deals – Page 4 – Chicagoland Homeschool Network

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.

Free E-books and reader

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.

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.

Curriculum giveaway

Got some curriculum you would like to bless another homeschool family with?

Would you like to win some gently used, new-to-you homeschool books?

Then, I have found the bl0g event for you . . .

Jolanthe, over at Homeschool Creations (a fellow CREW member), is hosting a Curriculum Cleanout Giveaway the beginning of August.

Read her site for all the details, but basically she is asking homeschoolers to look through their shelves and come up with a new or gently used item to give away the first couple weeks of August (the second through fifteenth). You can post about it on your blog or just leave a comment with an email address for people to enter to win your giveaway.

You are responsible for shipping costs on any books you give away.

Any one can enter to win, so be sure to check out her site in a couple weeks and see if someone might be giving away something you have been wanting to own. You just might get it for free!

Head on over and check it out. Get your goodies together to giveaway, and get ready for entering some drawings for homeschool books and curriculum.

Great America Read to Succeed

If you and your kids earned tickets to Six Flags through their Read to Succeed Program, now is the time to redeem them!

They expire August 9th, just a few weeks away, and the closer we get to that date, the more crowded the park becomes. I just took my girls yesterday and we had a perfect day for it! The crowds did swell a bit in the afternoon, but most of the day we enjoyed short to non-existent lines.

The employees said it was a typical Monday.

Tips for enjoying your day:

Don’t forget the sunscreen so you don’t regret your trip the following day(s)
Stay hydrated. We actually were there from the time they opened until they closed and my girls still weren’t done! Keeping plenty of water on hand helps them enjoy the day.
Bring healthy snacks (but, of course, they need to stay in the car). Rather than filling up on fried food, pop, and sweets, we enjoyed dinner in the parking lot. Whole wheat sandwiches, carrots, fruit, and lots of water. Nothing holding us back from having a lot of fun the whole day at Great America
Go soon, and preferably earlier in the week. It will never be completely empty, but you have a better chance of fighting fewer crowds this way. We whipped through countless lines before 11:30.
Take the express lane up 294! If you are taking 94/294 up to Six Flags Great America in Gurnee get in the middle/express lane if at all possible. We crawled through the construction induced congestion that whole stretch while watching cars whiz past us. There is an exit from the express lanes at Grand (where you need to get off for Great America), so you don’t need to worry about missing it. If you stay in the local lanes you could easily count on an hour drive from 90 to the park.

If you do have the free tickets, try not to let them go to waste. We enjoyed a full day of fun for around $20 (including parking). Not bad at all, and the kids deserved it for the great job they did reading this past year.

More flags! More fun! 🙂

. . . More Works for Me Wednesday!

Penny pencils and more!

Tis the season for back to school deals.

Grateful that I don’t have a school mandated supply list to follow, still I gleefully take advantage of the incredible deals on school supplies this time of year. I joked to my kids that we have enough paper and pencils for me to homeschool their children.

Some of the deals you don’t want to miss:

Staples :

Penny pencils (8 pack, yellow — limit two) only through Wednesday this week
Copy paper costs $3.69 and can be submitted for $3.68 rebate online (500 sheets per pack, limit two) also through Wednesday only
Lots of other dollar items, and a $5 off a $20 in store purchase coupon, but if you don’t need any of these dollar items you might be better off waiting, because sometimes even better deals are just a week away.
More details and scenarios at Money Saving Mom.

CVS (**These deals are only good through Tuesday** In order to enjoy their deals you must get an Extra Care card and the coupons will print out at the bottom of your receipt, good towards your next CVS purchase. More on that here if needed):

Items that give you Extra Bucks equal to their purchase price (essentially making them free): glue, scissors, ruler, one subject notebook, and pens. (see store or ad for more limitations and details)
3 subject notebooks are $3.99 with $3 Extra bucks.
Folders are on sale for a nickle

I’m sure there will be many more deals in the weeks ahead, but these you will need to jump on in the next couple days.

If you want to make sure that you don’t miss information about short term deals like these, or special events, don’t forget to subscribe to Chicagoland Homeschool Network.

Shakespeare in the Park in Geneva, Illinois

Looking for a little Shakespeare in your summer? Geneva has just what you are looking for.

This from a recent press release:

The Midsummer Theatre Troupe will present a free production of “Taming of the Shrew” at 6 p.m. at the park. Before the play begins, the junior and senior performing company of State Street Dance Studio in Geneva will dance.
Seating will be Ravinia-style; audience members are encouraged to bring blankets, chairs and picnics. Food will be available for purchase from Mill Race Inn and Graham’s.
“Taming of the Shrew” is about love and marriage, and those wanting to attain that perfect union. Two sisters, one fair and one shrewish, are being courted by various suitors. How and why these men approach the task is brought out in this story.
“This is the third year the arts commission is presenting a Shakespeare play as a gift to the community,” said event chair Vic Portincaso. “Last year we had attendance of 600: this year we expect 1200 people to attend.”

Admission is free; a $5 donation is suggested. Free parking is available at the government center on First Street. It’s just a short walk across the covered bridge across the Fox River to Island Park.

Discount tickets at Legoland during off hours

Hangin’ with the locals at Legoland Discovery Center:

Hangin' with the locals at Legoland Discovery Center

This current deal at the Legoland in Schaumburg continues to be extended. We enjoyed the day there last week with our kids. If you have a Lego fanatic in your family this could be a great family activity. I honestly do not think it is worth the daily admission rate (which you can get $5 off if you order online), but our kids (ages 4-12) did have a really great time. They don’t have a lot to do there, but a simple dragon ride, a carnival-style techincycle, a 4-D movie, numerous Lego sculptures, and a room full of Legos to build with was more than enough to keep our kids happy for the day.

Here’s the details on the current promotion:

Visit the LEGOLAND Discovery Center for only $7 per person!

Offer extended until 26th June!

Not sure what to do with the kids during the holidays, then bring them to the LEGOLAND Discovery Center!

Download this coupon, and you and your family can visit the LEGOLAND Discovery Center for only $7 each! This is a saving of $12 for adults, and $8 for children. The coupon is valid Monday – Friday after 4pm. Last admission is at 5pm, but the Center is open until 7pm.

To get your $7 ticket, simply download this coupon, fill in your details and bring a print out of the completed coupon to the LEGOLAND Discovery Center. One coupon is required per person.

Download your $7 ticket coupon here!

This is just one among many field trip and family activity destinations that can be enjoyed with smaller crowds and lower prices during off hours, which definitely works for me!

Free days

Just when we thought summer had arrived, we head into days with lots of rain predicted. So, what to do?

Of course, the free or $1 movies are beginning at many theaters this week.

Or, general admission to the Shedd Aquarium is free this week (June 14-19), with reduced admission to the various exhibits.

The Museum of Science and Industry is also free this Friday. This is your last chance to get in free here until October, so take advantage of this great museum!

Any other free (or inexpensive) options for these rainy days? Please share your favorites!