Name: Great Homeschool Conventions (Columbus)
Start: 2025-04-24T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-04-26T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Columbus, OH

This topic has 2 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 3 months ago by LindseyD.

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

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July 22, 2014 at 2:20 am
Katrina in AK
Participant
I know many of us are in planning mode. I am sure I have two to three YEARS worth of books I can use, and am overwhelmed with paring things down. How do you keep things simple?
July 22, 2014 at 10:54 am
Tristan
Participant
Katrina, I think you ask a great question! I do 2 things for school materials that approach from different sides.
1. I sell what we’re done with or even just give it away. I don’t sell everything because with 8 children we’ll reuse many things over the years. What I sell fit in the following categories: books we didn’t love, things that just weren’t a great fit (that I had to tweak too much to use), anything else I’m open to letting go of. The good part of this approach is it frees up room in the house/on shelves, it puts a little money back in the homeschool budget (see this post I just wrote this week!), and it blesses others.
2. Once I’ve pared down I will box up books for a particular time period that we just finished. This frees a bit more shelf space and when we come around to the time period again we pull out the box and they feel new again. I also box up items we won’t use in the current year like Math U See levels nobody is currently in.
I’m sure there are many others ways to handle it. I’ve had years where I curriculum shopped from my own shelves, with the goal to use what I have for as many subjects as possible instead of purchasing new things. We actually buy many things with this goal in mind. For example I have Apologia books and God’s Design for Science books, plus many lovely stories like the Burgess Bird Book and Among the Pond People so our elementary through jr high science is totally covered now. We don’t need to buy anything for the rest of our time homeschooling (17+ years to go!) in that area. Could we buy other science books for those ages in the next 17 years? Of course we could! But we don’t NEED to.

July 22, 2014 at 5:38 pm
LindseyD
Participant
Katrina,
I’ve been experiencing this same hurdle for the past few months with my history planning. For the first time in 5 years of homeschooling, I’m switching to TruthQuest from SCM history, and it’s been fun but also hard. The book list in TQ is, um, quite long, and there are so many wonderful suggestions! I’ve had wonderful help from 2 forum ladies, and I still have 108 books planned for history next year. (Yes, you read that correctly. 108. I might be crazy.) When I felt like I couldn’t wheedle it down any more, I decided to simplify in other areas. Rather than assigned independent literature, I’m going to try using the longer history chapter books instead for a term and see how that goes. I also decided to begin a history book basket and change out the books every term. These books will be optional for my children to read, and they will not be required to narrate or anything from these books. Finally, I’m utilizing A LOT of picture books that can be read in 1 sitting–even though my children are 10 and 9. There were too many good ones from Jean Fritz, the D’Aulaires, and others to skip!
Like Tristan, I go through our books once or twice a year and give away or sell what we won’t use again or what wasn’t enjoyed. That helps a lot, although I rarely get rid of a ton.
I’m simplifying by realizing that I don’t have to do it all. We have so many books in our home, and my children are such AVID readers, that even if I planned NOTHING, they would have enough to read to learn SOMETHING. I keep the books out for them to see and available so they have the freedom to lay on the couch and read for an afternoon if that’s what they want to do.
Practically, perhaps you could start by choosing one subject and find the books you already have and can use for that subject. If it’s promising, pick another subject and do the same. As you’re going through books, you’re bound to find a few that you don’t want anymore, so get rid of those.
Have fun!
Lindsey