The newly released Wild Life: Dispatches from a Childhood of Baboons and Button-Downs tells the fascinating story of Keena Roberts’ life growing up partly in her parents’ research station in the middle of an African reserve and then part time in an affluent American suburb. The publisher, Grand Central Publishing, describes the memoir: Keena Roberts […]
Poetry Fun: 5 Creative Exercises to Get Kids Writing Poetry (and liking it)
Looking for a fun way to introduce poetry in your homeschool? Also want to sneak spelling, penmanship, vocabulary, antonyms and parts of speech into the play? Here are some creative poetry exercises that will fit the bill. Revised rhymes: Get out a book of nursery rhymes or short poems (try e.e. cummings or Emily Dickinson) […]
Fall Leaf ID Guide
Here’s a wonderful infographic to help you and your kiddos identify 60 different trees by their fall leaves! The poster (courtesy of MJ Sales Umbrellas, which is no longer online but had a surprisingly helpful blog) helps kids learn about simple versus compound leaves, palmate versus pinnate leaves, and lobed versus not lobed leaves (see […]
Review: Study with Me Gives Bullet Journaling Inspiration for Homeschoolers
A newly released #studygram inspired book offers great inspiration for students to use bullet journals for studying, and can also be used by homeschool parents for bujo ideas for kids. Study with Me: Effective Bullet Journaling Techniques, Habits, and Hacks To Be Successful, Productive, and Organized was released this month and I was lucky enough […]
Free Online Ojibwe Language Class
Here’s a fantastic free resource for foreign language learning. The University of Wisconsin Au Claire allows anyone to view their live or archived Ojibwe (Chippewa) language classes absolutely free. The University says: Welcome to our Online Ojibwe Language Program, where anyone can watch our live or archived classes for free. Archived classes can be found […]
A Sweet Little Vintage Reading Printable
I found this vintage first words image by chance on Flickr and thought it could make a fun coloring page for little ones who are learning to read simple words. The image is in the public domain since it’s from a book whose copyright has expired. The book, “The Book of Knowledge: The Children’s Encyclopedia,” […]
Kids Can Learn History, Mythology and More With FREE Superhero Course with Late Stan Lee
Here’s a fantastic opportunity for kids who like superheroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Avengers that will help them learn history, mythology and more. Before his death, comic book legend Stan Lee contributed to a class on superheroes that’s now available for free on edX. The SmithsonianX course, titled “The Rise of Superheroes and […]
Free Printable Weather Tree for April
Of Course Those Little Girls Who Survived in the Wilderness Were Homeschooled
Awesome Bullet Journals on eBay for Under $5 (with free shipping!)
Bullet journals can be fantastic tools for kids and adults alike for everything from tracking days they’ve done math to planning next year’s curriculum choices to keeping track of the year’s read-aloud books. We’ve been using bullet journals in our homeschool for a couple of years now and the kids and I all love them. […]
Free Printable Weather Tree for February
Weather trees are great ways to incorporate art, nature studies, science and even math into a fun daily project. Here’s a free printable weather tree for February to help your kids track the month’s weather. Kids can assign a different color to each weather type, then color one leaf each day to show that day’s […]
10 Fantastic College Scholarships That Are Open to Homeschoolers
Is your homeschooled teen college-bound and looking for financial help in paying for college? Scholarships are a great way to pay for college without going into debt and many grants and scholarships are very homeschool-friendly. Here are 10 great college grants and scholarships that are homeschool friendly, with a little information on each. Federal Pell […]
IHA Offers FREE U.S. History Textbook Online
Here’s a great resource for high school or advanced middle school level American history. USHistory.org offers its entire U.S. history textbook free online. The 60-unit textbook covers our nation’s history “From Pre-Columbian to the New Millennium,” with chapters beginning with Native American Society on the Eve of British Colonization and ending with Toward a New […]
TypingWeb Offers FREE Trackable Typing Program for Homeschoolers
Here’s a great typing resource for homeschoolers. TypingWeb offers typing lessons and games for all ages, along with the ability for parents to track typing progress and improvement. Some of the features of TypingWeb include the options to: Create classes and add students Track student progress Monitor student lessons and improvement Calculate words per minute […]
Teach Your Monster to Read Teaches Kids to Read for FREE
Free Curricula in Every Subject for Your 3rd Grader
Continuing in our series of absolutely free curricula in every subject for every grade, here’s a round-up of resources for math, science, history, language arts and more that are absolutely free for third grade. (Note from Alicia: This post was compiled as part of a series for my homeschooling column at Examiner, which is no […]
FREE Stargazing Diary!
Here’s a fabulous astronomy freebie! Lie Back Look Up has created a wonderful 6-page stargazing diary for families to print out for free. It includes pages for kids to draw the constellations they see, draw the moon, track its phases and more. Find the stargazing diary here. Be sure to look around the rest of […]
Free Printable January Weather Tree!
Free Geometry Book Available from Wikijunior
Wikijunior has created a free geometry wikibook for the elementary level that’s a great introduction to geometry for all ages. The 72-page book, Geometry for Elementary School, covers basic information such as points, lines, symmetry, congruence, how to bisect an angle and the Pythagorean Theorum. It is intended for beginner readers, meaning any age will […]
20+ Fun Ways to Practice Spelling Words
Print Out the FREE Around the Horn Game to Learn About the Gold Rush!
Free curricula in every subject for your 7th grader
Homeschooling in the middle school years doesn’t have to be expensive. There are many outstanding curricula for math, science, history, language arts and more that are absolutely free. Here are some of the best free resources for 7th graders in each subject. Note: This is a tiny fraction of what’s available online for free […]
Free 700-page middle school chemistry course available online
Looking for a comprehensive chemistry course for the middle school level? The American Chemical Society provides their entire 691-page curriculum for free as a PDF download or online resource. Middle School Chemistry: Big Ideas About the Very Small is designed to be an 8-10 week course, with each lesson requiring about 45 minutes to one […]
Free 9th Grade Animal Biology Curriculum
Here’s a great freebie, courtesy of Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. They offer their 9th grade curriculum, “Fat Dogs and Coughing Horses,” absolutely free online. They say: The 9th grade biology curriculum is already full and teachers often feel pressured by trying to cover everything during the course of the school year. With that […]
Free Printable Bird Guide
Here’s a wonderful freebie for your nature studies. The Cornell Institute of Ornithology offers its 12 page BirdSleuth Explorer’s Guidebook absolutely free to download and print. The full color booklet includes lots of great stuff for identifying birds, including some fun activities and worksheets to fill out. Pages include: Wake up your ears What’s a […]
Native American History: Learn the Story of the Fool Soldiers
One of the most moving events in American history has been all but lost to our history books — the heroic journey of the Fool Soldiers to rescue a group of women and children during the Minnesota Uprising of 1862. The Minnesota Uprising, also referred to as the U.S.-Dakota War and the Great Sioux Uprising, […]
A Literary Tea Party Provides Tea Time Recipes for Favorite Childhood Books
FREE Printable Botany Plant Quiz Cards!
Here’s a great freebie for nature studies and botany lessons. Go Botany, a fantastic web site that has all kinds of plant identification tools, offers these printable cards. They say: Practice your identification skills with these handy plant quiz cards! Even when you cannot get outside or sample live plant specimens, you and your […]
What’s That Feather? Great Tools and Books to ID Unknown Feathers
We checked out a fabulous book from the library yesterday and it got our youngest daughter, Fiona, excited about finding and identifying feathers. Plume, written and illustrated by Isabelle Simler, was New York Times selection for Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2017 and you’ll be able to see why. I just find it enchanting and simple, […]
Review: A Year of Forest School
Forest schools and other outdoor learning environments are becoming increasingly popular, not just in the United Kingdom but in the U.S. and around the world. A Year of Forest School: Outdoor Play and Skill-building Fun for Every Season, by Jane Worrell and Peter Houghton, gives parents and teachers ideas for nearly 40 seasonal activities suitable […]