Here I go again.... Just curious if anyone has or is using anything from Harcourt. My nephew is also in 2nd grade as is my dd and he is using Harcourt for his reading at ps. I really liked the layout of his textbook but didn't get a chance to see his workbook. Have any comments on them?
Harcourt These are more geared for public school, like the Scott Foresman. Our public schools use Harcourt, Scott Foresman and Addison-Wesley.
Yep, they are really made for ps or large group instruction......BUT, I still like them. I must have a thing for school textbooks are something. I guess that is just what I am used to using. Do homeschoolers ever use these textbooks? I plan to try a few of the Harcourt and see if I truly like using them at home.
Harcourt I am using Harcourt Language Arts & Science this year. I am buying used TE and student editions. So far I have only received the TE's and workbooks. They look really good. TE's have lesson plans all worked out. It seems all you have to do is what they suggest and it should be a breeze. There are resources and ideas as well. Daily lessons with a lot of teaching instructions. I know that I myself need the TE's but you might be able to do without. I also am using PS type text for Social Studies and Saxon for Math. This is our second year homeschooling and last year we were not organized at all and did not use any texts. About drove me nuts to plan. I am looking forward to this year. Instead of trying to figure it all out for myself I can follow the plans given and record her work in my 'grade/planning' book daily. I also am glad to have something to back me up. I was worried about her not getting what she needed. Both my sister-n-law, a PS teacher, and my sister, a librarian, give me a hard time about the whole thing and our reasons for homeschooling are not enough to satisfy them. At least this year I can say. Well she's working with the same texts her classmates are and she would be if we had not moved 1200 miles away from her irreplaceble school that we loved. If you can find them used it is not so bad, and they will hold their value for resale when you are done. Between ebay, abebooks and follet education I have been able to save 25 - 75% off new from the publisher. If you buy them new they could cost well over $200 a subject.
When I started, I really liked a spelling book we had in the public school where I taught. I called the book company to order one for me to use at home. The people thought I was crazy, but they were still willing to take my money, once they figured out how to bill me! If you like this company, there's no reason NOT to use it. As far as your SIL goes, though, perhaps it's time to tell her to MYOB. You don't have to give her ANY reason, other than YOU'RE the parent and it's YOUR choice. (Sorry if I tend to be rather touchy on this!)
I have really liked the Harcourt science texts, particularly 3rd and 4th grades. The earlier elementary grades are nice but very simple. They have workbooks and LOTS of experiments.
Thanks..... All I have ordered is a few of the pupil editions and a few workbooks. I will look them over well and then decide if I need the teacher editions. I certainly would have ordered them if the prices were lower. Sometimes, I don't even use the TE so we'll see. I really just like the textbooks though..... :wink: I'm addicted to buying books, lol!
Missy, I say use what makes you happy :wink: We use a mix here and I just focus on what works best for us. I hope Avery is mending quickly now. Best of wishes. Tammy
Missy, I forgot to mention, Ds had HB books for his LA program in Kindergarten. They were beautiful, but way too easy for him. Make sure you check out the scope and sequence. I do deal directly with lots of publishers. Like Jackie said, once they figure out how to bill you its easy. Many of them have sample packets you can request. Tammy
Thanks for the heads up Tammy. I ordered a grade ahead in the books I am getting. I hope it works for us. I figured if it was a little too hard we could use it later. Sounds like it will be just fine. Thanks.
A little tip: Check ebay for textbooks before ordering them from the publisher, if you're on a budget or just want to spread your $$$ a little farther. My friend gets all her books on ebay and I've found a few things myself. It's easiest if you find a particular seller that specializes in educational books as you can frequently combine shipping and save even more.
Ya know, I have never bought from ebay. I have looked but I don't really have the patience to go through all the stuff I guess. I am sure you can find some great deals there though. I just always come at the wrong time I think. Plus, once I decide I want something it's hard for me to wait to find it so I usually go ahead and just get it. :? Not very thrifty with school stuff at all!
I bought from e-bay for the first time this year. Got an OK price, but am not sure it was a real bargain. I would have paid more elsewhere, but would have gotten more. I'll need to buy those "extra" stuff at some point, and paying the higher "seperate" price will probably jack the price up to what it would have originally been. Don't think it was worth the hassle. I usually buy used stuff from homeschoolclassifieds.com Have been going there with good results for a few years now. But you've got to keep an eye on the price. I want the "History Through the Ages" timeline. Some one had it posted (never opened) for about two dollars off the original price; this is still two or three dollars more than what I can get it for at Rainbow Resources. Anything new I want I usually get from Rainbow.
MIssy.... I used Harcourt's first grade basal readers with my first son. Well lets say I used them as part of my overall reading program. I like them then. But now, imho Houghton Mifflin reading program is really tops. I have used basal readers because I like to use the *comprehension* techniques that interspersed throughout. I just used them as an anthology instead of going story by story. Yeah, yeah some people say *oh yuck basal readers*. But in my opinion they are like snacks. We want to snack and have a meal. So we use basal readers for snacks and to focus on the good comprehension techniques then we follow up with whole literature or living books if we want a meal. This year and last year I used Hougton Mifflin because Calvert switched to them too. I looked over the Harcourt and saw the difference. They have a lot more teaching points and interactive lessons (get online and enhance the story more or lay the foundation for it). Not too mention the difference in the preprimer and primers in first grade. The stories are longer,the pictures more colorful and also questions at the end, whereas harcourt didn't have any in their preprimer or primers. In addition, the worksheets that come are really good. A lot of variety when it comes to introducing vocabulary. Some words are crossword puzzles,some are written in story form. Others they hit two skills, like spelling and categorizing. . The worksheet books are pretty nominal when it came to price. I was kind of surprised.. I couldn't believe the good prices directly from Houghton Mifflin. Oh well, thats what we used this year and part of last year..
Tina... Do you order your Houghton Mifflin from their site? DD is on a 3rd grade reading/comprehension level right now. She uses the MCP workbooks and we like them okay. I think she gets lots of practice in comprehension. She uses Spectrum Phonics 3rd grade. I am just interested in finding something with a little different approach. I flipped through my nephews textbook and liked what I saw. I guess I'll see how I like it. I may try the Houghton Mifflin on my son when he starts Kindergarten material. Thanks for the help!
Missy.... I actually called Houghton Mifflin first and ordered the catalog.. Its real hard for me to see on line everything they have. I'd rather curl up with a good catalog anytime than shop online.. Thats just me.. :wink: That way I could see what additional enrichment activities they had to go with each basal reader. Some of there series were older and they did not offer as much as they did on the newer ones. So it was much easier seeing it in the catalog. I have really been extremely pleased with Hougton Mifflin. Harcourt Brace was much too easy for ds no. 1,so we went through it pretty fast. The stories in Houghton Mifflin are a lot more interesting to him too. We had to tweak a lot this last year, as well as this year too. DS reading level is high, but I personally struggle with being sure that I get all the comprehension teaching tips in. IMHO it was way easier, getting a basal reader on 3rd grade and 4th grade level, go through it systematically and see how I could apply the *strategy focus point*t to the chapter book we were reading at that time. Its cheaper I think getting a basal reader then resarching tips and pouring over books to cover a lot of the comprehension tecniques and checkups. KWIM? So I guess what I'm saying is that I use mine as a teaching manual I guess more than anything. In the beginning of the year, he would not read them at all because they were *baby* books and too easy. However, after he would have his fill of chapter books, he would pick it up and find a story or two interesting. He ended up finding a lot way more interesting than he anticipated. So I guess from my use of them, I get double *bang for the buck*. I get an anthology for extra stories and for lack of better word, a teaching manuals of sorts since it explains the various reading tactics. That is how I use them for ds no. 1. For ds no. 2, I used them as readers. Their first grade stories are just absolutely amusing, hilarious, informative and otherwise fun. Ds 2 loves those readers in addition to his other readers. I did use the basal readers as my basic reading program for him.Can't say enough about the pictures in all the grade levels I have, 1st, 2nd,3rd and 4th.. Hope that helps.
