Buying and Selling Used Homeschool Curriculum

My favorite place to buy and sell used curriculum is vegsource. Vegsource is a vegetarian website. I'm far from being a vegetarian, and I don't even remember how I learned about vegsource.

Aside from their vegetarian content, they have very active homeschool swap boards. I've had great success both buying and selling on vegsource. There are some rules that you'll want to be sure to follow, and the best part is that it is FREE! There is no charge or commission for either buying or selling. Actually, it is even better than free--you don't even have to register.

The format is very simple. There are For Sale and Want To Buy forums for different age levels. Each new post is added at the top of the list. After your post has aged off the bottom of the list, it apparently disappears into cyber-space. You can repost your message each day if you want to. Vegsource pages are typically rather slow loading, and (as far as I know) there is not a good search feature. So, when selling, you'll want your Subject to be very descriptive--basically a brief list of your items for sale.

Ebay is still a good choice for buying and selling used homeschool curriculum, and I use it often as well. But, especially for selling, vegsource is the more economical solution and my first choice.

Announcement/Menu Board in the Kitchen

I've mentioned the advantages of having a huge whiteboard in our homeschool room. Before we had the large board, I used a small one on a tripod easel. After the new, large marker board was installed, I hung the smaller one up in the kitchen and sold the tripod easel on ebay.

Each day, the kitchen marker board lists the supper menu as well as which kid is the day's kitchen helper. I also list our known plans for the day and give a word or two to describe the expected weather. Before he goes to work, my husband leaves a Bible reading assignment (one chapter each day) for the kids on the board. More recently he has begun leaving them a map assignment--just a place or two to find on the kitchen table map).

Our kids seem to enjoy the kitchen marker board. If I fail to update it, they either remind me or take matters into their own hands.

Get a BIG Whiteboard for Your Homeschool Room

About a year and half ago, my husband decided I needed a very large whiteboard in our school room. I already had a small whiteboard on a tripod easel, and we used it occasionally. It was fine for our needs. I didn't think we needed anything more.

Well, he was insistent. Around back-to-school time, we went to Office Depot to look at white boards. They had special discounts for teachers (including homeschool teachers!). So, we got a great deal on a 8-foot by 6-foot white board.

Over the course of the past school year, I have been continually amazed at how much we have used the whiteboard. It is so simple to just walk over and illustrate something or work something out with the kids. I never would have guessed how much I would appreciate it. I especially like its very-large size. Also, the stability of being attached to the wall is helpful as well.

I've seen suggestions for making your own whiteboard out of shower wall board you can buy at home improvement stores. If, budget-wise, that is your only option, go for it! However, if you have the means to buy an actual whiteboard I would recommend it. One of the Sunday School rooms in our church has both. I tried several cleaners on them, and the whiteboard cleaned up just fine. The shower board, one the other hand, didn't clean up very well.

Learning Geography at the Kitchen Table

This is not my original idea...I've read it several different places.

I have a map on the top of my kitchen table. Over the map is a clear, plastic tablecloth. Right now, the map is a map of our city. In the past, I've had a world map, U.S. map, Illinois map, and most recently a map of Europe.

While your kids munch their Cheerios in the morning, they can peruse the map on the table. It doesn't have to be a map -- you could put anything under there that is mildly interesting and educational.

At my husband's seat, I also put our scripture memory passage under the tablecloth. That works great for him to lead us in our 2 or 3 minutes of memorizing work at lunchtime.

When I first did this, I got some clear tablecloths at the dollar store, but they were thin and difficult to deal with. Eventually, I figured out you could buy much better clear plastic off a roll. I buy it at WalMart in the fabric section. I've also seen it at fabric stores.

Recipe for Camping Potluck Potatoes

These potatoes were a big hit at our camping group potluck on Saturday night. They were great because they were easy to prepare and made a big batch.

Camping Potluck Potatoes

5 pounds potatoes, scrubbed
1/2 c. diced onions
1 stick butter
salt & pepper

At home a day before leaving, wrap the potatoes in foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour or until tender. Place them in the fridge to get cold overnight. Dice the onions and place in a jar. During the camping trip, store them in a cooler.

At the campground about 45 mins. or 1 hour before serving, melt the butter in a large pan or electric skillet. I use a 6-qt. teflon pan. Add onions and cook a little until tender. Unwrap the potatoes and dice. Add potatoes to the onions and butter and cook until time to eat, stirring occasionally. They are best if they brown a little, but it's OK if they are just warm. Mix in salt & pepper to taste before serving.

Grandpa's variation of this: Bake foil-wrapped potatoes in campfire coals in the evening. Chop and cook for breakfast the next morning.

The Best Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre
(Masterpiece Theatre 2006)
Starring Ruth Wilson & Toby Stephens

Wow. Let me just say wow. Hands down, the best movie I've ever seen. I thought Pride & Prejudice was good, but this rendition of Jane Eyre is just spectacular.

There are numerous film versions of Jane Eyre, and I haven't seen them all, but I've been steadily working through them. It's really tough when you see the best one first, and this one is, by far, the best of them all. I'm not going to review each version as I did with Pride & Prejudice. If you can only watch one, let this be the one.

The book is now on my library list, so I'll be reading it shortly!

Book Review: Tutankhamun, the Untold Story

Tutankhamun, the Untold Story
By Thomas Hoving

I was headed off to give blood a couple of weeks ago, and it occurred to me at the last moment that needed to take some reading material with me. I'm not a big fan of mass market magazines, so a book is a must-have companion in a waiting room. Since I was in a hurry, I just reached into our library book box and grabbed out Tutankhamun, the Untold Story by Thomas Hoving. It looks like some heavy reading, but I figured it would occupy me for a little while at least.

As expected, I ended up having to wait for my turn, and I cracked open the book. After 3 or 4 pages, I was hooked. It turned out to be fascinating reading. Now, you must bear in mind, that my favorite genre to read for pleasure is biography. This book is really a biography of Howard Carter who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922.

The author obviously had unique qualifications to write this book. He was formerly head of the Metropolitan Museum of New York. He helped organize the American tour of "The Treasures of Tutankhamun". In his own words he "read virtually every piece of the literature, popular and scholarly" regarding the discovery of King Tut's tomb. He also had unique access to the original documents from Howard Carter's excavation.

The author traces Carter's early years and his beginnings in archaeology. Eventually, we find Carter in Egypt, where he works at various times in archaeology, tourism, and antiquities dealing. It is during this period that Howard Carter becomes convinced that one final tomb remained unaccounted for in the Valley of the Kings. Carter finally finds a benefactor in Lord Carnarvon, and they set out to find the tomb of the little-known Pharoah, Tutankhamun. Years pass with no success, and Carnarvon is nearly ready to pull the plug. During the last year of digging, a step cut into the limestone is uncovered. The step leads to Tut's tomb.

It all sounds so simple, but there is a web of politics involved every step of the way. World War I has passed. British colonial power is waning, but Britain's influence and authority is still very much evident in Egypt (along with France's). Nationalist political currents are rising in Egypt, and Carter's excavation of Tut's tomb becomes an issue in Egyptian elections. The Americans are involved too, due to the participation of the Metropolitan Museum of New York in the dig.

Hoving reveals the intrigue that always surrounded King Tut's tomb. Howard Carter became an international celebrity, but made monumental blunders in dealing with people, especially governmental authorities. The tides of politics changed and swirled around the tomb. It all weaves together in a most interesting story.

My 11-year-old daughter read this book also. She is a very strong reader, and has long had an interest in ancient Egypt. When I asked her opinion of the book, she said it was "mostly good with some boring parts." I must agree that there are some lengthy quotations from government documents that are rather dry, but those are easy enough to skim.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this a most entertaining and enjoyable book.