Assignment #110 - Computers Help People Help People (IBM)

Assignment:

Share some of your favorite homeschooling sites. The only “rule” for this assignment is that you have to list at least one “free” site. Many homeschooling families have made the choice to live on very little income to do what they believe is best for their children and I want everyone to be able to benefit from this assignment. If you have other sites that are “paid” sites, feel free to include these also as it might be something someone would really appreciate. If you feel led, share your curriculum choices with us. I always love to learn what is out there that I don’t already know about. Please make sure to include links to the sites you share.

Although we live on a limited income, I don't stress much about finding free stuff on the internet. I think that any money we invest in curriculum is well worth it, especially great living books we'll read again and again. But I do love finding helpful resources on the internet for things like art, music, books, etc.

I have spent way too much time finding great sites on the internet - it always seems like one site leads to five more! Sometimes I've felt almost manic as my excitement over finding new resources builds to a boiling point - look at all these possibilities!!! And knowing that other people are posting about sites I might not know yet makes me giddy (but not in the Singaporean way, which means "dizzy").

So here are some of the sites I love:
Vegsource This is actually a vegan website. I am not vegan, but it has a great used curriculum page where I have found many things I need.

The Homeschool Mom This website has lots of fun free things, including a newsletter.

Art Projects for Kids I have had so much fun using this website - she regularly posts art activities for kids that are easy and creative.

Children's Books: What, When and How to Read Them This woman does not appear to be a believer, but I LOVE books, and she has given me a lot of leads on good books for our kids.

Squidoo This is a place where people can upload information about anything, so if you go to the main site and search on homeschool, you'll find over 750 pages! I found it while looking for information on how to lapbook.

Homeschool Share If you're into lapbooks and unit studies, this has a ton of free resources! I am just getting into them, so it's been a good introduction for me.

And one more thing - if you aren't familiar with the Usborne Internet Linked series, you should check it out! We have the history and science books (We use Story of the World for history, which references pages from Usborne History in each chapter). Granted Usborne is NOT written from a Christian perspective, but the kids have loved looking up the links to pages they've learned about. Recently we found several sites from it about the human body that had fun games and interesting videos. Plus, for my very visual learner, it gives great pictures to put with our stories.

Squidoo mania

I suppose most of the people who look at my blog are other homeschoolers who do the Blogger School Friend class, and they all seem to be spectacularly brilliant people who have creativity and wisdom oozing from them. Which tells me that they've probably already found this website. But for those of you who like me, are still figuring out this homeschool gig, here is a GREAT website: www.squidoo.com Warning: it will suck you in with all the ideas and possibilites. I've bookmarked more pages than I can count, have printed off ideas, have the beginnings of a lapbook on England going from it, a lengthy Amazon wishlist from books I've found there, and a brain spinning with future plans. I'm feeling a bit manic about it to be honest. But what a blessing to find this resource!

If I didn't have these . . .

Last week the printer ink in my homeschool printer went berserk and decided that though it was full, it wanted to say it was empty. Of course this happened while Erik was gone, in keeping with Murphy's Law which operates more strongly when he is away.

It killed me. I can't tell you how many things I wanted to print or photocopy (this was compounded by the fact that the other printer's ink really WAS out). It got me thinking about all the things that I depend on to do homeschool. I made a list this morning, in case any newbie homeschoolers are out there wondering, "What supplies should I have in my homeschool room?" Here's what I can't live without:

1. Photocopier - what did I do before this? I use it almost every day
2. Paper cutter - a big one
3. Giant white board
4. 3 hole punch (yes, though I live in the land of 2 hole punch, I will not submit. I bring 3 ring binders from the States. They just work so much better).
5. A really good pencil sharpener. And a back up in case I can't find the first one.
6. Laminator - I want a bigger one!
7. good art supplies - I've stopped thinking about how much they cost and just get them because they're worth it. Of course as much as I can I still get them in the U.S. where they are a fraction of the cost.

Who said homeschooling was cheap?

My Favorite Homeschool Resources

There are millions of books out there about homeschooling. Even here in Singapore, where homeschooling is akin to a freak show, you can find books on how to homeschool. My favorite title is "Homeschooling for Dummies." Should dummies really be homeschooling? A question for another post, maybe.

Homeschooling is a mystery, especially for those of us without a degree in education (does having two parents with education degrees count?). I read a few books before I started, but as I flush out what this really looks like, my hunger for wisdom has grown and I've found some real gems that have helped me. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Things We Wished We'd Known: This is a collection of short articles by homeschool parents, many of whom have written the curricula that's out there. Many times I turned to a new chapter, took a look at the giant family in the picture all dressed in their Sunday best, and all clutching musical instruments and thought, "I don't think I fit in with these people." But I keep going back to their advice, because for the most part it is, "Relax. Love God, love your kids. Enjoy learning with them."

2. 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum, by Cathy Duffy: This book is invaluable! How on earth can you possibly choose what curriculum to use when there's so much and it all promises to make your children into creative genuises? Cathy Duffy helps you decide what learning style you and your kids have, and then has a chart of her top 100 best reviewed materials categorized by learning style, homeschool style (i.e. Charlotte Mason, classical) and other helpful categories.

3. How Am I Smart? by Kathy Koch: You maybe have heard of the eight intelligences before, but Kathy Koch writes about them from a Christian perspective, showing how sin weaves in, and how we approach God from the perspective of our intelligences, among other things. Did you know that kids usually get in trouble in ways they are intelligent? Oh, so that explains why my logic smart son wants to take everything apart, and why my word smart daughter knows exactly how her words can cut like a knife. On the other hand, she can turn around and say the sweetest blessings to everyone, and he can actually fix those things he takes apart. This has been helpful not only for homeschool but for understanding my kids in general.

4. Homeschooling Year by Year: I just picked this up from Borders, and it's been a very reassuring book. It outlines what kids should be covering in each year of school, so you can see where you might have gaps or be behind. It's particularly valuable if, like me, you don't think public schools necessarily twist children into mindless, insecure, hell bound people, and you might someday put your kids in one of them. It also gives lots of suggestions for other books and resources that are helpful at each level. I'm happy to see my kids are on track and even ahead in some ways.