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How to plan terms without the books???
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I have my year planned out (following the excellent blog about planning the big picture, year, term, etc), and I am ready to plan the term. Or am I??? Our library system is not the greatest, so even if I check out books from there, I have A LOT missing from the book lists on the SCM. There’s no way I can afford to buy them all now, of course, plus I have very limited access to get to the library, assuming all the books are there when I need them, for the length of time I’ll need them. Thoughts? Suggestions?
Many books can be found used at good prices. I like abebooks.com for used books, but you can also start making the rounds at your local used bookstores, if you have some near you. (Buying used not only saves you money, it’s a good way to recycle.)
Another idea to save $ is to put the books on Christmas and birthday lists for grandparents.
We have to budget carefully in our home and sometimes I can “find” money by cutting expenses in other areas. Many of us already do this, I know, but sometimes a reminder is helpful.
Sara, I have just finished planning for my first grader next year. I am basically sticking to the SCM year 1 plan. I can’t buy all the books right now either but here is what I did:
1. I went through each subject and made a plan for what I wanted to do for the year. ( I think you have done this). As I did this I created a pages document and listed each subject and all the books I would need for those subjects.
2. Then I created another pages document to store the info about each book. This will make more sense in a minute.
3. I then pulled up 3 search tabs on my computer (my library, SCM, amazon). I went through the book list and I searched my library for the book first. If they had it I noted beside that book – library. If they didn’t have it I looked at SCM site or amazon to find the book. Beside those books I put where I found it and how much it cost. (The books I end up buying on my amazon list I will try to find cheaper later when I get ready to buy them but for now I just know that I will have to purchase this book and this is what it will cost if I can’t find it cheaper)
4. After I located the book I went to the SCM site. Since I am using the SCM year 1 plan all the books were listed in the bookfinder. So if you search the book there you can find out the number of pages as well as how many chapters are in each book. So this info I would jot down on my second pages document.
5. After I had this information I was able to plan my terms because I knew how many chapters were in each book. I would just take the number of pages in a book and divide by the number of chapters to get a rough estimate as to how many pages were in each chapter. This helped me decide how many days to assign each chapter. Of course when I actually purchase the books I may have to do some tweeking but at least I don’t have to wait till then to plan everything. Also I plan to use the SCM planner so that will make alot of the adjustments pretty easily.
I went ahead and purchased the 106 days of creation and the Gen – Duet guide book. I just did the E-books because they are basically lesson plans but this helped alot in the planning and they are not expensive. But I have my year planned down to the days and those are the only two books I have purchased yet. Of course it took some time to do this but I didn’t have the money so I took the time.
I have a book list for each subject and where I need to purchase it. When I get ready to buy them (and now I know when in the year I will need that book) I can look for better deals but I know how much to budget for if I have to pay regular price.
Sorry this is long and I hope this answered your question correctly. If you have more specific questions PM me and we can chat through email.
Amy
Sara I did mostly what Amy did with the exception of looking in the SCM bookfinder and seeing if the books were available through ILL. I also made a list of books that my library does have and a list of the books I have on my bookshelf on the topics we’ll be studying for just in case I need/decide to replace a book that I can’t find cheap enough.
Call your library and find out about “inter-library loans” I think it is called. It is where they will hunt down the book for you at libraries all over the country and send the book, on loan, to your library so you can borrow it. Also, check out librivox.org or other free ebook sites for the books or possibly substitutions for some of SCM’s books if you can’t get them through the library. Check paperbackswap or swaptree or sites like that and of course ebay. :o)
I have done basically the same as Amy and it has been a life saver. The knowledge and comfort of knowing that I won’t need a particular book for, say, 2 months keeps me from feeling overwhelmed. I have *time* to find it cheaper or get it from the ILL or maybe paperback swap.
I am the type that feels I have to have all my books now, even if I won’t even touch it for 3 months, just having them in the house makes me feel better. But, when you don’t have the cash now, you have to figure out a system that will enable you to get what you feel you need, but not break the budget.
One thing I have just recently utilized is my homeschool group, (go figure). I sent a post out on the forum for a book and got a hit right away. We have a curriculum swap going on tomorrow so I’m hoping to bring my lists and find some good deals. I figure even one book makes the search worth it.
Sara, I did what Amy did – almost exactly, but I haven’t gone all the way through all of the subjects yet.
I’m in the same boat as you guys. I’m really itching to get my hands on all of the books so I can plan more easily, but I just don’t have the money now.
Amy, I have a question for you, since you’re doing it the same way I am…I’m planning on getting 106 days too, (and I need to just go ahead and get it so I can look at it like you did), but as you know there are lots of books that go with it and lots that go with module 1 history, so, from what you can tell, do you use each book in order or do use some from all of them as you go through the year. I guess I’m just trying to figure out if I can buy each one as I need them, or if I’m going to need all of them pretty much from the start of the year. Hope that makes sense. Thanks!
Megan
For books that aren’t in the bookfinder, I will check a few sites to see if I can find a page count or a chapter count. Amazon sometimes has that info – or sometimes has a preview that will let me see a table of contents… Google books sometimes has previews that will get me that info. And for older stuff, I’ll check out places like Project Gutenburg etc. I’ll also do a simple google search with the book name – and that might find something that give me that info.
For anything that is available in an ebook format, I will grab it, as I’ll put it on my computer and my palm-pilot. I would keep my palm-pilot on me, and if we had a time of waiting somewhere, we can read one of our books!
Sara,
I haven’t seen anyone suggest it yet, but have you thought about Paperback Swap? You can do a search through the forum topics, and I know there are a few posts about this awesome site (www.paperbackswap.com). We are like you…wanting to follow the plan but can’t afford all the books. This site has been a lifesaver for me!
I second what bkack said about inter-library loans. We have used this service for over a year now, and it has been wonderful. It’s free at our library! Sometimes it does take longer to get the books, but it’s worth it in the end when you don’t have to spend $15 for a book you’re only going to use once. One of my best words of advice is to make friends with your librarian. My librarian and I are on a first-name basis, and she always has great suggestions when I just can’t find the exact book I want.
You could also try finding some of your books online and download them for free or for a fraction of the cost of buying the book. If you have a printer, that would be one step closer to the “real” thing.
Hope that helps,
Lindsey
I second the paperback swap and should’ve mentioned it in my post. We use that site, thrift stores, the Goodwill, garage sales, amazon, friends of the library, friends, ILL, the library, of course, antique shops, and used book stores. I have to say that I have found the best deals at the Friends of the Library and thrift stores. Used book stores have been the most expensive. Well, the Goodwill is pretty inexpensive, too. The used book stores have been the most expensive.
Paperback swap has been great, too, especially if the book you want is available and if you purchase the credits then you know exactly how much you’re spending and that’s like $3.38 or so. You can buy 3 credits for 1.00 and each book is 1 credit, so that’s not bad:)
The thing about thrift stores is that you don’t know what you’ll find, but then again that’s the exciting part:)
Happy Hunting!
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