Fun (Non-traditional) Ways for Kids to Learn Foreign Languages

Are your kids interested in learning a foreign language? There are lots of great apps and curricula, but there are also fantastic non-traditional ways for them to learn or supplement their learning. A lot of them are low cost and even free, too! Here are some of our favorites that we’ve used over the years. […]

Learn French Free with The French Tutorial

Have you heard of The French Tutorial? It offers a full French course absolutely free online. The website, which has been around since 1999, says: The French Tutorial is a web-based step by step lesson covering basics, pronunciation, but also grammar, vocabulary and everyday French. It offers audio and video support for better oral comprehension, […]

Fabulous Free American Sign Language Curriculum, Classes & More

Is your child interested in learning American Sign Language? There are some really wonderful free resources for kids of all ages to learn ASL. The American Sign Language University offers wonderful free online ASL classes.  They provide four levels of classes for free, with each course building on the last and comprising of 15 in-depth […]

Kids Can Learn Native Languages FREE with 7000 Languages

Here’s a wonderful free resource for adults or kids to learn indigenous languages. 7000 Languages is a nonprofit website and app that teaches native languages such as Dakota, Cree, Balinese and Ojibwe, absolutely free. 7000 Languages explains: We create free online language-learning courses in partnership with Indigenous, minority, and refugee communities so they can keep […]

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 […]

Free curricula in every subject for your 3rd grader

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 Curriculum for Homeschooling 7th Grade

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 […]

Oodles of amazing educational uses for plastic eggs

Oodles of amazing educational uses for plastic eggs

After Easter, it’s the perfect time to pick up extra plastic eggs on clearance to use them for all sorts of homeschooling fun — and not just for the preschool set. Most of us have seen the Pinterest pins of Easter eggs being used to learn sight words or letters, but you can use them […]

The internet is filled with fabulous educational videos, but finding them can be tricky. Enter WatchKnowLearn, which gathers these videos from the internet and puts them in one organized, searchable place. The site currently offers about 50,000 videos on everything from osmosis to table manners to sign language to the philosophy of numbers. The website, which was launched by Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sangler, is designed to offer free access to thousands of education-related videos for students ages 3-18. Sanger describes it as "YouTube meets Wikipedia." What can you find on WatchKnowLearn? Nearly anything! For instance, some of the videos currently available include: A short video about Minnesota from the History Channel Singing the alphabet with Elmo and India Aria A short geography video how Pangea split and the plates moved to form the world we now know. An animation of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" A half hour video teaching about the history and culture of the religious Shaker movement. A vast assortment of math songs Schoolhouse Rock's "How a bill becomes a law" Doing a unit on clouds? A search produces hits in categories like meteorology, earth sciences and clouds, with options such as: Weather & Meteorology : How Do Clouds Form? Cool Clouds Mykie's Lesson Plan 3: Clouds Different Types of Clouds (Time-Lapsed Photography) Cloud Rap New Cloud Type Name Proposed-Asperatus How To Classify Clouds Wow! Amazing Images of Storm Clouds Lesson for Painting Clouds "Going Outside"- Learn Weather and Outside Sign Language Words These are just a few of the results just on page one of the results for clouds -- and there are 116 pages of results! Click here to visit the website and see all of the videos available. You can also set up your own classroom on the site to organize the videos you'd like to use in your homeschool. The search tool allows you to filter by age, and you can browse through subjects and many, many sub-categories to find great content. The site was launched in October of 2009. The contributions have come from National Geographic, NASA, you-tube, eHow, private users and Google Videos, among many other sources. This is a wonderful resource for putting together unit studies, accompanying curricula or just answering questions as they come up.

WatchKnowLearn offers thousands of free educational videos for kids

The internet is filled with fabulous educational videos, but finding them can be tricky. Enter WatchKnowLearn, which gathers these videos from the internet and puts them in one organized, searchable place. The site currently offers about 50,000 videos on everything from osmosis to table manners to sign language to the philosophy of numbers. The website, […]

Free curricula in every subject for your 3rd grader

Fabulous FREE resources for Spanish language learning for all ages

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 […]