Saturday Swap

Now it’s time for something different here at the HSB. Something we plan to do every month, once a month, on the second Saturday of the month… A Homeschool Swap!

“What is a swap?” you say.

Swaps are like having a secret sister that isn’t secret… and having a new secret sister each month. You fill out a questionnaire about yourself, get paired up with a secret sister, and spend about 5$ plus postage each month sending a personalized gift to your monthly swap buddy. The great thing is, you get a 5$ gift back… customized for you. Even better is the fact that you are swapping with another homeschool mom… and the thing about swapping with homeschoolers is that you are swapping with someone who knows how hard it is to have an extra hat on at home. We can get just as excited about swapping school supplies as we can about swapping other more usual things (like postcards, pretty papers, scrapbook items, personalized things, nail polish, etc.).

“What do we send?” you say.

Want to get ideas about what kind of gifts are being sent in swaps? There are lots of people swapping… here are a few links for you to check out about swaps and photos of swap gifts:

lots of swaps
stationary swap
sock swap
flickr swap shots
soup swap
art swap
button swap
handmade holiday swap
dishtowel swap

You know you could really go crazy with this. We have done a ton of swapping projects in homeschool before. We did postcard swaps and rock swaps… and once we got lighthouse postcards from all over America from homeschoolers for a mapping project we did when my kids were little. The possibilities are only as limited as the interests and creativity of the members of the swap group!

“What happens when we get our gift?” you say.

The way you say thanks to your swap partner for your super gift is to #1 SEND YOUR GIFT ON TIME… and #2 blog a photo of it on your blog and tell the whole world how great your swap-buddy is!

Interested in learning more?

Here are some basic rules…
1. Don’t offer to participate and sign up if you can’t get the gift to the mail box by the assigned swap deadline.
2. Don’t spend more than 5$ on your swap gift. You will end up making your buddy feel like they didn’t give enough to you.
3. Get to know your swap buddy and make sure to ask them if they need prayers. If you pray for them, send them a bible verse in your swap present!
4. Do NOT share your swap buddies’ personal information (last names or addresses) with anyone else.

To get started…
Comment here and let us know if you want to participate in our first homeschool swap. Please leave your email address! I’ll send you a questionnaire to fill out about yourself so that we can match up some homeschool moms. I’ll send you back your swap buddy’s email address. You guys can make contact and talk from now until the swap postal deadline. We’ll post a note in here each month to tell you what the swap theme will be (for this first swap, we won’t have a theme… we’ll just let you get creative and get used to swapping first). Don’t tell your swap buddy what you are getting for them. Let the gift be a total surprise. Mail your gift on time and be sure to get your thank-you post up on your blog as soon as you get your swap gift.

So… now that you know what a swap is… who’s in?

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