Hopeful Spirit is hosting a wonderful Carnival of Family Life.
A wonderful article from the Washington Post last week is here!
Principled Discovery has the best graphic in this one.
If you have any great articles you would like highlighted please email me- homeschoolhacks@gmail.com
Have a wonderful Monday!
Blessings, Alli
by Brea
It helps to know the best places to buy resources, and it really helps to know where you can save some money. Homeschooling doesn't have to cost a fortune (more on that coming later in the week), so here's a great link at Homeschooling on Shoestring that lists a bunch of discounts. Some of the places listed are local to Michigan, but most are nation-wide.
And remember, it doesn't hurt to ask any place you shop if they give discounts for homeschoolers ... provided, of course, that you're purchasing school materials. :) What's the worst that can happen? You pay the same price you'd pay even if you didn't ask? That's what I thought ...
And do you already have a particular curriculum you'd like to use? Think used books. They might not be quite as pretty, but there are terrific savings to be had if you're willing to do a little looking. Amazon.com is always a great place to check (I often get books for under $.25 before shipping), and there's also Homeschool Classifieds and Second Harvest Curriculum. So check out some of these links, and save those pennies where you can!
I found a wonderful website with amazing 360 degree panoramic views from all over the world. You must go check it out. Check these out-
Enjoy!
Summer at Mom is Teaching wrote a brilliant article on bullying. Go read it!
From her article-
"I don’t want to teach my sons to deal with bullies. I want to teach them that this behavior is unacceptable, that hurting others in any way does not make them “cool”, that they don’t have to fit into the crowd and that standing out does not have to be painful, and that they do not have to become the kind of adults that use words that hurt as much as fists. They can be better. If that means keeping them out of the bully-rich environment until they have a solid foundation built up and a strong enough personal base to stand up to those who use power-over, then good. They will be strong er for it in the long run."
Is anyone tired of hearing how we should put our kids in school to socialize them? Middle School and High School are artificial environments that children are expected to 'get through'. It is ridiculous to feel we need to expose our children to this simply because most children are forced to deal with it! The school experience for most children has nothing to do with real-life in adulthood. I say we start laughing when we are asked, "What about socialization?" I say the proof is in the pudding, as my grandmother used to say.
I am officially in love with the Discovery Channel's new series. Discovery Channel's- Human Body premiered tonight. It was the BEST teaching tool I have found for Science in ages. You will love it. My nine year old and I watched the premiere episode tonight and loved it. I can not say enough good things about this new series. It will be known as a must have for teaching the boys in my house.
Here is a snippet about tonight's premiere episode-
"Episode 1: "STRENGTH"
Premieres Sunday March 2, at 9 p.m. ET/PTThe human body is engineered for strength, power and endurance. Bone is sturdy as concrete but flexible enough to resist breaking and light enough to allow us to be quicker off the mark than a racehorse. Our muscles, ligaments and joints have far greater strength and endurance than we know. In this episode, we feature extraordinary tales of human strength told with stunning see-through "anatomy in motion."
- A young man is sucked up into a tornado, only to be spat out a quarter of a mile away, unharmed.
- Pinned by a massive boulder, a climber finds the strength to lift it off in a seemingly impossible muscular feat.
- A college football player sustains what would normally be unbearable injury and pain, yet has the mental stamina to continue playing at full output.
Plus, how does a swimmer tap the remnants of our distant ancestors' extraordinary stamina to swim across the English Channel in 14 hours? How do marathon runners keep the pace on their grueling 26-mile run?"
Click here to watch the full episode!
My son and I also watched the second episode- Sight. It was amazing. The human body just comes to life and I learned things I never did as a kid. My son was fascinated with and understood concepts that would have taken a year to study and be forced to do the dreaded worksheets about. Can you tell my sons won't touch a worsheet unless forced?
The rating was PG-13. It was fine for my 9 year old and I am very picky about what I let him watch. It was very graphic, but not in a gratuitous manner.
When you watch, be sure to let me know what you think of the series!
The Kids' Book Club Book looks like a great resource for homeschoolers and anyone wanting to start a book club. With its book-specific crafts, recipes and activities, it also seems useful for spawning ideas around any book your child reads, book club or not!
CarmoLearning.com offers nine world history units, ranging from Mesopotamia to World War I, for grades 6 through 10. Students can read, write, map, and do art activities with these fact-filled and enjoyable units.
According to the site, each unit takes about ten class periods to complete.
I received an email yesterday from a homeschool Mom who is starting up her own annual "Homeschool Pringles Challenge." The challenge? To engineer a mailable package to have the smallest volume and smallest mass that will protect the chip so that it arrives at its destination undamaged.
According to the Mom organizing the challenge, "This challenge has been done with public school students, at colleges of engineering, and many other science/engineering classes. So, I thought WHY NOT with homeschool students." There are no corporate sponsors or affiliations for the program and the prizes are listed as "pending." (Maybe someone reading this wants to donate a prize?)
You can register here by February 10th and your Pringles package must be postmarked by February 26th.
Joanne from A Day in Our Lives sends us this wonderful hack - just in time for your New Year's celebration!
We're getting ready to open our time capsule in a few weeks (we buried it in Jan. of '06) and I thought your readers would enjoy doing it also.
We decorated a plastic quart size container and each of my three kids put in:
1. a photograph of themselves taken last month.
2. a self portrait using colored pencils.
3. a hand tracing.
4. a list of their favorites (food, snack, drink, movie, playstation game, computer game and Christmas gift).
5. what job they would like to have when they get older.
6. something that they would like to learn about or learn to do in 2006.
7. a receipt from food shopping that shows prices of foods we buy.
8. a prediction about the price of one of the items on the receipt.
10. a list of their New Year resolutions.
My daughter made a map of where we buried it and we'll be digging it up on 1/1/07. They definitely want to do it again.
For a list of fun and educational do-it-yourself science projects, check out Home Science Tools. Make your own pinhole camera. terrarium, volcano, fossil cast, water wheel and much more. The site offers extensive science project instructions, plus lots of kits and supplies you can buy online or through their free catalog.
