Free Creation Science Videos

You can go to NWCreation.net for a large selection of free online creation science videos!

Amazing site!

 

Latest Freebie Finds

Science Unit Studies by Susan Kilbride is on sale at Amazon right now for almost 1/3 off.  It’s the most they’ve ever put it on sale, so it’s a really good deal. Sometime back I did a review of this book. It’s a great one to  have on hand.

Dog Kindergarten and Toddler Pack at royal baloo features 60 packed pages: Color-by-Addition, Mazes, skip counting, telling time, a dog poem, writing practice, puzzles and more! The Toddler pack has prewriting, cutting, coloring, shapes, and more!

 

World Explorers Unit Study is free through June 19th. Use the code moneysavingjune

Part one is a structured, knowledge-based section focused on important European explorers from the Vikings to Columbus to Hudson. Students read about each of these explorers and complete a related assignment.

Part two focuses on explorers relevant to Canada. Part three has a series of optional activities and part four has a collection of seven diagrams depicting each of the explorers.

This History lesson provides a teacher and student section with a variety of reading passages, activities, crossword, word search and answer key to create a well-rounded lesson plan.

3 Dinosaurs is offering an Ocean Pack for ages 2-7.

Ocean Pack has over 60 pages:
3 Part Cards, Beginning Sounds, Matching Cards, Read Write the Room, Which One Is Different, What Comes Next, Pre Writing Practice, Pattern Cards, 10 Piece Puzzles, 4 Piece Puzzles, Clip and Count Cards, Size Sorting, Color the Pattern, Shadow Matching, and more.

Tot Pack:
Basic Prewriting, 2 Part Puzzles, Matching, Coloring the Fish, Counting, Cutting Practice, 9 Piece Puzzle

 

Free Homeschool Management Software

LearnBoost is offering free management software tailored for homeschoolers. The program  features a fully integrated grade book and software to create and share lesson plans, track student progress, analyze learning trends, add narrative reports, and so much more. It is integrated with Google Apps and is available in 15 languages, soon to be 70.

I’ve looked around the site and it is intriguing. The first thing I did was make sure it is truly free. It appears it really is. They also offer a free demo.

Here is what the site says about the resource being free:

LearnBoost is 100% free. You get all the wonderful features in all of our modules: grade book, attendance, lesson plan, calendar, and more. You have everything to gain by signing up because LearnBoost is free and amazing.

LearnBoost operates on a “freemium” business model. This means that while the majority of our users can access our software for free, future iterations of the product will allow schools to elect for premium administrative features, customization, and services.

We love education and we know school budgets are always tight. In the future, our optional premium services won’t break the bank either!

 

Teaching Writing and Context Clues

I have a post about writing  and one about context clues on my other blog, 3 D Learners.  Check them out when you have time, or better yet, subscribe so you get updates about posts.

 

Fun Free Game Site

I found a fun site today called ABCya! The creator is a public school teacher. Her games are geared for children in K-5th grade.

Here is what the site says:

ABCya.com was designed with a focus on parents, teachers and children.  The services and features on the website reflect our focus.

The navigation features of the website are simple and straightforward.  The homepage provides links to six main grade level categories: Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade, Third Grade, Fourth Grade and Fifth Grade.  The grade level categories are broken down by content categories: Letters, Numbers, More (shapes, social studies, art) and Holidays.

With the guidance of an adult, children will be able to successfully navigate the website..

Grade level lessons incorporate areas such as math and language arts while introducing basic computer skills. Many of the kindergarten and first grade activities are equipped with sound to enhance understanding. Fun children’s Holiday activities are available in grade level sections!

 

 

 

Digital Natives

This is a post I wrote at 3D Learners Blog: Digital Natives & Academics. Check it out; I posed several questions. So, click on over to the blog and take a few minutes to leave a comment letting me know how you feel.

 

Free Bird Printables

Homeschool Creations and 1+1+1=1 is offering a great set of bird themed printables for free. It is geared for Pre-K and Kindergarten.

This link is for a lapbook on Robins, also offered by Homeschool Creations.

 

Spring Fever

The weather around my part of the world has been very warm…87+. I’ve actually given in and turned the air on. I can’t believe it is so hot so early this year. I love to open the windows and let the fresh air blow throughout the house in the spring, but alas, that’s not going to happen this year. We didn’t have much of a winter, so I rarely ran the heat, but summer is wide awake and blowing its humid, hot breath down my neck as I type. I feel the need to make a quick run to Sonic for a strawberry . What about you? Is it hot where you live now? Is the heat trying to blister you? How does that affect your schooling?

Dealing with the heat is one thing, but spring fever seems to also be creating a bit of a problem as well. My daughter hasn’t said much, but I’ve noticed a drastic reduction in her drive lately. It doesn’t matter if you are working on essay writing skills, drilling multiplication facts, or still trying to master phonics by playing short vowel games, springtime is calling us outside to enjoy a little fresh air and fun. It’s a great time to add fun P.E. activities into the lessons each week. What about going to the local pond to catch tadpoles, feed the ducks and geese, and look for insects? We have ducks and geese on our farm. They are such fun to watch and they make for a neat science lesson.

Share what you are doing to combat spring fever around your house. I am sure many of you have super ideas we could all benefit from hearing about. I look forward to reading your comments and learning a few new tips and ideas.

 

Internet Safety Issues

I bet all of my readers have some sort of virus software installed to help keep your computer safe, but how many of you have solid plans for keeping your child safe while using the Internet? Internet Safety should be included in your homeschooling curriculum at some point. It is relevant for all age groups, even adults. My daughter, a teenager, and I have had discussions about ways she is to protect herself when accessing the Internet. We also explored why it’s important.

Have you heard about Cyber bullying? It is very real in today’s social media circles. So many older kids today use Facebook, My Space, chat sites, surf randomly, visit You Tube, blogs, and who knows what else. Many times, kids have no idea whether their movements are being tracked, who is reading what they post, who they are truly chatting with, who hacked their account, and so forth. Most kids do not purposefully go to “bad” sites, but bad sites ARE seeking them, tricking them, luring them in…

Do your kids know what information NOT to give at registration sites, in chat rooms, in post comments??? Do your kids know not to ever mention their school by name? Mentioning the name of a school or places near your home helps pinpoint the location of your child. Pedophiles have sneaky ways of finding that type of information. If your child posts pictures on the Internet, things in the background of the picture such as buildings or parks, specific clothes (such a school uniform, cheerleading outfit, team mascot or logo on clothes…) give away your general area. Even if your child doesn’t mention these type of things, chances are his friends might comment about them.

Take time to share safe surfing tips with your teen. Teach them to guard their information. The FBI offers a free report, Parent Guide to Internet Safety , that is a very good starting point for parents wanting to learn ways to spot online sexual predators.

Arm yourself and your child today, don’t wait!

 

 

Educational Videos

Our family has been watching educational videos as part of our daughter’s history curriculum. We recently purchased  several history videos from Drive Through History via the Homeschool Buyers Co-op Program…great site.

The videos are not only educational, but they are funny, fresh, and have a Christian Worldview, I like that. I think I enjoy watching them the most since I am the history lover in our family. My father was a history teacher amongst many things. I guess I inherited his love of history. I am one course short of a minor in history. Why didn’t I go ahead and take one more course????  Oh, well.

I would love to watch educational videos online, but alas, we have satellite for Internet and are limited on our daily download allowance. You Tube or anything similar eats up download allowances in a heart beat. We can watch them if we are willing to stay up until 2:00 a.m. when the restrictions are lifted. You have free reign from 2:00 a.m. until 6:59 a.m. Yes, I have actually stayed up a few times to download videos and such. My body hates me the next day, but I do it because my visual spatial learner benefits from it.

What educational videos do you and your family watch? Are there any that are clearly outstanding? Any that are a total waste of time? Share your insight with everyone.