TheHomeSchoolMom's Free Homeschool Resources - August, 2009
~~~~Contents ~~~~
- From the Editor
- Website Updates
- Homeschool Math Curriculum (Our Sponsor)
- Educational Resources
- Time 4 Learning (Our Sponsor)
- Recently Seen Online
- Article - When Kids Use the Internet for Research by Barbara Frank
St. Augustine said..."The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page." I recently learned of a new site for homeschooling families that will help you "read more than one page" by showing you how to find almost free travel accommodations! The Neighborhood site was started by a homeschooling family last year and is dedicated to help homeschooling families educate their children through travel. They do this through the home and hospitality exchange concept. The Neighborhood is offering a free one-year membership to all subscribers of TheHomeSchoolMom newsletters.
To claim your membership, visit http://hsneighbor.com, click on "join now" and follow the instructions. When you see the promo-code box, enter 5812. This bypasses the shopping cart and lets you begin working on your home listing immediately. To be eligible for the free membership, listing must include one photo and be completed by Sep. 1, 2009. Here is what a Neighborhood member from Canada has to say about the program:
Being a family of six makes travel costs somewhat prohibitive, so home exchange opens up possibilities that would otherwise be out of our budget. Exchanging with home school families offers more opportunities to travel outside the months of July & August...We look forward to building relationships with home schoolers around the globe through shared travel experiences…
Enjoy, and let me know about your travel experiences with The Neighborhood!
Warm regards,
Mary Ann Kelley
Editor
Back to the Table of Contents
2. TheHomeSchoolMom.com Website Updates
- August Homeschooling Resources Calendar
- Homeschooling Costs
- SOTW: Apollo 11
- July Newsletter
- Patriots' Day
- Hispanic Heritage
- Teenagers - You Could Direct Your Own Education
- Local support and classes
3. Math Mammoth
(our sponsor)
 |
Download your package of 280+ FREE sample pages at
OR
|
Butterfly School
From the Butterfly House at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, the Butterfly School website is a wealth of information for studying about or raising butterflies. We raised butterflies on year and the children thoroughly enjoyed it. In addition to step-by-step instructions for raising butterflies, this site has enough background information for a mini unit study. There are printables that could be used for a lapbook/notebook at Homeschool Share.
http://www.butterflyschool.org
National Geography Bee
"Each year thousands of schools in the United States participate in the National Geographic Bee using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society. The contest is designed to encourage teachers to include geography in their classrooms, spark student interest in the subject, and increase public awareness about geography. Schools with students in grades four through eight are eligible for this entertaining and challenging test of geographic knowledge." Specific instructions for registering homeschools are found on the "How to register" page. Registration deadline is October 19, 2009.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/society/ngo/geobee/
Environmental Education for Kids
"EEK!" in an online electronic magazine for kids in grades 4-8 designed so they can learn more about the great outdoors. EEK is brought to you by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Included in the online magazine is a Teacher Pages section "designed to help you help your students use the EEK! website. The Teacher Pages include a variety of downloads and activities. I am impressed with the range and quality of material available at no cost.
http://dnr.wi.gov/eek/
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
"Learning and understanding mathematics, at every level, requires student engagement. Mathematics is not, as has been said, a spectator sport. Too much of current instruction fails to actively involve students. One way to address the problem is through the use of manipulatives, physical objects that help students visualize relationships and applications. We can now use computers to create virtual learning environments to address the same goals... Our Utah State University team is building Java-based mathematical tools and editors that allow us to create exciting new approaches to interactive mathematical instruction." The Internet-based version is free; the downloadable version is fee-based and includes a free trial offer.
http://nlvm.usu.edu/
 |
Want to see your kids motivated to learn? Time4Learning makes it fun! Tap the internet for multimedia lessons, activities and exercises that teach, painlessly. The PreK-8th grade curriculum includes:
100% satisfaction guaranteed! Try demos or view screenshots. |
The Privacy Advantages of Homeschooling
A plain English article from attorney Louis P. Nappen regarding the collection of information by the public school systems in the US and how homeschooling avoids the invasion of privacy by the system. Published and made available by Chapman Law School.
Homeschooling on a Budget
"What if I told you there were families providing an excellent education for their homeschooled child for $50 per year? And even for those of us who splurge on a few beautiful books occasionally, we can easily manage to keep our total expenses under $200 a year. Sound impossible? Here's how..."
Inexpensive Educational Supplies
"How much are supplies for unschooling? It ranges somewhere between nothing and everything--the whole budget. Once a family starts to consider everything educational, even groceries and cleaning supplies are educational. For beginners, though, part of the trick is working on the definition of 'educational.'"
Williamsburg Special Events for Homeschoolers
During the year, Colonial Williamsburg designates several weeks as Homeschooler Experiences. In addition to the variety of activities and programming throughout the Historic Area, special programs are scheduled for homeschool participants including a variety of hands-on opportunities. Special rates are available during this period for homeschoolers. Groups or individuals are welcome. Sample itineraries are available, and electronic field trips are available on the website.
See more on TheHomeSchoolMom.com
7. Article - When Kids Use the Internet for Research
by Barbara FrankWhen I was in college, one of the so-called advantages of the Greek (fraternity/sorority) system was that its members had access to the completed tests and essays of past members. Thus they could memorize test answers instead of learning what was presented in class, and re-type the essays of others instead of writing their own.
This saved those students all sorts of work; we who were not "Greek" felt it was an unfair advantage. But the bottom line was that these students didn't learn anything because they didn't have to read the assigned books, nor did they learn via the process of assembling information and giving it back to their professors in the form of essays.
I imagine frat-house filing cabinets are collecting dust now that college students have access to the Internet. There are sites where they can go to find prewritten, high-graded essays that they can pass off as their own, thanks to the cut-and-paste function.
And for the times when they actually have to do their own research and writing, there are sites like Wikipedia. Savvy teachers probably check Wikipedia's take on the assigned topic before they correct the essays so that they can tell who's been playing cut-and-paste there. But this doesn't solve the problem, which is that students are wasting their time and not learning anything, at least not much that's accurate.
One solution to this would be to require students to write their essays while in the school library or classroom, using the books and materials available there, with no Internet access.
For homeschoolers, this is much simpler. We can supervise our children more easily than a teacher can keep tabs on thirty students. By requiring our children to use only printed matter for research, they’ll learn the material and develop writing skills in the process, because we've removed the temptation of the Internet.
But printed matter can be dated, and we've become accustomed to the immediacy of the Internet. Isn't there some way to take advantage of that immediacy?
The good news is that there is. By requiring our children to use primary sources and reputable secondary sources, we can avoid the problems that occur when children are allowed to use Wikipedia and other sites that have sometimes proven to be inaccurate.
On the Internet, primary sources are sites where the information is first generated. For example, for the activities of our president, children can visit http://www.whitehouse.gov. Further government info can be found at http://www.usa.gov. For government statistics on employment and information on the labor market, go to http://www.bls.gov.
Secondary sources are trusted entities that access primary sources. A large city newspaper like The New York Times or the Chicago Tribune is considered a secondary source. Newspapers are not as trusted as they once were; recent cases of lying reporters have tarnished their image, and budget cuts have forced them to reduce the number of editors who check on the sources used by reporters. Still, quoting a large newspaper should be considered fairly accurate, and certainly much better than Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org), where anyone can post information or change what’s there.
This is not to say that Wikipedia is not useful. I've allowed my teen daughter to use it as a jumping-off point, as it gives her a quick briefing on a topic. But she is then required to back up what she finds with research from trustworthy sources.
For younger children and preteens, there’s a wonderful website that teaches children to be careful about believing information they find on the Internet. It’s called “All About Explorers” (http://www.allaboutexplorers.com), and it’s more than what it first appears to be.
The site was cleverly designed by a group of teachers. It includes pages about several famous explorers, including Christopher Columbus. Here’s an excerpt from the page about him (http://www.allaboutexplorers.com/explorers/columbus.html):
Columbus knew he had to make this idea of sailing, using a western route, more popular. So, he produced and appeared on infomercials which aired four times daily. Finally, the King and Queen of Spain called his toll-free number and agreed to help Columbus.
Note that this is the third paragraph of the essay. The first two paragraphs did not include such obviously erroneous information. You’ll be able to tell very quickly if your child read the entire page or not by his reaction (or lack of one) to that third paragraph. Meanwhile, the child who merely lifts the essay from the site for pasting into an essay is in for a surprise!
Also note that there’s a link at the bottom of the page which will lead your child to accurate information about the explorer in question (the teachers have already checked that information), plus printable activity pages and other features to aid in learning.
The All About Explorers site also includes a page with lesson plans for teaching children about Internet research (http://www.allaboutexplorers.com/teachers). This site is a great tool for busy homeschooling parents, and it will help children understand why they shouldn’t believe something just because they read it on a website. Once they understand that, their future research will be more accurate, and they’ll not only learn more, but be well-prepared for the writing involved if they go to college.
© 2009 Barbara Frank/Cardamom Publishers
_______________________________
Barbara Frank is the mother of four homeschooled-from-birth children ages 16-25, a freelance writer/editor, and the author of “Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers, “The Imperfect Homeschooler’s Guide to Homeschooling,”and “Homeschooling Your Teenagers.” You'll find her on the Web at www.cardamompublishers.com and http://barbarafrankonline.com/
© 2009 TheHomeSchoolMom.Com
Permission is granted to forward this newsletter in its entirety for non-commercial purposes. All other uses require permission from the Publisher.
)