Dust Gatherers

As I typed out my curriculum purchases and mentioned that I thought the Writing With Purpose books might be dust gatherers (I am pretty sure now that I have them that they will be...), I thought about the other curriculum that I have bought that have turned out to be dust gatherers.

Now it's not to say that these products aren't any good.  One family's dust gatherer might be another family's favorite curriculum. Here are the curriculum purchases that haven't gotten much use in our house.

The Usborne Internet Linked Science Encyclopedia - I bought this at the same time that I bought The Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History .  I have used the world history one more because it is used as part of the Story of the World curriculum.  I just haven't found a way to work this into our school.  I have kept it around for the 5 years since I bought it. I keep hoping I will find a use for it in our homeschool.

The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading - I bought this because I thought I needed to do more phonics with my oldest after we finished Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons.  We had finished 100 Lessons and she was just reading easy readers for about a year, but when she was almost 8, she hadn't made the leap to chapter books, so I got worried.  Shortly after I bought this book, something clicked and she has been a voracious reader ever since.  I sold the book at the end of the school year.

Many Math extras - When my oldest was in 3rd grade, we struggled with math.  Eventually, I discovered that part of the problem was the curriculum we were using (Abeka) and part of it was that she simply needed to solidly memorize her multiplication facts before we went any farther in math. But before my realization, I bought A LOT of math extras to try and help/spark interest in math.  These included a dominoes book, a geoboard book, Mia Math CD rom, Peggy Kaye's Games for Math, and Family Math. The girls played the Mia Math game a couple of times.  The rest I don't think ever got used.  Oh, I read Games for Math and Family Math from cover to cover and took notes, but I don't think I have ever actually used them with my kids.

Art Basics for Children - I don't think this even had time to gather dust.  This was one of those purchases where I wasn't able to get a good sense of what it was just from looking at it on the internet.  I sold it almost as soon as I got it.

Basic Not Boring Spelling  - I should have know better than to buy something designed for public school kids (And I should have remembered when I bought the Writing with a Purpose books this year...).  These workbooks were, well, boring.  I think my older 2 did 2 pages each before we stopped using them.

Hands on Equations - I bought this when I still thought I would use all of the math extras.  And hands on that sounds great, right?  We haven't gotten to algebra, yet, but I doubt we will use it.  There is just not enough time in the day/school year for all of the "great" hands on things.

Math Wrap Ups - These were used a few times and now just sit on a shelf.  We got slightly more use out of the states and capitals wrap up when my older 2 were learning those.

Winston Grammar - I bought the Basic teacher's manual and the cards used and acquired the Advanced level teacher's manual and student workbook.  I haven't used either of them.  They are too teacher intensive.  Kind of like Right Start (which I used for a while, but then sold and switched to Singapore). They are very hands on which is nice, but you know how it goes with hands on stuff...  Growing with Grammar is working really well for us, so I doubt these will ever get used.

Lyrical Science - I have the texts and CD's for Life Science 1, 2, and 3, and Earth Science, but I have never used them.  They seem like a good idea, but I can't seem to figure out how to use them in our homeschool.

Nitty Gritty Grammar - I think I needed to add something to an Amazon order to add up to $25.  I read it, but I doubt I will actually use it.

Number Jugglers - I bought this just last year. Did I not learn my lesson when I bought all the math extras several years ago?

Quarter Mile Math - Another one that seemed like a good idea, but my kids were bored by it.  The whole point was to make learning math facts more interesting, so I gave up making them play it after a couple of months.

But like I said, one person's dust gatherer might be someone else's treasure.  I am actually trying to sell the Winston Grammar and the Quarter Mile Math. If anyone is interested let me know.  And if anyone is interested in anything else on this list that I haven't already sold, feel free to make an offer on those too.