Categories: Parenting

Scholastic Books – the Clubs, the Website and the Products

Do you remember those little newspaper like flyers we used to bring home as kids where you could order great books that were really cheap! In my day, most books cost 25c to$1.00 for well-known titles and authors. Mom would send a dollar or so in an envelope to school. We loved book day when our orders would arrive.

That company is still in business and still selling great books for great prices. Most people are only aware of the books, but Scholastic offers countless other educational items as well. They offer discounts, materials, books, magazines, web services and loads of other benefits to teachers and schools at greatly reduced costs. Many services are free. They host all kinds of programs to encourage literacy as well. In fact many of the materials your children use in school come from Scholastic.

The most popular feature of Scholastic is the book clubs. There are 6 main clubs that put out sale flyers (the little newsprint ones) every month during the school year. For pre-school there is the Firefly club, for K-grade one: Seesaw, Grades 2&3:Lucky, fro grades 4-6: Arrow, for junior high TAB and for software products: Click!. Other special flyers come out occasionally as well. A teacher may order from any or all.

Each clubs offer soft and hard cover books, biographies, series books, cartoons, non-fiction, reference, new releases, videos, DVDs, software, kits, games, activity books, posters, crafts and other educational toys and supplies.

Any public, private, parochial or charter school teacher, day care worker, parent volunteer or home-schooler can set up an account for the students. It costs nothing. There are no minimum orders or commitments fulfill. There is no tax or shipping costs (as long as a teacher submits at least one order of $20 or more).

The prices on the books in the flyers are almost always lower than bookstore prices, often up to 80% less! The papers go home with the students. If anyone wants to order, they send the form back with the money. The orders are collected and mailed in, called in (1-800-SCHOLASTIC) or entered online at www.scholastic.com .

The teacher is given bonus points for every dollar spent. There are always extra points, free books, coupons, perks and rewards also. Teachers are offered special prices on a host of teaching supplies. They can pay with school purchase orders, cash or credit; no matter how the order is paid, teachers will receive all the perks and points. They can use their bonus points for classroom supplies also.

Scholastic runs a Teacher’s Store online also. All sorts of materials are available for all subjects and grades pre-K-8. The shipping costs are minimal. They always have great sales and everyday low prices. Scholastic offers everything from furniture, planners, texts, curriculum, lesson plans, reproducibles, bulletin board themes, office supplies, electronics, stationary supplies, kits, models, and all sorts of resources.

The website features some really helpful resources. There is a site builder for teachers to post news, homework, provide links, and just about anything else a teacher could want. This is a free service.

Scholastic emails teacher, librarian and administrator e-zines also. There are online planners, lesson plans, featured authors as well as all sorts of activities for students and parents. No purchase is necessary to access these items and they are all free to use.

These services are available to home-schoolers as well. Orders can be taken within cooperatives. The site builder can be used for the activities of the home-school group. Any of the resources are available to private groups. Religious institutions are welcome also.

Scholastic is committed to literacy. For every 100 books a class reads, Scholastic will donate 100 books to literacy programs. They offer materials in Spanish also. In fact there is a club LEO which offers books in Spanish. The software club CLICK! offers educational software, videos, DVDs, video games and instructional software.

You can literally double or triple the value of any purchase you make from Scholastic. You get great savings on high quality books and materials. Your child is learning and developing skills. Your child’s classroom will benefit in several ways. You are providing your child with great alternatives to TV. And Scholastic is providing educational materials to those in need.

This is an opportunity that no teacher, care-giver, parent, librarian, or anyone who any contact with children should miss. Suggest Scholastic to your child’s teacher or parent organization. You can support education, literacy and learning! Visit www.scholastic.com today!