Saving Money: Group field Trip Tips and Other Discounts

I found out some cost-saving tidbits from chatting with a friend that I wanted to share with you. Coincidentally, it was on a field trip to Port Discovery I organized for our group (more about that in another post). We all saved each other so much money by going in together as a group and I was grateful to them for coming because it allowed us to visit the museum for half the price, and where we ordinarily wouldn't have due to cost. 

Organizing group trips is a great way to save. Some other ways to do it are: 

Homeschool Buyers Co-Op*- Aside from getting a steal on curricula, they also offer a free Educator's Card you can print yourself, that as you find places to use your Educator discount, will come in handy. They also have an at-cost option that they send to you for about $8.

Barnes & Noble Educator card (FAQs)- Homeschooler-friendly! 20% discount on purchases and it's FREE to join. Join in-store by bringing your LOI (Letter of Intent to Homeschool) and your Photo ID.

Amazon Prime, Student, Mom*- free shipping, streaming videos & 1 free Kindle ebook/month. Like Netflix on speed. (There's the regular Prime Account, Prime for students, and Prime for moms.

Baltimore Aquarium- classes are only $15/MD student and this includes the child's admission as well as 1 chaperone's admission/reservation. For additional chaperones, the admission cost is greatly reduced, or I'd recommend making a separate reservation for each child to allow additional chaperones in at no cost. Additionally, all MD schools visit the Aquarium FREE, although I don't think we fall under this category just yet.

Michael's- My local store has given me a hard time about using my educator discount here, but in all fairness, I didn't have my letter handy. All my friends have used their discounts at other locations with no problems, but we'll see what happens when I go back...And don't forget about their coupons online or the ones that print out with each purchase. I usually Google coupons right there in the store on my smartphone and take a screen shot of the barcode for quick access for them to scan it right from my phone at checkout.

Free Fall Baltimore & Smithsonian Museum Day- a great way to see museums and other attractions for FREE! Reservations are sometimes required so pay attention to that.

The National Gallery of Art and the Walters Art Museum have Art Kits available for loan or purchase.

Bolt Bus tickets are dirt cheap for what you get. For just a few bucks on travel, you can tour NYC for a day or see the Philadelphia Zoo & the Children's Museum. Routes vary depending on your start location so additional transportation (commuter train, subway or bus) may be necessary in order to reach your intended destination.

*While I am not yet a member, I've heard rave reviews about these things and plan to join up as soon as I am able. No one is paying me or giving me free stuff to say this, by the way, even though they should be!

Where are your favorite places and ways to save??

Boxes & Books

Written Aug 5, 2013

Today I'm a rockstar. My girls are thrilled and full of celebration because I brought home some oversized boxes I found at a FREE book giveaway organized by the Homeschooling Office for our county.

The event started at 8am, precisely twenty minutes after I'd hit the snooze that one last time, and ten minutes after I finally dragged myself by the collar from my bed and stepped over the kids who were camped out (and knocked out!) on a plush pallet on our floor.

By the time I dressed and drove there, it was about 8:30am, or the equivalent of eternity past the start of an event like that. Just as I'd suspected, everything was gone baby gone.

Wasted trip? Meh, a little. But to tell you the truth, I'm not very fond of most textbooks anyway, so no loss there. I had really gone to look for educational classroom decor & tools, manipulatives, binders, things of that sort. Well, none of that did I find, but I did knock out a few orders of business while I was there, one of which included filling out my Intent to Homeschool the Littles for the year.

About a year and a half ago, I just happened upon a message post on an area homeschool group's listserv that gave details about the existence of such giveaway events organized by my County's Public School System,. Now I know to keep my eyes peeled. I highly recommend checking into whether your county does the same thing, you might score some cool, free items there you can use in your classroom or homeschool.

My tips and suggestions:

• Obviously, get there early, at least 5-10 min, but don't be rude by rushing the door EVER, especially before it's time. It's bad form and just plain annoying, especially that early in the morning.

• Bring a rolling crate, some sturdy reusable bags, or make use of the empty boxes that are sure to accrue by patrons such as yourself taking supplies and books off the organizers' hands.

• Find a way to tag your stuff. Everything looks exactly the same once everyone starts digging, and it won't be long before some other well-meaning homeschoolers wander over and start looking through your stuff you thought you'd set aside. If possible, try to take someone with you who can help you get it to the car and look over what you've claimed while you continue to search.

• Don't be greedy. Only take what you can use and leave the rest for someone else. We're all pretty much in the same boat and there are people out there who might actually need the materials just as much or maybe even more than you do. Think of what an incredible waste it'd be for those 5 copies of The Cat in the Hat to just sit and collect dust on your shelf instead of being enjoyed by 4 other families teaching their child to read.

If all else fails and you miss out, don't fret, you just might find that one discarded box that'll turn you instantly into a rockstar. 

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There's tons of free stuff online available to homeschoolers, and I have a growing list on my Links page of all my tried and true favorites. Here are some additional links you can try:

Freely Educate

Teach Mama

Amy Payson Wordpress Blog

Robinson List Blog post

Internat'l Observe The Moon Night at NASA Goddard

NASA: InOMN logo, duh.

Gasp! We saw Jupiter and it's four moons. Like in real life, in the lens of a telescope. It was truly one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I'll definitely be looking for it every night for as long as it'll remain visible. Ooh, I can't wait to see Saturn. You'll hear my excited scream when I finally set eyes on those rings, wherever in in the world you are. 

We attended the 2011 NASA Goddard's National Observe the Moon Night with some friends and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. We took turns looking at the Moon up-close through a telescope, which was kind of the goal of the night- until we set eyes on Jupiter through one volunteer's rogue telescope and it completely stole the Moon's thunder (ahem).

NASA: Jupiter's Rings

NASA: Jupiter's Rings

There were so many activities the kids could participate in that added to the excitement of going out way after dark instead of to bed. They had crafts like Impact Painting (simulating with paint the objects that have impacted the moon to give it its prickly appearance), re-creating the phases of the moon with Oreo cookies, but best of all (at least for the kids) was making a slide out of the supports that held up the gi-normous rocket in Goddard's back yard under the cover of darkness- well, excluding the full moon's light, that is. 

Inside, their Visitor's Center is a tremendous resource, open every day and free to the public, complete with an interactive touch-screen table for creating and learning about Space Station Modules. The lobby of the Center has lots of educational materials for the taking and upstairs there's an incredible Teaching Resources office, where they offer exactly that. We scored some cool educational posters & booklets for homeschooling and it was absolutely free. There's a limit to how many you can pick up at one time, so be forewarned you'll have a tough time choosing since their selection is pretty broad, but do your best.

Their website www.nasa.gov has full-color photos, up-to-date info at what's going on at NASA, and pretty much anything you want to know about space exploration.

Follow @NASA on Twitter for relevant tweets on science, space news & events.