Educator Appreciation Week at Borders 10/6 - 10/10

It's Educator Appreciation Week at Borders stores!  That means 25% off nearly all your purchases.  While they do give an educator discount throughout the year, during EAW the discount applies not only to educational/classroom items but anything for personal use as well (and Borders has really good chocolate).

There are some exclusions... Rosetta Stone, electronics, and a few other items.  See the Borders Teaching and Learning page for full details.

Textbook rentals aren't just for college kids anymore!

I typically don't review books or services that I haven't personally used (or at least perused) but I'm so excited about this one that I'm going out on a limb. 

Homeschoolbookrenter.com is a site I stumbled on while book shopping online.   I knew these sites were becoming popular for college texts, but had no idea such a service was available for homeschoolers.  I spent a while poking around the site, and was amazed at the number of books available for rental.  The rental contract is a flat fee for 9 months, and the price is generally 1/2 the cover price of the book.  For example, The Complete Writer: Writing With Ease: Instructor Text by Susan Wise Bauer (list price $29.95/Amazon price $19.77) is just $11.98. 

While some categories are not as well populated (Math has only 2 publishers: Saxon and Math in Focus) some are quite well-stocked (science and language arts, especially).  There are selections from both secular and Christian publishers.

Homeschoolbookrenter.com looks to be a great option for those of us with little shelf space to keep books we're finished with, as well as a great way to try new books without worrying about being stuck with things that don't work for us.  No more lugging boxes to used curriculum sales!  We will be trying this service very soon.

If you've used, it post a review!

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More free stuff

I like free stuff... and even more than I like free stuff, I like instant stuff.  You know, those things where you say, "I wish I had a ____", and then in less than 5 minutes you have one.  I like that.

Well, thank you to my Facebook friend Angela for pointing me in the direction of this site: www.printablepaper.net .  On the Printable Paper site, you get more than lined paper and graph paper... there are budgets, calendars, story boards, and "Teacher Resources" galore.  My favorite category?  Game score sheets!  Everything from Bunco and Basketball to Whist and Yahtzee, all in free, printable PDF format.  I am one happy girl.

I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Scrabble score sheet... yet, here it is!

So, if you need a Rounded Doorknob Template, or a Knitting Graph (portrait or landscape!) you know where to go.

Check it out!

We're pretty excited about Mockingjay around here

It's here!  It's August 24, the day the Hunger Games trilogy comes to completion.  When, oh when, will the Guy In The Brown Truck arrive?

Here are a couple of reviews: one from the LA Times and one from USA Today.

Suzanne Collins will also be doing a Mockingjay book tour, mostly in the Northeast but with several other stops as well.  Click here for dates.

Happy reading!  (Let me know what you think of the book!)

Little House on the Prairie: another look

I haven't thought about this one in a while... since Library School days, actually.  In one of my Children's Lit classes, we discussed some of the classics, and how the books of our childhood, however endearing, actually act to perpetuate stereotypes and racial discrimination.  You might recognize a few of these titles: The Five Chinese Brothers,  The Indian in the Cupboard,  Little Black Sambo, The Matchlock Gun, The Courage of Sarah Noble... the the list goes on and on.  But the Little House on the Prairie series, because it is so adored, tends to get a free pass regardless of the racist remarks present throughout several of the books.  Most people are willing to overlook the descriptions of the "savages" because they feel it is a historically accurate representation of life on the frontier (actually it is a very one-sided representation), and simply a portrayal of the fear the Ingalls family lived with.  But when we hand those books over to our kids today, what are we telling them? 

While there are many in my field who are staunchly anti-Little House, I'd like to take the middle path.  Truly, these books are a slice of Americana.  They are certainly a part of the American social lexicon, and an excellent introduction to chapter books for budding elementary readers.  Girls, especially, get hooked on the series and before they know it, they've read 8 chapter books and are building fluency to boot.  They take us back to a simpler time and place, where a piece of candy in a Christmas stocking was a marvel, and a hand-sewn doll was treasured and adored.  That's nice.

So, what's my recommendation for taking this middle path?  Read the Little House books, but talk about them with your kids.  Talk about racism.  Talk about westward expansion, and what that meant to the native peoples that were displaced.  And while you're at it, read some books from the Native American perspective.   My favorite?  The Birchbark House, by Louise Erdrich.

In The Birchbark House, we get to see the same slice of time (1840's) through the eyes of a 7-year old Ojibwa girl named Omakayas.  Many of the same themes are present: family life, living off the land, harsh winters, and a brave little girl facing it all.  The Porcupine Year is the follow-up. 

Happy reading!

Planning ahead: finding the perfect calendar

It's that time of year... time to start planning out the new school year and getting all of our ducks in a row.  Here are a few calendar/planner choices for those that haven't settled on a system yet:

The Well-Planned Day

The Well-Planned Day is a classic spiral-bound organizer, designed especially for homeschooling moms.   It allows planning for up to four different students, and contains progress reports, report cards, and other items you might need for school district reporting.  In addition to academics, The Well-Planned Day also has a meal planning and shopping list section. 

$24.95 for spiral bound and $19.95 for PDF download
Christian content:  daily Bible readings and a place for prayer requests.

The publishers of The Well-Planned Day also offer The Well Grounded Middle Schooler, a student 12-month assignment planner, as well as The Well Guided High Schooler, which is especially convenient as a 4-year planner.  Both are available spiral bound or as a PDF download.

Family Time

dotmine Day Planners are another great option for a spiral bound planner.  The family_time.mine planners were created for all moms - not just home schoolers - so there are no specific fields for school related items.  But there are plenty of fields for kids schedules and activities, and household information galore, including babysitter info, shopping lists, quarterly pull-out schedules, and more.  I used this planner last year and loved it.  It comes in two sizes,  an 8.5x11 full sized, and a 6x9 purse sized.  I used the smaller one last year and have upgraded to the larger size for this year.  All the dot.mine planners are 17-months, so you can plan from August 2010-December 2011.

The time.mine planners are student editions, with master schedule sheets, assignment pages and plenty of note pages.  All the planners, both for mom and student, come with fun and funky printed covers that are a durable plastic rather than cardboard.


dotmine day planners are available exclusively at Borders, and are about $17.99 (prices vary)
Don't forget that you can use your 25% off educators discount for this item!
Christian Content:  none

DIY

If you're a do-it-yourself kinda gal, or you really like keeping all your planning information on your computer, take a look at the free academic calendars offered by Vertex42.  Whether you prefer an Excel format, or just a PDF hard copy, you can create and print to your heart's delight on their site.  Choose from portrait or landscape, Monday or Sunday start, and academic years all the way through 2013.

Happy Planning!

Quick! It's a sale!

Westvon Publishing, who I have raved about before here as the publishers of GeoScribe and History Scribe, are having a sale that ends today, July 4th.  25% off any and everything!  You will see the discount when you add an item to your shopping cart.  No discount code needed.

Click here to shop.

Have a safe and happy Independence Day!