Taking books overseas

[Mission mom]

Hi! I'm new to the message board and I am looking for advice for the next four or so years of curriculum. My husband and I are new missionaries in the "support raising" stage and we hope to have enough support to go to the field (Papua New Guinea) in summer of 2015. Because we're moving to the other side of the world and probably won't be back in the U.S. for four years, I'm trying to organize and plan for as much as possible for the next four years of our lives. My oldest child is about to turn six and is in BLHFHG for 1st grade. Next years' books(Bigger Hearts) look manageable, but past that I'm getting a little overwhelmed with the number of books we'll need to purchase and pack up. For those who have used Preparing Hearts, CTC, and Resurrection to Reformation, are there books you skipped, books you found for Kindle, or any other options that might reduce the amount of books we're packing up? We can have relatives ship our books to us each year, but I've been told that not everything in packages always make it through customs without being "misplaced" during the checking process. Or worse, the package doesn't arrive at all. I would hate to lose an entire box of school books! Any advice or suggestions?

[Jennymommy]

I have wondered about this for other missionary friends. Wouldn't it be great if you could purchase the guides in electronic format? One friend did "lose" her first set of curriculum and had to re-order. I will be watching this thread to see what suggestions come up.

[MelInKansas]

Storytime titles for Beyond and Bigger would be easily gotten on Kindle or another electronic format and could also easily be used that way. Many Emerging Reader titles are pretty easily available also, electronically or otherwise, but those books are also not very big or heavy. Once you keep on going though (past Bigger Hearts), the books will get harder and harder to get and probably expensive even on Kindle because they just aren't "popular" titles. And they are harder to use with the HOD guide because often the guide has page numbers in it (which are really hard to translate to Kindle format). Even though I know you may not know exactly when you are making trips back to the US, or when people from the US will be visiting you, I think you could easily plan about 1-2 years ahead and then find ways to get the books to you for further down the road than that. That's what I would recommend. You don't know exactly what pace your kids will go, whether you will keep using HOD, whether something will bring you back from the mission field, etc.

For someone already ON the mission field who wants the books pretty quickly I would suggest they contact HOD to work this out. Yes, again, there are some books that are available on Kindle but sometimes they are a lot harder to use if you get them that way. The Eggleston history books in Bigger hearts for example are actually public domain and you can download them for free, but you would still have to figure out how to use the HOD guide and which sections you are supposed to be reading, often easier said than done. I like having the books in hand too.

[gardenmama28]

I would agree that it might be best to only buy the books for the next two years (or use Kindle) and try other options to obtain the other books once you need them. It it becoming more and more common for people to visit missionaries that are on the field (my sister in Asia got several visitors in her 2 years there) and they might be able to put in a few books for you. Also, you could possibly coordinate with other missionaries who are on furlough who could transport some books for you.

The other thing is, you never know what the future holds..... whether you will stay with HOD for the whole 4 years, whether you will stay on the mission field for that whole time etc.

One of my closest friends went to the mission field and ordered 3 years of Sonlight to take with her. While she was there, she decided not to do sonlight anymore and switched to Simply Charlotte Mason. And THEN, they ended up having to come home halfway through their term due to health problems, a pregnancy, and some other really hard stuff. So she had to pack all those books there and back even before she would have used them.

Most of the books that HOD uses are nice books to just own even if you are not using them for school (especially the storytime books). So even if you do end up wanting to just buy them all they will still be good resources for you no matter what.

[Nealewill]

If it were me and you were set on HOD, then I would contact them and see what you can do. I will say, I have looked and looked for curriculum and found HOD to be a fantastic fit for us. I love that most of the stuff is non-consumable. So if you placed an order, you would eventually need to order a few sets of students sheets but it shouldn't be too many. And we LOVE the books. So if you are highly considering HOD, I would find out what you need and probably just buy it (if you can). This way you will have what you need. But that is just me.

[Mission mom]

You all have some excellent words of wisdom! I agree that God can change plans, and our four years might not be four years! My mom is planning to come visit us halfway through our assignment, too, so perhaps she'll be able to bring the next year or two of books when she comes. Thank you so much for your ideas, everyone!

[StephanieU]

One other thing I will point out is that your son is very young for Beyond. While he might be doing well with it, his age might become an issue in later guides. So, even if you do spend 4 years on the field and use HOD the whole time, you may not finish 4 guides. There will be a lot of other educational opportunities I bet on the mission field as well, so I personally would only pencil in 3 guides to be completed in those four years. I have to do that sort of thing so I don't push my kids too hard and take the fun out learning.

[luv2homeschool]

I personally think you should consider using Bigger Hearts half-speed anyway. Your son is only 5 right now, there's no reason to rush him through school (unless he's highly gifted I guess). The guides are going to get difficult for him pretty quickly. The missionaries I know come back on home assignment every 2 years. We actually know a family who is in Papua right now and they've had to come back several times due to visa and health problems. They also tried to homeschool at first but ended up putting their kids in a boarding school so they could focus on their mission work.

[my3sons]

HOD routinely works with missionaries overseas all of the time, so try not to worry, just give us a call, and we will gladly work with you. You also receive a 10% discount on your order if you are an active missionary that does not take a salary. HOD fills out the customs forms and makes the ordering process as easy as possible. Personally, I'd not try to plan more than 2 years in advance, as I too think that would be overwhelming! I bet you have just a few things you are trying to get together for this adventure!!! It sounds like your mom will probably visit within 2 years, so she can take needed books along then. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie