Kindle = awesomeness.
Kindle for homeschoolers = awesomeness quadrupled.
$3,500 books weighing less than 1 pound?! How can it be?! (and that's if each book is only a $1!)
(Do you know how much it costs to send ONE book to Peru?!
Almost as much as it would cost to China!! TOO much.)
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Do you know how I spent the majority of my first year homeschooling with Ambleside ONLINE? Uh, yeah. With a laptop perched on one knee, a nursing baby on the other, kids squeezed up one every side, a toddling child in and out of the room... reading from the computer screen. Yes, now that you mention it, I do wish this invention had come a little sooner.
Now. I am not giving up my real, hold them in your hands, crinkle beneath your fingers, hear the page turn, with a delicious mixed aroma of ink on paper, printed words... I've just gone and done the sensible thing. I bought a Kindle.
Now, I can have all the books in one place. I can carry them all with me in the car, up a creek, when we go a traveling, to bed, out on date night, without breaking my bag straps anymore...
oh, I think I'm in love.
For many books, I have a choice of whether I'd like to buy the fondle (paper between my fingers) version, or buy the kindle version (send it through cyber space for instant perusal). Or I can take advantage of 1,000,000's of free books online!
Using Ambleside Online, of COURSE the FIRST thing you'll be sure to download is the six-volume Home Education Series by Charlotte Mason!! Obviously. And I couldn't find it anywhere in Kindle format (though I didn't look terribly hard...) So, I've created them and put them right here! I'm also sending the files to the AO site so they can put the links up there too...
Download CM's six volume series in Kindle format here:
Vol. One - Home Education
Vol. Two - Parents and Children
Vol. Three - School Education
Vol. Four - Ourselves
Vol. Five - Formation of Character
Vol. Six - Towards a Philosophy of Education
download instructions:
{Right click on the link above and select "Save file as..." to download the files in a .zip file to your computer (save to your desktop). You'll have to unzip the files to your desktop (click on the little icon, and then you should be able to just drag and drop the individual files to your desktop), then drag them to the "My Kindle Content" folder on your computer, or straight to the "Documents" folder on your Kindle device.
(Click here if you need free software for 'unzipping')}
How to find 1,000's of more free books:
- A compilation of AO y1-8 books in Kindle format at Blossom's weebly site. She's adding more too!
- Archive.org - Search for free books here in LOTS of formats
- Amazon.com - Get TONS of free books for your kindle here
- Using the Kindle for Homeschool squidoo lens
Are you feeling a little kindle-y too? Check out the links below...
*(Pssst! If you decide to buy one, use one of the links below! that way we both win!)
Read Jimmie's Kindle experience here! Of course you already knew she would go and make a VERY helpful Kindle squidoo lens... of course! Go and check it out!!
Notice that the screen isn't lit... it looks like a piece of paper. 
I do really like the search feature (search for any word within any book on the entire thing!), 
Posts
28 comments:
Yes, I agree to all the advantages of a Kindle especially when living abroad. I was told the Philippines is one of the most expensive places to ship to and with the all the corruption you are not able to insure the shipping.
We bought a Kindle while on home on furlough this summer. Loving it but wish we had more than one. My girls fight over it!
Thanks for all the helpful links. We just got back to the Philippines but when we are through ridding our apartment of all the cockroach debris that gathered in our absence, we'll be sure to take advantage of them.
Thank you for this post. I was waffling on whether or not to get this and then you linked the site the has YR 1 - 8, very nice! Makes it so much easier for a luddite like me. Which link helps you? I did not see a link for the Kindle in the post. I think I am going to order one in the morning.
OH, I see the spot to click. I just had to page through. Thanks! I'll click through you. Help another homeschooler. :)
I just couldn't stop smilin'
I love my Kindle...but I still have 6 bookshelves in my house and I think I need more :)
And thanks for putting up my weebly site! Yay! more people that know= better!
oh...one more thing- on AO's website there is a link (ahem, files made by yours truly-lol) for each of the volumes in prc format- which will work for Kindle :) But you've got them all right here already :)
http://www.amblesideonline.org/CM/toc.html
Also if you are part of AmbleRamble Yahoo! Group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ambleramble) the Files section has them as well- some of the Modern English versions also (unless they've been taken out- vol 5 & 6 seem to be MIA)
Okay, I'm done commenting now... I think :)
I am completely in love with my daughter's Nook. She got it for her birthday a month ago and so far I have three books of my own on it! The portability makes it fantastic. I am not sure of the pros/cons of a Kindle vs. Nook but the concept is brilliant. I was a complete holdout. My house is literally layered with books. Now I feel like I might start to weed out my books, keeping our reference books on our shelves.
@Blossom,
Thank you for pointing that out! I did NOT recognize the prc format! Oh good. I'm glad that's taken care of. I was wondering how on earth it had been overlooked!!!
* Maybe a note should be made on the site that those files are good for Kindle... because obviously the more well known format is mobi... AND I know there are people out there that know less than I do and I couldn't figure it out!!
You are great!
I ordered a Kindle after clicking on your link, so you should get the credit. :) I am also going to post this on my Wonder in the Woods FB page, because I love your links. I have some AO friends who might be interested too. Have a great day!
I don't have a Kindle (yet), but many books. I know I would probably love the freedom of one.
Thank you SOOOOOO much for sharing this! My hubby bought me a Kindle last winter and I have been LOVING it! It's amazing how many books I can hold in the palm of my hand now.
I have been wanting to read the CM series, but didn't want to be glued to my computer screen for days... Now I have them on my Kindle and I can read wherever I am when time allows! Thank you!
Blessings,
Karen H
Question about putting other files on the Kindle - does it "reflow" the document or do you have to view it as a snapshot image of the page? Have you tried PDFs yet? Can you convert PDFs to mobi or prc?
Great post!
@Thomas and Lisa,
I'm with you on the international mailing being one of the BEST reasons for a Kindle. If I were in the US, I'd have a LOT less justification in buying one. Though I still would WANT one! ;)
I'm so glad you have at least one! Enjoy!
@wonderinthewoods,
You are AWESOME! thank you for ordering a kindle! every little bit helps, and I order a LOT from amazon... online shopping makes things a lot easier on family and friends. ooh. and feel free to send ALL your friends this way!! ;)
@Jessica,
I like the Kindle simply because I use amazon ALL the time. I don't really know the advantages of one over the other either. I do have the nook on my computer as well, just in case ;)
You're brave to weed out your books! I can't bring myself to do it since it cost so much to get the ones I have down here!! ;)
@Traci,
It IS great. But I really had to weigh it to determine if it was an 'extra' or a necessity. I wavered. But living here, I am fully convinced that it is VERY worth it!
@Mrs. Hewett,
Enjoy! I'm beginning to read through the books with the CMseries list and wanted to have them very conveniently located too! I do have the e-book printed versions to write my notes in, but I do SO love the convenience of taking all my books with me wherever I go, whenever I have a free second!
thanks ladies for the fun discussion!
:)
@Cindy K.
Here's the info from amazon's Kindle page. Apparently, the kindle accepts these files directly from e-mail or USB transfer:
* Microsoft Word (.DOC)
* HTML (.HTML, .HTM)
* RTF (.RTF)
* JPEG (.JPEG, .JPG)
* GIF (.GIF)
* PNG (.PNG)
* BMP (.BMP)
* PDF (.PDF): See below for details.
* Microsoft Word (.DOCX) is supported in our experimental category.
***(notice prc is not officially included... fluke? I don't know.)
You can also send documents in any of the above file formats to your kindle's e-mail address with 'convert' in the subject line and it will convert them to mobi format for you and wirelessly send them to your kindle (convenient!). However, if you are not in the wifi coverage area you will be charged $0.15/MB in the US, or $0.99/MB international (inconvenient!) Though you can set the maximum charge on your kindle to $0.00 so that it won't send you anything that would incur a charge from what I understand).
***Blossom assures me that the .prc file format worked just fine on her kindle, but it may not work on the older versions? I've read that some of them are a little more particular in what they can/can't do.
PDFs - Yep, I have LOTs of my AO formatted books (pdf) on my kindle. It doesn't change the flow of the document, so many of those books I have to read in landscape mode (wide view) and it splits the page into 3 parts, which because the AO formatted books are in columns, I have to scroll to the bottom of the page and then back up to the top (at least 4 clicks) to read the whole thing.
Kind of a pain, but worth it to me. I'm pretty flexible. The thing that would ANNOY me is if there were some lines of the page when scrolling down that I couldn't read... but that hasn't been an issue. I'm pretty happy with it!
I'm learning lots! ;)
That was my concern about the PDFs on the eReaders - I don't want to have to scroll left and right to read the whole line in addition to reading scrolling down. Or even worse, not be able to zoom in on the page and the text be incredibly small. I have noticed that with the Simply CM files I have bought if I try to read them on my PC with either the Kindle or Nook for PC. The are viewed more like images rather than pages of text. Kind of annoying.
I'm waiting for the Notion Ink Adam to come out, or one of its competitors. Hopefully by the end of the year. New screen technology gives advantage of an eReader-like view for reading (and low power consumption), as well as a full-color LCD display but is a full-fledged tablet-style PC (iPad-ish) running Google Android and has a 10" display.
I have a birthday present Kindle making its (slow!) way to me, and I can hardly wait! Have you had any trouble getting free books from Amazon on yours? All of the free books that I've looked at so far there say that they're not available for us in Ukraine. It's not a big deal, since I have found them from other sources, but I was wondering about it....
*Files Kindle Recognizes* from amazon.com
You can purchase and wirelessly download Kindle books, newspapers, magazines and blogs from the Kindle Store as well as download and read other types of non-DRM (Digital Rights Management) text-based content on your Kindle.
You can also play Audible audiobooks or MP3 files. When your Kindle is connected to a computer and mounted as a USB drive, you will see three default directories or folders. Here's a list of the directories and the file types
recognized by Kindle:
- *Documents:*
Kindle (.AZW, .AZW1).
Text (.TXT),
Unprotected Mobipocket (.MOBI, .PRC)
- *Audible:*
Audible (.AA, .AAX)
- *Music:*
MP3 (.MP3)
*Tip:* Mobipocket files must have no Digital Rights Management (DRM)
protection applied to be readable on your Kindle. If you purchased a
Mobipocket file from a Mobipocket retailer, you will not be able to open the file on your Kindle.
Personal Documents
Kindle's Personal Document
Service
allows you to e-mail the following approved file types to your Kindle's e-mail
address...
So now maybe all the information is here? ;)
Learning new things every day! ;)
aha! I knew prc was somewhere (although I'd yet to find the info you did...) :) Thanks for helping keep us in the know ;)
Well Amy......welcome to the club! LOL! I LOVE my kindle! Like you say internationally it is sooooo much easier. (and shipping to England is not nearly as bad as for you guys. And we can get lots of books in English here too - obviously. Just not always the ones I'm needing.)
Thank you also for the Chalotte Mason books!!!! I'm downloading them now! Yeah! Enjoy your new 'toy'. - Deedee
I found another cool link over at Jimmie's...
There are TONS of educational books on gutenberg.org, and you can easily transfer them wirelessly to your kindle. Want to know how to take advantage of a library 30,000 gutenberg.org books easily and for FREE in kindle format? read here:
http://kindleworld.blogspot.com/2009/04/tip-gutenberg-e-books-direct-to-kindle.html
:)
I will be referring back to this post often, I think ;)
You and Jimmie need to quit tempting me!!!
Hi,
I can't get the link to work. I would love to be able to read these books on my kindle.
I realize that this post/thread is a few years old, but I'm in search of a kindle version of the Charlotte Mason series. The link on this page no longer works and I don't want to purchase from the plagiarists. Does anyone know where I can find it if it exists? Thank you! :)
working on it, megan. sorry about that. i'll comment here again when i get it fixed. :)
Could you email me that zip file since you link is not working.
Hi Amy, I'd like the zip file too please. I am joining the AO Forum discussion on Volume 5 that starts on Sunday and I'm really looking forward to it. Thank you so much for your help!
okay, friends!
it's here: DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE
:)
you will have to send me an e-mail. but, now you can just download them from the link in my comment below... :)
Thanks so much for these links! What a great gift to have these on my kindle. I had just started reading them on my computer but the Kindle will be a much more convenient and portable option!
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