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It's that time of year! Most kids are out of school for the summer, but we can still encourage them to read by participating in summer reading programs. Here are a few to get you started!
- Borders Summer Reading Challenge
Borders offers children a chance to earn a free book by keeping a record of books they read. Once your child has read any 10 books of his or her choice, they can choose a free book from a specific list of titles. Open to children aged 12 and under.
- 2011 About.com Summer Reading Program
Register your kids for About.com's reading program. The only cost is postage of $1.71; once your children reach 500 pages, send in the forms along with the stamp for $1.71, and your child will receive a certificate of completion and a prize! They even have a list of recommended books for children to browse if they run out of ideas.
- Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program
Encourage your child to read by joining B&N's reading program! Children will earn a free book (chosen from a provided list) by reading 8 books of their choice. What better way to encourage a love of reading than to allow them to earn free books?
- HEBuddy Summer Reading Club
If you live in Texas, make sure you enroll your children in the HEBuddy reading club! Keep track of 10 books that you read, mail it in, and you'll get prizes!
- iVillage Reading Challenge
iVillage is having a challenge for kids to help them learn to enjoy reading. Sign up for the free 6 week program and receive daily challenges, tips from other parents and more!
- Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge
This is a great challenge for kids! Log your hours, try to meet weekly goals, and enter weekly sweepstakes! Kids can register to track their own time, educators can register to track their students and parents can get tips from experts and summer reading lists.
Do you know of any others? Have you participated in any of these summer reading challenges in the past? Let us know in the comments below. Share your experiences!
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My kids need typing lessons...and we don't always want to spend money on
typing software
. There are some great ones out there, but it can be difficult to choose what type of
typing instructors
are best. But, why spend money when you don't have to?
We've found a great
free online typing tutor that is perfect for homeschooling! Power Typing has typing lessons for both QWERTY & DVORAK (didn't even know these were still around???) keyboards. They offer lessons, reviews, quizzes and typing games.
This is a great site for teaching our kids to type! Have you used Power Typing? Do you know of any other typing resources that have worked for you? Share your experiences in the comments below!
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Textbooks can be expensive! But if you're looking for a free high school algebra textbook, I've found one! It's online, and you can print chapters as you need them.
Click the link to access:
free algebra textbook
Enjoy!
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I have a new site that we have been using with our kids a lot. It's called
learner.org, and it has a LOT of awesome things for your kids to do! Our favorite to put the kids on is their
interactives page. Here's a short summary of everything this section of the site offers.
Math Resources
There are a few different categories of math interactives; 2 of these sections are for grades 6-8, and 2 sections are for grades 9-12.
- Geometry 3D Shapes - This section teaches kids a variety of things about geometrical shapes, including how to calculate surface area, volume, and other facts about each shape. Designed for grades 6-8.
- Measurement - This section, also for 6-8 graders, focuses on teaching students the metric system. Because we use a variety of different measuring units here in the United States, it's important for students to be able to switch back and forth and convert the different measurements.
- Daily Math Skills - This section is aimed at high school children. Teach your teens everyday math skills, such as playing games, cooking and making financial decisions.
- Statistics - This section, also aimed at high school students, teaches statistics through news reports and a fictitious election polling system.
Language Interactives
Learning the many aspects of the English language is vital in school. The interactive and fun activities offered by Learner.org make it fun and easy to learn them all.
- Story Elements - Help your 2-5 grader learn about the different aspects of a story through this fun and entertaining interactive. Your child will be told a story, then asked questions based on the story. The narrative explains the details of all story elements, to make them better writers.
- Historical Investigations - This is a fun activity for high school students. Through context clues and investigation, students will attempt to determine when and where historical events took place.
- Literature - High school students can make literature come alive through this interactive! Read some literature and solve the mystery.
- Spelling Bee - In this fun activity, students of all grades can participate in a good old-fashioned spelling bee! Depending on the grade level, students will be read words in context, then asked to spell them. Some grades can also get a definition of the word to help for contextual clues.
History & Social Studies
Many children find history a boring subject...these interactives can make it more fun than simply reading a text book and writing papers. Make it come alive, thereby helping them remember facts better!
- US History & Geography - Kids get to participate in a fun and challenging activity that will help them learn the geography of our nation, and the history as well. This section is directed at kids in grades 5-8.
- Civilizations - High school students can explore the fall of many historic civilizations in this fun activity.
- Middle Ages - Make the real middle ages fun through this enthralling interactive. Aimed at high school students.
- The Renaissance - High school students will learn about how Europe came out of the Middle Ages. (See if your high schooler can SPELL "renaissance"...I got it wrong!)
Science Interactives
Science can be a fun, hands-on part of homeschooling. These interactives offered by Learner.org make it easy AND fun!
- Our Earth - Learn all about what our planet is actually made of! Aimed at kids in grades 7-9.
- Rocks - Once students learn all about what our planet is made from, they can learn about the different types of rocks. Designed for children in grades 7-9.
- Amusement Park Physics - Turn that trip to Six Flags into an educational field trip! High schoolers will learn about how roller coasters and other rides are designed using Physics to ensure passenger's safety.
- DNA - This is another set of interactive lessons aimed at high school students. Kids will learn about DNA and genetics.
- Ecology - In this lab setting, students will create their own ecosystem, and learn how each part interacts with each other. Great way for high school kids to learn about the environment.
- Garbage - With so many people going green, it's important to learn about garbage, and how we currently deal with it. This is a great way to teach high schoolers how & why to protect the environment.
- Periodic Table - Chemistry is an important part of a high school curriculum. The periodic table can be challenging to learn; make it fun by using this fun interactive activity!
- Volcanoes - High school students get the opportunity to glance into how and if volcanic eruptions can be predicted!
- Weather - Another fun activity for high schoolers. In this one, your students will learn about the different types of weather.
This site has proven to be a great resource for our students. Have you used it? If you do use it, let us know what you think in the comments below!
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All children need to learn about United States history. But many of the textbooks are quite expensive. However, here at Loving Learning in the Home, we have found a great FREE resource for American History.
American Journeys is a website that has thousands of eye witness accounts of American History. From 1000 AD to 1806, you'll find information on explorers and important facts about US History. They have documents, images, lesson plans and more! And the best part is that use of the site is FREE!!!
This website is perfect for teaching children about the original explorations of North America.
The Teacher's section includes topic ideas, lesson plans, information on geography and more. If you're looking for primary sources to teach your students early American History, we definitely recommend American Journeys.
Have you used this site before? Tell us about it! Share your experiences in the comments below.
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Many high school aged children read
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
in high school. If you're looking for a free novel study so your high schooler can study themes in this Mark Twain classic, check out the following sites!
Book Rags - Book rags has chapter summaries, discussion on 3 different themes throughout the book - conformity, humanity and picaresque - and information on the plot, characters and author. There are some discussion questions, but they're pulled from Yahoo answers, which you could do on your own.
SCORE - I like this site a little better, simply because they have a variety of different assignments to choose from. Combined with the summaries from Book Rags, this could be a good resource for a study guide.
Glencoe - Glencoe offers a PDF file complete with vocabulary, discussion questions organized by groups of chapter. I like the fact that there are questions and assignments for every few chapters, but I do think that they are at a somewhat lower level than we should expect from high schoolers. The questions, IMHO, are aimed at a much lower audience, and let's face it, younger kids are not going to be reading about Huck Finn!
Spark Notes - I have left the best for last (but of course you should check out each one, in case your preferences are different than mine!). Why do I like this site so much? Well, they have chapter summaries, discussion questions AND essay topics. They also cover the plot and character analysis, explanations for several quotes from the book, and a list of key facts about the book. I definitely recommend this resource!
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http://lessonopoly.orgI have found a great new site for
free lesson plans! Lessonopoly.org allows you to set up a free account as a teacher, parent or a student. Create plans, browse their library of lesson plans, participate in groups and more.
The best part is that you can create a schedule for your classroom. Choose lesson plans (your own, or pick one from their library) and add them to specific dates. It's a great way to keep all your plans in one online calendar. :-)
The site has
free lesson plans for all grade levels, and a variety of subjects including:
- Arts
- Language Arts
- Foreign Languages
- Math
- Science
- Technical Career Exploration
- History & Social Sciences
- Physical Education & Health
Grade levels range from Pre-K all the way up to 12th grade.
Check them out today!
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If you're looking for some free homeschooling textbooks, I've found some great ones for math and science.
These math and science textbooks are available for grades K-5.
Specifically, the math texts are for first grade through fifth grade. There are also online math activities suitable for Kindergarten through fifth grade. Kids love to play games online (or at least mine do)and the ones available on this site are fun and engaging.
For older kids, there are Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry Books. I wish I had known about this last year when my oldest was learning Geometry!!
There are also science textbooks for first through fifth grade, and science fun for Kindergarten through fifth grade.
Enjoy! :-)
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If you are looking for a great FREE United States History resource for your home school, you have got to check this one out: FREE United States History ebook
This is a great resource for homeschoolers!! It’s a downloadable ebook, with information on each of the 50 states: things they are famous for, events in history, important people that lived there, when they joined the United States, state mottos and more!
Get the free book here: FREE United States History Resource
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I have been looking for something to help teach my son how to read. The boy is SO super smart, he just doesn't like to learn things that he has to stay still for...the only time I can get him to stop moving is to give him a puzzle, or put him on the computer. Therefore, it has been hard teaching him to read!
Today, I was surfing the web when I came across
Starfall. Starfall is a free website that has a vast collection of games and activities to help teach your child how to read, while keeping them engaged and interested.
Here is a screenshot of Starfall's Learn to Read page:
As you can see, Starfall has a ton of options to choose from!! Here's another screenshot of one of their activities:
In this one, your child learns to read by selecting the appropriate letters to create the word matching the picture. My son really enjoys Starfall so far, they have great audio that says the sounds, and helps him sound them out. And, as I've pointed out before, the best way to teach kids how to read is to learn phonics!
They even have alphabet activities for preschool level readers, or younger readers. Look at this screenshot from Starfall:
Here's a screenshot from one of Starfall's reading activities. It's an actual story that the website reads to your child, sounding out each letter first. This is an excellent resource! I can't recommend Starfall enough!!
If any of y'all have experience (good or bad!) with using Starfall to help your child learn to read, let us know!
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If you are looking for great, FREE homeschooling curriculum, you have got to check out this FREE American History Curriculum!
Created by an experienced homeschooling mom, this FREE American History Curriculum is easily adaptable to grades 2nd through 6th. It was created with a literature-based theme, but tries to incorporate some other subjects as well.
American History Curriculum Contents
This Mom has it together!! :-) She includes everything you will need to implement her American History Curriculum:
- Complete list of books and materials needed;
- Week-by-week schedule of when you need each book/material;
- Book notes & study guides;
- Daily Schedule;
- Topics list;
- Timeline;
- A variety of worksheets.
I love this free American History Curriculum!! I am definitely going to use it for my younger 3 children. I've been looking for an American History Curriculum, and I give high kudos to this Mom for hers.
Especially since she included a daily schedule plan; let's face it, even with all the free curriculum materials available online, it can't be difficult to decide what to do on what day and in what order! On the flip side, purchasing curriculum is extremely expensive!
American History Curriculum Topics
This free American History Curriculum covers the following topics:
- 7 different Indian tribes;
- Discovers, including Erickson, Columbus, Cortez & Pizzarro, and Lewis & Clark
- Incas, Mayans and Aztecs;
- Pocahontas, Jamestown & the Pilgrims
- Colonies & Ben Franklin & George Washington
- French & Indian War
- Revolutionary War
- Constitution & New Government
- First President, New Country & Johnny Appleseed
- Monroe Doctrine & War of 1812
- Andrew Jackson & The Trail of Tears
- Inventions
- The Alamo
- The Gold Rush
- Pioneers & Moving West
- Lincoln, Slavery & the Civil War
- Transcontinental Railroad & George Washington Carver
If you have been searching for free curriculum, I highly recommend Guest Hollow's FREE American History Curriculum!!!
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One of my biggest problems last year with homeschooling was finding time for everything. If I did every subject with all 3 girls, I didn't get laundry or vacuuming done...if I did some of my housework, I didn't have enough time for every subject in school.
I would try to make schedules for the kids to adhere to, only to find that incidentals didn't allow us to stick to the schedules, and our entire day was up in the air.
I tried creating different schedules, including switching school subjects from day to day, to setting up an hourly class schedule, planning cleaning chores for each day...but nothing I tried worked! It was really frustrating for me, and also for my kids.
The kids had projects they wanted to do, topics they wanted to study, that we weren't able to get to due to our scheduling and time management issues. I have been worried about this for this coming school year, but I think I have found an e-book that will help.
I downloaded this e-book for free from
this website. The writers of this e-book actually interviewed hundreds of homeschooling moms to find out what worked for homeschooling time management.
It's a great resource, and best of all, it's free! Download your copy and let me know if it helped you with your homeschooling time management. :-)
