in recommending this product to anyone looking for a Christian based history curriculum that can work for a variety of ages. I definitely plan on purchasing more Mystery of History books after our experience with this one. Whether used exclusively or to supplement other secular sources, this book deserves a place on your home book shelf.

For more TOS Crew reviews on this product, check out the TOS Crew blog .

Disclaimer: This curriculum was provided to me free of charge from Bright Ideas Press as part of my participation in The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew. I received no additional compensation and the opinions expressed here come from my personal experiences and sincere thoughts.