Underplanning, Type-A Style

I am a natural planner and organizer. I work best with multiple, color-coded lists and spreadsheets. I am a resource junkie, so I generally end up with enough ideas/activities on a single subject to swallow us whole. Truly, I am the sort of person who needs to have “her ducks in a row” as far as lesson plans go.

However, I have two children who are NOt planners. They have two differing styles between them: “Let Mom plan it all and I’ll just show up “(Scout) and “Let’s just wing-it “(Girlie). My goal this year has been to recognize all three of our styles into a workable plan, while meeting the requirements of their grades (10th and 7th) and our state.

We start with some field trips, reading and activities for state history and health and safety after July 4th. There are some of the state required subjects that just don’t fit into the normal year, but are easily met with community Water Safety Days or boat trips ,and great field trips. It is quite easy to tally up the 36-hours for each in the summer in 2-3 day trips and reading a book or two.

IN mid August, we officially begin with history, math, science and language arts/english, for about three hours. This is just enough to get their brains focusing again and still have the majority of the day to swim and play after studies are done. Three weeks later, when learning center begins, we add in foreign language, public speaking, drama, music, art, nature study, etc. and will be off and running. By then, the weather has shifted so that our bathing suits are packed up and sweaters are pulled out. Their brains are fully-awake and they are eager to learn.

In planning for the year, I start with history, and defined our next time period, 1300-1700. I divided this period into 25 year periods, for our timelines and study. That gives us 16 weeks of lesson (3-4 times a week) outline. Then I selected a significant event or person within that block of time. For instance, our first week’s study will be 1300-1325, and our focus will be on Marco Polo and his travels. I then chose 8-10 required literature readings each (2-3 weeks per book).

Then, I spaced these out, according to our lifestyle. This was the key that I missed in years past, that caused a melt-down in February when we are only halfway through my 36-week plans, and both kids had the flu. This was the disappointment we faced when the kids wanted to follow rabbit-trails and delve deeper, but I felt the compulsion to stick to “The Schedule.” By only planning for 19 weeks instead, I give them the freedom to expand and relax as they need!

Our family has specific rhythms that are easily identified.
We all need a breaking-in period for the new year, but by mid-September are cruising along nicely. By Thanksgiving, we are losing some steam. We will step away from the traditional plans into “holiday mode” only- math, with three weeks of unit study activities. Thanksgiving week tends to be lots of cooking, baking, craft and writing activities (does washing windows and polishing silver count as PE? )

I host a Thanksgiving meal, usually for around 20, and after that, we have all moved into holiday mode. If I am distracted with gift making and shopping, baking and planning, how can I expect the kids to focus? What works best for us is to take that time for a unit study that has lots of field trips and activities. This year’s choice is obvious: The Art and Science of the Renaissance. The kids are both thrilled, thinking of art and science museum trips, knowing easels will be set up in the dining room and we will be building all sorts of interesting creations. Somehow, by changing gears like this, they are still learning and doing a lot with a great attitude, and there is none of the pre-holiday struggling to focus we had when they were little. After the third week of December, when we are so full of holiday spirit we jingle, we take three full weeks off to relax and celebrate.

By January, we are all ready to get back into things full out. We focus really well all through winter. We take a week at the end of February to work on their history and science fair projects. Dropping everything else really helped them get excited and their efforts paid off well.

We jump right back into studies until April, when our schedule again shifts focus as both the kids have their own drama productions. We head back into the bare bones mode for a while as our lives are overtaken with rehearsals and performances.

Foregoing any major illnesses, most of their subjects will be completed in late March. This too, is purposeful, as spring affects us all. We want to be outside, hiking and walking and planting…not stuck indoors all day. Math and any other straggling assignments will soon be finished by the second week of May. We will take our brimming portfolios and meet with evaluators, and have a little celebration of another successful year.

I encourage you to look at last year’s calendar and lesson plans and recognize your family’s cycles. It is important to identify what worked well, and what did not, and make changes to embrace those things. I know that in underplanning , I have given us all a gift.

Announcing…ON-line Secular Science Curricula!

I had heard about Cyber-PLato Science curriculum from a friend in FL. Her daughter’s private school used this wonderful program, and I eagerly went to the web-site, searching for a secular option.
At the time, I was disappointed to see that they on-line program was not available for homeschoolers.

Well, things have changed, thanks to Homeschool Buyer’s Co-op. HBC is a free group for homeschoolers that uses group buying stategies to get us the same opportunities and discounts as schools.

To my delight, HBC has teamed up with Cyber Plato on a group buy. Please, visit the links and download the demos for yourself. We will be using this program along with the traditional programs we have already gotten, giving a visual and interactive component for the kids. Don’t wait too long either, as the offer closes on July 31, 2007.

Summertime awakening…

I was reminded yesterday that I need to be less focused by my daughter and son. I do have a tendency to get so far into planning, as I love it, that I forget about anything beyond the non-essentials. This year I have been especially driven to get it done, as my scheduling had been forced to wait by external forces.

The kids reminded me that I am forgetting that summer is the time for something different. It is the time to sleep in and read all day by the pool. It is the time to watch movies and take hikes and picnic by the river. It is the time for visiting and field trips and new adventures.

These kids of mine are wise beyond their years. They are absolutely correct. We decided to put off painting the living room for another few weeks, so we can do take part in a little summertime diversity. We got directions to a few new places that we want to go walking/hiking. We picked up a stack of mindless reads at the library, and a stack of DVD at the video store.

They did ask about the lesson plans so far, and we had a great talk about the direction. We talked about last year, and their opinions on all parts of it. In our discussion, we realized that we had really lost sight of our family learning unit. Scout stepped up and admitted that he had put up a wall of sorts and became focused too much on social, and while some of it was fun, he felt oddly disconnected from us. He missed the field trips and activities we used to do together…just the three of us. He said he missed us, and wanted to go back to doing more of the things that made homeschooling great for our family. He is fully aware that college is a few short years away, and he wants to make the most of his time at home.

Girlie’s face throughout all this was priceless. She was close to tears. It hurt her a great deal last year to watch her brother push her aside to pursue social, even with people he didn’t really like, just for the sake of claiming a brimming calendar. She bore it well at the time, but her joy in hearing him admit the mistake and want to return the fun of old was full in her eyes.

As a mom, I see this as yet another sign of his growing maturity. He now sees that friendships with quality people he really enjoys are important and enriching. Yet, he is learning to be discerning of his company and value his time. He chose, without prodding, to spend time with “his girls” again, as he now calls us. You can imagine I am grinning broadly about this…

As such, I will be at the computer very little, albeit in the quiet of the early mornings. I sat down today to catch up with my blog friends, and have enjoyed reading, but bloglines is not letting me link over to comment just now. I have missed this visiting, in my one-mindedness. I am soon to wake them, as we are taking the dogs walking in the park early, and then have a few days of swimming, reading, and vegging out!

Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Homeschool Hacks!

This week’s carnival is hosted by my dear friend Shannon, at Homeschool Hacks. Not only is she talented and witty, but she is a favorite pick for a girl’s night out!! (Gotta love local bloggers!)

Shannon’s other blog, PhatMommy, is a favorite of many. She did a really terrific job putting it together…so I hope you will please take some time to visit with all the excellent articles.

Serendipity strikes again!(Eating Local)

As Girlie and I become more conscious about our food, we are more committed than ever to “putting up” our own food, as my grandmama would have said. I am more than thrilled that I had spent time in the last years of her life learning what she knew about canning. I only wish I had taken better notes…

We had taken stock of our canning supplies, and realized that we had nearly not enough for all the recipes we were planning to try this season. I turned to the old faithful “Freecycle” boards, and was happily surprised with how many folks have this stuff sitting in corners of the basement or garage, gathering dust. We now have cases of all sizes of jars, with only new lids and seals to purchase.

This week’s jar jaunt brought a serendipitous surprise. I arrived at an older, country home, and was led to the basement pantry by a nice young man (early 20s) to have my pickings of his bounty. He had purchased the house from his grandparents, and all the jars were left behind. The handmade shelving made of scraps and lined with jars brought back memories for me, and we talked of how his grandparents must have used this land well.

I shared our interest in eating local, and how fascinated and thrilled I was that my daughter was especially on board with the project. He began asking more and more questions about her, then homeschooling, grinning more and more. It turns out that he is an environmental educator at a center/camp on the Chesepeake Bay in MD, and has the summer off to write research grants.

He was totally pumped to hear about some young kids that werer into environmental education. He offered a card, and an invitation to come down in fall for a tour and all the educational materials we wanted. He discussed setting up a homeschool sessions at the center, which will be something well worth the two+ hour drive for us. I am sure you can imagine how psyched the kids are for this future opportunity!

On the local eating note…we have made more progress.
Last Sunday, we had a meal of local free-range chicken, fresh sweet corn and salad greens. Dessert was the end of season strawberries, that had such sweetness it was hard to imagine ever eating travel-worthy berries again. We whipped some heavy cream from a local dairy as a topping, and enjoyed.

We have put our order in with a local farmer for next year’s beef, and now have a goal to empty the chest freezer of all it’s brightly colored boxes to make room for food clothed in butcher paper. Similarly, we are going to have to eat our way through the root cellar pantry, so that there is room to put all our canning efforts over the summer. Now that I am aware, it seems overwhelming to realize how manufactured most of our diet has been.

It is a good exercise for us all to make notes of how far each item has travelled as we vow to make our circle smaller and smaller as we make new purchases. I am thinking of putting a map on the fridge for each week, plotting the points of our sources. As we make a concerted effort to buy closer to home, and our pantry/frozen stores are used up, it will be interesting to track.

Encouraging you all to think local, and stop by as many roadside stands as you can!

Creating Timeline Notebooks

As I delve deeper into the history lesson planning, I have found more living book resources than I had hoped. I am knee-deep in my attempt to coordinate each student’s multiple readings and create the handy-dandy weekly lesson plans that make my life easy for the rest of the year.

One issue still looms large in the back of my mind: timelines. We have made many attempts over the years to find the “perfect fit.” We have done the huge timeline that wraps around the walls of the dining room like a hideous wallpaper border. We have done the vertical attempt placed on the inside of the linen closet door. We did some in spiral notebooks that barely made it through a semester.

Last year, I splurged on two beautiful printed timeline books that neither child wants to touch, for fear of making a mistake and ruining it. The fact is, creating timelines had become somewhat stressful, for even in a notebook, the recording is somewhat unforgiving.

Timelines are a critical part of history study, for they are the visual connection to aid the child in viewing the interconnections of the whole world at a given period. While this is wonderful, the problem is that timelines are never fully completed. There is always something new that you will discover along the way, and will want to fit in.

So, for this year’s attempt , we are try something new. We are moving our timelines to the computer. I am going to create an outline of dates for every 25 years, and then let each kid go to town on their own. Instead of just a spot on a line, they will include their written narrations right there. We will keep a folder of artwork and maps throughout the year as well.

In this way, I will avoid their frustration when a drawing they are trying to do doesn’t go well, or they miswrite something. They will not be trying to squeeze in entries during a particularly busy period of history. At the end of the year, we can do some editing and add some nice graphics before we print them. The kids can then add in the art and map work , and I will get the whole thing comb-bound at Staples, and they will have something worth keeping!

And we can just sell those lovely timeline books they are afraid to ruin on ebay….

In love with Genevieve Foster….

I have found a new love. Genevieve Foster is the writer and illustrator of some of the best narrative based history books for children, period. While I had known her name for years from various booklists, I had never taken the time to read her books. Scout had even used her “The World of Augustus Caesar” when he did ancient history, but he had grabbed it from the library bag and happily devoured it. I didn’t even really look at it before I took it back.

I am knee-deep in the planning of next year’s history curriculum. We do a chronological study of world history, and we will be backtracking a bit to around year 1300’s to do Marco Polo and Henry the Navigator properly with mapswork. We will then jump forward again to Gutenberg (1454) and begin with the War of the Roses (1450’s) before we venture into the glorious world of the Renaissance.

I had often used Ambleside’s guides as a base, but am fairly disappointed with the selections for this time period. While Scout will be using Churchill’s History of the English Speaking Peoples-The New World as his main spine, I am always adding a variety of other sources for a great world view. I like him to read selections from VanLoon’s “The Story of Mankind” and Durant’s series (yes, we have them all) to get different perspectives.

In addition to this, Scout’s literature selections will directly relate to the period being studied. Classics such as Utopia, The Prince, and Don Quixote mix well with biographies on The Medici’s and Tudor’s. I even add a mix of historical fiction with books like “Galileo’s Daughter” and “Year of Wonders.” It seems to be a nice blend for him, as he enjoys it immensely. (I have not completed this list yet, but will post it when done.)

But, I had yet to find a narrative based spine for Girlie in the middle school years. That is, until I picked up “The World of Columbus and Sons” at our library yesterday. From the first page, I knew this was what we had been looking for all along. The writing is enjoyable to read, while the content has real substance. Girlie read the first section, and happily narrated away. She was very excited…as was I!

I did a little more research online, and found that there are others from Foster’s World series: John Smith, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. When reading a review, I was thrilled to find that there is another out of print book, The World of William Penn. . Living in Penn’s Woods as we do, my heart fluttered to think there really was a way to enjoy state history! A quick check and I found that this was available through our library. I have to remember to give them a nice donation this year!

I think we will, then, use a combination of Foster’s books and our old standby, Kingfishers Illustrated History of the World. Kingfisher includes more on the East, North, and Africa history, and will fill in our timelines nicely.

I have a host of great books I would love to have her read along with this, but alas, my daughter hates reading historical fiction and biographies. I am going to work up a list, and have her select just four, as she will be reading heavily for her self-designed “Year of Fantasy LIterature.” (this too, I will post when finished)

Back to planning….I want to at least have history done so I can paint the living room next week!

“Mom, Dad: I need a job!”

Yesterday, our 12-yr old asked to have a meeting with my husband and I with great seriousness. She began by telling us that she understood why we did not believe in allowance in principle. She realizes that she needs to do chores as part of the family, and that everything she needs is provided for by us. (such diplomacy!)

She explains how she is stuck, as at her age, there are little job opportunities. “Are there any bigger chores she could do over and above to earn some cash?” I jokingly mention pooper-scooping, and she jumps at it. Of course, that is the LEAST desirable chore I offer my children at any time, but her eagerness caught both my husband and I by surprise.

He asks her “What is it that has brought all this about? Don’t you have everything you need and want?”

She agrees, but tells us there is something she wants that she will have to save for, something very expensive but that she can’t live without.

That something: Adobe Creative Design software. Priced at a whopping $600.

She explains all the online tutorials she has read and how it is exactly what she needs to move to the next step in her graphic design. Big Daddy quickly agrees that we will pay for half, once her half is raised. We will also make some professional contacts to ensure if it is indeed the best program for her growing passion. She hugs us and squeals.

Then she calls the dogs to the kitchen…”What do you guys want to eat? Because I need you to really poop up a storm!”

Notes from the Conference-on Teaching Writing

Susan Wise Bauer gave an excellent seminar on teaching writing on Friday. I encourage you to first print and read the her notes, provided so thoughfully on her website. I do not wish to go against her wishes and reproduce, so these will help you follow along.

I preface all of this by stating that I did not follow classical education, or the Trivium, when my children were young. We had found Charlotte Mason early in our homeschooling journey, and her methods held so much resonance with our family. I was not until my son entered 7th grade that I read “The Well-Trained Mind” that I was drawn to the classical as well.

There are more than a few ways in which Charlotte Mason’s methods and the Trivium align: embracing great books to combine literature and history; using Latin as a tool for teaching grammar; and relying on copywork, narration, and dictation for the eary teaching of writing.

I again point out the distinct divisions in the stages of the trivium in this discussion. The Grammar Stage is early elementary. The goal in this stage is to learn as much basic information as possible. At this age, the greatest stength is memorizing. Remember all those little songs and games from elementary school that you still remember? As such, teaching during this time should be heavy on repitition, drill and memorization.

The purpose of all this repitition is to help the child recognize patterns and begin making logical connnections. This is the time to use those phonics workbooks and teach spelling rules, so that the foundation is strong as they more forward.

To this goal, teaching writing in the grammar stage should focus on a systematic teaching of grammar and punctuation, focusing on the conventions of sentences. (writing the names of parts of speech and learning how to use them.)

Bauer addresses the problem with most writing/ language arts programs for children, and encourages one to consider NOT using them in the grammar stage. Most programs ignore that fact that writing is composed of TWO different skills:
1) The ability to take an inarticulate idea and put it into words
and
2) The ability to take ideas in words and put those words onto paper.

By trying to get the child to do both these processes at the same time before they have developed the individual skills, you will often find a child who cannot formulate complete thoughts or will give very short answers. A grammar stage child is not yet ready for critical questions and logical thinking. Asking a 2nd grader to write what they think a character in a book intended by an action is a recipe for disaster, yet it this is the very thing more writing curricula attempts at this age.

Instead, Bauer suggests a combination of copywork, dictation, and narration at this age. Copywork is a great way for them to practice the conventions of writing-periods, capital letters, commas, quotations- without having to manage the dual task of creating original ideas. In grammar stage, fine-motor skill development varies, and copywork is ideal. Charlotte Mason also relies heavily on copywork, and I can see that both my children benefitted greatly. Punctuation became something they did not need to think about, and the daily copywork helped improve their handwriting and word spacing.

Dictation is a skill often overlooked, but one that has great benefit. This is the best way to teach the “habit of attention” needed for higher learning. By starting with just a sentence, and building up to paragraphs, you are helping your child learn to hold thoughts in their head. How many of us have children who cannot make it to their bedroom without forgetting what you had sent them their to retrieve? How then can we expect a child with such a short attention to hold on to their thoughts long enough to write them down in a logical manner?

A combination of copywork and dictation will teach the skills needed for the act of writing. A few tips for both:
~always use pencil- sit with the child new to both skills, and immediately correct improper spacing, spelling, and missed capital letters & punctuation.

~clearly describe what is to happen. “I am going to tell you two sentences that I want to write. Listen closely as I say them three times. Do not start writing until I am finished.” This helps them understand and mentally prepare.

~help with spelling in dictation- you will miss the purpose of dictation if you make the child stop to look up spellings. Offer it quickly when asked so they can continue with the thought.

Narration is the tool to help children learn take their inarticulate ideas and put them into cohesive sentences. Narration is a simple as asking a child “Tell me what that story was about?” As they begin speaking, you guide them through questions and examples to turn their idea into sentences.

Children are not naturally wired to address the who, what, when, where, and why of a topic. While you or I might read about the building of the pyramids and be able to do just that, a grammar stage child most likely will not. They may respond “They built pyramids in the desert.”
You can ask, “Who built pyramids in the desert?”
The child answers, “The Ancient Egyptians.”
You respond…”Yes, The Ancient Egyptians built pyramids in the desert. Why did they build them?”
The child: “So they could be buried there.”
You respond, “You’re right. The ANcient Egyptians built pyramids in the desert as their place of burial.”
Have the child repeat this full, complete thought.

Can you see how that works? Your child has all the information, but they do not yet naturally organize it well. Narration is a great tool for teaching this. When mine were young, I used to type out their history narrations for them, so they could add drawings illustrating them and we put them in a notebook.

Susan Wise Bauer suggests going a step further. After a while, start taking their narrations and make them into their copywork or dictation. Eventually, both skills will be developed enough to meld and the child can progress to written narrations with ease.

Writing in the Logic Stage builds upon the skills developed in the grammar stage. Basic grammar should now be expanded into diagramming sentences. As one who has taught writing at the college level for over a decade, Ms. Bauer feels diagramming is the missing key for students to learn how the parts of a sentence relate to each other. I know that while my children have used grammar programs with great success, none of them addressed diagramming. As such, Scout and I truly struggled with the latin this year, as success is very dependent upon a solid understanding of case and voice. She gives recommendations on her site, and I will also include this diagramming website to get anyone started.

The second element to be introduced at this stage is outlining. The student should be ready to move right into written narration at this stage. In fifth grade,you can start by asking them to pick out the main idea in each paragraph of their reading, and label the sentences I, II, III, etc.

In sixth grade, you can expand upon this by asking for not only the main idea, but a few supporting ideas labeled as such-
I Main Idea
A. supporting idea
B. supporting idea

In seventh, you can move still further by requesting details.
I. Main Idea
A. Supporting ideas
1. Details
2. Details

At this stage, you can ask the student to outline a reading from history and rewrite the page from their outline only. This exercise will reinforce their outlining skills.

And in eighth…you can add examples within the details
1. Details
a. b.
As such, students will develop the skill of outlining by practicing on other people’s writing first. This again goes against the grain of traditional writing programs that often put the cart before the horse, but is completely logically. Students are learning to recognize patterns the move systematically and build, and will find it much easier to do so with their own writing.

By the time your student reaches high school, or the rhetoric stage, they should have a solid background in grammar and be able to outline well. Ms. Bauer suggests continuing with both of these, while adding a new skill. High School students must learn how to formulate a thesis statement.

A thesis statement is a critical writing skill most students have not learned. Yet, one cannot write a solid paper if they have not developed a strong thesis statment that gives them the direction to follow in their outline. Bauer defines a thesis statement as such:
” A proposition that you can defend.
A statement that you can either prove or disprove.
An assertion that has to be supported by evidence. “
-refer to her notes at welltrainedmind.com

Every week the high school student should be doing one paper of 1-2 pages on history, science, or literature. Now is when rhetoric becomes crucial. No longer do we wish students to take in other’s writing and regurgitate it. Now we want them to take in that writing and FORM OPINIONS about it.

Our students are no longer taught how to think and relate to material. She states that this is one of the greatest problems with college freshman. They have been trained NOT to think, which is the exact opposite of what good writer’s need. But good writing generally comes from a place of conviction. This is to be drawn from our students.

Only now does she suggest a writing program. She encourages a good course in rhetoric and/or argumentation at this stage to aid the student in this goal. Again, refer to the notes for the specifics.

A few notes on some of the questions she was asked as well…

~With older students, you can go back and relay the foundation where it is weak…be it dictation, grammar, etc. It is better to start again than try to keep building poorly.

~ Creative writing should not be required. Recognize if your student possesses a creative leaning, and happily support it if they do. However, realize that creativity cannot be taught.

I am still digesting a great deal from this talk, and looking at ways to work this in with out plans for the next year. I do see a real lack in grammar for all of us (me included), and we will be addressing that. I like the idea of the shorter weekly writing assignments for Scout a great deal, and the outlining for Girlie. Additionally, my kids both have a strong creative need to write their own stories, and I want to encourage that as well.

I will hash out these plans over the next few weeks, and post htem in early August.

Tales from the Conference…

I have just spent a wonderful two days at the SEARCH Homeschool Conference. I generally avoid conventions, but since Susan Wise Bauer as a speaker, I made an exception. I am beyond thrilled that I did.

I have read her book, The Well-trained Mind, and had found great validity and practicality in much of her approach using the stages of the Trivium. Those stages identify the true educational and psychological differences in our children and divide them into the catergories of grammar stage, gr. 1-4, logic stage gr 5-8, and rhetoric stage, gr 9-12. I was eager to attend her seminars on writing plans and teaching history with the great books, as well as preparing for college admission.
(I will be posting about these throughout the next week, after I organize my notes) While I found I was instinctively following a lot of the classical model, we do have some holes in grammar and timelines that we will address this year.

While I have been impressed with her great mind, I was blown away with her warmth and candor as a speaker. It is easy to forget while reading her scholarly analysis that she is a homeschooling mother as well, and had been homeschooled herself. Please take a few moments to direct yourself to her site and learn more about her philosophy and products.

I was also thrilled to find there are some new products out there, or at least new to me. My favorite find is a new math curricula called VideoText Interactive. I will admit that I am probably one of the last people to get excited about math. I have two children who strongly dislike math, most likely from a stressful cocktail of bad experiences with Saxon, their personal ilk and a mother who is math phobic.

Yet, when I walked by this booth at the fair, I was drawn to a video screen with an algebraic equation. The soothing voice spoke me through as they did the next step of adding between parenthesis, while the screen highlighted the section in green. As the voice moved through the problem, hightlighting each step as it went, I could easily see how this would be appealing to my kids. Four youngsters (under 12) were sitting in seats, predicting with great success what would come next as they learned. The program has daily video lessons, workbook lessons, and quizzes. It has six modules, combining pre-algrebra, algebra I and algebra II into a single course to be done over two years.

I visited the used curricula section and found some of these for sale. I picked up just module A for $30, to see the kids would take to the program. If they do, I will be certain to purchase it!

I spent time in the used curriculum sale (five classrooms worth!) and found some things on my list for the next two years. I picked up Artistic Pursuits books I -II for $15. I got some great geography helps like Uncle Josh’s Outline Map book ($3) and Around the World in 180 Days ($5). I picked up a myriad of grammar resources, as well as some great science and unit study aids. Not only did I find some other exceptional bargains in the used book section, I came home with five empty crates of curriculum I no longer needed. I only wish I had know to take the stacks of children’s paperbacks the kids have decided weren’t favorites, and sold those as well. There is always next year!