Calling all Canadian homeschoolers!

[KoalaMama]

I know we have some Canadian homeschoolers around here... Maybe we could start a little tribe and share resources?

I'd love to hear about favourite Canadian resources (sites for buying homeschool materials, CDN homeschooling blogs, etc.), and especially sites that offer educational information specific to Canadians. Have any you'd like to share?

I think there are some rules about posting your own blog links now, but if you have a HS blog and would like to share it, I'd love the link via PM! Or point it out if it's in your signature.

[limette]

I'm in Northwestern Ontario and feeling a bit lonely. All I can find online locally is a reference to a Christian homeschooling group. I'm an agnostic atheist so I don't think I'd fit in there.

You can buy supplies at Scholastic but it's pricey and most of it is bulletin board stuff.

I've been collecting board games from thrift shops. I have tons (Blokus, Scrabble, Yahtzee) and can't wait for the kids to get old enough to play them.

Were eclectic I guess, kinda unschooly.

[Brisen]

I'm in the Ottawa area. Lots of support for homeschooling here & a well-established community (if anyone is thinking of moving ).

I buy a lot from www.chapters.ca -- they seem to have a fair amount of difficult-to-find books, though not so much that is specifically hsing curriculum. They also have a nice variety of toys, which lean towards "educational" (the type you would expect to find in a bookstore, I guess). Lots of board games, construction sets (lego, k'nex, meccano), some art & science kits, etc.

Canadian Home Education Resources Has loads of stuff. If you order online, you have to give your CC # over the phone, but otherwise, their customer service is good.

I've also ordered from Tree of Life. Their philosohy is Christian/classical, but they have a lot of general books that would be suitable beyond that.

A Plus Books Canada is another Canadian resource. Also Christian/classical. Good customer service.

Acorn's Journey carries Waldorf books & materials.

http://www.mybookbiz.com/leslie/ is an Usborne seller near Ottawa. They also run The Education Station, where you can buy & sell used HS supplies. I think they're working on having an online store for that, but they don't at this point.

We get a lot from thrift stores, too -- games, books, toys, etc.

[midnightwriter]

Halifax here

[tankgirl73]

Fredericton NB here. We used to live in Hamilton ON where we had an active and vibrant HS community -- several to choose from, in fact lol...

My favourite site for materials is the previously-mentioned CHER, though they can be pricey. My current obsession, however, is actually e-books! A large chunk of our current curriculum is in e-book format... DS's spelling, several lapbooks, a unit study, his history, his handwriting program... and even a couple things for DD (who is not yet 3yo)... all ordered from US sellers, downloaded instantly to my PC, and NO shipping fees!

[moominmamma]

BC interior. Four kids, ages 6, 10, 13 and 15. We don't use much curriculum, but have used CHER and ShopatSmarts in the past with satisfaction.

Miranda

[canuckgal]

Originally Posted by limette

I'm in Northwestern Ontario and feeling a bit lonely. All I can find online locally is a reference to a Christian homeschooling group. I'm an agnostic atheist so I don't think I'd fit in there.

You can buy supplies at Scholastic but it's pricey and most of it is bulletin board stuff.

I've been collecting board games from thrift shops. I have tons (Blokus, Scrabble, Yahtzee) and can't wait for the kids to get old enough to play them.

Were eclectic I guess, kinda unschooly.

I concur with this poster...I'm in southeastern Manitoba, am an athiest, and an unschooler/eclectic. I don't fit in well at all here!!!

Don't have much to add that others haven't in terms of resources. One good page (not Canadian though), is http://www.besthomeschooling.org Run by LillianJ who posts here, and has lots of links to various websites.

[kathymuggle]

from near Ottawa.

I get most stuff from the Library. I think all Canadian Libraries participate in inter library loans - so if your library does not have something - ask!

We do not buy much (although I would love a reasonably priced Canadian supplier of real science stuff - including chemical, etc)

We do use museums, community groups, etc a lot.

[Callimom]

Southwestern Ontario here.
I have 4 kids - 11, 8, 8 and 6. We're are very lucky to have a strong homeschooling group around us.

I get most of my stuff at a curriculum fair(s) in the spring - essentially its just math and some language stuff as a curriculum and then "fun stuff". We relaxed eclectic but that looks different for each of my (very) different kids.

I've bought from mostly Ontario based suppliers like the Learning House in Goderich, A plus books etc, or online from chapters, amazon or scholars choice.

What kind of Canadian web resources are you looking for?

I have a blog which is currently by invitation only after some local issues - but if you are interested in reading it just pm me and I will send you an invite.

Karen

[Laark]

Hello from SE Ontario.

For Buying
I like Tree of Life (linked earlier) although I am not in love with their website. However, if you ever have a chance to see them at a vendor fair, they with really impress you. Good prices, I find.

Also, Homeschool and More (www.homeschoolandmore.ca) are wonderful to deal with. They have helped me order in things quite easily when I can't find it anywhere else.

www.bluemantle.ca are a nice place as well. Quite easy to deal with. Good sales and lots of product with I've seen them at a vendor fair.

For buy and sell I'm on a couple of lists. It's all buyer beware; kind of like a virtual garage sale. I've had no problems, though. It's a nice way to share when you're not in an area with a HS supplier. I'm happy to share links, just PM me.

I've become a conference junkie in recent years. Not that I attend a lot of them, but I do like to go once a year. The gas there and back is much less than the shipping I'd incur otherwise. I keep an eye on the conference page at www.kwchea.ca. Great list of Canadian resources.

I find in my area I have to work hard to build the homeschooling support/programming I feel my family needs. There is no 'official' group in our area. I highly recommned stepping out of your personal box and organizing something that you feel you and the kids would enjoy. Then open it up to other area HSers and see what happens. Kind of an 'if you build it, they will come' philosophy. I've also had good success (and saved quite a bit of money) by taking full advantage of the local library.

Cheers,

Laark

[IrishGirl76]

We're brand new homeschoolers in Sydney, NS. I have 3 kids, ages 5, almost 3, and 6 months. I don't really have any resources to offer, since I'm just learning myself! Thanks for this thread, though.

[KoalaMama]

Loving all these links and resources! Many of them I've heard of and visited before, but there are also a couple of new ones to me. Awesome, thank you!

Karen, I'm not really looking for anything in particular... just wanting to pull together a list of Canadian resources so that when I do need something I have places to go that are on our side of the border.

I never did post my own 'stats'... I'm in Mississauga, ON with my almost 7 yr old girl, 4.5 yr old boy, and 3 mos old boy. We're relaxed, eclectic, unschool-y in our approach, but I do love me some curriculum! Thankfully I have kids that love playing with curricula, so I get to research and preview and play based on their interests, while still maintaining a child-led learning environment. And of course, I can always use that new science program to learn a new thing or two myself if the kids aren't interested!

Happy to connect with other Canadian homeschoolers! Yay!

[Daffodil103]

We're in Ottawa as well. DDs 13 & 8. Ottawa is great for homeschooling, lots of activities.

Most of the curriculum resources we use have already been mentioned. Here's a few more ways I get stuff - We are less than an hour from Ogdensburg, NY so sometimes I buy stuff online & have it shipped to the Corporate Center in Ogdensburg to save on shipping and brokerage fees (which can add up)

I also keep an eye on www.bookcloseouts.com. Prices are in USD but it ships out of St Cathrine, ON. Reasonable shipping, reasonable prices. I wish they had better search functions. It's the online equivalent of shopping at Winners. I have gotten lots of useful books though, especially non-fiction. I usually check the promos then used a coupon so it's relatively cheap. Even if I end up not using all the books.

I always check the used book sale stand at the library and the bank. Usually I pick up classics and other "non-formulaic" books that my kids are unlikely to pick up on their own from the library. I have found some good non-fiction books that way too.

I'll also picked up a few interesting things from Costco. Like this http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Quest-Gr...5179646&sr=8-7 Wouldn't make a special trip though, just a by-the-way.

This is our first year, still few kinks to work but overall enjoying HS'ing A LOT. I wish I'd started earlier

Nice "meeting" you all

[kathymuggle]

Daffodil: If you are new to HS, have you checked out this :

http://sites.google.com/site/ottawahbln/

Hbln is a huge online place to post events etc in the Ottawa area. Honmestly, I get about an email a day from them. It is secular - or, more correctly, open to all

If you are Christian, check out:

http://www.rvhea.org/

I do not know it very well, but it is another huge organisation.

Have fun. Ottawa rocks to HS in!

Kathy

[luv_my_babes]

We are in Toronto over here... I have a 4 year old and 5 year old. This is our first year homeschooling

[beckington]

Another Haligonian here! We started homeschooling this year - my little guy is 5.5. Off to browse those links above - always looking for new resources!

ETA: midnightwriter - now I'm wondering if we've met before! Do you go to any of the Thursday Comedy of Errors' stuff?

[crittersmum]

Off Topic: Sorry!

I've been off the boards for a bit. Could someone fill me in on the new rules about posting your blog links or direct me as to where to find the guideline? I used to love following blog links in peoples' signatures!

[Daffodil103]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

Daffodil: If you are new to HS, have you checked out this :

http://sites.google.com/site/ottawahbln/

Hbln is a huge online place to post events etc in the Ottawa area. Honmestly, I get about an email a day from them. It is secular - or, more correctly, open to all

If you are Christian, check out:

http://www.rvhea.org/

I do not know it very well, but it is another huge organisation.

Have fun. Ottawa rocks to HS in!

Kathy

I haven't joined HBLN yet, thanks for reminding me!

I attended RVHEA's Vendor Hall at their conference in April. It was nice, I managed to pick up some resources from the bluemantle.ca folks. There's another Yahoo group that I joined. We've also met a few families at the out-of-home activities. So far, HS'ing has been better than I expected. Ottawa certainly rocks!

[Brisen]

Originally Posted by Daffodil103

We are less than an hour from Ogdensburg, NY so sometimes I buy stuff online & have it shipped to the Corporate Center in Ogdensburg to save on shipping and brokerage fees (which can add up)

Oooh, that looks very handy! Have you used it a lot? Has everything gone well?

Originally Posted by crittersmum

I've been off the boards for a bit. Could someone fill me in on the new rules about posting your blog links or direct me as to where to find the guideline? I used to love following blog links in peoples' signatures!

I believe that, unless you have paid for a business sig, you aren't allowed to link (the software won't let you put in a link at all). You're not allowed to get around the rule by linking to your blog in a post, although most other links are allowed (as long as they don't otherwise violate the UA). The solution that admin came up with was to provide a few "I'm Blogging" smilies to put in your sig, and have you put your blog link in your profile.

If you go to Q&S and search for "blog," you should be able to find more info, or at least the background behind the decision.

I miss the blog links in sigs. I'm lazy enough that I don't go check out blogs now.

[Brisen]

Originally Posted by Daffodil103

I also keep an eye on www.bookcloseouts.com.

Sigh. And I was hoping to get something real done today; instead, it looks like I'll be compiling a book wish list for a while.