News from the Homeschool Buyers Co-op

In this issue:
Member Exclusives
"My Orders" - NEW!
Group Buy Roundup
In the Pipeline
More Free Curriculum Discoveries by Diane Flynn Keith
Lesson Plan Reviews
Just For Fun
Dear Fellow Co-op Member,
What a week! Not only did Co-op'ers run up record savings for their curriculum, but Co-op staffers found themselves in behind the scenes negotiations with senior executives at History Channel, Kaplan, Renzulli Learning, and other top-tier educational publishers.

We've been hinting for several weeks about a great pipeline of Group Buys, but this week we are going to take off the wraps on some of them. So, if nothing else, make sure you give a careful read to our "In the Pipeline" section.

--- Member Exclusives ---------------------------------------------------

If you have been on the website lately, you may have noticed that we have started publishing some exclusive Co-op supplier offers at the top of many pages. We wanted to make sure that you are aware of the many great discounts suppliers have extended to members.

Co-op supplier, A Book In Time, has a new, special offer for members:

A Book in Time - 30% Off "Teaching History Beyond the Text"
Please browse the Exclusives section of our site to find discounts from over 100 other participating Co-op suppliers.
--- "My Orders" -----------------------------------------------------------

We occasionally get messages from members asking "Did you get my order?" or "I can't remember if I ordered such and such and such." or "Help! I haven't received get my order from so and so. What should I do?"

Members can now get immediate answers to questions like these by signing in to their Co-op account and clicking their "My Orders" tab. You'll see a list of all the orders you have placed with or through the Co-op. Click the "Order Title" and you'll see more information about the order, including a link to the supplier's support page or their support telephone or email address.

Click here to sign in at the Co-op and check out your "My Orders" page
--- Group Buy Roundup ----------------------------------------------------
We are pleased to report that, as of today, our Group Buy program has saved members, collectively, $315,795.34!

Here's what's happening at the Co-op Group Buy page:

Get A Clue: Co-op'ers gave Co-op supplier FableVision a warm welcome by jumping on our Group Buy for their award-winning, Flash-based vocabulary curriculum, Get A Clue. This comprehensive curriculum was developed by a teacher who was frustrated with conventional "drill and kill" teaching methods. Educational reviewers were impressed, giving this product a collective thumbs up. Now, and exclusively through the Homeschool Buyers Co-op, we are pleased to give members access to this innovative product at deep, Group Buy discounts. If we receive only 20 more orders, we'll all save 67% -- that's $100 off the price of a Get A Clue Homeschool subscription! Check it out today

SmartDraw Homeschool Edition - GOOD NEWS: Leading publisher SmartDraw was so impressed by the last minute rush for SmartDraw: Homeschool Edition that they agreed to extend our low low price of $49 through April! That's 84% OFF the list price of $299! What's more, Annette K. Hall of the Homefire's editorial team gave SmartDraw a rave review. Use this award-winning software to make excellent classroom resources for EVERY subject using tons of ready-made templates for maps, calendars, reference charts, worksheets, tests, quizzes, handouts, lesson plans, AND more!

Read Annette's review of SmartDraw
See Christee's collage of customizable SmartDraw templates
Click here to take advantage of this great deal
Discovery Education's streaming® As promised, we asked for an extension of our special $129 price for Discovery's popular streaming subscription -- and we are pleased they agreed to do so through March. They have confirmed that they WILL be increasing our special member price, but haven't decided by how much and when. However, we believe the price increase will happen this spring, and sooner rather than later.

We were also pleased this week to receive Diane Flynn Keith's review of Discovery streaming:

Read Diane Flynn Keith's review of Discovery streaming
Read member testimonials
Click here to take advantage of this great deal while it lasts
CyberEd - Expired 2/26/08: We're happy to report that Co-op members reached the minimum requirement for all 5 CyberEd programs! Everyone that joined this last round for CyberEd will soon be enjoying their new award-winning Science program. Access links are scheduled to be activated no later than midnight (EST) on Monday, March 3rd. ~~PLEASE~~ Patience is a virtue – please refrain from bombarding us with inquiries – we promise to work hard to get your access links ready for you & inquiries will only slow us down. If you missed out on this program, we'll have the next round ready for sign-ups soon. Stay tuned to your member newsletter and the Co-op website.
FREE ACCESS to netTrekker d.i.® - America's #1 Educational Search Engine: Now that members have had a chance to check out our trial subscription to netTrekker d.i., America's #1 Educational Search Engine, we decided to see what sort of reaction they have have had. WOW! The testimonials keep pouring in! See what other members have to say about netTrekker d.i.

SkillsTutor: This award-winning supplemental online subscription is like having a tutor to assist in all subjects for all grades – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! And here's the really great news – we've already purchased a subscription for Co-op members and we've got extra seats to move on out! That means YOU save big – all the extra seats have been reduced to $79! PLUS - there's no waiting 'til the Group Buy ends to get access to your subscription on this one - it's ready within 2 business days! Your subscription remains accessible until 10-14-08! Click here to get in on these savings!

ExploreLearning Gizmos - Expires 3/31/08. This month we will be letting out all the stops to get orders for these award-winning, online and math simulations. If you haven't checked out ExploreLearning Gizmos, please do it now! This is truly a special opportunity for homeschoolers. With only 300 orders, ExploreLearning will produce a special Homeschool Edition just for us! This edition will allow EACH subscriber to have accounts for 1 teacher and up to 3 students. This brings the per student cost to just $23 for a full year of access. Click here to get in on this great deal.

Pokemon Learning League - Extended: 51 seats left! We bought a school license for members, so we are going to keep this Group Buy open until we are sold out. In the meantime, members have a chance to get 50% off on this award-winning program. Find out why Pokemon Learning League has earned rave reviews from other Co-op members. Now available for only $47.50 at the Co-op – includes accounts for three students and one teacher. Click here to take advantage of this great deal before our allocation runs out!

--- In the Pipeline -----------------------------------------------------

In the next couple weeks we will be bringing you some really awesome new Group Buys!

Just around the corner – THIS WEEK – we will be launching a Group Buy for ClickN'Read Phonics from ClickN Kids! This interactive online phonics program is full of FUN and LEARNING – PLUS, the subscription is for a LIFETIME!!! That's right – a lifetime! You use it in your Homeschool classroom now, then you can keep it and teach one of your grandbabies, or even gift it to someone else after you've sent all your legacies on to college.

Phonics isn't all we've got up our sleeves. Last fall Christee Brauckmann embarked on a quest to get members a special deal for history curriculum. We were blown away when she came back with -- drum roll please! -- a special deal for American History and World History from… THE HISTORY CHANNEL !!! Coming very soon, we will be bringing Co-op members an EXCLUSIVE offer for The History Channel's Multimedia Classroom program for American History and Global History. In the meantime:

View a mini video clip sneak peek of the American History product.
While Christee was making history, we launched another crusade to get members a special deal for SAT/ACT preparation. We are pleased to report that very soon we will be launching not one but TWO Group Buys for deep discounts on online SAT/ACT preparation from market leader KAPLAN and market challenger PrepMe.com.

Also THIS WEEK, we will launch a Group Buy for two titles from new Co-op supplier, FableVision. Get ready for a very special price for two very special software products:

Stationey Studio - Encouraging young writers, grades K-5
BrainCogs - Improve students learning strategies, grades 4-8
Chances are also looking excellent for a Group Buy from Renzulli Learning. The name Joe Renzulli is well-known in the gifted community, but we think his product will appeal to many homeschoolers. ATTENTION UNSCHOOLERS! If there was ever a product designed for unschoolers, this may be it! Check out the Renzulli Learning website and stand by for more information in the next couple weeks.
Finally, we owe you a report on The Readingpen from WizCom Technologies. Last week, we promised a special deal for you for the Readingpen. We have one, but not in the form of a Group Buy. After sharpening our pencils, we found we just couldn't beat the price offered by online retailer Compsource -- $241 plus free shipping. However, we have learned that between now and April 30 you can increase your savings with a $20 mail in rebate:

Get the rebate form for the Readingpen Basic
Get the rebate form for the Readingpen Advanced
What's more, we have it on good authority that Wizcom is giving resellers a special discount this month, so keep your eyes peeled for special deals on top of the rebate -- or perhaps you can get one just by asking!
--- Field Trips -------------------------------------------------------------

Managing Editor Lisa Wilen was preoccupied with her own homeschool last week, but promises to resume her conquest of Canada next week! In the meantime, the word must be out about our Educational Field Trips database, becuase we received several submissions this last week from educational facilities themselves.

Check out field trips in your area
When you get to your state or province, the first thing to do is enter your zip code and click the Go button. (Sorry, we don't have postal codes for Canada implemented yet.) Then let our software do all the work. Did we miss your favorite field trip? Click the Add A Field Trip button and let us know about it.
--- Free Curriculum -------------------------------------------------------

This week we have more free curriculum discoveries and ClickSchooling reviews by Diane Flynn Keith

Math and Computation with MIT's "Scratch"
Free Storm, Oceanic and Atmosphere Science Activities
Google Literature Trips
KewlCartoons.com: Liberty's Kids
Virtual Field Trip to The San Francisco Bay
Please let us know if YOU find any great educational websites!
Lesson Plan Reviews -----------------------------------------------------

This week, Managing Editor and homeschool mom, Susan Mark, decided to focus on one of her all-time favorites:

"Free Art and Nature Study Ideas and Lessons" Lesson Plan
--- Just For Fun ------------------------------------------------------
Practical jokes are back!

Prank on taste testers
Regards,

Brett Walter
President
Homeschool Buyers co-op

Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: news@homeschoolbuyersco-op.org
phone: 650-648-0808
web: http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org