The Hunt is On!

I like adventure! I have been known to make my own adventures out of the simplest of things or events! Sometimes those end up being more exhausting than exhilarating, but they were adventures just the same!

So, now my quest is for curriculum. Oh, I know I could go the easy way out and just get a whole series that encompasses ALL topics in one big bundle. But, first of all, those tend to be expensive, or...boring!...or BOTH! Besides, one of the advantages of homeschooling is the ability to customize the learning to fit the needs and interests of the child. Handsome is not a child with few interests, nor one that would be satisfied with mundane curriculum...And neither am I!!

So, the hunt in on! It began when I made a simple pnone call to a long-time friend who homeschooled her two kids into high school. Where, or where, is that TEACHING Tools store on the west side? Apparently...on the EAST side! But the conversation led to my discovering that there would be a curriculm fair at a college on the east side on a Saturday that I could actually accommodate!

And find, I did! A much desired Science Book was available for about a third (or less) of the price of new. This one is used, true, but absolutely no markings of any kind, or much signs of usage, other than the luster of the outside cover is waning! Wow! Great find! One down!

I continued on and found the History/Geography book of choice. (I had made a list from previous experiences and online resources coupled with advice from more experienced homeschoolers.) A few marking, yes, but in pencil and easily erasable! That one was about 1/5 of the online price! The map skills book was not found, so I can still be a seeker! And I got two reader books about the historical topics related to the text book! Two down!

I also found most of the Language Arts/Reading materials that we will need. I tend to supplement those with my own worksheets or some from other resources along the way anyway. Those were a total of about 10% of the retail price! Three down!

I found a wonderful big book about the human body with full color pictures and cool explanations! What a great buy! And there was a book of puzzles of all the continents! Handsome loves puzzles! A great way to sneak in extra geography!

And, for incentives, I have been having a "bean jar" where Handsome earns beans for every subject daily which he then "cashes" in to "buy" a prize. He has really scored this year! From a jr size wheelbarrow, a gears marble game, a legos crane, to smaller things like games, and whoopie cushions, he has earned quite a lot of loot. At the beginning of the school year, he got an Air Hog pressure engine airplane that I had gotten at a yard sale a very long time ago! He loved it, but alas! It finally crashed one too many times! And I have been unable to find any online or at yard sales. But, there were TWO at this curriculum sale, still new in the box! Unfortunately, I didn't notice immediately, and one got away...the smaller one just like he had had before! But, I was able to get the twin-engine one for only a few bucks more than the lady in front of me paid for the smaller one! Yippee! Handsome will be so excited...but that is a summer secret!

Well, I still am hunting for the math curriculum that we like. And the health book. And an additional Science kit...along with books about art and artists, music, and computers! And, yes, that map skills book too!

All this hunting gives me plenty of ammunition for "needing" to go to yard sales and such. And the online hunt is fun too! Ebay, here we come!