Homeschool Buyers Co-op

Recently, I joined a group online called the Homeschool Buyers Co-op. It was free to join. What the co-op offers is a chance to join with other homeschoolers who are purchasing curriculum to try to get better prices with purchasing power. I would have loved to have something like this when I was first starting out with homeschooling. I spent countless hours trying to find good deals on appropriate and good curricular materials.

One in particular,that I wanted to get a few years ago was the Weekly Reader.

At that time I couldn't afford the subscription and looked for alternative materials. However, just last week the co-op offered an opportunity to power purchase Weekly Reader through the co-op.

As I haven't had a need for curriculum this year, I haven't purchased anything through the co-op so I can't say much on the intricate workings of the co-op but I thought I'd mention the opportunity. I think it is a great idea and if I was just starting out I would definitely be more active on the co-op.

Happy Homeschooling!

Oh, if you join the co-op let me know how you like it.

Phonics Download

I get really excited when I find great resources for homeschoolers, especially if they are for FRRRREEE. Ok, I love that line from the movie Bedtime Stories but I'll try not to overuse it.

Today, I stumbled across a website that has several free downloads and one of them is The Phonetic Reader by Charles W. Deane. It reminds me of the McGuffey's Eclectic Readers.

The site does require a free registration. However, it is a wonderful site packed with inspiration and resources. I definitely think The Christian Homeschool Hub is worth checking out. Once registered you can access the download page for The Phonetic Reader.

Hope you are enjoying your day!

Health: Eating Healthy

You've heard these quips-"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" or "You are what you eat."

An Amazing Site for Science and Math Education

Having a rough day or two or are you not able to get through the lesson or explain it to your child so that she/he can understand it? I've had several of those days lately. However, I did come across an amazing site that has been more than helpful and even better it is all free.

The site is called Khan Academy. I don't know why I always think about Star Trek when I think of this site... but I do. Perhaps because it is a very logical, scientific and useful site and way cool!

Anyways, this site contains a multitude of links to videos. It is organized by subject and the videos load quickly and are of a high quality. The teacher explains the concepts quickly and in an enjoyable manner.

It is a growing open source project on a mission of providing a world class education to anyone or everyone. I admire the creators of this site that want to create a free classroom for the world! Thank you, Khan Academy.

Vacations- San Antonio

You may have noticed that I haven't posted in about a week or so, just to let you know I didn't forget to blog, I was on a mini vacation. I went to the city of San Antonio, Texas.

Cities are great places to visit. They have museums and zoos and events and it would be difficult to even name all of the educational and fun things to do.

This week I think I will focus on vacations and vacation destinations and I will start with San Antonio. Two places to visit in San Antonio that are fun to visit and educational are the Witte Museum and the San Antonio Zoo. Of course, there are many other amazing places to check out in San Antonio but these are two that I have visited personally and enjoyed.

The Witte Museum gives glimpses into the art, science and history of Texas. With indoor and outdoor exhibits and free Tuesday admissions this is a great way to spend an afternoon in San Antonio.

The San Antonio Zoo is relatively new and there is still some construction going on in the African area. My favorite part of this zoo was the butterfly exhibit. I felt the dollar fee was well spent. One truly awesome animal to see is the rare Okapi. My daughter enjoyed the Komodo dragons and the tigers and the crocodiles.

Happy homeschooling!

JulieDD

Geography State Focus-Arkansas

We're going on a trip and will be traveling through Arkansas. Might be fun to learn some facts about different states.

So let's start with Arkansas! From US 50 we can learn quite a bit about Arkansas.

Here is a lesson plan from Arkansas Geography Learning Through Map Analysis

Guitar Lessons Online

I've always loved music played on an acoustic guitar and I keep trying to learn how to play the guitar. Every year I make a little more progress.

Guitar Lessons

Guitar Masters Classics provides lessons by level. I'll be checking this site out more.

Time for music!
JulieDD

Writing Strategies

Today's proud moment: My son signed up to be a writer for an online writing website. Writing, teaching writing, learning writing and writing skills have been challenging over the years. I did find a program that worked for us. The reason it worked is because it broke down the difficult parts of writing into manageable and understandable methods and chunks of information. The presenter was entertaining and fun to listen to and he spoke about teaching writing. Ideally, I was supposed to listen/watch the videos and then incorporate the methods into the lessons but as it happened we all listened and worked on incorporating the material into our writings.

While this program worked for us it may not work for everyone. I think it is important to look for programs or strategies that work for you.

I do also have to note that I am not affiliated with the program I am about to suggest other than being a user of the program, which I purchased.

The program we found the most helpful for learning how to write was by the Institute of Excellence in Writing.

On the website you will find a great deal of helpful and free information to explore this program and see if it will work for you.

Other writing strategies to consider:

Teaching That Makes Sense has good practical ideas and approaches to teaching and learning how to write.

University at Buffalo offers writing strategies for K-12.

Happy homeschooling-learning and teaching.

JulieDD

Rocks in the Desert

Today I designate as random topic day. I asked my children for suggestions and my son volunteered, "Why do rocks move in the desert?" He then showed me a picture from the book he was reading which indeed showed the path a rock had moved in the desert. This was followed by a brief discussion about reasons why the rock may have moved. What do think caused the rock to move in the desert?

Found this site on Exploring the North American Deserts and Desert Environments and Geology

Another site geared towards learning about deserts is Desert Biome.

If you think you know the answer about the moving rock, leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.

Happy Homeschooling!
JulieDD

Humidity

The humidity is high and the air feels heavy...let's discuss humidity.

I found two resources on humidity for you.

The first is a tutorial on how humidity is expressed.

The second also contains information on humidity but includes links to learning activities.

Have fun!

JulieDD

End of the School Year

The end of the traditional school year is in sight. In a few more weeks those who are taking a summer vacation will be doing so. Others will be incorporating learning events into their summer activities. Others will be helping their children prepare for college or for going out into the world. May is a month of transitions. This time of year there are many things to consider. A few of these things are:

Resume
Job and/or College Applications
Curriculum for Next Year
Summer Vacation
Summer Studies
Summer Camps
Summer Fun and Activities
Summer Sports
Updating Transcripts
College Scholarships
Graduations
Dual Credit Programs
Summer School

And the list goes on and on...

I hope you have had an amazing school year and as you reflect upon your year and transition into summer let's take a look at a few homeschooling articles about summer.

Tips for Summer Travel with Homeschoolers

Exploring homeschooling with Summer School Fun

Unschooling Summer

Happy Homeschooling!
JulieDD

Procrastination Busters

One challenge many people face is procrastination. We seem to avoid the things that make us a little uncomfortable sometimes to the point of actually never doing the dreaded task. As a homeschooler, I have found this has been a consistent problem with math...day after day, year after year. So today I'm looking for procrastination busters, although the best success I had was the sign I made that said, NO Whining, NO Complaining, Just Do IT! It seemed to help me focus and actually get some things done. Oh and it helped the kids too...since I didn't whine or nag at them to do their work. I just pointed at the sign. lol

The Three Minute Coach offers Procrastination Busters and discusses the reasons we procrastinate.

Deanne Repich from Talent Develop takes a look at the downsides of procrastination and how we procrastinate.

SOLO and Working Smarter offer 5 suggestions for breaking the procrastination habit.

Have a great homeschooling day!
JulieDD

Experimenting with Gardening

Gardening is fun, entertaining, educational and outside. It also involves moving and doing and a sense of accomplishment. So gardening can be a great educational activity or adventure. Gardening can be done on a large scale(full size garden or flower bed) or small scale (a plant in a pot). What is also exciting is trying different techniques. Some are better suited to larger areas and some are perfect for those who can't garden traditionally. Give the following a try if you can.

Lasagna Gardening

More on Lasagna Gardens

Potato Bins

More on Potato bins.

Square Foot Gardening

Egyptian Pyramids

Today I needed to know when the pyramids were built. Do you know? I knew it was a long time ago. In fact they were built in approximately 2500-3000 BC.

To learn more about Egyptian Pyramids here are a few sites:

Explore the Pyramids with National Geographic

With Tour Egypt learn about pyramid construction.

Rules for Reading and Reading Rules!

Reading Rules! Reading takes education to a whole new level. Once a person begins to read it opens a door to ideas, concepts, stories, thoughts, humor, facts and more that have been discovered by others and shared via the written word. Reading Rules!

Pre-K Smarties has a list of rules of reading that often give beginning readers problems.

Hope you are having a great homeschool day!

Giving Speeches

Today my son is to present his final speech is his college speech class. He has been doing pretty good in the class but we've been working on his presentation. It has been a fun time filled with laughter and family unity. I gave him one goal with this speech and that was to make them laugh. The speech is written, he knows it but now he just has to have fun with it. Sometimes we have to stop worrying about the grade and just have fun.

For him and all those who struggle with giving speeches I offer you the following links:

From Dumb Little Man Tips for Life:10 Fail Proof Ideas for Delivering a Powerful Speech

More Tips from Fripp in Giving a Speech? 10 Tips for Public Speaking

In closing I want to share a story that someone shared with me on Facebook today and it has helped to keep our speech lesson light.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Hobos & Tramps, Cross-eyed mosquitoes &
bowlegged ants. I come before you, to stand behind you, to tell you a story I
know nothing about. One bright morning in the middle of the night two dead
fellows stood up to fight. They stood back to back, facing each other, drew
their swords and shot each other. If you don't believe my lie, it's true, ask
the blind man on the corner, he saw it too."

Summer Camps

Some of my fondest summer memories involve the anticipation and excitement of getting to go to summer camp. Then there are the memories from actually going to camp. For me, those were great memories too. :)

Today there are day camps, week camps, summer camps, scouting and 4-H camps, art camps, academic camps, computer camps and the list goes on. If you are considering sending your child to camp consider looking for a camp that focuses on what your child is interested in topically.

At Summer Camps you can search for camps by State, Country, topic, length of stay.

My Summer Camp and Kids Camps offer similar search options.

For the computer oriented kids, ID Tech Camps appear to offer a wide variety of camps.

Let's see I need a nature camp, a photography camp, a visual arts camp, a computer camp...and lots of money.

Naming Your Homeschool

Have you named your homeschool? Why would you want to name your homeschool? How do you pick a name?

We named our homeschool years ago. For a while when someone asked the kids where they went to school they remembered the name. However, there have been many times when they haven't remembered the name. Usually at the most embarrassing times as could be possible. Yet we have a name and there are good reasons to name your homeschool as well.

Why name your homeschool? Here are some good reasons from Rosegate Harbour.

Need ideas? At the Homeschool forum there is many suggestions.

Here are more ideas on naming your homeschool from A-Z Homeschooling.

Chores and Responsibilities

Yesterday I focused on links to help teenagers who may be considering applying for a summer job. I don't want to leave out the younger set. It is important to help guide our children and to prepare them for their eventual place in the adult working world. One way is to give them chores and small responsibilities. Also, it is important to remember that they are children and often need to develop the skill sets necessary to be responsible. We can help with gentle reminders and charts.

Let's start with free printable chore charts from Chart Jungle.

I like approaching chores as fun but necessary activities and Right at Home gives several ideas on how to do that. Thanks!

Additional chore chart resources are provided at Econobusters Blog on chore charts.

Interviewing Skills

Summer vacation is approaching fast-too fast. Today my son went on an interview for an internship. We, his parents hope it will be a paying internship. If not, he will be preparing for job interviews.

Having a summer job is a valuable experience for teenagers. However, going on the first interview can be a trying experience. Of course, trying for the teens, too.

Money Instructor has a series of lessons on Interviewing skills including the types of interviews, interview questions and how to do well on an interview.

Jobsearch at About.com provides additional information on practical interviewing issues including what to wear, what to bring or know before going to an interview and follow up etiquette.

Summer Job Interview Questions covers many of the questions one would expect to be asked on an interview.

Good luck teens and parents!

Addition

First you learn your numbers and how to write them and then you learn to count and then they expect you to learn how to add. Oh the expectations!

Well let's find some help or make it fun to learn how to add.

How about flashcards from A Plus Math

Now let's test our skills with an addition game or games from Gamequarium Math.

Being a kid can be tough at times but math doesn't have to be tough. It can be fun!

OCD Special Needs Homeschool Resources and Information

Good Morning!

Well I hope it is a good morning for you. Sometimes mornings and days don't go as we planned in our homeschooling lives/schedule. We work through those days.

Today's blog is for those who face learning challenges along with just the normal challenges while homeschooling. Today the focus will be on resources for homeschooling and OCD.

Homeschool Diner differentiates and explains about Tourettes and OCD and has a nice resource section for both.


Have a great homeschooling day!

Studies of the Art Masterpieces

Artcyclopedia offers wonderful views of scans of masterpieces and an extensive list of art museums world wide.

Algebra HELP

Algebra can be challenging to learn and teach. It is different in its presentations and concepts but it can be done.

While not strictly for Algebra Illuminations takes an interesting visual approach towards Math that is worth mentioning and recommending.

Algebra.com -Great math site for algebra help!


A quick note: I will be changing this site to M-F Daily.
I don't homeschool technically on the weekends and most people don't, so M-F it is. However, I will continue to incorporate the typical Saturday and Sunday topics during the week.

Have a great weekend!
JulieDD

Earth Day

Let's explore some crafts, ideas and fun for Earth Day 2010.

First for inspiration, Nuns dig into Earth Day

How about making a Recycled Craft Plastic Cup Bug Catcher and don't forget to play some Green Games for Kids.

And wrapping this post up lets enjoy some Games, Projects, Coloring Pages, Crafts,Quizzes and Lessons from Kaboose Earth Day 2010

Happy Earth Day!

Allergies

We've got them. Do you? Allergies.

The sneezing, itchy eyes and runny noses can shorten a fun spring outing or field trip if we are not properly prepared. Right now the pollen is flying everywhere. This is a good time to have a lesson about allergies and pollen.

Discovery Education has a lesson Allergies vs Viruses which provides further information, definitions and additional activities including questions and vocabulary.

Facing the Challenges of Homeschooling

Homeschooling is not always easy. You may have jumped into homeschooling not realizing the effort and commitments necessary to educate your child. In addition, what if your child learns differently than you expect and/or needs you to teach differently. These are just a few of the challenges and things to consider when choosing to homeschool.

An article by Diane Craft on HSLDA on Homeschooling a Struggling Learner provides information on the characteristics of left and right brain learning styles and offers teaching strategies to help improve your educational efforts.

Happy homeschooling!

JulieDD

Weather and Whether

I'm feeling a little torn in two directions today so I am going with two topics. The first is the science topic of weather and the second is homophones, homonyms, and heteronyms.

Enjoy!

The recent volcanic activity has caused problems with travel and is affecting many lives so let's take a look at the effect of volcanic ash on the weather.

Do you need to brush up on your homonyms? Here are 52 self guided quizzes on homonyms. Or perhaps you would just like view a huge list of homonyms for review or fun.

Confused by homophones, homographs, homonyms and heteronyms definitions, Fiction Factor provides definitions and examples.

Hope your Monday is the start of an amazing week.

JulieDD

Music

Tonight I had the great pleasure of spending time with my daughter. We watched the movie "Fame" together and ate popcorn and pizza. It was fun and relaxing but while watching the movie I thought about how important music has been in my life and realized that I haven't posted much on that particular category. Today's links will be music related.

Looking for National Standards or just interested in teaching music to groups of children Teaching Music Magazine has a wealth of information.

At Songs for Teaching you can listen to clips of educational songs. Generally, I try to find free resources but since this site had free clips and the lyrics were posted I decided to go ahead and list this site anyway.

Don't forget to teach the basics with Music Theory

Enjoy your evening.

JulieDD

Higher Education Videos: Science, Math, History and Languages

Yesterday, while browsing the internet I came across an amazing educational video site called LearnersTV. They offer links to free lectures on upper level class material including lectures in Physics, Chemistry, Math, Biology, Accounting and more.

They claim to have 9487 video lectures, 408 animations and 359 powerpoint presentations. It is a treasure trove of lectures and supporting information.

I know we will be visiting this site quite often.

Have a great weekend.

JulieDD

Wind in the Willows Classic Literature

Through my window I can see large willow trees. I love these trees especially when the wind blows. I am always amazed at how far they can bend without breaking.

The Wind in the Willows is also a classic children's book

which can be read online at Project Gutenburg or viewed in other formats including a scan of the original text or in downloadable versions at the Internet Archive.

At the University of Oxford Bodleian Library you can research information on sketches, the author and the original manuscript.

An interesting and fun study guide based on The Wind in the Willows play is available as a PDF file from Stage One KET.

One final link from the Literature Network where you will find a short summary of the book.

Nouns

Nouns. What a funny word. Two n's with an "Ou" in the middle and yet it is an important word. It would be difficult to compose a sentence or write a poem or an article or a letter without nouns. In fact, communicating in general would be difficult without nouns. This little grammar entity is our topic of the day.

Schoolhouse Rock YouTube video can't be beat for describing nouns in an entertaining fashion.

Need to know more about nouns-check out this page sponsored by Capital Community College Foundation Guide to Grammar and Writing and then take the quiz.

Reminder

Just a reminder or information about this blog:

Even though this is titled "Daily" please understand that I can only try to post a link to helpful or educationally related activities/lessons/pages each day-some days it doesn't happen and it is unlikely that I will bore you with the reasons or excuses but I will be back posting as soon as possible. So please check back or bookmark or follow the blog.

In addition, to the blog posts you can find previous links listed on the individual link pages. Currently the links to those pages are directly under the title bar. Also, on the right column there are labels that are topical and a blog archive.

Thanks for visiting!

Knights

I challenged my daughter to pick a history topic, any topic related to history and she shouted without hesitation, "Knights, medieval knights." Today's topic to explore is therefore, knights, medieval knights.

Cybersleuth kids has eight links to different aspects of being a knight.

For a more in depth look at medieval times presentations for kids, Mr. Donn's World History offers information, lessons, games and more.

Happy homeschooling!

New Start-Mushrooms

Spring is a time of starting anew. It is also a time to explore our world and to seek out hidden treasures. Sorry for the Star Trek like introduction-sometimes we are influenced by what we read and see and recently I did watch a version of Star Trek I had never seen before. Regardless, the point is that spring brings out a sense of exploration and discovery unlike any other season. The outdoors beckons and is revealing treasures that have been hidden over the winter. While the flowers and trees take the lead with their obvious bursts of colors and leaves another species takes a subtler approach. They are the mushrooms. Let's explore mushrooms today.

The American Mushroom Institute has a wonderful and informative lesson plan to start our investigation of mushrooms.

Another lesson plan from the North American Mycological Association takes more of a hands on approach.

Fish and Fish Science Projects

"Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree, it will spend it's whole life believing that it is stupid." -Albert Einstein

I love that quote. It is certainly something to consider.

One of my favorite spring activities growing up was going smelting. Now I didn't care much for cleaning and eating them but catching them-that was fun. Smelt are fish and fish is today's science/nature topic.

To learn more about smelting and smelt

Fish of the Great Lakes: Smelt

Amazing pictures and information about fish from National Geographic online

Science Fair Projects and Experiments with fish

Flowers

Taking a walk around the farm, I see flowers and trees blooming. Spring has arrived. This is a great time to explore natural science with hands on activities outside. Before getting outside and observing nature it might help to review some basic concepts.

How Plants and Flowers Grow

Science Lesson Plans

National Gardening Month

April is National Gardening Month and in honor of that today's links will be related to gardening.

Gardening for Kids This site has links to several gardening resources

Physical Education

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. With the beautiful weather but unpredictable weather it is a great time to try to get outside and stretch and walk and learn as you go. In other words it is a great time to get outside and exercise if the weather permits. Today we will look at sites dedicated to Physical Education.

Teacher's Net Physical Education Lesson Plans

PE Central for K-2

Happy Easter Links

Just a reminder I won't be posting over the weekend but I want to note the celebration of Easter with some links for the little ones-coloring pages and activities.

Have Fun Teaching-Easter worksheets

Kiddyhouse Easter worksheets and coloring

Happy Easter!

Intriguing Physics

I'm sorry to say when I studied Physics in high school I didn't enjoy it, like it or even care about it. All I wanted to do was get it over with. This doesn't have to be the case for your students/children. The following sites helped me to see how intriguing and interesting Physics can be.

To explore, discover and uncover news in the field of physics check out Physics.org
I'm ready to go and check out weird phenomena and spooky science-so cool.

If you are fortunate enough to already be intrigued by the studies of Physics perhaps this next site will be of use.

Eric Weisstein's World of Science is an encyclopedia listing of terms and topics related to physics. In addition to Physics entries, there are links to Mathematics, Science Biographies, Chemistry and Astronomy.

Have a great day exploring!
JulieDD

Earthquakes

There have been several devastating earthquakes. Today we will look at a couple of websites that go into depth about earthquakes just for kids.

USGS Earthquakes for kids

The Topic: Earthquakes from 42Explore

Education Technology Center KSU presents Earthquakes

Jewish Traditions and the Passover

This week for Christians is Holy Week. It is the week leading up to the most important celebrated event of the Christian faith-Easter.

As I noted in my previous blog I was not able to post a link for Sunday-so the following link is for the Sunday link and its focus is to learn about the Jewish roots of the Christian faith.

The Jewish Children's Learning Network offers insights into the Jewish faith/religion.

For today's link because we are entering into Holy week we will continue to explore the Jewish roots of Christianity by learning about the Jewish Passover celebration.

Jewish Passover 2010 site has activities, crafts, recipes and information about the Passover celebration.

Daily Links Update and Emergency Preparedness

As of yesterday, I have hit the first snag with a daily blog-no internet service. In the event of power outages and no internet services I will attempt to get online and post as soon as possible.

In addition, there will be certain days due to personal events that I will be unable to post. The first of these will be next Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Spring brings unpredictable weather and so today the links will be about helping kids be prepared for outages and in emergencies.

FEMA for Kids
Ready Kids

Be safe and hopefully will be back soon.

Virtual Spring Field Trips

Today we will be taking a couple of virtual spring field trips via YouTube videos.

The first video is a spring transition video. As winter transitions into spring in northern locations this is something that is observed on lakes and rivers. This is from the Chippewa Nature Center




Next we visit a southern location Boyd Hill Nature Park in St. Petersburg, Florida and view a perfect spring day.




Here is one that shows some beautiful spring migratory birds




Hope you are enjoying your spring day!

JulieDD

Music Appreciation

Today my children have finished another section of their music appreciation Teaching Company lectures which means that soon they will need supplementary material to round out and finish up the course. Here are two sites that offer lectures and musical links for a music appreciation class.

From Free-Ed.net (I like free resources) This page contains a link to a video lecture series on iTunes and more that for us will be a perfect supplement to round out our world music appreciation class.

Exploring the World of Music has free Video on Demand music appreciation lectures.

Songs that Teach has a set of songs for Music Appreciation

Hope your day is filled with music.

JulieDD

Speak English, please?

Understanding the English language and speaking it grammatically correct can be difficult even for students who live in English speaking countries. All the rules, rules, rules...

Here are two sites to help develop those skills.

Grammar Bytes! (Don't you just love that title?) Here you will find grammar lessons infused with just the right amount of humor.

Guide to Grammar and Writing This site is organized, informative and useful with in depth explanations, quizzes and guides.

Note Taking Skills- Cornell Method

There are many effective methods for taking notes. Notes can be totally useless or extremely helpful. When I was in college many times they fell into the totally useless category until I took a "How to study course" where I learned to organize and use my notes.

What a concept!

As part of my children's education we are experimenting with several different types of note taking. The plan is to find the style that works best for them and then give them plenty of opportunities to practice.

The first style we will explore here is called the Cornell Method.

Alexandria Technical College has a great explanation of this method and also a review of a couple other methods.

At Eleven 21 you can find a Cornell Note Taking Generator to create note taking pages and print them off.

That's it for today.

JulieDD

Math: Rulers and Protractors

Rulers and protractors fall into the same category as pens and pencils in my house. The category of "Why can't I find them when I need them?"

The following links I have chosen came from "Free Printable Math Measurement Tools: Standard, Ruler, Metric Ruler, Tape Measure, Protractor" an article written by Melissa Kinney Sachteleben.

Though I have used the internet and computers for years the idea of printing a protractor or a ruler never occurred to me but what a great idea.

Printable Rulers

Printable Protractors

Now if I could just find a pencil.

Happy Homeschooling!

JulieDD

Sunday Themes

Generally this blog will jump from topic to topic but on Sunday my plan is to focus on what I am going to call my Sunday theme. This theme will focus on faith education, religions, culture, beliefs and world views. It will not be about preaching or trying to convert you to my faith.

My Sunday themes will hopefully be links to help broaden perspectives on faith and belief systems or a non threatening place to explore other views on religion, faith issues and/or cultural perspectives.

I am not here to judge anyone's beliefs but I do want to gain a bigger view and share that view. When we see people as people not as us or them then we can start to put aside prejudices and begin to work together for the benefit of ourselves, our communities and the world.

I will be adding a Sunday page for specifically the Sunday themed links and all Sunday links will be on that page even if they cross over into one of the other pages. As there is only the ability to have 10 pages the Sunday theme page will replace the About Me page. For the information that is currently on the About Me page I may leave it on that page or move it to another spot on the blog.

Today's link is a link to a site dedicated to world cultures.

Countries and Their Cultures

Hope you are having a great Sunday!

JulieDD

Educational Movies

A little while back I wrote an article about using movies as a fun and educational activity. In particular, I was referencing Christmas Movie Themed Lesson Plans.

Since it is Saturday-education can take on a more relaxed approach and maybe they won't even realize they are learning-just having fun.

Check out these fun and educational movie sites

BrainPop This site offers very short clips on a variety of subjects and the mini movies are fun to watch. They offer a free trial to their subscription movies and free movies. In addition, I noticed that they have expanded to include lesson plans and other guides for educators.

Another site that is also a subscription site but only $11.99/year is Teach With Movies This site for the subscription price offers learning guides and lesson plans based on movies.


I do like free resources and here is one I just discovered that I will be spending some time on exploring. This site gets my "check it out" recommendation.

There are educational songs, movies and it is a network divided into subjects and topics. The movies I saw were more educational than entertaining but they did draw attention.

The Totally Free Children's Network

That's it for today. Have a great Saturday!

JulieDD

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with BrainPop or Teach with Movies or The Totally Free Children's Network and have received no compensation for mentioning their sites.

Learning Science with videos and games

I have two websites for you today on the topic of Science. I love science and exploring and discovering new things however, many students find the science textbook explanations hard to follow or boring or just not engaging.

The following two sites try to change that by using age related games and videos to try to make it more interesting.

The first link is for the younger crowd-preschool and elementary age students
BBC Science Clips

The next link is for games that are challenging and information packed on more complex science topics. Perfect for high school age students and older but may also be used with advanced middle school aged children.

Nobel Prize Educational Games

Have a great day playing ...er...I mean...learning science.

JulieDD

Pre-K Through 5th Grade Free Worksheets

Throughout the last twelve years that I have homeschooled I have at times loved using worksheets and at other times deemed them time wasters. For my children worksheets were often just short of a punishment.

Why?

The difference is our learning styles. I grew up with teachers who regularly used worksheets. I thrived in that format of teaching/learning. However, at least two of my children have struggled with that style of teaching and the expectations.

Yet, I love worksheets and I do think they can be used to reinforce concepts or to practice or test a set of skills.

The other problem with worksheets which often frustrated me was going to a website that said it had "Free" worksheets only to discover the ones I wanted were only available to those who had a subscription.

So for you I have found a site that as of this writing has all free worksheets for Pre-K through 5th grade. Now there is an unobtrusive request for a yearly donation of $1.00 and there are supplemental ads but they are not on the worksheets which come with answers in a PDF file.

Here is the site TLS Books

Happy Homeschooling!

JulieDD

Since it is St. Patrick's Day

Since it is a day to celebrate I thought I would send out a bonus link. Actually the link came from a comment on my recent article Five Reference Websites for Homeschoolers to a homeschool Squidoo page.

I didn't know what a Squidoo was so I let my curious nature explore away and this led to a fantastic reference page for auditory learners.

So check out- Learning With Your Ears a Squidoo page by Jimmie.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

One thing that St. Patrick was known for was for using the clover as a teaching tool about the trinity. In honor of St. Patrick's day today's website is focused on something I feel is very important for homeschoolers-understanding your learning style and intelligence and your child's and learning how to teach and learn better.

The following website is set up like a Wiki page but is from the Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology, University of Georgia. The focus of the site is to provide perspectives on learning.

Happy Homeschooling!

JulieDD


Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles

Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching, and Technology

Hodge Podge of Homeschool Resources

I'm excited to get started with this homeschool resource and link blog. Generally, I will only be posting one or two links per day and I will try to stay on one topic per day but today will be different. Instead I will post a resource link that will co-ordinate with the upcoming pages of this blog. Enjoy!

Math Links

Exploring Pre-Calculus with William Mueller

Science Links

Biology 4 Kids

History Links

How Stuff Works- The Vikings

Language Links

Electronic Texts Latin Resources

Art/Physical Education/Extra-curricular Links

Exploring the Arts and Humanities

Worksheets, Activities, Lapbooks, Fun Stuff Links

Worksheets for Teachers

Virtual Field Trips Links



My Stuff-Blogs, Website, Places I Write and Twitter

Follow Me on Twitter

General Education and Research Links

How to Create Linked Text

Curriculum and Learning Links

AS Parenting Blog

Welcome to Daily Homeschool Links and Resources!

I'm glad you are here. Welcome to my blog. I hope you will visit often and find the resources you are looking for and just enjoy the blog.

Homeschooling is a great adventure. I have been homeschooling for about 12 years now and I'm still going strong. Join me as I search the internet for homeschool resources.

Please let me know if there are particular topics you are looking for and I will be glad to try and help you find resources. Of course, I mean homeschool resources and topics related to homeschooling.

Again welcome and let's get started.

JulieD