Free Downloadable Homeschool Calendar

Hey homeschoolers - looking for a good, easy to use school calendar? Check out CalendarLabs.com for several free, downloadable academic calendars. I just put mine together using this and it was much easier than the cut and paste I've done before!


Here's the one I used:

Love free stuff that makes my life easier!

Happy Independence Day!

We're off swimming, parade-watching and eating, but I thought I'd mention a great free resource for homeschooling families - or anybody who wants to educate their kids on the Fourth as well as shoot off fireworks.

It's the Liberty's Kids series, an animated look at our country at the time of the Revolution, and it's lots of fun. There is a website, with interactive features and behind the scenes footage. YouTube has some 10 minutes clips for free, and the whole series is available to live-stream on Netflix, so you can watch it today. I'd suggest episode 13 "The First Fourth of July", but there are a total of 40 episodes that are all fun and educational.

Happy 4th of July!

Homeschool Freebies! Favorite Resources

I'm pretty sure I mentioned before that my all time favorite resource for homeschooling is the library. Our library is phenomenal! I'm pretty sure I could give up teaching art, literature, science and history and instead just sign my kids up for every class the library offers. But to say it's my favorite free resource is a little disingenuous.  Because I have two. 

The other favorite free resource of mine is a website - The Well Trained Mind. The forums on this site are bang on fantastic. If you have a question about anything from grammar to teaching styles to how to cook cabbage these folks will be able to answer it for you. It's the most active board I've seen for homeschooling and the folks are great. It's like a big family. I could go on and on, but you've got to check it out. In fact, it's the only resource I'm going to post today because I know once you go you'll be hooked! 

Have fun!

Homeschool Freebies! Spelling, Typing and Reading

Today we'll tackle spelling, typing and reading resources.

SPELLING

Big IQ Kids is our FAVORITE free spelling course. It's an online spelling bee! You can compete with other kids around the country! It's SO fun! And it contains links to free math, vocabulary and states curriculum. 

This site has a complete free spelling course, which I would use for middle grades (2nd - 4th or so). There are also links to grammar courses that are also free. 

If you are interested in hosting your own spelling bee, this site is has word lists for all grades. 

TYPING

For typing, my kids love BBC School's Dance Mat Typing. It's a complete typing course that is a load of fun. Also on this site are tons of links to other educational games. 

Power Typing has more typing games. 

And yet more games at this site. 

READING

My favorite reading (phonics) program is Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I got my copy on Amazon for about $10. It's falling apart now and should probably be replaced, but I can't bear to part with it. 

If you want free, though, check your local library for readers. The children's librarian should be able to point you in the right direction. 

Learn to Read Free  is a fun, kid friendly online program. 

This site has a free reading program. 

This is a reading intervention program. I haven't used it but it appears to be for kids who are struggling. 

Happy educating!

Homeschool Freebies! Math and Science

Our third edition of Homeschool Freebies will feature math and science.

Math:

MEP is a completely free math program being used in the UK. If you are interested, I highly recommend checking out this group, who can answer any questions you may have. Awesome program, full of puzzles and lots of mental math.

You can get free printable worksheets for all grades here and here.

This site has free online activities for all grades from preschool to middle school. Since my kids love to play on the computer, this has been a hit.

And here is a site with lots of links to other sites with free math resources. A link to links.. hope you've got some time! :)

Science:

Inquiry in Action offers a free, downloadable chemistry curriculum for the lower grades. All experiments can be done with household items.

This site also offers free curriculum, in many areas of science, for all grades.

Here is another option for free science curriculum.

Honestly, my favorite resource for science are Bill Nye videos. Most libraries have them, ours has about 40. Watch the video, do the experiment they show during the 'do this at home' section, and make an experiment page. Easy and free. My kids ask to bring the videos home for fun!

Hope that helps! Feel free to link up your favorite free math and science resources by leaving a comment.

Homeschool Freebies! History and Geography

Once again, some free stuff you can use to teach your kids at home! This week: History and Geography.

C-SPAN Classroom is offering a free Presidential Timeline poster if you sign up as a member on their site. They also offer videos, a forum, teaching tools and more. 

You can print free outline maps here. 

Learn geography with this downloadable game from Seterra.

I mentioned it last week, but Guest Hollow is a fabulous history resource. 

And, of course, History Channel's website is fantastic. 

Homeschool Freebies! Stuff we use

 

I don't know why I haven't posted much about homeschooling. Maybe it's because homeschooling pretty much overwhelms my life, so once I sit down here to unwind it's not what I really like to think about.

That said, I LOVE homeschooling and I'm pretty passionate about helping other people do it, so I thought I'd share some stuff. My first homeschool series will be on FREE STUFF. 'Cause everybody likes free stuff, yes?

Each Thursday until I run out of ideas I'll be posting free resources you can grab for your homeschool. So y'all come on back now, ya hear?

I'll start with the ones I use right now:

MEP is a math program developed in Europe. You can download it and print it free. I use it as a supplement for my kids and I really like it's style - very mental math and lots of puzzles. You can get answer guides but you need a password. I don't know how to get the password, but check Google groups or any homeschool board and the folks who use it as their primary can let you in on the secret.

GuestHollow American History is AWESOME. I use it as my history spine. Love, love, love it. They have more stuff, too.

The BBC has a great typing program we use. Very fun.

Zaner Bloser has customizable tracing pages. We print these, then slip them in a clear sheet protector and use a wet erase marker to trace. Kids love wet erase markers.

Calvary Chapel offers a free Bible curriculum that we're using. It goes through the entire Bible in, like, 500 lessons or something. Coloring pages, crosswords, worksheets and more at varying difficulty levels mean everyone can do something.

Hope you find something you can use! Let me know if you use any other free resources!