rethinking things to school with a preschooler and toddler around

I'm so excited to have figured out how we're going to run things this year. For now at least! I've been thinking about it a lot after I realized Esther was preschool age this year and would need something to do. Not necessarily something "preschool", but that if she wasn't busy with something good, she would be getting into trouble. I'm not as worried about Becca since we can do a lot when she naps and when she isn't napping, I'll just figure it out as we go.

So here's what I've decided to do...

Once Becca's down for a nap,

Chores (A) - Chores (H) - Violin (E)
Language Arts (A) - Saxon Math (H) - Independent Activity (E)
Saxon Math (A) - ETC & SW then mentoring E (H)
with E (A) - Language Arts (H)

LUNCH

Art (group)
History/Science (group)
PE

Not sure where we'll put foreign language (Muzzy), but they love it so maybe they'll do the independent parts before morning cartoons and then we'll review throughout the day.

Here's the breakdown of this year's curriculum:

(A)
Learning Language Arts Through Literature
Writing Strands 3
Spelling Workout C
Saxon Math 3
Muzzy German Level 1
Story of the World, Ancient Times
Apologia, Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology
Art with Anything (MaryAnn Kohl)
PE

(H)
The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading
First Language Lessons for the Well-trained Mind
Explode the Code
Spelling Workout
Saxon Math 1
same History, Science, Art & PE

For Esther, I've decided to make a goal of three activities a day for her. Two focusing on motor skills or the alphabet, and one doing something independent (like listening to a book recording while looking at the book).

To make things really simple for the activities, each day will be a category:
Monday - Gross Motor
Tuesday - Alphabet
Wednesday - Fine Motor
Thursday - Craft (likely alphabet themed!)
Friday - Game

And most of these will be listed on index cards for the girls to pull from with instructions so that they can help her with whatever she's doing.

I'm excited!

Curriculum Line-Up

Here's a run-down of what we've used in the major subjects over the last two years as well as what we'll be using this next year. If something is linked, it's something I recommend and the linked page is also the best place I've found to buy it. With the Amazon links, sometimes I buy from the marketplace when it's a big enough difference, but otherwise I've bought a new copy. You can find it cheaper if you want to find it used at eBay and your local homeschooling yahoo groups.

2008
1st Grade
Reading - picked books on our own and took quizzes for them on the Book Adventure (free) website. Sometimes we added activities that worked with what we'd been reading about.
Writing - Writing Strands 1. This was a flop. It just didn't mesh with her learning style and writing level at the time. She needed something more directed and engaging. We switched to Scott Foreman's free Grammar Workbooks for the rest of the year. Not my ideal choice, but it worked.
Math - Saxon Math 1. I can't say enough good things about Saxon. We considered switching to Singapore for a time, but will stick with Saxon. I feel like they are the two best homeschool math programs out there.
History - We followed the outlines in History: All through the Ages, checking out books for different time periods and events and doing activities that matched up. And writing about them. It was great, but too time intensive on my end. With a few more HSing years under my belt, maybe I'll revisit it if our experience with Story of the World is not what I want.
Science - Noeo Biology I. I loved this but felt it could be done a little better. It includes an instructor's guide, living books, and an experiment kit. It would have been our most expensive choice if we had done the full package. Something like $160. Instead, I ordered the instructor's guide and checked out the needed books at the library. If they were not available or were used for a long stretch of time, I bought them for as little as I could. Usually Amazon or eBay. We didn't buy the experiment kit. Instead, I used Janice VanCleave's Biology for Every Kid book to pick experiments that matched. This, like our history that year, was very time intensive on my part.

2009
2nd Grade
Reading - We wanted something more structured but to be able to work it around our own reading selections this last year. We used Drawn Into the Heart of Reading (DITHOR). I liked it. A lot. But again, a little too time intensive on my part. I'm seeing a pattern here...I like to bite off more than I can chew! Lately I try to remind myself that LESS IS MORE and the acronym KISS - Keep it Simple Stupid. :)
Writing - English for the Thoughtful Child. Seemed boring to her and not full enough. We dumped it early on and used writing prompts instead and I taught her the necessary grammar as we encountered it. We also used Handwriting without Tears, to recorrect her handwriting. How can a kindergarten teacher of 18 students be expected to sit by an individual student enough times to make sure they're holding the pencil correctly and forming the letters correctly? I'm glad I could be here to help her re-learn those things. She'll benefit in the long run. And her hand will thank me. :)
Math - Saxon 2.
History - Beautiful Feet. This was interesting. I loved the literary selections but felt the activities that went with it were too basic. More than that though, I just felt it was too heavily Christian. I know that sounds strange since I myself AM a Christian. I have a firm testimony of the Atonement of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love the scriptures. I love learning about the gospel. I love having a modern-day prophet to guide us! I just felt that this curriculum leaned on tying in virtues and scripture passages too heavily. It felt forced. Contrived. Over-the-top.
Science - Apologia's Young Explorer's Series (by Jeannie Fulbright). Exploring Creation with Astronomy. We all LOVED this. Perfect. You buy one book and that's it. The experiments are usually done from things easy to find. I did buy a lab kit (not sold by Apologia, but for the Apologia series) and will be doing that again this year. It saved on my running around and finding supplies not usually in my house and made the experiments HAPPEN. They wouldn't have otherwise. This year that was things like: heavy duty magnets, a pen-light, two lenses to make a telescope, Plaster of Paris, Alka Selzer...stuff like that. The kits usually cost between $25-$50.

Kindergarten
Reading - We started with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Her sister used that to learn to read and I think because of that (maybe?), it wasn't exciting to her. We now use The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading. I recommend it over the other. Both are ridiculously inexpensive and full phonics programs. We also used Explode the Code workbooks. Also very cheap and she loved them.
Writing - Handwriting Without Tears workbooks. I could have printed free worksheets from online and done this on my own, but I appreciated having the pages ready to go and the extra helps with getting her forming the letters correctly.
Math - Saxon Math 1. I compared Kindergarten vs the first grade level and kindergarten seemed so basic that we went with the first grade level. Saxon is so gentle in the way that it introduces concepts, that I plan to start the rest of my kids with Saxon 1 in kindergarten. The only adjustments necessary, are that you need to read them the directions on the worksheets. Even that becomes less necessary as the year goes on though. They recognize the format of the worksheets and only story problems really need explaining. And as they learn to read, that helps too.
History & Science - same as Autumn's

2010-11
Note: We are planning to start a foreign language this year as well. I hope we'll be able to use Rosetta Stone, which I've used before. Next year Autumn will start Latin, which I just learned is now available through Rosetta Stone.

3rd Grade
Reading - Learning Language Arts Through Literature, Yellow Book as well as First Language Lessons for the Well-trained Mind. I bought FLL intending to use it with only Heidi but like it so much that I have been using it the last few months of 2nd grade with Autumn. It's for 1st and 2nd grade, so we're working through it quicker than Heidi will in the fall, but I like the reinforcement of other things she's learned and the feeling that anything we missed in the last couple years (as we struggled to find a good program), we're picking up. We're working on it through the summer and will finish it up sometime during the school year. We will continue to Sylvan's Book Adventure website for quizzes for fun and a little extra comprehension check.
Writing - Writing Strands 3. I'm hopeful that this will fit her better this year.
Math - Saxon 3
History - Story of the World, Vol. 1
Science - Apologia, Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology

1st Grade
Reading - The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading, Explode the Code
Writing - First Language Lessons for the Well-trained Mind
Math - Saxon 2
History & Science - same as Autumn

I haven't linked any of the new curriculum for the fall but I'll post as we go and let you know what we think of each program!

Homeschooling How-to's: General Advice for new homescoolers

My thoughts and advice, generally:

• Find your own way of doing things.
  
• Know that you can go your own pace! You don't need and shouldn't feel like you have to do things the way public schools do them. Find your own style.
• If you're concerned about cost, don't be. It can be as FREE or EXPENSIVE as you want it to be. That's a post of it's very own though.
  
• Here's an article that I love to read from time to time, to remind myself when things are rough. But it's also great for anyone considering homeschooling or for family of new homeschoolers to read this.
• Get on yahoo and find local homeschool groups to join
• Ask around your area and find homeschool park days to attend (if your yahoo groups don't include that info)
  
• And one last tip...this is VERY IMPORTANT…don't allow yourself to get too sucked into the "curriculum searching" side of things. Don’t go to homeschool conventions either. Not until you have a couple of years under your belt. Really. It’s not a good idea. There is SO much out there. You just don’t need to spend all the money or time searching. Read a few books, talk to people you trust, brainstorm on what you hope to accomplish – and run with it! Check each curriculum against your own set of standards. You could spend all your days browsing online and find yourself extremely frustrated trying to settle on one. The books I’ve mentioned should give you a good foundation to work from.

Now on to some of the basic topics new homeschoolers find themselves needing to work out first…

Homeschooling Laws by state:
http://www.hslda.org/laws

Curriculum:
I won’t list ANY curriculum here. First read any or all of the books listed below and then come back if you still have questions about curriculum.

BOOKS:
Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool through High School by Rebecca Rupp
100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy (you can also go to her site at http://www.cathyduffyreviews.com but if it’s a Top 100 Pick, you’ll need to look in the book for a complete review.
The Three R's by Dr. Ruth Beechick -- this one I HIGHLY recommend if you’re starting with kindergarten.
Peggy Kaye's entire Games for.....series (she also has games ON the website)
The Well Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer (this one is a lot to take in, and a good one to buy. But you could check it out from the library first to see what you think and read the sections that fit your children’s stages first. Be prepared to take lots of notes. And then re-read.)

Free programs to download:
All Tux progams: Math, Typing, Paint

Some websites:
Skillswise (Factsheets, worksheets, quizzes and games to improve skills in Grammar, Spelling, Reading, Listening, Writing, Vocabulary, and Math)
EZSchool (Worksheets, Games, Study Tools, Tutorials, Spelling)
First-School (worksheets and lesson plans for PreK and K)
Dance Mat Typing
Starfall (free phonics)
Poisson Rouge (my girl's call this "the Room Game" - go visit and you'll understand...)

In my Google Reader:
http://www.freelyeducate.com/
http://www.pioneerwoman/homeschool
http://www.thaden-pierce.org/school
http://www.homeschooling.net/blog

Upcoming posts:

• Specific curriculums; what we’ve used, what we’re going to use, what we’ve liked and disliked
• Our own decision to homeschool
• Answering other’s questions about your homeschooling (family, friends, strangers)
• How we feel about what our girls miss or don’t miss (In short, the VAST majority of what they miss, we WANT them to miss. What we don’t want them to miss, we find ways to get.)
• Homeschooling for free, near free, and however little or much you want to spend!

Summer Goals

1st Language Lessons (A)
Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading (H)
Geography Songs
Safety - radKIDS?
Daily Reading Time

Kid's cookbooks and a cool realization

We have three kid's cookbooks (Cooking Rocks! Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals for Kids, Wookiee Cookies: A Star Wars Cookbook, and The Spatulatta Cookbook) and I finally got around to going through them with the girls to make a list of things we'd like to make. As we were picking, I realized what a cool opportunity this is to teach them a little about menu planning and grocery shopping. Kids love eating and they love it even more when they get to pick what they're eating and then help make it, so I think this could easily be a long-term project.

For two weeks, I let them pick:
6 lunches
6 snacks
3 desserts
3 breakfasts
and
3 drinks

I didn't want to have my entire menu taken over by this but I also wanted to gave them a decent number of recipes to try, so I feel like this is a happy medium.

Tomorrow we're going to go through the list again and I'll have them read me the ingredients so that we can make a grocery list! I think even a kid that can't read would be excited by this (you could tell them the ingredients and ask what part of the grocery list to put them in -- canned? fruits? frozen? meats?).

I could see this becoming a regular thing at our house.

Ben Franklin & The Moon's Gravity

Today was so much fun with our history and astronomy work.

This year we've been using Beautiful Feet which uses lots of historical picture books by Ingri and Pierre D'Aulaire. The books are great, but there just aren't a whole lot of activities and kids at this age really need to do! Recently I finally decided to list all the topics and cover them on my own.

We're studying Benjamin Franklin right now and his time period and I found a book I want to work through with them. The whole thing! It's so great. It's called Amazing Ben Franklin Inventions You Can Build Yourself. Contrary to what the title implies though, there is much more to the book than inventions of his. There are vocabulary words, historical information surrounding his life and the time period and things to make from the same time period. I really like the layout and the tone of the text too. Today we read the chapter about paper money. We only got the book from the library yesterday and I had been perusing it today to pick for today, so I wasn't as prepared as I'll be in the future with materials. We could have made our own paper money but were missing one thing. Instead, we did the other activity and made invisible ink which we used on the girls' own money they made. I had Heidi copy vocabulary words and Autumn wrote her own as I read the chapter. Afterwards I had Autumn write a letter to the president telling him why she thought a historical figure of her choice should be chosen to be on paper currency. She chose Nephi and felt he deserved that distinction because he killed Laban and was brave. Oh, how I love this girl! That was her writing for the day, which was a happy thing for both of us. She enjoyed writing it. Big step.


I also gave them some money to look at and hold while I read. Then we made our bills and used our invisible ink to add watermarks. It was great! Apparently there's a whole "you can build yourself" series. The recommended ages of most of the books are 9-12 and 6-9. But I think that even the 9-12 books will work since they're meant for the kids to do "on their own" and I want to use it to do WITH them. Here's the link to their catalog if you'd like to look at it. http://www.nomadpress.net/sites/default/files/u4/NP.09Catalog_Final_WebOptimized.pdf

I'm hoping most, if not all, of these will be available from the library so that I can look them over before deciding if this would work. But initially, I'm thinking about doing the books in chronological order next year. Maybe with something like Hillyer's A Child's History of the World as the backbone. And since we're studying Apologia Astronomy for science this year
, I found one of the solar system books Nomad Press offers here at my library and have requested it to see if it has anything I'd like to use to supplement.

This week in Astronomy we're studying the moon. Today we talked about how the moon has less gravity than the earth. We learned that Autumn would weigh 9 lbs on the moon and I would weigh about 20 lbs on the moon. In a flash of inspiration, I handed Autumn two 5-lb bags of flour to show her about what she would weigh. Then I asked Autumn and Heidi to try to pick me up. After they tried, I had them fill a grocery bag with four 5-lb bags of flour and pick it up together. They also each took a turn picking it up and we noted how high they would be able to pick ME up on the moon. Lots of fun!

Links from a friend

There are some great sites here. I have not looked at ALL of them though, so let me know if there are any dead links.

Early Learning:

1. Starfall – Teaches alphabet and early reading skills.
http://www.starfall.com

2. Brightly Beaming Resources – Letter of the week, sound of the week, science of the
week, etc. This is a good all-around site for early learning.
http://www.letteroftheweek.com/

3. Rhyme a week
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/g….htm#This_Week

4. Enchanted Learning – Not really free, but a lot can be accessed without paying
(membership is $20 donation/year per family)
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html

Whole Curriculum:
1. Ambleside Online – Charlotte Mason. Wonderful resource that includes lots of info and
is really a full curriculum option. Great booklist!
http://amblesideonline.org/index.shtml

2. An Old-Fashioned Education – Another really complete option. LOTS of stuff to look
at and use here!
http://oldfashionededucation.com/

3. Puritans’ Home School – I have never used this. VERY religious site, but it does
appear pretty complete.
http://www.puritans.net/curriculum/

4. Core Knowledge lesson plans – Tons of lesson plans on lots of subjects from PK-8. I
have not used this, but it looks really good.
http://www.coreknowledge.org/CK/resr…sons/index.htm

5. About.com Homeschooling section (not really a whole curriculum, but TONS of stuff)
http://homeschooling.about.com/

6. Tanglewood Education
http://www.tanglewoodeducation.com/

7. The Baltimore Project
http://www.cstone.net/~bcp/BCPIntro2.htm

8. PASS Materials (FL)
http://www.pass.leon.k12.fl.us/default.aspx

9. Paula’s Archives
http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/

10. EdSITEment
http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/

11. Mater Amabilis (Catholic Charlotte Mason Curriculum)
http://materamabilis.org/

Unit Studies:
1. Homeschool Share – Lots and lots and LOTS of projects and unit studies.
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/

2. A Journey Through Learning Inventor unit study and lapbook. Click on Free products
http://ajourneythroughlearning.com/

3. H.I.P. Pocket Change. Several Lesson Plans revolving around money
http://www.usmint.gov/kids/teachers/lessonPlans/

4. Homeschool Helper
http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/units.htm

5. Oceanography
http://www.currclick.com/product_inf…roducts_id=243

6. SCORE Cyberguides
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyberguide.html

7. Eyes
http://www.aaofoundation.org/what/heritage/

8. Birds Notebooking pages
http://www.currclick.com/product_inf…ers=0_0&free=1

9. Nature Study
http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/

10. Canada
http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/canadaunit.htm

Math:
1. Ray’s Arithmetic – 1885 math book on google books. Thorough and “back to basics”.
(click on the icon on the page and scroll down to read/print)
http://books.google.com/books?id=eop…age&q=&f=false

2. CSMP materials – K-6
http://ceure.buffalostate.edu/~csmp/…ram/index.html

3. First Lessons in Arithmetic – 1878 math text
http://www.donpotter.net/math.htm

4. NC public school math program K-2
http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/mat…s_k2_resou.php

5. Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching (UK) – AKA MEP
http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm

6. Living Math History (lessons on right)
http://livingmath.net/LessonPlans/C1…S/Default.aspx

7. Pearson Scott Foresman K-5
http://pgcounty.scottforesman.com/

8. Geogebra (Algebra and Geometry)
http://www.geogebra.org/cms/

9. Oakes Math
http://dorioakes.bravehost.com/Math.html

10. Eduplace printable workbooks
http://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_1.html
http://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_2.html
http://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_3.html
http://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/l _ 4.html
http://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_5.html
http://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_6.html
and activities that coordinate with this program
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmm/

11. Middle/High school math
http://go.hrw.com/gopages/ma-msm.html

12. McDougal Littell Math Course
http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/ms…e.htm?state=MN
http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/ms…e.htm?state=MN
http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/ms…e.htm?state=MN
http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/pr…e.htm?state=MN
http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/al…e.htm?state=MN
http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/ge…e.htm?state=MN
http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/al…e.htm?state=MN

13. Missouri Schools program (including TM/answers)
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/msma…e/index.php/mo
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/msma…e/index.php/mo
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/msma…e/index.php/mo
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/prea…/index.php4/mo
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/alge…/index.php4/mo

14. Glencoe Workbooks
http://www.glencoe.com/sites/georgia…workbooks.html

15. Public Schools of NC math program
http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/mat…s_k2_resou.php

Math Drill:
1. Math Magician Games
http://resources.oswego.org/games/ma…cathymath.html

2. Printable math worksheets
http://www.mathfactcafe.com/

3. Math U See (online)
http://mathusee.com/drill.html

4. Math worksheets to create and print (some portions pay)
http://themathworksheetsite.com/

5. Timez Attack (multiplication video game – way cool) – basic is free
http://www.bigbrainz.com/indexd.php

6. Harcourt activities
http://harcourtschool.com/menus/math2002/na/gr1.html
http://harcourtschool.com/menus/math2002/na/gr2.html
http://harcourtschool.com/menus/math2002/na/gr3.html
http://harcourtschool.com/menus/math2002/na/gr4.html
http://harcourtschool.com/menus/math2002/na/gr5.html
http://harcourtschool.com/menus/math2002/na/gr6.html

7. Learn to play chess (I guess this is math…haha)
http://chesskids.com/

Phonics:
1. Word Mastery
http://donpotter.net/PDF/Word%20Mastery%20-%20Typed.pdf

2. Starfall (learn to read online)
http://www.starfall.com/

3. Blend Phonics
http://www.donpotter.net/Blend%20Phonics.htm

4. Sadler-Oxford
http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/phonics/student.cfm

5. Progressive Phonics
http://www.progressivephonics.com/

6. Society for Quality Education
http://www.societyforqualityeducatio…stairway2.html

Literature/Reading Guides and Units:
1. Novel Study Guides for the Classroom Teacher
http://www.nt.net/~torino/novels3.html

2. Reading Units by Gay Miller
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/units/units_with_books.htm

3. Garden of Praise
http://www.gardenofpraise.com/lesson.htm

4. Glencoe Literature Guides
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/

5. Literature Activity Guides by Nancy Polette – These are samples, but are in depth
enough to test if your child understood the story.
http://www.nancypolette.com/litguides.asp

6. SCORE Cyberguides (California schools)
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/SCORE/cyberguide.html

7. Dangerous Journey (Pilgrim’s Progress for kids version) study guide
https://www.visionvideo.com/pdf/DangJourney.pdf

8. Course in nature study: for grades one and two – Detroit Public Schools
http://books.google.com/books?id=i8EOAAAAMAAJ

9. Nature-study: a manual for teachers and students
http://books.google.com/books?id=C4EWAAAAIAAJ

10. Readquarium (mostly games)
http://www.gamequarium.com/readquarium/index.html

11. Harcourt Guides
Grade 1
http://harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_1.html
Grade 2
http://harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_2.html
Grade 3
http://harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_3.html
Grade 4
http://harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_4.html
Grade 5
http://harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_5.html
Grade 6
http://harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_6.html

12. National Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/history/

Free Books:
1. Classical Education Library
http://www.classical-education.net/

2. Kids4Classics
http://www.kids4classics.com/

3. Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/

4. Online Library of Liberty
http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php…icxt&Itemid=29

5. Google Books
http://books.google.com/books

6. The Baldwin Project
http://www.mainlesson.com/main/displ…icle=christmas

7. Planet eBook
http://www.planetebook.com/

8. 19th Century Schoolbooks
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/nietz/

9. Librivox – Free online audiobooks
http://librivox.org/

10. Storynory – Free online audiobooks
http://storynory.com/

11. Free Books online
http://www.wowio.com/

12. Magic Keys
http://www.magickeys.com/books/

13. Fun Brain
http://www.funbrain.com/brain/Readin…dingBrain.html

14. Interactive Story Books
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch…nlinestory.htm

15. Stories about American Heroes
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi

Spelling/Vocab.:
1. http://www.spellingcity.com Awesome website where you can input a list or click on
someone else’s list. Games and quizzes, etc.

2. Zaner Bloser Spelling Connections – practice pages
http://www.zaner-bloser.com/spelling…ice-pages.html

3. Splashes from the River – free spelling course
http://www.splashesfromtheriver.com/…rseoutline.htm

4. Webster’s Spelling – 1824 spelling book
http://www.donpotter.net/PDF/Webster…ook%201824.pdf

5. Merriam Webster’s daily Buzzword (and games)
http://www.wordcentral.com/buzzword/buzzword.php

Handwriting:
1. Zaner Bloser online
http://www.zaner-bloser.com/zbfontsonline/index.htm

2. Writing Wizard Make Handwriting Worksheets – ESL Writing Wizard
http://www.writingwizard.longcountdo…eet_maker.html

3. Custom Tracer Pages
http://www.kidzone.ws/tracers/none/index.asp

Grammar and creative Writing:
1. Harvey’s Grammar
http://books.google.com/books?id=H8A…loirCg#PPP1,M1

2. Young Novelist Workbooks. There is a workbook for elementary, middle and high
school. Designed to go with national novel writing month, but can be used any time.
http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/workbooks

3. English Banana Elementary Workbook. For individual pages go to:
http://www.englishbanana.com/big-gra…orksheets.html
For complete download go to: http://download.cnet.com/English-Ban…=dl&tag=button

4. Scott Foresman
http://www.sfreading.com/resources/ghb.html

5. KISS Grammar
http://home.pct.edu/~evavra/KISS.htm

6. Daily Grammar
http://www.dailygrammar.com/archive.shtml

7. Book Adventure
http://www.bookadventure.org/

8. Read-Write-Think
http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/index.asp

9. Grammar/Writing 6-12
http://www.glencoe.com/sites/missour…workbooks.html

10. Eduplace
http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/hme/k_5/practice.html
http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/hme/6_8/

11. Writing Templates
http://www.classzone.com/cz/find_state.htm

12. Writing for the Grammar Stage
http://home.att.net/~mikejaqua/may-june-00.html

History:
1. Scripted ‘People of America’ History lessons
http://www.prontolessons.com/lessons.html

2. Little City Kids K/1 History/Geography plans
http://www.littlecitykids.com/lessonplans/index.php

3. American Heritage. Uses teacher jargon, but is complete.
http://www.americanheritage.org/curriculum.html

4. American History (WONDERFUL SITE)
http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschoo…toryindex.html

5. Mosaic Introduction to World History
http://bringinguplearners.com/mosaic…s-and-marvels/

6. World History Outline
http://www.smithlifescience.com/SS2005LessonPlans.htm

7. Animated Atlas of US history
http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie2.html

8. Myths, Maps, and Marvels – Ancients lesson plans
http://bringinguplearners.com/mosaic/

9. Colonial Williamsburg
http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/

10. Ancient Mesopotamia unit
http://mesopotamia.lib.uchicago.edu/…Lesson%20Plans

Geography:
1. Countries and Cultures around the world. Elementary age.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/5622573/Co…s-of-the-World

2. Sheppard Software Geography (Online)
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Geography.htm

3. Discover America State by State. Uses the C is for…… book series.
http://www.gale.cengage.com/Discover…ides/index.htm

4. Outline Maps
http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/

5. Nat. Geo. Xpeditions for Geography
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/

6. www.kidsofcourage.com click on downloads, give the info, click on downloads again.
A countries and cultures curriculum at your fingertips with all the activities and fun right
there…and enough to last a couple years! It’s good for youngers too but it’s quite a bit of
info to take in, so there’s plenty of “meat” in there for olders as well. You could grab
some library books to go along with it for whichever country you are on.
www.kidsofcourage.com

7. Adoption/Cultures
http://www.rainbowkids.com/HTMLFiles…KidsActivities

8. Growing Up Around the World: Books as Passports to Global Understanding for
Children in the United States is a project of the International Relations Committee of the
Association for Library Service to Children
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/al…roundWorld.cfm

Current Events:
1. TIME for kids.
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/

2. NY Times Learning Network. Updated daily and many archived lessons
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/index.html

Music:
1. High school music ed
http://www.harmonyfinearts.com/section/freedownloads/

2. Classics for Kids
http://www.classicsforkids.com/

3. Piano Lessons
http://www.gmajormusictheory.org/Freebies/freebies.html

4. Guitar
http://www.gmajormusictheory.org/Fre…itarindex.html

5. Music Theory
http://www.gmajormusictheory.org/Fun…workbooks.html

Art:
1. Dick Blick Lessons
http://www.dickblick.com/lessonplans/

2. Meet the Masters
http://www.getinvolvedineducation.co…ram-Manual.pdf

3. A Lifetime of Color
http://www.alifetimeofcolor.com/main.taf?p=1

4. Teach Art at Home
http://www.teachartathome.com/FreeProjectCurrent.html

Teacher helps (planning/support):
1. Donna Young – Tons of planning stuff, including some things like handwriting
masters.
donnayoung.org

2. Homeschool Inc. – Online planning software (very versatile)
http://home-school-inc.com

3. Homeschool Tracker (planning software – basic free, full pay)
http://homeschooltracker.com/

4. Online Lesson Planner, Scheduler, and Tracker
http://www.homeschoolskedtrack.com/H…isplayLogin.do

5. Super Teacher Worksheets. Lots of well done worksheets for all subject areas. Grade
level 1st-4th
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/index.html

6. Free Forms
http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/forms.html

7. Freebie of the day
http://www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/

8. Currclick. They feature a free product once a week to download. It usually changes
Monday afternoons
http://www.currclick.com/index.php

9. Freely educate. Lots of great links here
http://www.freelyeducate.com/

10. Hoagies Gifted. Tons of Free high school curriculum links
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/online_hs.htm

11. Education World
http://educationworld.com/

12. Internet Activities to coordinate with each grade and subject
http://www.gsc.amdsb.ca/

13. Scholastic
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/learn.jsp

14. Softschools
http://www.softschools.com/

15. Videos (creationist site — have not used)
http://www.answersingenesis.org/kids/videos

16. Worksheets
http://www.worksheetworks.com/miscel…rganizers.html

17. Charlotte Mason stuff (not all free)
http://simplycharlottemason.com/

18. FossWeb by Delta Education. Click on the subject, then teacher resources. You will
then have to click on Teacher Prep videos for the lessons. Everything else on the page
supports the lessons. There are games, worksheets, and many additional resources listed
http://www.fossweb.com/modules3-6/index.html

19. Higher Up and Further In blog
http://higherupandfurtherin.blogspot.com/

20. Pioneer Woman blog
http://thepioneerwoman.com/

21. Well-Trained Mind
welltrainedmind.com/forums/

22. Teacher Tube
http://www.teachertube.com/

Science:
1. Engineering for kids ages 8 and up. Single subject lesson plans. Nicely done and easy
to understand
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forum…ree+curriculum

2. Earth Awareness Curriculum for Middle Schoolers
http://cygnus-group.com/use-less-stuff/NSTA.html

3. Life Science Curriculum
http://www.eequalsmcq.com/Thank%20yo…%20Science.htm

4. Otter’s Science
http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschoo…ence_main.html

5. K-12 Science
http://www.msnucleus.org/curriculum/curriculum.html

6. Take a Cloud Walk (Cloud unit)
http://www.takeawalk.com/cloud-walk/

7. Science plans for 6th grade based on the “Prentice-Hall Life Science” book
http://www.smithlifescience.com/

8. Hands-On Technology Program
http://www.galaxy.net/~k12/

9. NASA for educators
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html

10. Science Songs
http://www.acme.com/jef/singing_science/

11. Invitations to Science Inquiry
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/eri…0/1e/27/27.pdf

12. Science Videos
http://www.teachersdomain.org/

13. Animal Units
http://www.scribd.com/people/documen…06/folder/1072

14. Animal Activity Packs
http://www.kidszoo.org/education/zaps.htm

15. Videos that demonstrate experiments for every element on the periodic table
http://www.periodicvideos.com/

16. Click on the element and then on the microphone to hear about the element
http://www.webelements.com/

17. Inventor’s Timeline
http://inventors.about.com/od/timeli…Nineteenth.htm

18. BODIES, the exhibition ~ includes educator guides for various grade levels from
Carnegie Science Center. Even if you aren’t interested in the exhibit or pictures of the
preserved bodies, there is good info in the guides that can be used for lessons:
http://wheresciencehappens.org/bodiesguide.htm

Computer Science:
1. Blender 3D animation creation
http://www.blender.org/

2. Computer Programming Course
http://www.alice.org/index.php

3. Computer Training Courses
http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/

4. Computer Animating and Design
http://scratch.mit.edu/

Typing:
1. Online typing Course
http://www.goodtyping.com/

2. Dance Mat Typing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

3. Touch Typing (Online)
http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/

4. Kiran’s Typing Tutor
http://www.kiranreddys.com/products/typing.html

5. Learn2Type
http://www.learn2type.com/

Foreign Language:
1. BBC Languages
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/

2. Elementary/Middle School beginning Spanish. The first book listed is a free download.
http://nflrc.iastate.edu/pubs/units/unitsList.html

3. Greek and Latin
http://www.textkit.com/

4. FSI Language Courses
http://fsi-language-courses.com/default.aspx

5. Live Mocha – This is a social site, so you may want to monitor your kids closely on this
one.
http://www.livemocha.com/

6. OFS (Online free spanish)
http://www.onlinefreespanish.com/

7. Spanish Unlimited
http://www.spanishunlimited.com/

8. Latin Resources
http://www.cdacademy.com/class/2007/…-games-online/
http://www.gettingstartedwithlatin.com/
http://hungryfrog.com/classics.html
http://homeschool.online.program.lat…lyfishfun.com/
http://www.memoriapress.com/help/Latin.htm

9. French Resources
http://www.poissonrouge.com/
http://lexiquefle.free.fr/learn-french.htm

10. Boca Beth (Spanish)
http://www.youtube.com/results?searc…rch_type=&aq=f

11. Salsa (Spanish)
http://www.gpb.org/salsa/term/episodes

12. Mommy Teach Me Spanish
http://www.youtube.com/results?searc…rch_type=&aq=f

13. In the Beginning Greek
http://www.inthebeginning.org/

Home Economics/Life Skills:
1. Future Christian Homemakers (Have not used or looked into this)
http://www.futurechristianhomemakers…sonsIndex.html

Virtual Field Trips:
1. Take a field Trip
http://www.uen.org/tours/fieldtrips2.shtml

2. Meet Me at the Corner
http://www.meetmeatthecorner.org/

High School/College (have not used these or looked closely at them):
1. HippoCampus Free Courses
http://www.hippocampus.org/

2. Mixed Courses in many subjects
http://www.free-ed.net/free-ed/

3. Printable Courses in all subject areas. Not sure who funds this one, but I like how the
curriculum is laid out
http://www.pass.leon.k12.fl.us/Speci…t%20Areas.aspx

4. University of Berkley Courses. Tons of Free Courses available here
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/

5. Yale University Open Courses. Nicely done and easy to access IMO
http://oyc.yale.edu/

6. University of Washington free courses
http://www.outreach.washington.edu/openuw/

7. M.I.T. open Courseware. Tons of completely free courses in many subjects
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/courses/courses/index.htm

Health and Nutrition:
1. http://www.nutritionexplorations.org…ssons-main.asp

Homeschooling for Free

A dear friend just started homeschooling her girls and we are overdue for a phone call. She has questions and I have stuff I can share. Because neither of us have called each other but I've still been mulling it over, I pulled out some lists I've put together recently. Enjoy!

http://www.sfreading.com/resources/ghb.html -- Gr. 1-6, free writing/language arts workbooks. I think they're good but could use additional writing practice.
http://www.freelyeducate.com/ -- this is a site I have on RSS feed. Sometimes they do "best of" posts for different grade levels based on things they've found over the last school year
http://donnayoung.org/penmanship/ -- Handwriting Lessons
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/ -- a great typing game
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/drilldown/stories/2/1/1/ -- This is an EXCELLENT website, definitely deserves some extended perusing to see just what it has to offer. I love it.
http://www.currclick.com/index.php?free=1&filters=0_0_0 -- Some free curriculums, mostly unit studies. The free stuff changes from time to time. I get emails from them regularly updating me. In May they had 10 days where they had several free things each day. I download them and save them for whenever they'll be useful.
http://www.dltk-teach.com/alphabuddies/standard/stdlower.html -- I think this link will show you a page you can print for handwriting practice. It may look confusing at first, but it has options at the top that allow you to pick what letters you want to appear and how many times as aids for the writing you want your kids to do. There are lots of other printable pages like this on dltk
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyk3.html -- Free cyberguides for several books for grades K-3 -- This could be a great resource for building the reading/comprehension part of a curriculum.
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skills_1st.htm -- Math & Language Arts Skill Builders activities kids can do online, by grade level. We've loved the ones we've used. If I were going to school completely free, this would be a big part of it.
http://www.gamequarium.com/ -- Someone else pointed me toward this one but I haven't had time to peruse it.
http://www.bry-backmanor.org/schoolfonts2.html -- Handwriting worksheets
http://www.squidoo.com/homeschoolfun -- I haven't looked at this either, but it says they have over 100 free homeschooling resources. It's something I have bookmarked to look at eventually... :)
http://www.mrsjonesroom.com/teachers/worksheets.html#writing -- More handwriting pages, my favorite for PreK and K
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/ -- Math, History, Health, ALL sorts of games
http://www.poetryteachers.com/poetclass/lessons/sharing.html -- A great poetry for kids website.
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/articles/060899.htm -- A way to assess your kids reading levels