free Archives - Page 9 of 9 - Dr. Marie-Claire Moreau

Who doesn’t love a bargain? Homeschooling or not, there isn’t a parent around who wouldn’t rather save a dollar than pay full price.

That’s why it’s important for homeschoolers to shop for discounts – teacher discounts, that is. Yes, you heard that right. Homeschoolers qualify as teachers. Think about it — you’re educating too, right? So why shouldn’t you reap the same benefits that school teachers do?

So, where do these discounts come from? And more importantly — how can YOU get them too?

ASK

Probably the best advice is just to start ASKing. Ask everyone & ask everywhere you go. Just as you might ask if a company or business gives a discount to AAA card holders, AARP members, season-ticket holders, college students, alumni or whomever, ask if teachers get discounts there too. Once you get into the habit of asking, it eventually becomes second-nature. And though you won’t always receive a discount, you won’t believe the goodies you can score or the rewards cards you’ll be offered just for asking. Even businesses that don’t normally offer discounts to teachers may decide to give you a break that day. It never hurts to ask.

RESEARCH

Ask friends, scour the Internet, and look at the benefits offered just by belonging to groups, clubs and other organizations. Many homeschooling groups release lists of discounts offered to area teachers. Because you’re a teacher, you may qualify for these discounts, too. Ranging from free meals for kids with good report cards (you can quickly print a report card if one is needed) to discounts on books, office supplies, movies, museum admissions and more, you’d be surprised what is offered in your own back yard. Do the research to uncover longer-term discount programs, too, like rewards cards for teachers, free pizza all year long and other programs geared to students and teachers. Other families have done the research already, so try to tap into a web site or someone you know, and ask what discounts they have scored just by being a homeschooling teacher.

HAVE I.D. READY

Just in case you’re asked (will depend on where you go), have some form of homeschooler or teacher I.D. ready. This could be a group membership card, a student I.D. card for one of your kids, a letter from your school district or private homeschool, another official document showing proof of homeschooling, or anything else you can easily carry in your purse or pocket. Sometimes (though no guarantee) just showing another educator’s discount card is enough to score a discount card somewhere else, so keep that in mind as well.

DON”T BE SHY

Don’t be shy or embarrassed about asking for discounts. Other people do it — why not you? Once you get into the mindset of being a teacher and qualifying for all of the other discounts that teachers receive, you’ll be sorry you didn’t start asking sooner. Besides, in tight economies, store clerks are used to people asking for rewards and often have an answer ready for those who ask. Also keep in mind that Americans are sometimes the last to speak out about pricing – some international buyers have no difficulty haggling over prices and score big that way. So, be brave and just ask!

Remember that many industries offer perks to employees, members of professional organizations, return buyers or frequent travelers, or even just people who “Like” them on Facebook! Why shouldn’t you get those same rewards?

Enjoy the savings!

Imagine being able to make a book entirely on your own and be in total control of what goes inside. Imagine being able to hold that special book in your lap and review all of the special things you learned along the way.

That is exactly what lapbooking is — creating a handmade lesson book, designed to fit in a child’s lap, with all of that child’s learning and creativity all folded up inside.

Lapbooks are enjoyable to plan and creative to build. There is no end to the combination of pages, mini-books, decorative objects or other odds and ends that can be built inside. Plus, they can be designed around any subject or any theme, and contain just as much or as little as a student wants to learn about, document, and put inside.

Though the project isn’t for all kinds of learners, lapbooks are particularly appealing to younger students, those with more artistic tendencies, and children who enjoy project learning above traditional kinds of projects. They can be used for one subject, or several, lending themselves perfectly to the unit study homeschooling approach.

With lapbooks, there is no need to reinvent the wheel — free printable pieces can be found on the Internet. However, families can design and create lapbooks completely on their own, too.

Supplies include nothing more than tabbed file folders, paper for printing plus basic art supplies. Students can go a step further and add scrapbooking or other papers, twine and ribbons, stickers and small decorative objects, and just about anything that can be attached relatively flat into the book.