You should see if your newspaper has a NIE- Newspapers In Education- subscription. Ours does, and what that means is, you get a free subscription to the paper after you provide proof that you homeschool. On the newspaper website are curriculum guides that you can use immediately. I thought this was a generous deal, and I bet most newspapers have this.
Becky, We have one too! Ours is a really reduced fee though per copy...but still an AWESOME deal! Thanks! Autumn
Ours has scholarships for those who can't afford it. There are many sponsors. If people can afford it, it is .08 cents per issue and you have to have it delivered at least 15 days a month.
Ours has it, but from what I see on their website, they only send to school districts. I do get to read the paper online for free using my mom's account that comes with her subscription.
Sommer, email your paper and see if they can work with you. I emailed mine to make sure we could be part of it and she told me that we could. We just need to fill out a different form since the forms they have only cover the local public and private schools.
Becky, a good while back, I tried to get it. Our newspaper has it. It cost $5, and for that I would get the guide and 10 newspapers EVERY WEDNESDAY delivered to my doorstep. I explained that I homeschooled, and we already (at that time) got a Wednesday paper. I wanted to pay my $5, get the guide and what-not, but NOT get ten additional papers that would go straight into my trash. (And most classrooms got 25, but they would put me down as "special ed" so I would only get 10!) Believe it or not, that was too much for her!!! She got real beligerant with me; I mean, they had CORPORATE SPONSERS that wanted to be sure the papers got into the hands of students, and they had responsibilities to their sponsers, etc. I mean, these sponsers CARED about children's education! Then she went and said that most homeschoolers where very religious people, and wouldn't even DREAM of asking for special treatment that went against the rules. Needless to say, that was a comment that did NOT go over well with me!!! I finally talked with a super (who again explained all the reasons that they had to deliver 10 papers every Wednesday to my door), but at least she wasn't rude. I was flabergasted. I mean, I was willing to pay my $5 and get LESS for it than what the classroom teacher was getting! The super called me back a few days later, after talking with someone else. They had decided to send me the guide free of charge. Needless to say, it was the last time I tried to use NIE!
Get them on the horn and ask if they will give it to hsers! Ours advertised this to teachers for like a week, and I decided to call. It can't hurt to ask!
So, round up 15 moms, think of a group name, even split the 20.00! My regular subscription is 120.00 per year! A paper near us won't give to individual hsers, but will give to a group with at least 10 kids within the group.
I'd have just taken those extra papers and given them out. Here, too, there are very specific guidelines they have to follow, and that's why they won't let me drop my paid subscription for a NIE one. The lady at our paper explained that they get randomly audited, and every single NIE subscription gets looked at. There is even a separate delivery person for the NIE routes.
Then maybe we need to get in touch with the NIE sponsers, and request that they accomodate homeschoolers. Again, I'm willing to pay the fee, but am NOT willing to take extra papers. And I no longer get a "regular" paper. There's nothing in it worth reading. Actually, here's the web site: http://nieonline.com/ It seems to have a lot on there that we can get without "joining".
Here is a saturday paper for kids that is free and changes every saturday.... http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/minipage.pdf It is called the Mini Page. Enjoy!
I contacted our paper and they do have this program though the paper delivery is online only and you get a study guide, thematic units, and teacher guide with review questions, and project ideas. The only downfall is that it is all E-delivery! Though I may just subscribe to the paper alone with to get it in paper format.
