Tips for using a Scholastic Book Club in your preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten and how to get the most bang for your buck.
Scholastic Book Club Tips for Teachers
Welcome to Featured Friday! Today I’m featuring my absolute favorite teacher resource; Scholastic Reading Clubs (formerly known as Book Clubs). Most teachers and homeschoolers are aware of this fantastic resource where bargains abound but I’m going to show you how to get more bang for your buck from Scholastic Reading Clubs.
I built my classroom library from scratch using bargain books from various sources, including Scholastic. When I was a new teacher I spent a good chunk of each month’s paycheck on books from Scholastic, but I could have spent my money more wisely had I known then what I know now.
How to get more bang for your buck with Scholastic Reading Clubs
- Subscribe to both Firefly (preschool) and SeeSaw (kindergarten) to widen your selection of available books.
- Buy multiple copies of the $1 book offered each month- this is a quick and easy way to build your classroom library.
- Send home and or e-mail a note when you send a Book Club order home. One teacher made a cute Vista Print postcard to send home with her Book Club orders complete with a blank space where she can stamp the due date.
- Use your bonus points to buy more books.
- Take advantage of the helpful tools Scholastic has developed that make communicating with parents a breeze. When you log-in to your account you can create a wishlist, make recommendations, and send an e-mail to parents. Parents who may not know what books to order will appreciate your help. Your order will qualify for free shipping if the total is a certain amount so you will SAVE on larger orders.
- You can use your bonus points to purchase one $1 book per child for special holidays or birthdays.
- If your parents have internet access, offer them the option to order from Scholastic Reading Clubs on-line, you get free shipping and they pay Scholastic directly with a credit card so you don’t have to handle any money- which saves you time and time is money.
- Always place your order on-line, this is another time saver- it’s much quicker and easier than ordering via snail mail
- Shop the Scholastic Warehouse Sales in your area for super discounts. They usually offer the Warehouse Sales at least twice a year and sometimes more.
Hope you enjoyed these tips, happy saving!
I LOVE Scholastic Book Clubs too, and the extra bonus points can be put toward gift books for students or helpful items for the classroom. My students this year will have a new ABC carpet at our calendar area and a rolling tote for library visits thanks to the bonus point catalog and parents’ support of literacy at school and at home.
In my note to parents I tell them what I am saving my bonus points for so they feel like they are helping. You could add a picture of some students with previous bonus point purchases to give them incentive.
I love this post! I build my own classroom library the same way, and like you, I could have used these tips when I started. This is a great blog!