Has anyone ever just bought the instructor's guide, and then found the books at the library on your own? I'm thinking of doing that this year to save money, but worried that it might be difficult to find the books. Thanks!
Yes, I do know several familes that have done this. It has worked quite well for them. Get the list off the website and double check availabilty BEFORE you buy. Also I've seen many of the books at Goodwill and used on Amazon.
Part of this will depend on what sort of library you have available. A dinky little branch like ours? not much hope. A really good large main library? much more hopeful!
This year since I am not doing a straight core I have been gather books at used sales and then also going to local used bookstores. Any of the books I cannot find I will just order either from Amazon or Sonlight directly. It is a pain in the neck for me but cheaper than buying the whole core since I am not using the whole thing.
Yes, if your library is decent. We are doing Sonlight for the first time next year and most of the books are at our local library. What few were not, I have easily gotten at a local used bookstore or from amazon. I will not buy everything from them as it is just too expensive for us.
When we did SL, I bought a used IG, found all the books used here and there (online, thrift stores, yard sales), and had all of it for well under $200. I sold it as a set for way more than I paid.... it was a LOT of work to gather it all, so I felt I deserved the extra for my time. I think I still only sold it for like $240 shipping included.
Thank you all! I decided I am going to buy just the instructor's guide. Actually, I've seen on ebay many selling the IG and some of the books for $50 to $70, so that's a great deal compared to buying it brand new! When we get done with Core D I'll sell that which will help pay for this next one, which will help! Thanks all!
I do this most years. Most of the books are golden oldies and there are many copies in my library, but they don't have the Christian books, so I buy those. The people at Sonlight say it's good to have the books at home when you need them, but I'd rather get books, read them and take them back than have them lying round not being read for a year. And with Amazon Prime shipping, I rarely wait long for a book we need if I order it from there.
I started using Sonlight with my oldest and we were living overseas (Japan) so I just bought the books. If I was still stateside and at our previous duty station I could have just used the IG and the library. That little library had EVERYTHING plus it was a very homeschool friendly area. I like that you can do a payment plan to for their curriculum. No more lump sum payments
