The most pathetic first day of school ever
And it wasn't for the reasons I bet you are all imagining at this moment, either! The children were fine, actually more than fine. They were pleasant and excited and interested. What more could one ask for? Well, it seems, the textbooks one ordered for one thing.
The real school lesson of the day was evidently contacting and working with customer service when your order didn't go as planned. Hey, I think it's a very important life skill. And this time, it was worth the effort.
To get the whole story, we have to back up a bit, to right before the mad homeschool planning week. While I say the planning took a week, I might be stretching the truth a bit, because really, I spent the entire month of August rolling things around in my head. One of those things was what textbooks for math and English we would be using this year. For various reasons, I felt we needed to switch from what we had been doing, at least math-wise. English, I decided it was time for everyone to start on formal grammar. To do this, we needed books.
In a moment of negative reinforcement for trying to purge myself of stuff, I realized that I had given away some of the texts I had decided that I wanted to use this year. When I gave them away, I honestly couldn't see my people being at a place where they would be useful, but I didn't factor in how very much children can change and grow. This meant that I needed to repurchase some of the texts I gave away. I also needed to purchase a few extra copies of the English grammar because I wanted everyone to work on it at the same time, and for that they each needed their own book.
I know this is all about as exciting as watching grass grow, but bear with me.
So, I did what I always do, I looked to see if I could find them used. Which I did, and happily ordered what I needed. Since they were used, it did mean that I had to deal with four different sellers. I could live with that. I clicked order, and checked a huge item off my list.
And then the books started arriving. When the first one came, I opened it, and was dismayed to discover that it was the teacher edition and not the student text. They have the same cover, except that teacher manual clearly states "teacher manual" on the cover. Because everything else is the same, I kicked myself that I didn't look carefully enough when ordering, and accidentally purchased a book I didn't need. So, back I went to the computer and bought another one, being careful to check that it as the student edition I bought.
The second book arrived. I opened it... and it was the teacher manual again. At this point, I begin to wonder if it really was my error, because making the same mistake twice didn't seem as likely. So I head back to my order history, and lo and behold, I ordered the correct books both times. This time I write messages to the sellers pointing out their error. One wrote back immediately to apologize, and say my money was refunded, asking me to donate the book if I couldn't use it. The second was not so nice, and insisted I send the book back to them before a refund could be issued. I go through the return hoops, but something didn't feel right.
At this point, you will note, I still have no student texts. The third book came, and remarkably it was actually the student text. One down, three to go. Which brings us to this morning. Another packaged arrived, just as I was giving children the books I wanted them to keep in their bags. It seemed serendipitous, since I knew K.'s math book was due to arrive that morning. I opened it, and...
It was the teacher's manual.
I sat there stunned for a moment, and then my head might have exploded. Since we had done most of what I had planned, I send the masses off to entertain themselves, because I explained I needed to sort out the whole textbook situation. Which I think I did, thanks to a very nice customer service rep who understood my annoyance at having to spend my time and gasoline to return books I didn't want, never ordered, and for which no replacement could be made. He managed to refund my money after quite a few conversations with his supervisor. At least, I think that's what he did. We'll see when I get my next credit card statement.
The next thing I did is what I probably should have done in the first place, and just ordered the books from a distributor. And paid the higher fee so that they would arrive when we needed them. I would love it if the story just ended there.
But, the mail came, and with a package. A package I forgot that I had ordered in all the confusion of ordering and reordering. Yes, it was another textbook. At least it was the student text this time. But it was also a copy of a book I had just ordered a couple of hours earlier and for which I had already received a shipping notice. (Why do things move quickly when you don't want them to?)
So for the totals, in case you are as confused as I evidently am.
I have two copies of the Rod and Staff 3rd grade math book teacher's manual. I have no student text at the moment, but that was part of the last order. I have two copies of the Rod and Staff 3rd grade English grammar text teacher's manual. I have three copies of the student text, with two more copies on the way. That gives me one more than I was originally needing. I may have H. try it along with the other four children. I have (or will have) the book after all.
I may never get rid of another text book again.
The real school lesson of the day was evidently contacting and working with customer service when your order didn't go as planned. Hey, I think it's a very important life skill. And this time, it was worth the effort.
To get the whole story, we have to back up a bit, to right before the mad homeschool planning week. While I say the planning took a week, I might be stretching the truth a bit, because really, I spent the entire month of August rolling things around in my head. One of those things was what textbooks for math and English we would be using this year. For various reasons, I felt we needed to switch from what we had been doing, at least math-wise. English, I decided it was time for everyone to start on formal grammar. To do this, we needed books.
In a moment of negative reinforcement for trying to purge myself of stuff, I realized that I had given away some of the texts I had decided that I wanted to use this year. When I gave them away, I honestly couldn't see my people being at a place where they would be useful, but I didn't factor in how very much children can change and grow. This meant that I needed to repurchase some of the texts I gave away. I also needed to purchase a few extra copies of the English grammar because I wanted everyone to work on it at the same time, and for that they each needed their own book.
I know this is all about as exciting as watching grass grow, but bear with me.
So, I did what I always do, I looked to see if I could find them used. Which I did, and happily ordered what I needed. Since they were used, it did mean that I had to deal with four different sellers. I could live with that. I clicked order, and checked a huge item off my list.
And then the books started arriving. When the first one came, I opened it, and was dismayed to discover that it was the teacher edition and not the student text. They have the same cover, except that teacher manual clearly states "teacher manual" on the cover. Because everything else is the same, I kicked myself that I didn't look carefully enough when ordering, and accidentally purchased a book I didn't need. So, back I went to the computer and bought another one, being careful to check that it as the student edition I bought.
The second book arrived. I opened it... and it was the teacher manual again. At this point, I begin to wonder if it really was my error, because making the same mistake twice didn't seem as likely. So I head back to my order history, and lo and behold, I ordered the correct books both times. This time I write messages to the sellers pointing out their error. One wrote back immediately to apologize, and say my money was refunded, asking me to donate the book if I couldn't use it. The second was not so nice, and insisted I send the book back to them before a refund could be issued. I go through the return hoops, but something didn't feel right.
At this point, you will note, I still have no student texts. The third book came, and remarkably it was actually the student text. One down, three to go. Which brings us to this morning. Another packaged arrived, just as I was giving children the books I wanted them to keep in their bags. It seemed serendipitous, since I knew K.'s math book was due to arrive that morning. I opened it, and...
It was the teacher's manual.
I sat there stunned for a moment, and then my head might have exploded. Since we had done most of what I had planned, I send the masses off to entertain themselves, because I explained I needed to sort out the whole textbook situation. Which I think I did, thanks to a very nice customer service rep who understood my annoyance at having to spend my time and gasoline to return books I didn't want, never ordered, and for which no replacement could be made. He managed to refund my money after quite a few conversations with his supervisor. At least, I think that's what he did. We'll see when I get my next credit card statement.
The next thing I did is what I probably should have done in the first place, and just ordered the books from a distributor. And paid the higher fee so that they would arrive when we needed them. I would love it if the story just ended there.
But, the mail came, and with a package. A package I forgot that I had ordered in all the confusion of ordering and reordering. Yes, it was another textbook. At least it was the student text this time. But it was also a copy of a book I had just ordered a couple of hours earlier and for which I had already received a shipping notice. (Why do things move quickly when you don't want them to?)
So for the totals, in case you are as confused as I evidently am.
I have two copies of the Rod and Staff 3rd grade math book teacher's manual. I have no student text at the moment, but that was part of the last order. I have two copies of the Rod and Staff 3rd grade English grammar text teacher's manual. I have three copies of the student text, with two more copies on the way. That gives me one more than I was originally needing. I may have H. try it along with the other four children. I have (or will have) the book after all.
I may never get rid of another text book again.
Comments
After a couple of weeks of trying to track down ORIGINAL books, used or new, with no luck I had to compromise my principles and accept that the copier kind was all we were going to get before school started, or close to it.
And then began the nightmare of trying to explain that I wanted the workbook that goes with the text, not the character practice workbook. Fail. We'll keep the character workbook (it was at $10 version, wish I had gone for a cheaper one) and use it for practice, but am hoping against hope that the actual workbook can be picked up in Hong Kong next week...just days before the first assignment is due.
The workbook for the second half of the year will be enroute from the US in just a few hours (along with my very very very favorite courier-daughter!). I'll deal with the second half textbook...later.