Someone mentioned this to me yesterday...and since i'm really in a bind financially this year it sparked my interest. Just adding Bible and it sounds like a good deal. Anyone know anything about this? I'm having a heck of a hard time finding information.
I think it varies from district to district. They don't have to do this, and I would guess most don't. I know the district we live in have trouble enough getting enough books for all of their own kids, let alone all their homeschooled kids. Many classes read the book in class and don't go home, because they're needed for the next class, too.
If we do this we are considered public school kids. I really don't want that with Vicki. I do have some friends who are doing it.
Ok, it varies by state (here in PA they are required to provide us with curriculum if we request it), and then by district (if you arent in a state that requires it, it's up to the district if you want to do this). Personally I wouldn't do it, I don't fee like you are considered a public school kid because you aren't, I use some public school curriculum that I buy on my own and I don't feel like we even remotely resemble public school kids. I won't do it because I feel that is just giving the school district more input into our homeschooling journey. There are sooo many free resources out there, have you looked at some of the threads here on the board? I have tons of free math things on my blog, and have stuff for every other subject as well if you are interested.
I live in La., and I have managed to get some ps books (through the years). I used to work in the ps system, and when they were changing from one publisher to another, there were tons of sample sets, which the teachers were free to keep if they wanted to or they got stored someplace if they didn't want them - complete sample sets are awesome, with student book, TM, Teacher Resource books, sometimes a student workbook... a sample of everything available from that publisher for that grade and subject. i have some teacher friends who gave me a couple of brand new sample sets (mostly high school math, which I haven't really had a use for just yet). Other than that, I was able to get a worn-out textbook or two here and there from the discard pile. VERY seldom are TMs available like this, because (mainly) they're worn out, in pieces. That's because they've been being used every single day for ten years (sometimes more) in a public school. The schools i know who might have "extra" books to loan, won't loan, but might rent them to you for like $35 for a school year. If you had the rental, you could buy new homeschool stuff with TMs! Tell us what you actually need, and maybe someone here will have a suggestion that could help. In the meantime, you might be able to do a search for your state DOE, and find the list where they tell all the GLE (grade level expectations) or list of curriculum topics they cover in the grade you're interested in, and maybe you could find books on those topics at your library? Maybe you could find enough science and history topics to cover, then all you'd need is English and math in actual teaching materials.
Lindina, Carl actually brought home some higher math books his district was discarding for me to use with Rachael. We started with Algebra I, and it was a DISASTER, lol! You needed a PhD to understand the TM, and I wasn't a math person to start with, and it was really into group projects and touchy-feely type stuff. And all I'm hearing from him is, "But it's FREE!!!" Sigh.... It took us a while to get over that, and convince him the book was LOUSY, and it wasn't just "my attitude" toward math!
I so hear ya, Jackie. Public school books, however free they might be, are still public school books!!!
