Here’s another wonderful free resource for teaching biology. The Amoeba Sisters have dozens of videos explaining biology concepts such as enzymes, homeostasis, DNA, protein synthesis, bacteria, natural selection, food webs, biomes, body systems and much more. They even provide free handouts to accompany the videos and extend the lessons. The videos are hosted on the […]
Recently, a homeschooling mother wrote that she was looking for ways to incorporate more math into her homeschool. Zany word problems are a fun way to do that. Whenever we give math problems to our kids, we tend to make them rather crazy or fun. Sometimes it’s “mad scientist” math questions, sometimes it’s shopping questions, […]
Here’s a great resource for elementary and middle school math. Math Live is a website developed by Learn Alberta to teach math in a fun way. The online Flash-based application mimics a television set, with math lessons presented as cartoon episodes. Each one is filled with short, interactive segments to really reinforce the topics. […]
Educational games for kids just got even more impressive. The Nobel Prize Foundation has created a variety of games to teach kids about subjects like blood typing, DNA, the immune system and more — and it’s all free. Nobelprize.org explains: Through the assistance of foundations, corporate sponsors and educational bodies, Nobel Media AB creates and […]
Here’s an incredible new educational resource for kids. Frontiers in Neuroscience for Young Minds is a new web-based science journal that involves kids in the editorial process. The site explains: Frontiers in Neuroscience for Young Minds is a scientific journal that includes young people (from 8 to 18) in the review of articles. This has […]
Bill Nye surprised and annoyed many homeschoolers in 2014 when he suggested on his Facebook page that homeschooled students would be poorly equipped to excel in science. When a homeschooling mother asked him if he would consider creating a secular science curriculum for homeschoolers, he replied: Use your judgement. The rest of us out here, […]
It goes without saying that many of our world’s most famous scientists and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) pioneers were home educated back when homeschooling was more common. These include great scientists such as Alexander Graham Bell, Ernst Mach, Pierre Curie, Mary Blackwell, Clara Barton, Joseph Priestley and Thomas Edison (who only lasted three […]
The National Institute of Health has some phenomenal science resources available to the public for free, through the mail or online. These include lessons on science and medical topics such as scientific inquiry, genetics, sleep disorders, chemicals, the brain, the mouth, evolution, cell biology and more. The NIH says: The NIH curriculum supplements are teacher’s […]
Here’s a great way to combine nature studies, science and math in a really fun way — use crickets to tell the temperature! My husband has been teaching our kids to tell the temperature by counting cricket chirps for years. It sounds like a bit of blarney, but it actually works and scientists have been […]
July is full of all sorts of great science and nature opportunities. Here are five fun ones to work into your homeschooling this month. MythBusting: You hear all sorts of folk wisdom that can be great fun for kids to test out. When we heard that you should draw chalk lines outside your house because […]
Two wonderful citizen science projects are being offered this summer through SciStarter and they’re a great way to help butterflies while also doing science. These projects are free to take part in and can be done in your own park, town or back yard. The Monarch Larva Monitoring Project was developed by researchers at the […]
Whether you consider your family to be unschoolers or not, there are many aspects of unschooling that make homeschooling easier and more enjoyable for kids and parents alike. What is unschooling? Pat Farenga, author of Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of Homeschooling and many other unschooling books says: This is also known as […]
If you are contemplating taking your children out of public school to homeschool them, you’ll probably hear a lot of advice about “deschooling.” What is deschooling? Simply put, it is a period of time after institutionalized schooling where parents let kids be free to do whatever they want and relearn their love of learning. Wikipedia […]
One of the joys of homeschooling is that you can adapt ideas from all different places and use them with your kids. Montessori schools and theories are a great source of some of those ideas. I attended a Montessori preschool myself (back in the dark ages) and it was one of the best educational experiences […]
Recently, a reader asked me for information about using Montessori principles to homeschool her older children. She wanted to know if Montessori methods could still be used with teens and preteens. The question intrigued me, as I’ve mainly seen Montessori methods taught for children up to age 12. What I found is that yes, there […]
Once homeschooled students approach high school age, many parents start to worry about how to compile transcripts. While there are services that offer you assistance in this for a fee, the good news is that the internet offers a wealth of help in the form of advice, example transcripts and free transcript forms. There are […]
I wrote recently of the unique perspective Maria Montessori had about education during the middle school years. But what about the high school years? Here, Montessori believed in more serious academics, but with much real-world experience. Montessori expert Michael Olaf says of the years 15-18: “For age fifteen to eighteen, when the rapid growth of […]
Looking for a good Japanese course for your kids that won’t break the bank? Georgia Public Broadcasting has made their entire Japanese course, Irasshai, available online — absolutely free. The video series is designed to serve as the equivalent of a three year foreign language high school course, though it could easily be used for […]
Looking for free Spanish resources for your homeschool? Here’s a roundup of absolutely free lessons, videos, printouts, games, curricula and ideas to teach your child (or yourself) Spanish, from the preschool level to high school and beyond. Mi Vida Loca This online series from the BBC “takes you on an intrigue mystery adventure […]
School is starting up again soon, and some parents are starting up at home for the first time. It can be overwhelming trying to choose books, curricula and programs. Here’s what you need to buy to start out… Nothing. Yes, that’s right. Nothing. The single biggest mistake that new homeschoolers make is investing in too […]
Okay, so you crossed that first homeschooling hurdle and your child is reading well. Chances are, spelling is another story — and it will be for at least a couple of years. Although reading and spelling seem to go hand in hand, most children fully grasp reading long before they’re spelling well. This is normal, […]
I’ve been sharing free curricula for every subject and each grade in this column, and several parents have asked me to share free curricula for preschoolers. I’ve put off doing a preschool list yet for two reasons: If you’re new to homeschooling your kids, it’s more important to find resources for older kids than it […]
Here’s a fabulous new resource for parents whose kids are learning to read. Sight Words, a free website sponsored by the Georgia Preschool Association, offers a multitude of tools for parents, teachers and caregivers to help kids learn to read. The site says: Sightwords.com is a comprehensive sequence of teaching activities, techniques, and materials for […]
Math seems to trigger some ancient fight-or-flight mechanism in some otherwise brilliant children. This irrational fear of math can cause kids who don’t feel good at the subject to avoid doing it, leading to a snowball effect of more avoidance, falling farther behind and feeling more panic about not understanding it (and more avoidance). Luckily, […]
Science stations are wonderful for young kids. They introduce toddlers and preschoolers to the love of science and are also great for keeping them busy while homeschooling older kids. They’re fun, educational and easy to set up! What is a science station? It’s a space you stock with fun materials for a child to experiment […]
It’s summer time and the perfect season for camping. Why not add to the fun by doing a little chemistry with campfire coloring and experiments? We tried a little campfire chemistry while camping with homeschool friends a few years ago. It was such fun that afterwards we looked up other ingredients to add to really […]
Last week, my husband took our kids to a local lake to look for meteorites. Yes, meteorites! Okay, they were micrometeorites to be more specific, but nonetheless, the kids were able to find and hold something that came from millions of miles away in space. Can you think of a cooler way to spend a […]
So you have a microscope (or are giving one to the kids for Christmas) and you’re stuck on what to do next? Here are 50 easy-to-find things to view under a microscope. All of these can be viewed with a basic microscope without high powered lenses (or even a pocket scope), though they’ll often be […]