The Homeschooling Handbook_ From Preschool to High School - Mary Griffith [73]
Experienced homeschoolers are likely to tell you that the problem is actually quite the reverse: With so many good resources of all kinds—books, tapes, museums, theaters, people, and organizations—the real problem is choosing from the wealth of available material. Where do you find the time and energy to tackle even a tenth of the interesting stuff you’d like to dig into? How do you choose?
Fortunately, you’re not alone. First and foremost, your children will help you with selection, whether you want their help or not. Your kids will be fairly adamant about what works and doesn’t work and will be more than ready to let you know what they think. Their complaints may be fairly direct, as in “This book is really lame, Mom. I wanted something by someone who actually knows something about quantum electrodynamics.” Or their criticism can take a less overt form of reluctance or resistance, as in the daily or hourly whine of “Mom, can’t I wait and do this tomorrow?” In the long run, it’s easier on everyone if you encourage the direct complaints. Usually, kids have good reasons for disliking particular materials and, with a little prompting, will happily share them with you, along with lots of suggestions for what would work better.
If you’re a member of a local homeschooling group, you’ve also got a whole range of opinions and experience to draw from. In all but the smallest groups, you’ll usually find someone who’s tried whatever you’re interested in and can tell you about his experience with it. Whether the experience was positive or not, the information will probably help you decide whether or not to use the material for your family. You may be able to borrow books or manipulatives for a firsthand look, or you might even find used copies to buy. Support groups are also excellent sources of information about useful stores and catalogs as well as local resources such as museums, galleries, nature centers, and more.
Textbooks and Other “Educational” Materials
Conventional learning materials such as textbooks are usually easy to find. If you’re interested in the type of texts used in the schools, you can check with your local school district or county office of education to learn whether it has a curriculum library. Sometimes access to such libraries is limited to public school teachers, but often the public is also allowed to peruse school materials there. County offices of education often also maintain media and technology centers, from which laboratory equipment, films, video and audio equipment and tapes, or computer hardware and software can be borrowed. Availability to homeschoolers will depend on state and district regulations.
Your area may also have a used book depository, where textbooks, library books, and equipment no longer used by area schools can be purchased for thrift-store prices or are free for the taking. Textbooks are sometimes too worn or damaged for continued school use, but often they are just plain outdated. The best finds are usually in the library discards. Old encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference books are fairly common but are far outnumbered by the literature: historical novels, literary classics, just plain good reading. As with any thrift shop, you’ll have to make regular visits to keep up with the changing stock, and you won’t necessarily find something worthwhile on every visit.
You may decide you want to order textbooks directly from the publisher. Some educational publishers will ask for a school purchase order or for an order on your school letterhead. (Many homeschoolers, especially in “private school” homeschooling states, find a ream of school letterhead a worthwhile investment for such cases and for other occasional correspondence.) Others are happy to sell textbooks to homeschoolers but draw the line at teachers’ guides and answer keys. Some refuse to deal with homeschoolers at all, while others have set up divisions specifically to serve the homeschool market.
Also worth checking out are local teacher supply stores. Most homeschoolers