Bargain Book Buys

My number one favourite place to buy books is currently 'open for business'. The Lifeline Bookfest, after being postponed twice, due to major flooding is happening this week. This is a fabulous opportunity to purchase preloved books often at ridiculously low prices.

I have been attending the bookfest twice a year for a few years now and I admit in the beginning it can be quite an overwhelming experience. I doubt one would ever see so many books all in place at the one time. Where to start looking when you first walk through the door is often a baffling decision to make.

I have had various pieces of advice thrown my way, make lists, look in certain areas, take only a certain amount of cash, the advice goes on, when really it seems to me that it is one of those experiences that you simply must do on your own, after all we all are very different, will be looking for different things and my advice just simply may not suit you.

Over the years I have changed my tactics somewhat and generally come out of the place spending less than I did during the previous year. As my shelves at home fill up I need to be more discerning. As my children grow and we move through our homeschooling years, I am more aware of the things we will utilise and the things we won't.

Goodness I still make impulse buys and definitely come away with things that have rarely been used but overall I am always very happy with my time spent at the Lifeline Bookfests.

I've heard alot about Hooked On Phonics, but wasn't prepared to fork out the dollars on it so when I saw this Klevel for next nothing I grabbed it.

This entire Maths Matters collection is in near perfect condition and will be a wonderful addition to our shelves. It will certainly help with us trying to get away from the boring old math worksheet that's for sure. In essence it is pretty much a complete primary math program, with ideas for activities and games, very happy to have found this set.

These types of books are the reasons I head to the bookfest and spend hours searching through piles of books. This is our ultimate way to learn, through great picture books. We hope to get to Ancient China this year in our learning adventure.

Eragon and Narnia were both on my list also, veryhappy to find them in great condition.

I can never leave without bringing home at least a few picture books and this time around I grabbed some with Cd's and DVD's, definite plus.

Our poor old fairy tale book has seen better days and the one I picked up is as good as new.

The game and puzzle area of the bookfest is a must stop table. It is very much luck of the draw and the one reason I would recommned to arrive very early. The games, especially go ever so quickly. I am so chuffed with my fnds here, the Sudoko board will be a fabulous addition and I know B will love it, both to use indpendently and with the family. Kaleidoscope is a near new game with a RRP of $60, so grab it for $9 was fabulous. Although the box from the Crazy Connections game is a little torn the pices are all in good condition, a great thinking skills game and indpendent activity.

Now I only have to resist returning to the bookfest on the last day, where everything is heavily reduced and you can fill a bag for just a few dollars!!

Declutter, Plan & Prepare 2011: January

You might remember me mentioning my plans to declutter, not only the areas in our home that need it but also in my life in general.Well I thought I'd show you what I accomplished this past month.

The Christmas Fare is an obvious one! Supplies in this department really grow very easily for some reason. I generally purchase 1 - 3 new items/decorations each season and it's amazing to see how those small purchases grow into a mountain of goodies.

Now if I was being realistic, these boxes of Christmas Decorations and Craft Supplies really should have been sorted and culled BEFORE I stored them but they weren't........I'll add that to my November/December decluttering project for this year ;-)

I sorted through both B's and K's wardrobes (sorry no photo's I forgot) and gave away 3 garbage bags of hand me downs to their cousins.

The pile in the photo is baby clothes sorted and ready to giveaway....there's loads more baby stuff to come yet, but that was a good chunk of it.

I spent a large portion of my time on our Home Office/Home Library/School Room, it was in a bad way!! Here are some before and after shots, for those of you that get a kick out of looking at others people's mess LOL!!

Before - Computer Desk Area

After - Computer Desk Area

Before - 2nd Desk at other end of room

After - 2nd Desk at other end of room 

(Cupboards and shelves above still need organising)

Before - Current Curriculum/Unity Study Supplies

After - Current Curriculum/Unity Study Supplies

In the decluttering our life, I prepared the Morning Routine Chart , spent a great deal more time simply playing and being with the kids and assessed each week before making too many committments.

In the planning department I am all sorted for the year with our learning plans. I'm pretty flexible with those and don't feel any strong need or desire at having to complete and stick to the plans though, much less stress that way (especially with a toddler in the house).

Our Homeschooling Support Network (Logan Home Education Network) Committee planned our entire term. This was a huge feat, for awhile there we weren't going to go ahead with the term at all. We really out did ourselves to put it altogether so quickly. This term we are offering a six week block of Drama, Art, Spanish, Japanese, Physikids, Swimming, Tennis and Golf. This will provide extra curricular activities to somewhere around 60/70 homeschooled children in the area.

In the preparing deapartment I have printed, cut out and laminated all of the fabulous resources for Valentines Day over at Musings of Me.

What about you? What did you Prepare, Plan or Declutter this past month?

Free and Simple Rainy Day Activities

Given all of the recent rainy days we experienced here over the holiday break, there were some days when the kids just really needed something different to do.

After purchasing a couple of new storage/organisation system draws for our upcoming year, I tore open the box, handed the kids some felt pens and let them at it. This was left out for a few days, the kids would come and go as they pleased. Added some doodles here and some scribbles there. It was way more fun having a huge textured canvas, than a simple boring sheet of white A4 paper.

For a bit more active fun, we grabbed some bubble wrap, the one with the really large bubbles. They enjoyed jumping up and down, feeling and hearing the bubbles pop and squish beneath their feet. Not to mention it allowed them to get rid of some of that energy from being cooped up indoors due to the rain.

Simple and nearly free to boot!