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My family has been using HOD now for two school years and I am wondering if anyone else is encountering a problem like I am with the condition of their guide books. My oldest son has been very hard on his guide as he packs it around and uses it daily. It is literally falling apart. I had hoped the book would last through all six of my kiddos, but at this rate it is not going to make it. I was hoping someone else has found a solution to help their curriculum guides last longer and can help me out. The only thought I've had was taking it apart carefully and placing it in a three ring binder with page protectors. Has anyone else done this? Or anything else? Thank you!

We are only in the younger guides, but I have found putting clear contact paper on the covers really helps keep the covers from getting bent and damaged. Also, I put an overhead transperancy or trimmed page protector over the pages is we need the guide out around there kitchen.

I can relate. I agree that contact paper applied to the cover helps.

I dread the condition of my Preparing manual that we'll be using next year for the last time for child #5. It is horribly stained from a coffee spill accident. I don't even know if I can tolerate it and might have to buy a new copy.

I try to remind my older students to gently care for their books since they are getting passed down. They're attempting to show more respect for their materials as they age. That's a positive sign.

I was debated by my crumpled cover when I dropped my first guide, the first week I had it:( I put them in page protectors in a large binder that colour coordinates with the guide. I really like it!

I took mine to Staples and had them spiral bind a couple of our guides with laminate for the covers. That has worked really well for us.

I have been covering all the edges of the covers with Scotch book tape and they have held up very well. My son's guide is kept on a cookbook stand open to the day's page and he doesn't carry it around with him much. I have heard of plenty of people who have their guides spiral bound or else put in a binder.

I have one guide that is unbound and in sheet protectors in a notebook. I honestly don't like that one as well. Problems: it's bigger and bulkier, and if you ever drop the notebook, the pages come out and you have to put them back in - blah. Spiral bound might be better but then seems like it wouldn't keep it in good shape if the paper pages weren't laminated or something.

Preparing was a rough one for us. The guide got water with food coloring spilled on it and that one is in rough shape after only one child using it. Bigger on down have been used by at least 2 children and show little wear because the kids don't use the guide themselves. CTC has been better - my daughter is 2/3 the way through and the main wear to it is just from use. Hopefully as she gets older she will get better at taking care of it. Now, after Preparing I decided that if I needed to buy a new guide after 2 kids or so that would be okay. It's about $80, really that's not much compared to the overall cost of all the books with the curriculum. Since most of the resources are not consumable, the amount you save on reusing this program with younger kids is incredible and I am so thankful for that. I do even change it up with different storytime packs for the younger ones, this is mainly so I don't get bored as the kids would not care, even when they have already listened to the book with an older sibling.

I can see how a cookbook stand and maybe a plastic cover for the pages you are currently using would be a good idea. I've never had to laminate or tape up my cover on an HOD guide, I did it for The Reading Lesson which has only gone through 2 of my kids and is falling apart more quickly than my guides.