Since it's that time of year where everyone is looking at curriculum, I thought it would be a good time to post some of my favorite sites (most of which are free).
1)YouTube.com- a great source of videos on any subject. You can subscribe to channels
like for easy access when schooling
2) WatchKnowLearn.org - videos for schooling organized by subject. Free videos to help
supplement as well as lessons for schooling.
3) KhanAcademy.org - known mostly for its math site, Khan also has videos available to teach
other subjects. The best part about Khan is that your children can move at their own pace.
Khan also keeps tracks of subjects for easier reporting at the end of the school year.
4) Hoagiesgifted.org - a great resource to find lesson plans, free worksheets, etc. An all in one
stop for lesson planning
5) Opencourseware.us - For upper level and college-bound students. Open Courseware offers
free college courses from some of the top universities in the country.
6) Ted.com and Ted - ED - using the Ted Talks, Ted has actually built some of them into
interactive lessons that help reinforce a subject being taught
7) PBS.org - videos on a variety of subjects
8) Discovery.com - videos and lesson plans
9) History.com - videos and history information on a variety of subjects
10) Biography.com - videos and biographical information on a variety of people
11) Bookshare.org - a website devoted to helping people with vision delays have access to print
materials. If your child has any type of vision delays, with verification by an opthamologist, you
can download books in print or audio format.
12) Teachers.net - access to free lesson plans in many subjects
13) http://www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/ - lots of great freebies here
especially for younger students
14) Hulu.com - many free documentaries that can be used to supplement curriculum
15) Netflix.com - $8/mo. - instantly stream documentaries on a variety of platforms - really
wonderful resource
16) Teach-nology.com - free worksheets and printables
Another resource I use is the Great Courses series. On their own, they can be expensive but once a year they discount their products to incredibly reasonable rates. These again can be used for college bound students. We've also been able to find some at our local library. Have not been disappointed with any of the courses they've offered.
These sites are some of the main sites I go to for curriculum and ideas. I have pretty much been able to school my son on less than $100/yr. The trick is to be creative and use whatever resources are available to you. I create our Unit Studies and build most of the curriculum from scratch. Building our own studies has allowed me to give my son a really comprehensive learning experience without spending a lot of money to do it. Give it a try - you'll be surprised at what you can do with a little research and a printer. Have a great school year!
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Homeschool Giveaway!
My friend has a blog called Ben and Me where she posts giveaways, freebies, and her own homeschool journey. Her current giveaway link is below. Please check her out. And don't forget to enter her contest. :)
http://www.benandme.com/2013/08/back-to-homeschool-kindle-fire-giveaway.html
http://www.benandme.com/2013/08/back-to-homeschool-kindle-fire-giveaway.html
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Dave Egger's Wish Redefined
http://www.ted.com/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html
This week is a link to a TED.com video. I was thinking that maybe the homeschool community could work with the public schools to develop our own tutoring program. Perhaps use a homeschool co-op for a chance to help other children in the community to learn in a different way. That way we don't necessarily have to sell pirate supplies :)
This week is a link to a TED.com video. I was thinking that maybe the homeschool community could work with the public schools to develop our own tutoring program. Perhaps use a homeschool co-op for a chance to help other children in the community to learn in a different way. That way we don't necessarily have to sell pirate supplies :)
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
One Mom's New Experiment
This week, I am talking about a new experiment that we will be attempting this year. First, I must give a little background into our previous years of schooling. From the first year, I have been more of the planner. I chose the courses to be taught, made sure the materials were available, and actually taught most of the courses myself. This seemed to be okay, but my son did not appear to be as engaged as I would have liked. The year just ended I had started letting go of some of my control and had my son do some of The Great Courses series to supplement some of his learning. It actually worked better than I had anticipated.
This year, I am planning on taking more of a role as a facilitator and allowing my son to be responsible for the work. I still have to type out his books as needed (I have found some sites that have large print available or can be adapted, but because of my son's vision delays I have to type out the rest). I am creating my own series of books for learning German. I still have selected some of the courses. The only classes I will still be teaching will be German, American Government, and Creative Thinking. I will still, of course, be there if he needs assistance with his classes. I have decided that since he has expressed an interest in attending college that I want to make him more responsible for time management and would like to increase his study skills.
He will receive all of his assignments on Monday that are due at the end of the week. It will be entirely his responsibility to have them completed by Friday. How he learns to manage his time is his journey. I have told him if he would prefer to do as we have in the past and divide his day up into manageable segments with a little from each class he is free to do so or he can do all his classwork required for a subject during one day so he only has to do it once a week. He may also choose to experiment with different methods in order to find the path that works for him. I am not to interfere unless he starts getting behind with his work.
This marks a major turning point in our schooling. I am trying to let go in order to make him a more independent thinker. Whether this experiment works or not only time will tell. If it succeeds, the following year he will be allowed to plan what he wishes to learn just as if he were at college. He will have certain courses that will be required (English and Math) and the rest will be electives of his choosing. I am hoping that by the end of high school he will have learned the art of self-learning and hopefully this will make the transition from high school to college much easier.
If any of you have any suggestions that may help make this transition easier, I would welcome your comments. I will keep you updated in future blogs as to our progress.
This year, I am planning on taking more of a role as a facilitator and allowing my son to be responsible for the work. I still have to type out his books as needed (I have found some sites that have large print available or can be adapted, but because of my son's vision delays I have to type out the rest). I am creating my own series of books for learning German. I still have selected some of the courses. The only classes I will still be teaching will be German, American Government, and Creative Thinking. I will still, of course, be there if he needs assistance with his classes. I have decided that since he has expressed an interest in attending college that I want to make him more responsible for time management and would like to increase his study skills.
He will receive all of his assignments on Monday that are due at the end of the week. It will be entirely his responsibility to have them completed by Friday. How he learns to manage his time is his journey. I have told him if he would prefer to do as we have in the past and divide his day up into manageable segments with a little from each class he is free to do so or he can do all his classwork required for a subject during one day so he only has to do it once a week. He may also choose to experiment with different methods in order to find the path that works for him. I am not to interfere unless he starts getting behind with his work.
This marks a major turning point in our schooling. I am trying to let go in order to make him a more independent thinker. Whether this experiment works or not only time will tell. If it succeeds, the following year he will be allowed to plan what he wishes to learn just as if he were at college. He will have certain courses that will be required (English and Math) and the rest will be electives of his choosing. I am hoping that by the end of high school he will have learned the art of self-learning and hopefully this will make the transition from high school to college much easier.
If any of you have any suggestions that may help make this transition easier, I would welcome your comments. I will keep you updated in future blogs as to our progress.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Why choose homeschooling?
This is probably one of the toughest decisions for some parents to make. In my case, the choice was a difficult one. I did originally send my son to public school because I had also been public schooled. As the years progressed, however, I was finding it harder to deal with the school district. I felt that my son was not learning at a pace I was happy with. At first, I looked into cyber schools. Although at first it looked promising, the fact that my son would be sitting at a computer screen did not appeal to me. Next, I read every book I could get my hands on about homeschooling. Many of the authors had started homeschooling back in the dark ages (before computers -haha) and I was comforted by the fact that they had been there before and had a lot of advice I could use. My next step was to try a Unit study out on my son to see if either of us would like it. I chose to build a unit study based on my library's summer reading program. That way, he could still hang out with kids during the program and I could teach him at home. We both decided we liked it and I left the ultimate decision to leave public school to my son. He wanted to try homeschooling for a year. We filed the paperwork and five years later we have not looked back.
If you are a parent who is considering homeschooling, don't feel overwhelmed by the task at hand.
You would be amazed at how much your children actually help facilitate the learning. I think the hardest question to conquer is what type of homeschool do you want - unlike the founding parents of homeschooling who had to do it on the fly, there are many different resources available and it can all seem rather daunting. The best advice I can give is to try out what you like and if it works great - if it doesn't, the beauty of homeschooling is you can always start with something else. You also should not concern yourself too much with the actual cost of homeschooling - many resources are out there and are free! If you are going to go from a two income to a one income household, look at all the ways you can cut expenses and start there. If you are determined to homeschool, the financial part will work itself out. You need to decide if the choice of homeschooling your child is worth the sacrifice you as a family will make. In my case, I am a single mom who works outside the home to support us. I made the leap of faith that all would work out and so far it has. What you need to do is research it until you feel you have made the right decision and proceed from a vantage point of knowledge.
The links below are included as a jumping off point. They are by no means a complete list but they will help ease your mind. Enjoy the journey!
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/gettingstarted/p/homeschool101.htm
http://www.hslda.org/hs/
http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/
http://www.homeschoolcentral.com/
http://www.thehomescholar.com/
If you are a parent who is considering homeschooling, don't feel overwhelmed by the task at hand.
You would be amazed at how much your children actually help facilitate the learning. I think the hardest question to conquer is what type of homeschool do you want - unlike the founding parents of homeschooling who had to do it on the fly, there are many different resources available and it can all seem rather daunting. The best advice I can give is to try out what you like and if it works great - if it doesn't, the beauty of homeschooling is you can always start with something else. You also should not concern yourself too much with the actual cost of homeschooling - many resources are out there and are free! If you are going to go from a two income to a one income household, look at all the ways you can cut expenses and start there. If you are determined to homeschool, the financial part will work itself out. You need to decide if the choice of homeschooling your child is worth the sacrifice you as a family will make. In my case, I am a single mom who works outside the home to support us. I made the leap of faith that all would work out and so far it has. What you need to do is research it until you feel you have made the right decision and proceed from a vantage point of knowledge.
The links below are included as a jumping off point. They are by no means a complete list but they will help ease your mind. Enjoy the journey!
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/gettingstarted/p/homeschool101.htm
http://www.hslda.org/hs/
http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/
http://www.homeschoolcentral.com/
http://www.thehomescholar.com/
Introduction
This is my new blog. It is my attempt at helping others who are traveling along the homeschool path. It will include website links if available to anything that I have used or am using as well as things that have worked for us in the past. If you would like to see anything specific addressed, please feel free to place a comment and if I have the information or know where to get it I will address it in a future post. Thanks for taking this journey with me.
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